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Written Question
Children: Coronavirus
Friday 28th July 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support children who were entering the school system at the time of the first lockdown.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique challenge for teachers, school staff, students and families, particularly for those children who were starting school at the time of the first lockdown. The Department has focused on addressing the effects of the pandemic and the challenges it created in order to improve outcomes for children. The Department’s strategy is focused on ensuring all children can access a high quality education, by providing excellent teachers, high standards and well evidenced, targeted interventions.

To support pupils, the Department has provided significant funding to the Core Schools Budget and is supporting schools to offer well evidenced interventions which are targeted at those most in need. Almost £5 billion was made available for recovery, funding an ambitious multi year programme that includes direct funding to schools, teacher training, and tailored tutoring.

The Department continues to provide support for younger pupils’ literacy. In July 2023, the Department published an updated version of the Reading Framework, providing teachers and school leaders with evidence informed guidance on good practice in reading. It has been expanded from reception and Key Stage 1 to cover Key Stage 2 and 3, to help schools improve reading for all pupils and support them to engage confidently with reading at secondary school.  This is on top of the Department’s wider efforts to give children a strong foundation in reading through the phonics screening check, support for phonics and the work of English Hubs. England came fourth out of 43 comparable countries in the recent PIRLS international survey, and scored significantly above the international and European averages, making it the highest performing country in the western world.

This is supplemented by targeted interventions for those in need. The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) allocates funds to schools based on rates of disadvantage. Since the launch of the NTP in November 2020, nearly four million tutoring courses have been started to date. In addition, the Department’s Accelerator Fund (2021/22), supports the rollout of well evidenced literacy and numeracy programmes in schools, through English Hubs and Maths Hubs.

On top of this, this year’s school funding will total over £57.7 billion. Including the additional funding for teachers’ pay, funding for both mainstream schools and high needs is £1.8 billion higher in 2024/25 compared with 2023/24. The overall Core School Budget will total over £59.6 billion in 2024/25. This is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil, as measured by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.


Written Question
Special Educational Needs
Wednesday 26th July 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling up Housing and Communities on the improving the speed of Local Authorities producing Educational, Health and Care plans.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

The Department for Education has met with the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) at ministerial level to discuss all aspects of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) policy, including Education Health and Care (EHC) plan reform. The department is acting to improve the SEND and AP system and works closely with our counterparts in DLUHC and other government departments on this as necessary.

In the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, the department set out plans to reform the EHC plan system.

The SEND and AP reforms seek to make best practice common practice in how EHC plans are delivered. They include establishing a single EHC plan form and supporting processes across England, including developing digital requirements for EHC plan systems to improve consistency and access to information. The department will also test the use of multi-agency panels to enable local authorities to make judgements based on a holistic view of the needs of the child or young person across education, health and care when deciding whether to issue an EHC plan. We are already engaging with children, young people, families, and practitioners to develop this work.

The department wants to ensure that EHC plans, where required, are issued as quickly as possible, so that the child or young person can access the support they need. In 2022 (the latest figures available), there were 114,457 requests for an EHC plan. 66,244 new EHC plans were issued, the highest number since they were introduced. 49.1% were issued within 20 weeks.

The department recognises the vital role local authority staff play in supporting families in the SEND and EHC plan system. We will consider the skills and training these staff require and, when consulting on amending the SEND Code of Practice, will propose new guidance on delivering a responsive and supportive casework service.

Where a council does not meet its duties, we do not hesitate to take action that prioritises children’s needs and brings about rapid improvement.


Written Question
Social Workers
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many social work visits were carried out (a) in person and (b) online in each of the last five years.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

​​The department does not hold data on the number of child and family social worker visits carried out in person or online in each of the last five years, the average duration of a social worker visit in each of the last five years, or where child and family social workers live.

Social workers provide information about their home and work locations to Social Work England when they join the professional register, and when they renew their registration each year. This information is not verified by Social Work England.


Written Question
Social Workers: Home Visits
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average duration of a social work visit was in each of the last five years.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

​​The department does not hold data on the number of child and family social worker visits carried out in person or online in each of the last five years, the average duration of a social worker visit in each of the last five years, or where child and family social workers live.

Social workers provide information about their home and work locations to Social Work England when they join the professional register, and when they renew their registration each year. This information is not verified by Social Work England.


Written Question
Social Workers
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many social workers live in the local authority for which they work.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

​​The department does not hold data on the number of child and family social worker visits carried out in person or online in each of the last five years, the average duration of a social worker visit in each of the last five years, or where child and family social workers live.

Social workers provide information about their home and work locations to Social Work England when they join the professional register, and when they renew their registration each year. This information is not verified by Social Work England.


Written Question
Social Workers
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many social workers are (a) permanent and (b) agency staff: and what the cost is of employing each group.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

In 2022 there were a total of 31,600 full time equivalent (FTE) child and family social workers employed by local authorities in England. In addition, there were 6,760 social workers in local authorities that were hired as agency staff. This gives a total of 38,360 (FTE) social workers in 2022. The department does not collect data on the cost of employing permanent or agency social workers.


Written Question
Children in Care
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are in residential care; and what the average cost is of such placements.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

The number of children looked after who were placed in residential care settings on 31 March 2022 was 14,140. The figures include secure units, children’s homes and semi-independent living accommodation, other residential settings, and residential schools. This data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c54349dc-5494-46a2-7c32-08db63adc612.

Information on placement settings for looked after children is published annually in Table A2 of the ‘Children looked after in England (including adoptions)’ statistical release, available at : https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

Perfectly aligned costs data are not available. However, the data shown in the 2020/21 Unit Costs of Health and Social Care report shows average costs per placement type. This is available at: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/92342/25/Unit%20Costs%20Report%202021%20-%20Final%20version%20for%20publication%20%28AMENDED2%29.pdf.


Written Question
Children in Care: Missing Persons
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children went missing from care in each of the last five years; how many incidents there were; and what proportion of missing children were subsequently found.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

The department published bold and ambitious plans to reform children’s social care on the 2 February 2023 through ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. It sets out how the department will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life.

Missing incident are always deeply concerning. The vast majority, 90%, of incidents where a child reportedly goes missing last for 2 days or less. Figures on the number of children looked after who went missing from care, including the number of missing incidents, and those who are still missing on 31 March, were published for the year ending 31 March 2018 to the year ending 31 March 2022 in the table ‘Official Statistics - CLA who were missing from placement’ in the annual ‘Children looked after in England, including adoptions, 2022’ statistical release. The table is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c7b14397-1e84-48d2-7c2b-08db63adc612.

Missing incidents were reported for 12,150 of CLA (11%) in 2022. There were 76,890 missing incidents. The number of children still missing from placement at 31 March was 220. A child may have had multiple missing incidents during a year that may have been resolved, only to conclude with a further incident that results in the child being missing again on 31 March.


Written Question
Children in Care
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are in care; and how many such children are looked after under kinship care.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

The number of children who were in care on 31 March 2022 was 82,170. This information was published for the years ending 31 March 2018 to 31 March 2022 in the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England, including adoptions, 2022’, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

The department does not hold information centrally specifically on children who are looked after under kinship care. However, of the 82,170 children who were in care on 31 March 2022, 12,580 (15%) were placed with a foster carer who is a relative or friend. This information can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/fast-track/275cbaa4-5400-4920-86d1-08da7eccd8d3.


Written Question
Care Homes and Foster Care: Inspections
Tuesday 28th March 2023

Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many in-person inspections were carried out by Ofsted in (a) children’s and (b) foster homes in each of the last five years.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the right hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The data requested is not held centrally by the department. Ofsted is able to provide data on the number of in person inspections in each of the last five years.

It should be noted that individual foster homes are not inspected by Ofsted, however Ofsted is required to undertake in person inspections of independent fostering agencies and local authority fostering services through the framework for inspection of local authority children’s services.