Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the press release on childcare costs published by Pregnant Then Screwed on 18 February 2024.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
By the 2027/2028 financial year, this government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education. This is the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2 year olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks of the year) from the term after the child’s 2nd birthday. Over 100,000 parents have already applied for the expansion starting in April, and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has confirmed that our latest projections show that more than 150,000 new funded places will be secured by early April.
From September 2024, the department will provide working parents with 15 hours of free childcare a week from when their child is 9 months until they start school. This will increase to 30 hours from September 2025.
Delivering that ambition includes increasing childcare funding rates, with an additional £204 million in this financial year, an additional £400 million in the coming financial year and guaranteed uplifts in line with cost pressures for two years after that. The department is providing grants to help new childminders enter the sector and, to make it easier for the sector, making changes to the early years foundation stage to provide more flexibility.
The department hears every day from families how significant this policy will be for their finances. Once the roll-out is completed, eligible families will save up to £6,500 per year. The roll out will help parents to return to work or increase their hours, and tens of thousands of parents have already successfully applied for their codes, ready to take up their places in April. To see the full range of support they are entitled to, parents should visit: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
Hundreds of thousands of children aged 3 and 4 are already registered for a 30-hour place, which can save eligible working parents up to £6,500 per child per year. Expanding this entitlement to younger children across the country will help even more working parents with the cost of childcare and make a real difference to the lives of those families.
In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1,629 for two children.
Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0-11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children. This can save parents up to £2,000 per year, or up to £4,000 for eligible children with disabilities and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to require universities to admit foreign students on the same terms as UK students.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Higher education opportunities should be available to all who have the ability and attainment to pursue them and who wish to do so. The government takes a close interest in ensuring that the higher education admissions system is fair, which includes working closely with higher education providers (HEP) and sector bodies to make sure the system works well for students.
HEPs are autonomous institutions, as per the Higher Education and Research Act of 2017. This means they control their own admissions criteria and the government does not intervene in the requirements providers set for students to access a course.
While HEPs are used to assessing a wide range of qualifications from domestic and international applicants to make admissions decisions, it is essential that that recruitment and admissions practices command public confidence and deliver the best outcomes for students.
The department has launched an investigation into university admissions practices, and will take action to ensure fairness between domestic and international students.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the relationships and sex education curriculum; and whether she plans to review that curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has plans in place to monitor the national implementation of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) over time, including measuring teacher confidence in teaching the statutory requirements. The Department has contracted with the International Institute of Field Research to undertake quantitative and qualitative research, which will seek to understand the quality of implementation, including teacher confidence in teaching the statutory requirements.
The research will aim to test whether schools are implementing the requirements with sufficient quality. It will also inform any further support offers, and test and revise the theory of change for how setting this requirement will improve pupil’s outcomes. Interim findings will support the review of the RSHE statutory guidance, and the Department expects to publish the final report in 2024.
The Department has brought forward the review of the RSHE statutory guidance, including an independent expert advisory panel, which will advise the Secretary of State on the introduction of age limits for certain subjects. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/terms-of-reference-for-review-panel-on-rshe.
The work of the expert panel will inform the public consultation which will be published in the autumn, prior to publishing revised guidance in 2024.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to simplify the Education, Health and Care Plan assessment process to reduce the time take to provide families with a timeline for a plan's completion.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, the department set out plans to reform the education, health and care (EHC) plan system. The Improvement Plan does not alter the statutory eligibility for EHC plan. The current test for eligibility for an EHC needs assessment is set out in Section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014.
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 a national requirement for the use of digital technology to improve consistency and access to information. We 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 2021 (the latest figures available), there were 93,300 requests for an EHC plan. 63,200 new EHC plans were issued, the highest number since they were introduced. 59.9% 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.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for Education, Health and Care Plans; and what steps her Department is taking to ensue those criteria are interpreted and applied consistently across local authorities.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, the department set out plans to reform the education, health and care (EHC) plan system. The Improvement Plan does not alter the statutory eligibility for EHC plan. The current test for eligibility for an EHC needs assessment is set out in Section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014.
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 a national requirement for the use of digital technology to improve consistency and access to information. We 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 2021 (the latest figures available), there were 93,300 requests for an EHC plan. 63,200 new EHC plans were issued, the highest number since they were introduced. 59.9% 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.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve training and support for local authority staff involved in the Education, Health and Care Plan process.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, the department set out plans to reform the education, health and care (EHC) plan system. The Improvement Plan does not alter the statutory eligibility for EHC plan. The current test for eligibility for an EHC needs assessment is set out in Section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014.
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 a national requirement for the use of digital technology to improve consistency and access to information. We 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 2021 (the latest figures available), there were 93,300 requests for an EHC plan. 63,200 new EHC plans were issued, the highest number since they were introduced. 59.9% 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.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to provide (a) further funding for Special Educational Needs provision and (b) increased resources for (i) specialist support services, (ii) therapies and (iii) interventions.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
High needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will be rising to £10.1 billion in the 2023/24 financial year. This is an increase of over 50% from the 2019/20 allocations. The funding will help local authorities and schools with the costs of supporting children and young people, including providing specialist support services, therapies and interventions.
We know that children and young people with SEND frequently require access to additional support from a broad specialist workforce across education, health and care. We are committed to improving the supply, training and deployment of key workforces to make the best use of professional expertise, in order to provide these specialist services, therapies and interventions.
In November 2022, the department announced funding worth £21 million to go towards training 400 more educational psychologists. This new funding, in place from 2024, builds on the £10 million announced earlier in 2022 to train over 200 educational psychologists from September 2023.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to increase maintenance loans for university students in line with inflation.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government reviews the support provided towards students’ living costs on an annual basis.
The department has continued to increase maximum loans for living costs each year, with a 2.3% increase for the 2022/23 academic year and a further 2.8% increase for the 2023/24 academic year.
Students who have been awarded a loan for living costs that is lower than the maximum for the 2022/23 academic year and whose household income for the tax year 2022/23 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.
The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year which have impacted students.
On 11 January 2023, the department announced that student premium funding would be boosted by £15 million. There is now £276 million of student premium funding available this academic year to support students who need additional help. This extra funding will supplement the help universities are already providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.
The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding (EBSS AF) is available to over 900,000 households in Great Britain who do not have a domestic electricity supply and were not eligible to receive support automatically through the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS), providing them with £400 to support them with their energy bills. This includes students who receive their electricity through an intermediary (such as a letting agency or a landlord) who has a commercial electricity supply.
Between October 2022 and March 2023, all households saved money on their energy bills through the Energy Price Guarantee. This was in addition to the £400 energy bills discount for all households. Students who buy their energy from a domestic supplier were eligible for the energy bills discount.
Together with the higher education sector, we are doing all that we can to support students facing hardship. However, decisions on student finance have to be taken alongside other spending priorities to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of higher education are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2022 to Question 37614 on Schools: Buildings, which schools in Leeds North East constituency had at least one construction element in (a) condition grade C and (b) condition grade D when that data was collated; and which of those schools (i) have already received funding from the School Rebuilding Programme and (ii) are expected to receive funding from the School Rebuilding Programme in the next two years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Condition Data Collection (CDC) is one of the largest and most comprehensive data collection programmes in the UK’s public sector. It collected data on the building condition of government funded schools in England. It provides a robust evidence base to enable the Department to target capital funding for maintaining and rebuilding school buildings.
The key, high level findings of the CDC programme were published in May 2021 in the ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey: Key Findings’ report. This is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Individual CDC reports have been shared with every school and their responsible body to use alongside their existing condition surveys to plan maintenance schedules and investment plans. The Department plans to publish detailed school level CDC data. The data is being prepared and will be published as soon as possible.
Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department. Our funding is directed both to maintaining the condition of the school estate and rebuilding schools. The Department has allocated over £13 billion for improving the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year.
The ten year School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) is condition led. 400 of the 500 available places on the programme have been provisionally allocated. A list of these schools and the methodology used to select them is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
The following table shows the constituencies specified that have schools or colleges selected for the SRP:
Parliamentary constituency | Schools selected for SRP |
Oxford East | Oxford Spires Academy, announced December 2022 |
Leeds North East | John Jamieson School, announced December 2022 |
Harrow East | The Sacred Heart Language College, announced December 2022 |
The 239 schools announced in December 2022 will enter delivery at a rate of approximately 50 per year, over a five year period from 2023. The Department is currently undertaking due diligence on these schools prior to scheduling them, with schools prioritised according to the condition of their buildings, readiness to proceed, and efficiency of delivery. The scope and funding for each project will be confirmed following detailed feasibility studies and condition surveys of buildings.
Where a school identifies significant safety issues with a building, that cannot be managed within local resources, the Department considers additional support on a case-by-case basis. This includes applications for Urgent Capital Support (UCS) from eligible institutions. Schools eligible for Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) can apply for UCS where there are urgent health and safety issues that threaten school closure and cannot wait until the next CIF bidding round.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to provide support to students sitting their GCSEs this year whose learning may have been affected by the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department welcomed the successful return of summer exams and other formal assessments in 2022.
The department and Ofqual have confirmed that in the 2022/23 academic year, exams and formal assessments will largely return to pre-pandemic arrangements in summer 2023.
Ofqual confirmed a return to pre-pandemic grading in 2023. However, to protect students against disruption of recent years, and in case students’ performance is slightly lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic, senior examiners will use the grades achieved by previous cohorts of pupils, along with prior attainment data, to inform their decisions about where to set grade boundaries.
The department has decided that formulae and equation sheets for GCSE mathematics, physics and combined sciences exams should be provided for any exams taken next summer. We have asked Ofqual to put this in place and they launched a consultation on this.
The government has also provided a range of support packages to help students recover from the pandemic, targeted at those that need help most.
The department’s ambitious, multi-year education recovery plan supports young people to catch up on missed learning by investing in what we know works: teacher training and evidence-based support, including tutoring and extra education opportunities.
The department knows that disadvantaged children have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. We are committed to helping these pupils to recover and close the attainment gap. That is why the department’s recovery programmes, such as the recovery premium and the National Tutoring Programme, are especially focused on helping the most disadvantaged.