Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on regarding knife crime.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with Ofsted on guidance for schools on knife crime.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of guidance for schools on knife crime.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many weapons were seized in schools in England in (a) 2018 and (b) 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has plans to update guidance for schools on knife crime.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the incidence of knife crime on school premises.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on how many weapons have been seized in schools.
The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) guidance advises schools on creating safe environments. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. The ‘Searching, Screening and Confiscation’ Guidance was updated in 2022 to emphasise the importance of the school duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils and staff. Headteachers, and the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a pupil or their possessions, where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil may have a prohibited item, such as knives or weapons, and confiscate such items.
The department works across government, and with other partners, on initiatives to prevent serious violence, including knife crime. Over £50 million has been made available to fund specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most affects children and communities. This includes SAFE (‘Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed’) taskforces that have been established in ten areas, reaching over 2,100 children as of September 2023. Taskforces are school-led partnerships investing in evidence-based interventions in and around school, such as mentoring and social skills training, that reach children early on, to re-engage them in their education and reduce their involvement in serious violence. To benefit areas outside of the programme, the department has published a supportive guide on school-based interventions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-taskforces.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London received school improvement grants in (i) 2010-2017 and (ii) 2017-2023; how many grants were received in each period; and what the total amount for each school was in each period.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Departmental records show that:
(a) In the Enfield North constituency, no schools received or benefited from specific school improvement grants between 2010 and 2017. Between 2017 and the end of December 2023, 11 schools (c.21%) received or benefited from those specific school improvement grants.
(b) In the London Borough of Enfield, four schools (c.3%) received or benefited from specific school improvement grants between 2010 and 2017. Between 2017 and the end of December 2023, 23 schools (c.19%) received or benefited from specific school improvement grants.
(c) In London, 157 schools (c.4%) and nine academy trusts received or benefited from specific school improvement grants between 2010 and 2017. Between 2017 and the end of December 2023, 290 schools (c.10%) and 35 academy trusts received or benefited from specific school improvement grants.
The following specific grants have been included in this analysis:
The department has limited this analysis to state-funded schools or establishments. The department has also included grants allocated for sponsored academy conversions as a result of government intervention between 2010 to date, as well as grants for transferring academies between academy trusts between 2012 to date, because these grants may include elements for school improvement activities.
This analysis has been limited to these grants as they can be quantified for some of the time periods requested. The department's policy of retaining financial records for seven years limits access to data before the 2016/17 financial year. Older data included in this analysis may be incomplete. Other grants by the department may contribute less directly to wider school improvement. In addition, many of these and other grants are allocated via academy trusts or other organisations and so schools may benefit indirectly without being the designated recipient from the department. Finally, not all grant programs have been operational throughout the entire 2010 to 2023 period.
For a summary of the grants awarded, please refer to Tables 1a-1c attached. For detailed grant awards to schools, where available, please see attached Tables 2a-2c.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve support for children with special educational needs in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to ensuring that children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) get the support they need wherever they live.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan outlines the government’s mission to create a single, national SEND and AP system; the proposal to develop National Standards is a fundamental part of this. The Standards will set out what support should be available and who is responsible for providing it to give families confidence and clarity on how the needs of children and young people will be met. These Standards will apply nationally, including London.
The SEND and AP Improvement Plan also sets out proposals to improve the Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan assessment and planning process, by introducing standardised forms and processes, as well as supporting guidance to provide greater consistency.
In addition, the department’s Delivering Better Value programme aims to improve outcomes for children and young people and put the SEND system on a more sustainable footing by funding high needs system transformation in up to 55 local authorities, including the London Borough of Enfield, with significant Dedicated Schools Grant deficits. It does so by providing diagnostic support to the local authority, identifying opportunities to improve services and meeting children’s needs better, and then grant funding the local authority’s plan.
Furthermore, high needs funding to support children and young people with complex SEND is rising to £10.1 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, which is an increase of over 50% compared to 2019/20. Of this, the London Borough of Enfield’s high needs funding allocation for 2023/24 is £76 million, which is an 11.5% per head increase compared to the amount of high needs funding allocated in the 2022/23 financial year.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children with SEND are not in formal education in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London as of 7 November 2023.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department holds data on the number of children and young people with an Education, Health and Care plan, including the setting in which the child or young person is typically educated or where they are not in education or training for any reason. The information is available in the National Statistics publication at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
The data can be broken down by region and local authority. Data is not available at parliamentary constituency level.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of educational psychologists providing services to children in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Over the past five years, the department has funded a total of 304 educational psychologist (EP) training places across four London-based institutions. This figure includes a total of 56 funded training places per academic year starting in 2018 and 2019, increasing to a total of 64 funded training places per academic year starting in 2020, 2021 and 2022. A further cohort of 64 trainees is due to take up their funded training places at London-based institutions as of this autumn. As training places are allocated to institutions, the requested figures by parliamentary constituency and borough are not available. Additionally, the number employed in the private sector is not collected centrally.
Information on the state-funded school workforce in England, including the number of EPs that were reported as being directly employed by local authorities in England, is published in the annual ‘School workforce in England’ national statistics release, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
According to the School Workforce Census, in November 2022 there were 2,325 EPs directly employed by local authorities in England, including 646 directly employed by local authorities in London, and 17 by the London Borough of Enfield. The figure provided also excludes local authorities who did not submit a return, or where EP provision has been outsourced or the provision has been shared with other local authorities.