Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will bring forward proposals to finalise the care placements for children in care to align with applications to post-16 education.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked after child’s life. Under the ‘Care planning, placement and case review’ guidance and regulations, the child’s allocated social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any necessary transitions well planned and supported.
All looked after children must have a Personal Education Plan (PEP), which is an ongoing record of their education and training which should describe what needs to happen to enable them to reach their full potential. The PEP should set out arrangements in place to minimise disruption to the child’s education and training where a change in their educational arrangements is unavoidable.
Local authorities have a number of duties to accommodate eligible care leavers and to support them to pursue education or training. This includes contributing to expenses incurred by the young person in living near the place where they will receive that education or training.
Further education (FE) and higher education (HE) play important roles in giving care leavers the skills they need to succeed in life. To ensure care experienced students are supported to gain the qualifications needed to access these destinations, we have rolled out post-16 funding which can be used for raising attainment through interventions such as additional tutoring or mentoring. The department is also making the virtual school head role for children with a social worker statutory, enabling earlier intervention to address the educational barriers these children can face.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will work with local authorities to ensure Education, Health and Care plans are updated post annual review for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities to take into account the potential impact on the transition to KS3 and post-16 education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The SEND code of practice is clear that all children and young people with SEND should be prepared for adulthood. All local authorities must set out the support available to help children and young people with SEND move into adulthood as part of their local offer. This should be co-produced with children, young people and their families to ensure it meets local needs. The department expects activity to support effective preparation for adulthood to be embedded within provision across every age and stage of education, starting as early as possible.
If a local authority issues an education, health and care (EHC) plan, it has a statutory duty to review the plan as a minimum every 12 months. This is to review the child or young person’s progress towards achieving the outcomes specified in the plan and to consider whether the outcomes and supporting targets remain appropriate.
For children and young people with an EHC plan, there must be a focus from year 9 onwards on preparing the young person for adulthood as part of their plan’s annual review. This focus must continue until the young person’s EHC plan ceases.
An EHC plan must be reviewed and amended in sufficient time prior to a child or young person moving between key phases of education, to allow for planning for and, where necessary, commissioning of support and provision at the new institution.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of ADHD medication shortages on children in school.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has been working hard with industry and NHS England to help resolve the supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved and all strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.
The DHSC are intensively working to resolve issues with methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets by collaborating with current suppliers to resolve issues as soon as possible, expanding the UK supplier base with new suppliers, and partnering with NHS England to improve demand forecasting for ADHD medicines.
The DHSC is also supporting an independent cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and support across sectors and their impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education and justice to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support. The ADHD taskforce will also work closely with the Department for Education’s neurodivergence task and finish group.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children’s social care final report (MacAlister,2022), published on the 23rd of May 2022.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the best start in life. This government has already moved quickly to set out its plans for a whole-system and child-centred approach to reform and our actions are informed by the findings of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
In November, the department published its ambitious, wide ranging plans in ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’, setting the wheels in motion to break the cycle of crisis intervention and rebalance the system back towards earlier help for families. In addition, in December the department introduced the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. This is a landmark piece of legislation, introducing a series of measures with a focus on delivering a joined up system to stop vulnerable children falling through cracks in services.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of increasing the provision of financial support available to kinship carers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children and this government is determined to give every child the opportunities they deserve. Kinship carers play a crucial role in delivering this.
At Budget, the department recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new kinship allowance in up to ten local authorities to test whether paying an allowance to cover certain costs, such as covering day to day costs, supporting them to settle into a new home with relatives, or affording activities to support their wellbeing, can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. This trial will help the department make decisions about future national rollout.
This is the single biggest investment made by government in kinship care to date. This investment could transform the lives of vulnerable children who can no longer live at home.
Departmental officials and I will continue to work across government to implement the new kinship allowances trial and to learn from this to inform any future policy.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of SEND services in Henley and Thame constituency; and if she will have discussions with Oxfordshire County Council on (a) the level of and (b) the process for receiving funding for SEND provision.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The last local area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for Oxfordshire was in July 2023, which identified widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND. The report, published on 15 September, included four areas for priority action:
Every child and young person with SEND should have access to high quality services, and where a council does not meet requirements to provide appropriate support for these children, the department will take action to prioritise their needs and bring about rapid improvement.
Oxfordshire County Council was issued with an Improvement Notice on 9 November 2023. This sets out the steps the department expects the local authority to take in raising standards in their SEND services. The department is working closely with its partners in NHS England to monitor, support and challenge the local area partnership to making the necessary improvements, including through regular monitoring meetings, which focus on the impact of actions taken on improving the lives of children and young people with SEND and their families. Oxfordshire County Council are committed to working closely with us to improve their SEND services.
Oxfordshire County Council’s high needs funding allocation for children and young people with complex SEND is over £111 million for the 2024/25 financial year, including funding for teachers’ pay and pension costs. In addition, this government has allocated Oxfordshire Council an extra core schools budget grant of £1.3 million to help with special schools’ costs. The department does not collect data or information on the Council’s process for allocating this funding on to specific provision in the Henley and Thame constituency.
Oxfordshire are part of the Delivering Better Value (DBV) programme which provides £1 million in grant funding to support local authorities to provide more effective SEND services by meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND at an early stage and with the right level of support. The department monitors Oxfordshire's progress in the DBV programme through quarterly reporting and meetings with the local authority.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Third Report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights of Session 2022-23 on The Violation of Family Life: Adoption of Children of Unmarried Women 1949–1976, HC270, published on 6 July 2022, if she will apologise for the historic role of the Government in forced adoptions; and if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on ensuring that suitable mental health support is made available for adult adoptees.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has the deepest sympathy with everyone affected by historic forced adoption. The practice was abhorrent and should never have taken place.
The department is committed to supporting adopted adults. Regulations have already been changed to make it easier for adults to access therapy, and we are providing funding to Adoption England’s Improving Adoption Services for Adults project, which is designed to maintain relationships and offer support.
The department will continue to review the offer, including looking to learn from the approach of the devolved nations and will consider how we can collaborate across the government to provide support.