Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take with (a) colleges, (b) universities and (c) employers to increase the number of (i) apprenticeships and (ii) skills-based training places for young people from Huddersfield.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, the government will launch a new Youth Guarantee for young people aged 18 to 21 in England to ensure that they are supported to access high quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work.
This is alongside the launch of Skills England, which will support skills training opportunities for young people, and local skills improvement plans which bring employers, providers and local leaders together to collaboratively identify and address skills needs of local areas.
The government supports colleges to provide skills training, including through over £7.5 billion of 16 to 19 programme funding which will be invested during the 2024/25 academic year to ensure young people are developing the skills they need to succeed in work and in life.
The government is working with universities on access and participation and we will support the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, regardless of their background, where they live and their personal circumstances.
We are also widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer which will include new foundation apprenticeships, giving more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking with (a) the University of Huddersfield and (b) other local universities to help promote (i) innovation and (ii) skills development in that region.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Skills development is crucial for economic growth and breaking down the barriers to opportunity.
The government is developing a Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy which will set out how the skills system will work to deliver on our Plan for Change, moving towards a more responsive and flexible education system that can adapt to the evolving demands of the economy. This will help ensure that students and workers have access to the training and education they need to thrive in work and life.
Through Skills England, the department also oversees local skills improvement plans which provide an ongoing mechanism through which local employers, strategic authorities, further education and higher education providers and other stakeholders can come together locally to identify and resolve skills needs and issues.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of persistent absence on (a) SEND pupils and (b) their families.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Tackling absence, including persistent absence, is a critical priority for the government, and is at the heart of our mission is to break down the barriers to opportunity. If children are not in school, it does not matter how effective or well-supported teaching and learning is, they will not benefit. Whilst rates of overall and persistent absence are reducing year on year, they remain too high both overall and for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Evidence is clear that being absent from school is strongly linked to pupils’ attainment and later life chances and can significantly affect families, for example, limiting parental ability to work. Further, for pupils with SEND in particular, schools provide vital services including specialised teaching, therapy, and counselling, that absent students are unable to access. The department’s statutory guidance to schools, trusts, and local authorities recognises that pupils with additional needs may face more complex barriers to school attendance. Schools should take a sensitive, ‘support first’ approach to ensuring pupils’ attendance. This includes working with the child and their family to remove any barriers to attendance, additional support from wider services and external partners and, where appropriate, providing adjustments such as individual healthcare plans and greater pastoral support. While some pupils may face additional challenges, we expect schools to have the same attendance ambitions for all pupils, and to put support in place to facilitate their attendance.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils who are persistently absent from school have been identified as having special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes figures from the school census on pupil absence in state-funded schools. The latest data, including breakdowns by characteristic, covers the 2023/24 academic year and is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.
The following table provides the number of pupils who were persistently absent, by special educational needs provision: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/b158c055-7dcf-49ad-938b-08dd6ba01329.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support children with (a) SEND and (b) mental health needs to return to school after a period of absence.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
School absence is one of the biggest barriers to success for children and young people. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, limiting their opportunity to succeed.
The department recognises that some pupils, such as pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or mental health problems, may face additional challenges to attendance. We expect schools to have the same attendance ambitions for these pupils as they do for all pupils, and to put support in place where required to facilitate their attendance.
To support children and young people to attend school, the department has introduced statutory guidance which sets clear expectations for schools, trusts and local authorities. The guidance is clear that schools and local authorities should take a sensitive, ‘support-first’ approach to enabling attendance, working with the child and their family to remove any barriers to attendance. For pupils with SEND or mental health needs this may include:
After a period of absence, schools may also consider phased returns if needed, as well as offering support to catch up on missed learning.
This government is also committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. As of April 2024, NHS-funded Mental Health Support Teams covered 44% of pupils and learners in schools and further education in England and are expected to cover at least 50% by April 2025.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what accountability mechanisms are in place for local authorities that miss statutory deadlines for Education, Health and Care plans processes after being required to produce a Written Statement of Action.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
As set out in the current Area SEND Inspection Framework, local areas with a Written Statement of Action that were not revisited by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission under the previous framework will have a full inspection within the first three years of the new inspection cycle, meaning that they should receive a full inspection under the current framework by the end of 2025.
As part of Area SEND inspections, inspectors assess the extent to which the local area partners are complying with relevant legal duties relating to arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
For any local area that has an active Written Statement of Action, the department works to monitor, support and challenge local authorities as needed, working closely with NHS England to tackle any weaknesses that sit with health partners. Where a council does not meet its duties, including around timeliness of education, health and care plans, we offer a range of universal, targeted and intensive support through departmentally-managed programmes, such as our sector led improvement partners, which provides peer-to-peer tailored support. Councils identified as having issues with 20 week timeliness specifically are subject to additional monitoring by the department. Where we have concerns about their capacity to make the required improvements, we secure specialist SEND advisor support to help identify barriers and improve the service.
Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of using enrichment activities on rates of student absenteeism.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
For children to achieve and thrive, they need to be in school. The department is working to make sure that all children and young people have access to a variety of enrichment opportunities at school as an important part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Absence is a key barrier we seek to break.
High standards can only be built on a foundation of belonging at school. Thanks to the hard work of the sector there has been progress, but we remain a long way off pre-pandemic levels.
The department recognises that enrichment activities are a vital way for children and young people to gain skills and strengthen their sense of school belonging, supporting them to achieve and thrive. We know how important it is to ensure that opportunities are available for all children and young people. For example, the department is providing over £2.9 billion this financial year for the pupil premium grant to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England. Schools must use this funding in line with the department’s ‘menu of approaches’, which is based on the evidence of how best to improve attainment for disadvantaged pupils. This includes the flexibility to use pupil premium to tackle non-academic barriers to success, including providing enrichment opportunities to benefit those pupils who may not be able to have access otherwise.
Additionally, the National Wraparound Childcare Programme is improving the availability of childcare across the country and providing additional support for parents. The programme aims to ensure all parents are able to access full time wraparound childcare beyond the school day, enabling parents to work and supporting children with enriching opportunities.
The department will continue to monitor the evidence base for the impact of enrichment activities and a variety of factors that support attendance. In addition to ensuring children have access to enrichment activities, we are also tackling absence by expanding our attendance mentor programme, rolling out breakfast clubs to all primary schools, and providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.