Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of national minimum allowances for foster carers; and what plans he has to set minimum allowances for those providing staying-put arrangements.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The national minimum standards for fostering services are clear that every foster parent with a child in placement should receive an allowance that covers the full cost of caring for a child. The government recommends a minimum allowance that fostering service providers should pay to their foster parents each week and uplifts it annually in line with the gross domestic product deflators.
The government does not believe that introducing a national minimum allowance for Staying Put carers is the right way forward. Unlike children in foster care, young people in Staying Put arrangements are adults, and may be in work, or claiming benefits. These financial sources can be used to contribute to the cost of providing the Staying Put arrangement, in a similar way that young people who are still living at home with their parents may contribute to the costs of running the household.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average waiting time was for a child to be assessed for an Education, Health Care Plan after receiving a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in (a) the London Borough of Southwark, (b) London and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information requested is not held centrally.
Under the Children and Families Act 2014, parents and schools are able to apply for an assessment for an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan without the need for a diagnosis to have already been made.
Data is collected by the department on assessments for EHC plans that are completed within their 20 week target. This is published in the ‘Statements of SEN and EHC plans: England, 2018’ publication available here – https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2018 .
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many secondary school children have been off-rolled by their school in (a) the London Borough of Southwark, (b) London and (c) England in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not hold information centrally on the number of pupils taken off roll. Local authorities have a duty to make arrangements to establish the identities of children of compulsory school age in their area who are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise.
The law is clear that a pupil’s name can only be deleted from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in regulation 8 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended.
If a school removes a child from their roll when not at the point of a standard transition, it must inform the local authority and set out the grounds for their action. When removing a pupil’s name, the notification to the local authority must include: (a) the full name of the pupil, (b) the full name and address of any parent with whom the pupil normally resides, (c) at least one telephone number of the parent, and (d) the pupil’s future address and destination school, if applicable.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to mark the centenary of women getting the right to vote in 1918.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In the 2017 Autumn Budget, my Rt hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £5 million for projects to mark the Centenary of the Representation of the People and Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 - which gave women the right to vote for the first time. This money will support a yearlong programme of activity, some of which will be directed towards young people. Planned projects being delivered by a range of government departments, including the Department for Education, include a resource pack for secondary schools, the creation of Democracy Ambassadors within the 13-16 age group and a resource pack for parliamentarians to use, to shape engagement on democracy with young people.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to mark the centenary of women getting the right to vote in 1918.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In the 2017 Autumn Budget, my Rt hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £5 million for projects to mark the Centenary of the Representation of the People and Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 - which gave women the right to vote for the first time. This money will support a yearlong programme of activity, some of which will be directed towards young people. Planned projects being delivered by a range of government departments, including the Department for Education, include a resource pack for secondary schools, the creation of Democracy Ambassadors within the 13-16 age group and a resource pack for parliamentarians to use, to shape engagement on democracy with young people.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support cross-cultural fostering and adoptive placements.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government is committed to encouraging stable families and individuals from all cultural backgrounds to foster or adopt. Cultural and ethnic background is one of a number of considerations that a local authority must consider when placing a child.
The Children Act 1989 and underpinning regulations state that a child can be placed with a carer that does not share their culture, religion, language or ethnicity as long as that placement is appropriate and able to meet the needs of the child. Children should be cared for in a way that recognises and respects their identity and carers should be given the training and support they need to fully support that child.
Since 2014, adoption agencies are no longer required to search for an ethnic match between potential adopters and children. The National Fostering Stocktake has explored a range of issues, including the recruitment and retention of foster carers, and making good placement decisions. The department plans to publish its report shortly.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children attending schools in the London Borough of Southwark have been taken out of school (a) to undergo female genital mutilation abroad or (b) for a forced marriage abroad in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
It is illegal to force marriage or to practise female genital mutilation (FGM) on a girl or woman (or arrange for a third party to practise it), whether in the UK or overseas.
Information on the number of children who have been taken out of school to undergo FGM abroad or for a forced marriage abroad is not collected by the department.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will extend the number of courses covered by the exemption to the Equivalent Level Qualification rules to include full-time undergraduate STEM courses.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Access to fee and maintenance loans from the Student Loan Company (SLC) is currently restricted for students wishing to study qualifications that are at an equivalent or lower level to those which they already hold. These are known as Equivalent or Lower Qualifications (ELQ). There are exemptions to these restrictions, including from 2017/18 for all part-time STEM degree courses (which had been eligible for fee support only).
Full-time STEM student numbers increased between 2003 and 2015, in some cases dramatically (notably in Biological Sciences by 87%, Maths by 78% and Physical Sciences by 77%). Across most STEM subjects, levels of sustained employment have also grown either in line with the average or above the average, and average earnings have increased by well above the 11% graduate average. Evidence suggests the last round of Government capital funding for STEM higher education has led to increases in provision.
We will be carefully monitoring the impact of lifting the ELQ exemption for part-time STEM courses in the context of our assessments of higher education STEM and demand overall.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been made available to the London Borough of Southwark for early years provision for three and four-year olds in each of the last seven years; and how much funding is being made available to the London Borough of Southwark for early years provision for three and four-year olds under her Department's new early years national funding formula in each of the next three years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The early years funding allocation for three and four year olds for Southwark local authority can be found here for the following financial years:
2013-14: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2013-to-2014
2014-15: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-2014-to-2015
2015-16: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2015-to-2016
2016-17 (provisional allocation): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-2017
2017-18 – First year under Early Years National Funding Formula (initial allocation): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2017-to-2018
Prior to 2013-14, early years’ local authority funding allocations were not separately identified within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Instead, they were part of the total DSG allocated to each local authority. Early years allocations prior to 2013-14 are not therefore available.
Funding allocations for 2018-19 and 2019-20 will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many council-maintained nursery places for three and four-year-olds there have been in the London Borough of Southwark in each of the last seven years; and how many local authority maintained nursery places will be available for three and four-year-olds in the London Borough of Southwark under her Department's new early years national funding formula in each of the next three years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The department does not hold data on the number of council-maintained nursery places for three and four-year-olds there have been in the London Borough of Southwark in each of the last seven years.
The department does have data showing the number of three and four-year-olds in Southwark taking up their entitlement to funded early learning in a nursery as recorded in January 2017 is available in table 2LA in the main tables at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2017.
The data from 2010 to 2016 can be found in the Provision for children under 5 years of age in England tables at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-childcare-and-early-years.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide the required number of places to meet parental demand for the free entitlements for two, three and four-year-olds. Local authorities will be working with providers to ensure that there are enough places to meet parental demand in the next three years.