Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum who were not in school in each of the last five years, broken down by gender.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Information on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were not in school is not collected or held by the department. Data collected by the department on children not in school does not indicate whether children are asylum seekers.
The department published a response to the public call for evidence, ‘Improving support for children missing education’, in December 2024. This response outlines current best practice approaches and next steps for how local authorities, schools and others can be empowered to go further to identify and support children missing education (CME) and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks. The response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749c6faebabe47136b3a25b/Children_missing_education_-_call_for_evidence_response.pdf.
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, includes proposals for compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, to enable authorities to better identify all children not in school in their areas and, where these children are not receiving a safe, suitable education, to take action to support them. The department is also committed to introducing a single child identifier, so all children can get the right support from education, health and care services.
The department’s annual published children looked after data shows that only 4% of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are girls and that 89% of all UASC are aged 16 and over.
All UASC will be looked after by their local authority. All state-funded schools are required to give relevant looked after and previously looked after children top priority for admission once their corporate parent, the local authority, applies for a place.
As looked after children, local authorities have the same duties to UASC as all other looked after children, which includes support received in school.
The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to an excellent education. Where children are not on a school roll or receiving suitable education elsewhere, the department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outlining their duty to make arrangements to identify and support into education all CME. The guidance specifically references that children of new migrant families may be at particular risk of missing education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf57a4dcb0757928e5bd39/Children_missing_education_guidance_-_August_2024.pdf.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure young girls who are unaccompanied children seeking asylum are (a) able to access education and (b) supported to stay in school.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Information on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were not in school is not collected or held by the department. Data collected by the department on children not in school does not indicate whether children are asylum seekers.
The department published a response to the public call for evidence, ‘Improving support for children missing education’, in December 2024. This response outlines current best practice approaches and next steps for how local authorities, schools and others can be empowered to go further to identify and support children missing education (CME) and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks. The response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749c6faebabe47136b3a25b/Children_missing_education_-_call_for_evidence_response.pdf.
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, includes proposals for compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, to enable authorities to better identify all children not in school in their areas and, where these children are not receiving a safe, suitable education, to take action to support them. The department is also committed to introducing a single child identifier, so all children can get the right support from education, health and care services.
The department’s annual published children looked after data shows that only 4% of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are girls and that 89% of all UASC are aged 16 and over.
All UASC will be looked after by their local authority. All state-funded schools are required to give relevant looked after and previously looked after children top priority for admission once their corporate parent, the local authority, applies for a place.
As looked after children, local authorities have the same duties to UASC as all other looked after children, which includes support received in school.
The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to an excellent education. Where children are not on a school roll or receiving suitable education elsewhere, the department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outlining their duty to make arrangements to identify and support into education all CME. The guidance specifically references that children of new migrant families may be at particular risk of missing education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf57a4dcb0757928e5bd39/Children_missing_education_guidance_-_August_2024.pdf.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the central data collection on access to education for unaccompanied children seeking asylum.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Information on the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum who were not in school is not collected or held by the department. Data collected by the department on children not in school does not indicate whether children are asylum seekers.
The department published a response to the public call for evidence, ‘Improving support for children missing education’, in December 2024. This response outlines current best practice approaches and next steps for how local authorities, schools and others can be empowered to go further to identify and support children missing education (CME) and to tackle the pattern of children falling through the cracks. The response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749c6faebabe47136b3a25b/Children_missing_education_-_call_for_evidence_response.pdf.
The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, includes proposals for compulsory Children Not in School registers in every local authority in England, to enable authorities to better identify all children not in school in their areas and, where these children are not receiving a safe, suitable education, to take action to support them. The department is also committed to introducing a single child identifier, so all children can get the right support from education, health and care services.
The department’s annual published children looked after data shows that only 4% of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) are girls and that 89% of all UASC are aged 16 and over.
All UASC will be looked after by their local authority. All state-funded schools are required to give relevant looked after and previously looked after children top priority for admission once their corporate parent, the local authority, applies for a place.
As looked after children, local authorities have the same duties to UASC as all other looked after children, which includes support received in school.
The government is committed to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable in our society, are safe and have access to an excellent education. Where children are not on a school roll or receiving suitable education elsewhere, the department has issued statutory guidance for local authorities outlining their duty to make arrangements to identify and support into education all CME. The guidance specifically references that children of new migrant families may be at particular risk of missing education. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf57a4dcb0757928e5bd39/Children_missing_education_guidance_-_August_2024.pdf.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 6 March 2024 to Question 16490 on Special Educational Needs: Codes of Practice, what steps her Department is taking to review the contents of SEND information reports.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The requirement for all schools to publish Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Information Reports was introduced in the Children and Families Act 2014. Information Reports must contain details of a school’s provision for pupils with SEND and must be reviewed annually.
As part of the department’s work on long-term options for improving the SEND system, we will explore the role of SEND Information Reports.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to respond to the consultation entitled Strengthening protections in unregistered alternative provision, which closed on 9 May 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
On 9 May, the department published the consultation ‘Strengthening Protections in Unregistered Alternative Provision (AP)’ which sought views on proposals intended to improve practice and raise standards in unregistered AP. The consultation closed on 5 July.
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities or who are in AP, including those in unregistered AP, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
Departmental officials are currently analysing the responses of the consultation, and the department will set out the next steps in due course.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate has she made of the current (a) average time and (b) maximum times for Social Work England to conclude fitness to practice cases.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As set out in Social Work England’s board report dated 19 July 2024, the current median time to conclude a fitness to practise case is 128 weeks and the maximum time is 319 weeks.
The department and Social Work England have taken several steps to reduce processing times including making changes to legislation in 2022 for operational efficiencies and providing additional funds of £7.1 million to clear the backlog of cases inherited from the previous regulator. Further activities being undertaken by Social Work England are set out in its annual business plan and in reports to Social Work England’s board.
As at 31 August 2024, 113 Social workers are currently subject to an interim suspension order and unable to practise whilst awaiting the conclusion of their fitness to practise case.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate has she made of the number of social workers unable to practice whilst awaiting the conclusion of fitness to practice proceedings by Social Work England.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As set out in Social Work England’s board report dated 19 July 2024, the current median time to conclude a fitness to practise case is 128 weeks and the maximum time is 319 weeks.
The department and Social Work England have taken several steps to reduce processing times including making changes to legislation in 2022 for operational efficiencies and providing additional funds of £7.1 million to clear the backlog of cases inherited from the previous regulator. Further activities being undertaken by Social Work England are set out in its annual business plan and in reports to Social Work England’s board.
As at 31 August 2024, 113 Social workers are currently subject to an interim suspension order and unable to practise whilst awaiting the conclusion of their fitness to practise case.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to reduce the average time for Social Work England to conclude fitness to practice cases.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As set out in Social Work England’s board report dated 19 July 2024, the current median time to conclude a fitness to practise case is 128 weeks and the maximum time is 319 weeks.
The department and Social Work England have taken several steps to reduce processing times including making changes to legislation in 2022 for operational efficiencies and providing additional funds of £7.1 million to clear the backlog of cases inherited from the previous regulator. Further activities being undertaken by Social Work England are set out in its annual business plan and in reports to Social Work England’s board.
As at 31 August 2024, 113 Social workers are currently subject to an interim suspension order and unable to practise whilst awaiting the conclusion of their fitness to practise case.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the average level of profit made by (a) private and (b) local authority-managed residential homes for looked-after children in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold or collect data on the profit levels of children’s social care providers. However, the Competition and Markets Authority detailed in their 2022 report that the largest fifteen providers made, on average, 19.4% profit on fostering provision, 22.6% on children’s home provision, and 35.5% on supported accommodation provision. The full report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-social-care-market-study-final-report/final-report.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce excessive profits in the residential children’s social care sector.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Profiteering from vulnerable children in care is unacceptable. As part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, the department will strengthen the regulation of the sector to return children’s social care to delivering high quality outcomes for looked after children at a sustainable cost to the taxpayer.