Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the accessibility of early years services in the West Midlands.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is leading a cross government approach to champion the family hub model. The government is investing over £34 million to champion family hubs. This includes a National Centre for Family Hubs to provide expert advice, guidance and advocacy; a £10 million transformation fund to open family hubs in around 10 new areas in England; an evaluation innovation fund to build the evidence base; and work with local authorities to develop data and digital products that will support the practical implementation of family hubs. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/20m-to-provide-more-early-help-for-vulnerable-families.
Alongside this, the government is committed to delivering the action areas set out in the Early Years Healthy Development Review led by my right hon. Friend, the member for South Northamptonshire, more information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-best-start-for-life-a-vision-for-the-1001-critical-days. One key action area was to champion family hubs as a place where parents and carers can access Start for Life services. To support delivery of this, the National Centre for Family Hubs will support councils to understand how best to build a family hub network, and to take steps at a national and local level to reduce the stigma some parents or carers experience when asking for help. We will consider the recommendations in the Action for Children report as we take forward this work.
We have not made an assessment of the accessibility of early years services in the West Midlands specifically. The work that the government is doing to champion the family hub model and support parents and carers to access Start for Life services is national in scope, and applicable, with local nuance, in all regions.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the (a) proposal to introduce a minimum guarantee of early years services and (b) recommendations of the Action for Children’s report entitled Beyond reach: barriers to accessing early years services for children, published on 21 September 2021.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is leading a cross government approach to champion the family hub model. The government is investing over £34 million to champion family hubs. This includes a National Centre for Family Hubs to provide expert advice, guidance and advocacy; a £10 million transformation fund to open family hubs in around 10 new areas in England; an evaluation innovation fund to build the evidence base; and work with local authorities to develop data and digital products that will support the practical implementation of family hubs. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/20m-to-provide-more-early-help-for-vulnerable-families.
Alongside this, the government is committed to delivering the action areas set out in the Early Years Healthy Development Review led by my right hon. Friend, the member for South Northamptonshire, more information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-best-start-for-life-a-vision-for-the-1001-critical-days. One key action area was to champion family hubs as a place where parents and carers can access Start for Life services. To support delivery of this, the National Centre for Family Hubs will support councils to understand how best to build a family hub network, and to take steps at a national and local level to reduce the stigma some parents or carers experience when asking for help. We will consider the recommendations in the Action for Children report as we take forward this work.
We have not made an assessment of the accessibility of early years services in the West Midlands specifically. The work that the government is doing to champion the family hub model and support parents and carers to access Start for Life services is national in scope, and applicable, with local nuance, in all regions.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the effectiveness of the primary school assessment system and (b) whether that system reflects priorities of parents.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department ran a consultation in 2017 to seek views about key issues in the primary assessment system, including how we can ensure the assessment system is proportionate while continuing to support high standards in our primary schools. The consultation was open for 12 weeks and received 4,165 responses from a range of groups, including parents.
Our response set out a number of actions, including developing new and revised assessments by working closely with key stakeholders such as teachers. When developing new assessment policy, such as the new engagement model and the reception baseline assessment, the Standards and Testing Agency seeks the views of parents or their representative organisations to inform decision making. The response also set out how we would provide clearer and more meaningful information to parents on how their children are progressing as well as identifying where additional support may be required.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the ability of maintained nursery schools and children's centres to remain financially viable following recent changes to their funding.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
There have been no changes to the funding of maintained nursery schools and children centres. We are currently consulting on the introduction of an Early Years National Funding Formula to ensure a fairer allocation of early years funding to local authorities. The consultation document sets out our intention to provide supplementary funding for maintained nursery schools for at least two years in order to provide stability to the nursery school sector while they explore how to become more sustainable in the longer term, including exploiting the scope for efficiencies.
Local authorities have a duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to ensure sufficient children’s centres to meet the needs of local families. Local authorities must meet their statutory duties on children’s centres from funding that forms part of the Department for Communities and Local Government Business Rates Retention Scheme. In addition, other Government funding, including that for public health, adult skills training and troubled families may also be used locally to support services delivered wholly, or in part, through children’s centres. Local authorities must consult fully before any significant changes are made to children’s centre services.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) nursery schools, (b) day-care facilities and (c) children's centres in (i) Birmingham, Erdington constituency, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) the UK have (A) declared insolvency and (B) closed due to funding shortages in each of the last three years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Nursery Schools
The Department for Education's register of educational establishments in England and Wales indicates that from the 31 August 2013 to 31 August 2016 eight maintained nursery schools closed, and 10 amalgamated or merged with another school. No closures were recorded in Birmingham, Erdington or the West Midlands.
The Department does not collect information on the reasons for the closure of nursery schools. Local authorities have a duty to secure sufficient childcare in their local area. In consultation with their Schools Forum, they are responsible for deciding how best to distribute early years funding across their locality.
There is a presumption against the closure of any nursery school. The local authority must consult on any proposed closures, clearly demonstrating the rationale for so doing.
Day-care facilities
The Department does not collect data on the number of childcare businesses that have closed. The Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that the childcare market continues to expand.
Children’s centres
Local authorities have a duty under the Childcare Act 2006 to ensure sufficient children’s centres to meet the needs of local families. The Department does not collect information on the reasons for the closure of children’s centres.
According to data supplied by local authorities, a total of 259 children’s centres closed in the calendar years, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Forty nine of these closures were in the West Midlands. None of these were in Birmingham.
Asked by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what future plans she has for the role of parents in the running of their children's school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There is a long standing tradition of parents’ involvement in the running of their child’s school, including a valuable role in governance, and we want that to continue. Academy boards will always be free to appoint parents for their skills and knowledge to govern in the best interests of all pupils. Academies will be required to engage with all parents to listen to their views and feedback particularly on key decisions about the school.