Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much additional funding her Department has allocated to Nottinghamshire County Council for special educational needs provision following the Autumn Budget 2024.
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.
Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to £11.9 billion. Of that total, Nottinghamshire County Council is being allocated over £130 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £10.8 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 8.6% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.
In addition to the DSG, local authorities will also receive a separate core schools budget grant (CSBG), and funding in respect of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, in the 2025/26 financial year. This CSBG continues the separate grants payable this year, which are to help special schools and alternative provision with the costs of teachers’ pay and pension increases and other staff pay increases. Individual local authorities’ allocations for both grants for 2025/26 will be published in due course.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the Government’s plan to convert empty classrooms into school-based nurseries to include dedicated, small-scale SEND provision in geographies where formal SEND school places are limited and heavily oversubscribed.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. Many mainstream settings are already going above and beyond to deliver specialist provision locally, including through resourced provision and special educational needs units.
The department provides local authorities with capital funding to support them to meet their statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities or who require alternative provision. In December my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced £740 million in High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA) for the 2025/26 financial year.
This funding can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings. Local authorities are best placed to make decisions about how they spend this funding, and they may invest in creating new provision in currently empty classrooms where that is appropriate to address their local needs.
The department expects to publish local authorities’ individual HNPCA allocations for the 2025/26 financial year in the spring.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of steps to help local authorities to reduce SEND-related travel costs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Rushcliffe to the answer of 27 December 2024 to Question HL3510.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 having a teaching qualification from an English university on the ability of a British National (Overseas) visa holder to gain Qualified Teacher Status in the UK.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Since February 2023, eligible teachers who trained in an increased number of overseas countries, including Hong Kong, have been able to apply for qualified teacher status (QTS) through our new digital service if they meet the robust criteria.
This recognition process is designed to assess the qualifications, professional standing and experience of teachers who trained overseas, rather than those who have qualifications from institutions in England.
English teacher training courses that meet our quality requirements and are offered by an accredited provider lead to QTS. As the qualification your constituent presented did not lead to QTS and has not been gained overseas, it cannot be considered for recognition.
There are several other routes available for experienced teachers to gain QTS, including the assessment only route. This allows teachers to demonstrate that they already meet all the teachers‘ standards, without the need for any further training. Teachers need to present detailed evidence and their teaching is assessed in a school by an accredited and approved provider.
If my hon. Friend, the Member for Rushcliffe has further questions about the eligibility criteria, he may find it helpful to contact the Teaching Regulation Agency directly via QTS.enquiries@education.gov.uk.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that all further education colleges comply with (a) accessibility regulations on (i) access to assistive technology and (ii) the use of accessible design in learning resources and (b) other accessibility regulations.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to ensuring that all learners, including learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), have access to a world-class education that sets them up for life and supports them to achieve positive outcomes.
Further education (FE) colleges must endeavour to secure the special educational provision that students need.
In addition, colleges also have duties and obligations under the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that they are acting inclusively and not discriminating against disabled students. As with other FE providers, colleges are obliged to make reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled students are not placed at a substantial disadvantage. This may include making provision for accessibility and assistive technology. Where a student has a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision, the college must use its best endeavours to put appropriate support in place.
Furthermore, under the SEND code of practice there should be a named person with oversight of SEND provision in every college. They co-ordinate, support and contribute to the strategic and operational management of the college. Curriculum and support staff in a college should know who to go to if they need help in identifying a student's special educational needs (SEN), are concerned about their progress or need more advice.
Colleges should keep the needs of students with SEND under regular review. They should involve the student and, particularly for those aged 16 to 18, their parents, closely at all stages of the cycle. Colleges should ensure that their staff have the skills to do this effectively.
Colleges should be ambitious for young people with SEN, whatever their needs and whatever their level of study. They should focus on supporting young people so they can progress and reach positive destinations in life, including higher education or further training or employment. They should equip them for independent living, good health and participating in the community.
Ofsted also ensures that colleges comply with accessibility requirements, as inspectors will determine whether staff are suitably qualified and/or have appropriate expertise to support learners or specific groups of learners. Ofsted will determine whether learning resources, including assistive technology and online/remote learning resources, are to the required standard and specification and whether they are used effectively to support learners to overcome their barriers to achieving their challenging learning goals.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with members of ForThe100 to discuss duty of care owed by higher education providers to their students.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer my hon. Friend the member for Rushcliffe to the answer of 08 January 2025 to Question 21515.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of Vision Impairment education services; and what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations proposed by the report entitled A Vision for VI education by the Thomas Pocklington Trust, published in September 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
For too long the education and care system has not met the needs of all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and this includes pupils with vision impairment. This government’s ambition is that all children and young people receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs, restoring parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need.
Whilst we recognise the urgency and need to drive improvements for children and young people with SEND, we are conscious that there are no quick fixes and want to take a considered approach to deliver sustainable education reform. We are aware that we cannot achieve this alone and want to work with organisations across the SEND sector, including the Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT), as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission. We therefore welcome TPT’s report entitled “A Vision for VI education” and are reviewing their recommendations.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) help clarify the duty of care owed by higher education providers to their students and (b) to ensure such standards are met.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is determined that children and young people receive the mental health care they deserve. This government is breaking down barriers to opportunity by providing young people with the mental health support they deserve. To support this, this government has committed to recruiting 8,500 additional staff across children and adult NHS mental health services.
The department continues to work closely with students, parents, mental health experts and the higher education (HE) sector to drive meaningful change in mental health practice through the HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce. The Taskforce recently published its second stage report, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/higher-education-mental-health-implementation-taskforce.
The department’s position is that a duty of care in HE may arise in certain circumstances. Such circumstances would be a matter for the courts to decide, based on the specific facts and context of the case being considered, and will be dependent on the application by a court of accepted common law principles.
My noble Friend, the Minister for Skills, welcomes the opportunity to meet with members of ForThe100 regarding these issues.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with representatives of the ForThe100 to discuss the duty of care owed by higher education providers to their students.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is determined that children and young people receive the mental health care they deserve. This government is breaking down barriers to opportunity by providing young people with the mental health support they deserve. To support this, this government has committed to recruiting 8,500 additional staff across children and adult NHS mental health services.
The department continues to work closely with students, parents, mental health experts and the higher education (HE) sector to drive meaningful change in mental health practice through the HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce. The Taskforce recently published its second stage report, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/higher-education-mental-health-implementation-taskforce.
The department’s position is that a duty of care in HE may arise in certain circumstances. Such circumstances would be a matter for the courts to decide, based on the specific facts and context of the case being considered, and will be dependent on the application by a court of accepted common law principles.
My noble Friend, the Minister for Skills, welcomes the opportunity to meet with members of ForThe100 regarding these issues.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the fees charged by (a) not-for-profit children's home providers and (b) independent fostering agencies; and whether the proposed financial transparency measures set out in the Department's policy paper entitled Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive, published on 18 November 2024, will apply to charitable organisations operating in the children's social care sector.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Every child in care should have a safe, loving home which is also value for money for the taxpayer.
However, some local authorities are on the brink of bankruptcy, in part due to the rising costs of spending on children in care which has increased significantly from £3.1 billion in 2009/10 to £8.1 billion in 2023/24. This is all while some providers are making excessive profits despite sometimes providing subpar care for our most vulnerable children.
In their 2022 report, the Competition and Markets Authority examined prices and profits across the children’s social care market and estimated operating profit margins for the 15 largest providers between 2016 and 2020 were 22.6% for children’s homes, 19.4% for independent fostering agencies and 35.5% for supported accommodation.
The department is clear that profiteering from vulnerable children in care is absolutely unacceptable and this is why the department is taking forward a package of measures to rebalance the children’s social care placement market and stamp out profiteering.
The financial oversight measures set out in ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’ will increase financial and corporate transparency among the most difficult to replace providers and their corporate owners.
The scheme will apply to private, voluntary and charity providers of children’s homes and independent fostering agencies operating in England.