Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of fines in tackling levels of attendance at schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission 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. Thanks to the hard work of the sector there has been progress, but we remain a long way off pre-pandemic levels.
The department’s statutory attendance guidance, ‘Working together to improve school attendance’, promotes a support-first model. The guidance is clear that all partners should always work together to understand and remove the barriers to attendance. However, where that support is not successful, not appropriate (for example for term-time holidays), or not engaged with, the law protects pupils’ right to an education. The guidance outlines a role for legal intervention based on effective practice within the sector.
The vast majority of penalty notices are issued due to unauthorised family holidays. However, usage has been uneven across the country, with 26 out of 153 local authorities accounting for half of all penalty notices issued in 2023/2024. The new National Framework for Penalty Notices, introduced in August 2024, is designed to create consistency in that area by establishing a common threshold at which a penalty notice must be considered. In a public consultation in 2022, 71% of local authority employees and 59% of school and academy trust employees and governors or trustees strongly or somewhat agreed with the proposed national thresholds which were subsequently adopted within the framework.
The statistical release on parental responsibility measures, which includes information on the number of penalty notices issued for unauthorised absence, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on what the average fine was for parents who had failed to secure their child’s regular attendance at school under section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996 in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Information held on the average values of fines for parents who had failed to secure their child’s attendance at school will be held by local authorities.
The amount payable was £60 if paid within 21 days of receipt, rising to £120 if paid between 22 and 28 days. From August 2024, the fine for school absences increased to £80 if paid within 21 days or £160 if paid within 28 days. In the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Oral Statement of 4 November 2024 on Higher Education Reform, Official Report, column 46, what progress she has made on the leak inquiry; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The investigation remains ongoing and all reasonable lines of inquiry will be pursued.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2024 to Question 14758 on Special Educational Needs: Finance, and with reference to Table 5.1 in the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, on what evidential basis item 62, page 121, entitled Special Education Needs and Disabilities: Reduction in Local Authority SEND deficits as a result of additional DEL funding specifies £865 million of spending in 2025-26.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Office for Budget Responsibility had forecast that local authorities would spend £1.4 billion more than the funding they would receive on high needs in the 2025/26 financial year. This was on the assumption that high needs funding would increase only by the gross domestic product (GDP) deflator. In fact, overall high needs funding increased by £1 billion, and given this higher level of funding, HM Treasury have recorded in their tables that this creates a corresponding £865 million reduction in expected local government spending on high needs (that is, in the level of local government spending over the funding they will receive).
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the £1 billion funding for Special Education Needs announced in the Budget she expects to be used (a) by local authorities to reduce deficits and (b) to improve support for pupils.
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.
The department is providing the almost £1 billion increase in high needs funding to help meet the rise in costs faced by local authorities next year, as they in turn provide support to schools and children with SEND.
Local authorities’ responsibility to provide the required support remains unchanged. No part of the additional funding that is being provided has been ear-marked for use by local authorities to reduce existing dedicated schools grant deficits.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answers of 29 October to Question 11052 and of 8 November to Question 12117 on Free Schools, for what reason she has not provided the list requested.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government confirmed a review of mainstream free school projects to ensure that they continue to meet a need for places, offer value for money for the taxpayer and are not to the detriment of the other schools in the local area.
The department is currently in discussion with trusts, local authorities and other partners to gather more information in relation to projects. It would be unhelpful to increase speculation about individual projects at this stage.
No final decisions have been made at this point, and the department will publicly communicate the outcomes of the review in due course. It is also established departmental process that all cancellations and withdrawals are routinely published on GOV.UK. These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-successful-applications.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October to Question 11052 on Free Schools, if she will list the 44 projects.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for North West Norfolk to the answer of 29 October 2024 to Question 11051.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Written Statement of 22 October 2024 on Mainstream Free Schools, HCWS150, what the 44 centrally delivered, mainstream projects are on which her Department will engage with local authorities and trusts.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government wants to ensure children thrive in education, whatever type of school they are in, including free schools. Capacity varies from place to place, so the department will continue to open new schools where they are needed.
Departmental officials are working with local authorities, academy trusts and other partners to take work forward on the review of mainstream free school projects over the autumn and have written to them, setting out next steps in relation to individual projects. The department will publicly communicate the outcomes of the review in due course.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 22 October 2024, HCWS150 on Mainstream Free Schools, what her policy is on opening free schools approved under the last Government.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government wants to ensure children thrive in education, whatever type of school they are in, including free schools. Capacity varies from place to place, so the department will continue to open new schools where they are needed.
Departmental officials are working with local authorities, academy trusts and other partners to take work forward on the review of mainstream free school projects over the autumn and have written to them, setting out next steps in relation to individual projects. The department will publicly communicate the outcomes of the review in due course.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024 to Question 6213 on Special Educational Needs, whether she plans to introduce national standards for speech and language services.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The 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.
The department is 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 the department recognises the urgency and need to drive improvements, we are conscious that there are no quick fixes and want to take a considered approach to deliver sustainable education reform, including in relation to the introduction of nation standards for speech and language services.
Supporting children’s early language development is one of the department’s key priorities. The department is funding continued support for the 11,100 schools registered for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme during the 2024/25 academic year. In partnership with NHS England, the department is funding the Early Language and Support For Every Child (ELSEC) to trial new ways of working to earlier identify and support children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) in early years and primary schools, utilising therapy support assistants.
In further partnership with NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care, this department is funding the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme. PINS will build teacher and staff capacity to identify and meet the needs of neurodiverse children, including those with SLCN, through whole school interventions.
Finally, the department is funding evidence reviews from Newcastle University and University College London to highlight what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective tools and approaches to identify and support children and young people, age 0 to 25, with different types of needs including SLCN.