Social Mobility: Careers Education
Janet Daby Excerpts(2 weeks, 1 day ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
It is a real pleasure to speak this afternoon, Ms Lewell. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) on securing this important debate. I acknowledge all the remarkable contributions from hon. Members across the Chamber. My hon. Friend is clearly very driven and knowledgeable about this area. I thank him for sharing the success of Rofft school in Wrexham and the transformational testimonies of Vicki’s progress with her art and Sophie’s with her maths. It was so lovely to hear about Sophie going on her first holiday as well.
With regard to the broader professional skills framework, the Government agree on the importance of soft skills, which the hon. Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) referred to as life skills. Officials recently met with Skills Builder to discuss that framework. I make it known to my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham that we recommend its use in our recently updated statutory careers guidance for schools.
I also acknowledge other Members. My hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) spoke about the need for young people to be able to make informed career choices. They need to be given the right advice to prevent confusion. I acknowledge the contribution from the hon. Member for Tiverton and Minehead (Rachel Gilmour). I absolutely agree that children and young people need to think big, dream big and aspire to be the best they can.
My hon. Friend the Member for Leigh and Atherton (Jo Platt) was clear that the career progress of children and young people should not be a lottery, and that we need to make sure that we continue to combat child poverty. That is extremely significant. I acknowledge the remarks made by my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) about the Government’s work on 1,000 career advisers. I appreciate his contribution. My hon. Friend the Member for Bangor Aberconwy (Claire Hughes) spoke passionately about the creative industries, and the need for young people to know what jobs are available and for that information to be made known to them. That is extremely important. They need to know what exists, from a young age.
Hon. Members spoke about many topics, including having the chance to go on to a career as an older person, not just as a younger person. For some, life begins at 40 or beyond. We must not reduce the opportunities for children and young people, or for adults. Many stories have been shared today, including the story of Jack Bailey. I thank hon. Members for all those contributions. I absolutely agree that we need to support young people in the choices that they make. The hon. Member for Twickenham spoke about a range of learning, training and skills that should be on a par with universities. There is no disagreement from us on that. She also spoke about the value of career hubs—again, I absolutely agree.
There was much criticism of the Scottish National party and its many failures. That came across very clearly. So much needs to be done there, and we will hold them to account every step of the way, as do Members across this Chamber. The Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross), also spoke about SNP failings, but seemed to ignore her own party’s failings when in government.
Young people need the right opportunities and the right information and guidance to set them on the path of success. That is crucial if we are to meet the skills needs of the future and deliver on the Government’s five missions. We will do better than the last Government. Almost one in eight young people across the United Kingdom is not in education, training or work. That limits our productivity and growth. More than half a million vacancies are due to skills shortages. We can all agree that those are very real challenges and there is an urgent need to take action.
We are investing £15.8 billion in the financial year 2025-26 in apprenticeships, further education and higher education. We are serious about the changes that are needed. We are developing a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education and skills to break down barriers to opportunity and to support the development of a skilled workforce in all areas of England. A skills system fit for the future will give young people the training and skills to gain a sense of success and purpose and to build confidence and the opportunity to pursue a rewarding career.
Too often, young people from deprived backgrounds and communities lack the information, connections and encouragement to look beyond their current landscapes; we have heard that from many Members this afternoon. Careers education is a great enabler, empowering young people to explore their potential and to navigate their future with confidence. Teachers should and must make the classroom an important place of career exploration, and I absolutely agree with hon. Members that that must start early. We should encourage aspiration among primary-age children by opening their eyes to a wide range of jobs and careers and speaking to them about opportunities, jobs, careers and what they could go on to do. We should tell them that they can go on to be sustained in a career they enjoy.
For secondary pupils, through career learning in curriculum subjects, teachers can help to connect and apply knowledge and skills to real-world contexts. Careers education can illuminate career pathways through conversations with employers, training providers and careers advisers. The foundations of the careers system and improving outcomes for young people are in place. By using the Gatsby benchmarks of good career guidance, dedicated careers leaders are developing careers programmes for young people against a set of world-class standards, overseen by the Careers and Enterprise Company—a national network of 44 career hubs, delivering career support to 95% of secondary schools and colleges.
The hubs are partnerships with strategic and local authorities that connect careers provision to the needs of local economies and leverage support from thousands of employers. They are targeting the right young people to promote social mobility in every region. For example, the Cumbria careers hub worked with the local hospitality industry and 10 schools, targeting students with low social mobility. The students visited a local college, where top Cumbrian chefs cooked a three-course lunch while explaining food presentation, food service and food provenance. The careers hub funded all the transport costs.
Careers hub membership leads to stronger career provision, as those schools and colleges meet an average of 5.8 out of the eight Gatsby benchmarks. It leads to more understanding of technical routes: 80% of young people are likely to report awareness of an apprenticeship by year 11, almost on par with A-levels. It leads to increased employer engagement: learners in 64% of schools have 10 or more encounters with businesses. Only yesterday, I met a young person in the Department undertaking an apprenticeship in business management. She spoke excitedly, and so well and confidently, about her experience. We need to ensure more of our young people have such experiences all around our country.
There is also well developed evidence linking good career guidance to reduced levels of young people not in education, employment or training. Young people in schools and colleges with the highest-quality careers provision are 8% less likely to become NEET. That effect is magnified in the most disadvantaged schools, where the highest-quality careers provision is associated with a 20% reduction in NEET rates. But there is more to do to ensure that young people from all backgrounds can realise those benefits. The data shows a gap in career readiness ranging from 2% to 5% between the most and least economically disadvantaged young people. Disadvantaged people are less confident in talking about their skills when applying for courses or jobs. Only 25% of schools and colleges fully achieve all eight Gatsby benchmarks, which represent the highest-quality careers provision.
We want to accelerate progress, close gaps and better support young people to raise aspiration and meet the country’s skills needs. That is why we are committed to improving careers advice in schools and colleges across England. We have raised the bar of our expectations for careers guidance for young people by publishing updated statutory guidance for schools and colleges, which adopts the updated Gatsby benchmarks framework with evidence-based improvements that will lead to even better outcomes for young people. That includes opening up opportunities to young people with SEND. There are many examples of that. York and North Yorkshire careers hub is working with Forest Moor school, a SEND school in a rural area, to support year 11 pupils to access experiences of trade, such as bricklaying, plastering and decorating.
I recognise that time is moving on. Much more could be said about what the Government are doing in this area. Too many young people are missing out on the work experience that they need. We will continue to develop skills and improve work readiness to ensure that young people are supported. That includes virtual workplace experiences for more than 1,000 schools in rural and coastal areas, providing access to wider national networks of employers outside their local community, including with key employers such as Airbus and Siemens.
The need for high-quality careers education is not confined to the young. The “Get Britain Working” White Paper set us on the path to creating an inclusive labour market in which everybody can participate and progress in work. Careers and employability support are at the heart of that. To help bridge the gap for those who might otherwise struggle to find employment, a new youth guarantee will ensure that 18 to 21-year-olds in England can get support to find training, an apprenticeship or work. We are also providing support for adults who want to work, increase their earnings, change their career or even retrain.
In England, the National Careers Service and Jobcentre Plus will be brought together as a new jobs and careers service. That will create greater awareness of opportunities, and a focus on skills and careers, as well as better join-up between employability, support and career provision.
I am enormously grateful for the support of my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham for this agenda, and for all hon. Members’ contributions, which have shone a light on the vital role of careers education in tackling disadvantage. I have set out some of what we are doing to ensure that people from all backgrounds are supported in finding rewarding and fulfilling careers.
Oral Answers to Questions
Janet Daby Excerpts(2 weeks, 4 days ago)
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Greg Smith (Mid Buckinghamshire) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
Apprenticeship starts by young people collapsed under the Conservatives. Labour is rebalancing the system towards young people to help them get on in life by backing them and giving them the skills they need to get jobs and grow our economy.
Greg Smith
Over 95,000 apprenticeships are being undertaken in the health, public services and care sector, and NHS Employers and many others have raised concerns about the impact of the Government policy to cease funding for level 7 apprenticeships for those over the age of 22. Can the Minister tell us what plans are in place to ensure that the people supporting all of us and all our constituents are given essential training and support? More particularly, what discussions has she had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care about the impact of this decision on our NHS?
Janet Daby
We are encouraging more employers, including the NHS, to invest in upskilling their staff who are over 22 years old and to deliver level 7 apprenticeships where they benefit those businesses and individuals. It will be for employers to determine the most appropriate training, and there are other training opportunities available at level 7, including non-apprenticeship routes. Our reforms will support 120,000 new training opportunities and up to 13,000 foundation apprenticeship starts. Apprenticeship starts, participation and achievements are all up under Labour, and we are continuing to go much further.
Anna Dixon (Shipley) (Lab)
I welcome the Government’s plans to create those 120,000 training opportunities for young people, including these higher-level apprenticeships. However, we know that there are significant shortages of those able to provide training and mentorship. With only 65% of 55 to 64-year-olds employed, does the Minister agree that there is an opportunity to retrain older workers so they can pass on their experience to the next generation?
Janet Daby
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that we continue to support and train adults, and many adults with seniority in their professions will continue to offer excellent support, mentoring, internship and guidance to younger apprentices. The change we have put in place will enable apprenticeship opportunities to be rebalanced towards younger people and will create more opportunities for those entering the labour market.
Neil O’Brien (Harborough, Oadby and Wigston) (Con)
Ministers recently announced that they were axing level 7 apprenticeships. Strangely, they made the announcement during recess; and also strangely, it was only the day after the announcement that they finally answered my parliamentary question from April, revealing that they were making a 90% cut in those apprenticeships. This is blowing a huge hole in the NHS workforce plan, leading to a shortfall of 11,000 nurses. If Ministers will not listen to the many employers saying that this will make it much more difficult for people who are not so well-off to get into the professions, will they at least rule out cutting level 6 apprenticeships next?
Janet Daby
I can reassure the shadow Minister that level 6 apprenticeships are a core part of our offer, and we will continue to fund them. I also say politely to him that we will take no lessons from Liz Truss’s previous Health Minister; that Government left our NHS on its knees, and we are having to rebuild it from its foundations again.
Ian Sollom (St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire) (LD)
The number of health visitors in England has reached an all-time low, with just 7,000 remaining, and there is a forecast shortfall of 37,000 community nurses by 2036. The Department’s own Skills England sectoral report shows that the health and social care sectors face the highest vacancy rates, at 41%. Has there been any specific assessment of how removing level 7 apprenticeship funding for those over 21 will impact the pipeline of specialist community public health nurses into critical shortage roles, and is Skills England working with the Department of Health on NHS workforce planning?
Janet Daby
Skills England is taking a pivotal and active role. Also, of the 2.5 million workers in critical demand occupations, which includes the NHS, the majority require a qualification lower than degree level. We are rebalancing opportunities towards younger people, whose rates of apprenticeship starts have fallen more dramatically than the overall decline over the last decade. To create more opportunities for young people, we will need to prioritise public funding towards those at the start of their working career and at the lower apprenticeship levels, rather than those who are already in work with higher levels of prior learning or qualifications.
Phil Brickell (Bolton West) (Lab)
Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
Where adoption is the right option for children, it needs to happen without delay, and early permanence placements are a crucial way to offer children stability. Labour believes that children growing up in our country deserve the best start in life, which is why we have provided £250,000 in funding for Adoption England to promote the practice. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill represents the biggest overhaul of children’s social care in a generation, and it is a shame that Opposition Members opposed it.
Josh Newbury
I thank the Minister for that response. As an adoptive parent and a foster carer, I know the transformative effect that early permanence can have on the lives of children in care. It is not right for every child or for every parent, but adoption agencies could make much wider use of it. Would the Minister be willing to meet me and adoption charities to discuss how we can maximise the benefits of early permanence?
Janet Daby
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important topic; he is a champion for children in Cannock Chase. I agree that we should continue to promote early permanence. Adoption England has published national standards to promote and shape early permanence practice across the country. I regularly meet the organisations my hon. Friend has mentioned, but I am more than happy to meet him, too.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
Adoptive parents right across my constituency are rightly concerned about the impact of Labour’s recent cuts to the adoption and special guardianship support fund. Following last week’s spending review, what hope can be offered to families in my constituency and up and down the country who need the additional support that has been taken away under those cuts?
Janet Daby
I thank the hon. Lady for her question and for the concern she has expressed. The adoption and special guardianship support fund has not been cut. Demand is ever increasing, and we have chosen an approach to manage tight resources in the face of increasing demand for support. The adoption and special guardianship support fund still enables those eligible to access a significant package of therapeutic support tailored to meet their individual needs.
Dr Simon Opher (Stroud) (Lab)
Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
I agree with my hon. Friend that it is time for a new direction for Scotland with Scottish Labour. In England, we are making over £1 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028-29 to support young people into the industries of the future. That is because we are unlocking opportunity and driving growth through our plan for change.
SEND Funding
Janet Daby Excerpts(3 weeks, 1 day ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
I congratulate the right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart) on securing this debate on this important subject. I know he has a strong interest in special educational needs and disability, and I commend him for his 20 years of advocating for change. He spoke widely about many areas, but especially about distribution. I also thank the many Members across this Chamber for their passionate and sincere speeches, which all advocated for their constituents and the children they care about.
Among the many Members who have spoken, my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) talked about the difficulties for parents navigating SEND. The hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) spoke about the challenges involving EHCPs. My hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (David Taylor) gave some case studies, and like other Members mentioned these precious children and their experiences, which were all very vital and pertinent to this debate. I thank them for those case studies about Grace, Olivia, Hermione and others, which I really appreciate and acknowledge. My hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton West (Warinder Juss) spoke about the Government investing in early years, and that is absolutely what we are doing.
I will seek to address as many as possible of the issues and challenges that have been raised and brought to my attention, but I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Lloyd Hatton) for his strong advocacy for SEN provision in his area, which has been noted. However, I will push back against the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Joy Morrissey), who raised many issues to be addressed. I gently say to her that, given the past 14 years, we did not need to be in this position with SEND—we did not need to be here—and this Government have been left to fix the foundations. We do have a plan for change, and I will mention as many of the areas as I can.
The Government are committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving every child the best start in life. That means ensuring that all children and young people receive the right support to succeed in their education and to lead happy, healthy and productive adult lives.
Janet Daby
I would like to make some progress before I begin to give way.
Members from across the House will be aware of the challenges facing the SEND system—a system that is difficult for parents, carers and young people to navigate, and where outcomes for children are often poor. That has been mentioned by many Members. The Education Committee has undertaken its own inquiry aimed at solving the SEND crisis, which underscores the significant challenges we face. Improving the SEND system is a priority for this Government. We want all children to receive the right support to succeed in their education, and to lead happy, healthy and productive adult lives. The hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted (Victoria Collins) quoted Hermione, who said that SEND needs to work for all, and I just wanted to acknowledge that.
Graham Stuart
I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. She will be aware that the title of this debate, despite what it says on the screen, is “Distribution of SEND Funding”. I hope, therefore, that she will focus primarily on that particular technical point. The distribution of SEND funding across the country is, according to f40 and campaigners across the House, unfair, broken and needs to change. Is that the Government’s view and the Minister’s view? That is the first answer, and then we can turn to how it can best be fixed. The most important thing is to recognise whether it is broken or not. I feel it is unfair and broken, and I would like to hear the Minister say so, if she agrees.
Janet Daby
I hear the right hon. Gentleman’s point, but he does need to allow me time to proceed. It would be wrong of me not to also respond to other Members from across the Chamber who have mentioned concerns with regard to the reason we are here.
Members across the House will be aware of the challenges facing the SEND system. Improving the SEND system is a priority for this Government. As I said, we want all children to receive the right support. We are prioritising early intervention and inclusive provision in mainstream settings. We know that early intervention prevents unmet needs from escalating, and that it supports all children and young people to achieve their goals alongside their peers.
These are complex issues that need a considered approach to deliver sustainable change, and we have already begun that work. We launched new training resources to support early years educators to meet emerging needs, and announced 1,000 further funded training places for early years special educational needs co-ordinators in the 2025-26 financial year, which will be targeted at settings in the most disadvantaged areas. We have extended the partnerships for inclusion of neurodiversity in schools programme to support an additional 1,200 mainstream primary schools to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children in the financial year 2025-26. That investment builds on the success of the programme, which was delivered to over 1,650 primary schools last year. We have already established an expert advisory group for inclusion to improve the mainstream educational outcomes and experiences of those with SEND.
All that work forms part of the Government’s opportunity mission, which will break down the unfair link between background and opportunity. We will continue to work with the sector as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission and to respect parents’ trust. As my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) mentioned, parents need to be respected, not exhausted.
The Department is providing an increase of £1 billion for the high needs budget in England in the 2025-26 financial year. Total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £12 billion for the year 2025-26. Returning to the right hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness, of that total, East Riding of Yorkshire council is being allocated over £42 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant—an increase of £3.5 million on 2024-25. The high needs block is calculated using the high needs national funding formula. The NFF allocation is a 9.1% increase per head for the two to 18-year-old population on the equivalent 2024-25 NFF allocation.
I will turn to the many issues raised by other Members. We know that families face issues with education, health and care plans, and that even after fighting to secure the entitlement, support is not always delivered quickly enough. EHC plans should be issued within 20 weeks and are quality assured for a combination of statutory requirements, local authority frameworks and best practice guidelines, but the latest publication data showed that just half of new EHC plans were issued within the time limit in 2023. Where a local authority does not meet its duty on timeliness and quality of plans, we can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement.
This Government believe that a complex legal process should not be necessary to access good, early support for children and young people, which is why we need to focus on addressing the overall systemic issues to make SEND support easier to access. We are continuing to develop the ways in which we protect support for the children who will always need specialist placements and make accessing that support less bureaucratic and adversarial.
Mr Adnan Hussain
Does the Minister acknowledge that early support must be given to children when they are at nursery? If we identify those needs at that point, we could save money in the long run.
Janet Daby
The Government are very much committed to early intervention and prevention work.
Ben Obese-Jecty
It was strongly suggested the other day that the Government were going to look at changing EHCPs and possibly even scrapping them completely. Can the Minister give some reassurance to the House, and to constituents who may be watching this debate, that EHCPs will remain extant and will be worked on?
Janet Daby
As far as I am aware, EHC plans will continue.
We know that children’s earliest years make the biggest difference to their life chances. As I have already said, we believe in early intervention and recognise the importance of high-quality early years education and care, which can lead to better outcomes for children. Having access to a formal childcare setting allows children’s needs to be identified at the earliest opportunity, so that the appropriate support and intervention can be put in place to allow children with SEND to thrive.
Arrangements are in place to support children with SEND to access Government funding in early education, including funding for disability access and special educational needs inclusion and the high needs NFF allocations to support local authorities. We are reviewing early years SEND funding arrangements to assess how suitable the current arrangements are for supporting the needs of children with SEND.
The additional funding for schools of more than £4 billion a year over the next three years announced in the spending review will provide an above real-terms per-pupil increase in the core schools budget, taking per-pupil funding to its highest ever level and enabling us to transform the SEND system. We will improve support for children, stop parents having to fight for support and protect the support that is currently in place. Details of the Government’s intended approach to SEND reform will be set out in the schools White Paper in the autumn. The Government will also set out further details on supporting local authorities as we transition to a reformed system as part of the upcoming local authority funding reform consultation.
Sir John Hayes
The point was made earlier about rural areas. My county of Lincolnshire has a sparsely distributed population, which makes travel and access difficult for parents of children with special needs. Will the Minister address that in the new funding formula to ensure that rural areas do not lose out?
Janet Daby
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. As I have already said, the Government intend to set out our SEND reforms in the schools White Paper in the autumn. I will make sure that a further response is also provided to the right hon. Gentleman on that point.
The investment in the spending review is a critical step forward in our mission to support all children and young people to achieve and thrive, and to support teachers and leaders to deliver high and rising standards across every school for every pupil.
On travel, which has been raised by many Members across the Chamber, local authorities must arrange free travel for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there because of the distance, their SEND or a mobility problem, or because the route is not safe. There are additional rights to free travel for low-income households to help them exercise school choice.
Where a child has an EHCP, the school named in the plan will usually be considered their nearest to home for school travel purposes. We know how challenging home-to-school travel is for local authorities at the moment. That is due in large part to the pressures in the SEND system itself.
Central Government funding for home-to-school travel is provided through the local government finance settlement, administered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The final settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash-terms increase in councils’ core spending power for 2024-25.
We have committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, so that more children can attend a local school with their peers. This will mean that fewer children will need to travel long distances to a school that can meet their needs, which will reduce pressure on home-to-school travel over time, meaning that we will be better able to meet the needs of those who still need to rely on it.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I am sure you want me to draw to a close. I reiterate that the Government are urgently looking at reforming the SEND system, so that it better serves children and young people and their families. We have noted all the contributions that have been made this afternoon. This will take time, but we are working at pace and will be setting out our plans to do that in the White Paper in the autumn. Members can rest assured that our approach is rooted in partnership, and that all our work will be guided by what children, their families, experts, leaders and frontline professionals tell us. We can transform the outcomes of young people with SEND only if we listen and work together on solutions.
Maths: Contribution to the UK
Janet Daby Excerpts(4 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
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This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
It is a real pleasure to speak under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I thank the many hon. Members for participating in this debate on an important subject. I am sure that you would agree with me, Mr Vickers, that their enthusiasm and passion means we can rest assured that this all adds up and that there is a level of agreement.
I thank the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom) for securing this important debate and for his optimistic thoughts on mathematics and its being a significant part of our present and future society, especially for our young people, teachers and institutions, as well as economically.
I want to acknowledge what my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Chris Vince) said about maths being a beautiful thing—it is indeed. I enjoyed maths when I was at school and I still do it with my children, helping them through their own education; it is with us everywhere.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for her contribution and wish her daughter every success with her results. I agree that we need to celebrate, encourage and have a love for learning maths.
I will of course attempt to respond to the many areas of the subject that Members have mentioned so far. I thank the hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate (Claire Young) for speaking so eloquently about the significance of number-based information and how relevant that is for our life in general and for life skills. I congratulate the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted (Victoria Collins) on being a maths champion and on the many points that she raised. I thank all those involved in maths and the teachers in our schools, colleges and universities for doing such an excellent job in teaching our children, our young people and adults about this most important subject.
I do not perceive the debate as contentious. Nobody here today would say that maths is not important, because it absolutely is. We all agree on that. I loved maths when I was at school. It was one of my favourite subjects and it remains so. But why is it so important? It has a critical role to play in the future of the UK economy. Higher levels of achievement are usually associated with higher earnings and productivity, which are a key determining factor of economic growth. There is a strong demand for mathematical skills in the labour market. Such skills can increase individual productivity, earnings and employment opportunities and are important in everyday life and activities.
Many careers require maths skills, which change over time. I think it is safe to say that for most of us in this Chamber, the need for maths when we were starting out was different to the needs for maths today. We only need to mention the words artificial intelligence—it has already been mentioned—to recognise that. Excellence in maths is one of the many skills needed to drive growth in the AI industry, and we want to ensure that all children and young people have the foundational maths knowledge and equal opportunities to progress in their careers. Advanced mathematics underpins the development of cutting edge AI, which the Prime Minister has set out as a key driver in the plan for change, helping to turbocharge growth and boost living standards.
In schools, all key stages play an essential part in maths knowledge. Under the current curriculum, in key stage 1 pupils are taught a basic underpinning of mathematics, ensuring they develop confidence and mental fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value. The principal focus of mathematics teaching in key stage 2 is to ensure that pupils become increasingly fluent with whole numbers and the four operations, including number facts. The percentage of pupils meeting the key stage 2 expected standards in maths in the 2023-24 academic year was 73%.
The programme of study for key stage 3 is organised into apparently distinct domains, but pupils should build on key stage 2 and connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competency in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. The mathematical content set out in the key stage 3 and key stage 4 programmes of study covers a full range of material contained in the GCSE mathematics qualifications. In 2024, 72% of pupils achieved a GCSE grade 9 to 4 in mathematics by the end of key stage 4. I should point out that that is based on the current national curriculum, but there is an ongoing independent curriculum assessment review, as has been mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood. I welcome the Education Committee’s keen interest in this topic, and I am sure there are many other views as well.
Maths does not stop when someone leaves school. The study of maths post-16 is important to ensure the future workforce is skilled, competitive and productive. Skills developed while studying maths help adults with everyday life. There is an expectation that students will continue to study maths if they need to and, of course, if they choose to. From what I have heard from Members in this room, I am sure we all encourage those students who have an aptitude for maths to continue at A-level and Higher maths.
It is good to know that last year almost 100,000 students took A-level maths, and there was a 20% increase in students of A-level further maths. A-level maths remains the most popular A-level subject, as it has been since 2014. But there will also be those young people who did not get the grades they needed at school. Any young person who has not yet attained GCSE grade 4 in maths must continue to study maths under the maths and English condition of funding.
We support young people who are aged 16 to18 at the start of their apprenticeships to continue to develop vital maths and English skills during their apprenticeships, either through GCSE or functional skills qualifications. Gaining level 2 skills in these areas is important, giving young people the opportunity to progress in life, in learning and in work.
We do not stop with young people either. There are many adults who missed out earlier in life for whatever reason and need the right maths skills or qualifications to get on. Unfortunately, the numbers do not make good reading. Some 8.5 million adults have low maths or English skills, or both. That is why we fund adults aged 19 and above to study maths for free through our essential skills legal entitlements. This allows adults without level 2 maths skills to study high-quality qualifications such as GCSEs and functional skills qualifications and to gain the skills they need to succeed in life.
In 2023-24, we funded more than 100,000 adults to study maths through the legal entitlement. However, the number of adults studying maths has declined in recent years, so it is important to turn that around. Adults undertaking apprenticeships continue to benefit from the job-specific maths and English skills they need to do the job.
Although A-level maths is the single most popular A-level, we are not taking that for granted in our plan for change. We are investing £8.2 million to improve participation in and the teaching of advanced maths. The funding for the advanced maths support programme will support teacher career progression development and student enrichment, with a focus on girls and students from disadvantaged backgrounds, breaking down the barriers to success, so that all young people have the chance to progress to STEM and AI careers in the future.
The hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire spoke about long-term investment in mathematics and mathematical science. I would like to talk briefly about the importance of undergraduate-level maths and the significant growth in demand for jobs requiring undergraduate maths skills. We fully recognise the critical importance of sustaining a strong pipeline of mathematics graduates to meet the evolving need of the economy, research and innovation sectors. Maths underpins a wide range of disciplines and industries. Ensuring a steady flow of skilled graduates is essential to maintaining the UK’s global competitiveness, as was mentioned by the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (Neil O'Brien).
It is encouraging to see that in 2023-24, 9,105 undergraduates qualified in maths, which is up 2.2% from the previous year, despite that figure being lower than in earlier years. It is also good to note that in 2024 there were more than 55,000 applications to main scheme full-time undergraduate courses in mathematics, an increase of 5.5% from 2023 and 10% from 2019.
Internationally, England has performed well in recent studies. However, there is still work to do and there is a significant difference in performance between different pupil groups, including a gap associated with disadvantage. In 2022, pupils in England achieved a mean PISA mathematics score of 492, which is significantly higher than the OECD average of 472. In 2023, pupils in England performed on average significantly above the TIMSS centre point in mathematics and science in both year 5 and year 9. They also performed significantly above the 2023 international mean in both subjects and in both year groups.
Many Members have talked today about teaching, teaching recruitment and our focus on that area. I will just reassure Members that we remain extremely focused on recruiting teachers, including maths teachers. We have a series of bursaries and scholarships, and we are also focusing on how we retain teachers. We will continue to focus on that, because we recognise that we need to meet that target of 6,500 teachers. I also reassure Members that we have had an increase in the number of teachers of maths at secondary schools and in SEND.
I am grateful to the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire for securing the debate and for speaking about the importance of maths. I am also grateful to all the other Members who participated in the debate for the significant points that they made. Everyone has made very valuable points about the importance of maths, so I hope that Members are happy that the Government share their views and the concerns they have raised. It is always good to find common ground and consensus across the House on important matters. The steps we have taken underline the importance of maths to individuals, to employers and indeed to the country.
Adoption and Kinship Placements
Janet Daby Excerpts(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
I recognise that there are many champions of children and families in Westminster Hall this afternoon. Indeed, there are many passionate Members who really want the right outcomes for children who are adopted and who are in kinship care through special guardianship or child arrangements orders and others.
I thank the hon. Member for South West Devon (Rebecca Smith) for securing this important debate. I too want the best support for adopted and kinship children, and I acknowledge her sincere interest in the subject. There have been many interventions, questions and speeches. Because of time I will not refer to each Member by their constituency, but I will do my best to respond to the many questions that have rightly been put.
We recognise the particular needs of adopted and kinship children, many of whom have experienced trauma. Some will have experienced in utero damage, which can result in foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and other conditions. That is why the Government have continued to provide funding to support these children through the adoption and special guardianship support fund and other ways. There have been no cuts in the overall budget of the adoption and special guardianship support fund. When that announcement was made, I said that further information would follow. The further announcement was made during recess so that the fund could be opened and therapy could be accessed. We had to announce that so that the new criteria were available and the funding could be opened.
Although funding has been confirmed at £50 million this year, we know that it will not be enough to meet the expected demand, and we are therefore making these decisions now to enable us to support the maximum number of children. Families will still receive a good standard of support through the fund: £3,000-worth of therapy each year is a substantial amount of support, and will fund an average of 19 to 20 hours of therapy on current costings. Where needed, local authorities and regional adoption agencies can use their own funding to increase the amount of therapy, if needed. Both multidisciplinary assessments and specialist assessments will be able to continue, but the money for that will have to come from that £3,000. We have decided to stop match funding and the separate funding of special assessments, but, as I said, such assessments can continue out of that £3,000.
Janet Daby
I will give way to the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) first.
Tom Gordon
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for allowing me to intervene first. In the Adjournment debate that I held on this subject, the Minister responded,
“support for adopted children is critical. It can decrease the likelihood of adoption disruptions or breakdowns.”—[Official Report, 3 April 2025; Vol. 765, c. 555.]
In real terms to people on the ground, this is a cut, so will she acknowledge that the actions of her Government will have an impact on adoption breakdown and disruption?
Janet Daby
I absolutely recognise that the threshold and criteria have changed to enable us to reach as many children as possible under the current funding of £50 million. It is crucial that assessments continue for those children to enable them to have the right types of therapy. If Members allow me to press on, I will be able to respond a bit further to the many things they raised.
I turn to the point about adoption and special guardianship support funding not being available to all children living under special guardianship orders. The main reason that the fund is available only to previously looked-after children living under special guardianship or child arrangements orders is that previously looked-after children, such as those who have been in foster care or residential care, may face higher levels of vulnerability and disadvantage than their peers. These funds aim to provide targeted support to address the specific challenges associated with their prior experiences.
I was asked many questions about the kinship pilot and kinship funding, and I want to say more about the adoption and special guardianship support fund. On 14 April, the Department announced that the fund would be open to applications with changed criteria and a fair access limit of £3,000 per child per year, and that match funding and the separate funding of specialist assessments would be stopped. When assessed as having a need, families can approach their local authorities and regional adoption agencies. Adoption England is obviously working with regional adoption agencies. We also have specialist centres of excellence—a multidisciplinary approach to ensuring the essential provision that adopted children need.
Alison Bennett
What is the Minister’s assessment of the reserves that local authorities and adoption agencies have available to boost that funding?
Janet Daby
We have invested a further £8.8 million in Adoption England, £5 million of which will go towards centres of excellence. On local authorities, Members will be aware of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. They will also be aware that we are investing in early prevention and intervention work in local authorities. In doing so, we are trying to support families through kinship arrangements. Members will also be aware that we have committed £40 million to a pilot for kinship care.
Rachael Maskell
The bottom line is that there is insufficient money for specific therapeutic interventions for those young people. Will the Minister commit to go back to the Treasury and make the case for ensuring the full funding of therapeutic interventions so that no child misses out?
Janet Daby
The Government are in a challenging situation, but we will continue to ensure that provision is in place for adopted and kinship children. We will always make sure there are certain provisions in place, and we will continue to look at the different types of therapy that are needed. Obviously, I will continue to have conversations with the Treasury about the essential funding that is needed in this area.
I am very conscious of time, and the hon. Member for South West Devon needs to respond. On the £40 million package to trial a new kinship allowance from kinship carers, hon. Members across the Chamber have put in bids for their local authorities, but we will make sure that there is a call to all local authorities for expressions of interest. That will be launched this summer, and it will identify which local authorities will be best placed to deliver the pilot from autumn 2025. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that it will be local authorities that have already put in bids to me.
Adopted children and those in kinship care should be supported to obtain good educational outcomes. However, many do not do so, as this cohort has poorer GCSE results than the overall population and higher exclusion rates. Adopted children are entitled to priority school admissions, plus advice and support from designated teachers. Schools also receive £2,630 in pupil premium plus funding for every adopted child in their school. Both adopted children and children in kinship care can receive advice and support from local authority virtual school heads. We will fully update the statutory guidance for virtual school heads, including sections on supporting educational outcomes.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are seeking to mandate local authorities to appoint at least one person to promote the educational achievement of children who live in kinship care, regardless of whether they have been in local authority care. These duties will ensure that they receive consistent support to improve their outcomes.
There is much more to be said on all this and in response to all the questions. I am grateful to hon. Members for raising the important subject of adoption and kinship care support today, and for such a thoughtful and wide-ranging debate. I will take away many points from today’s debate.
On match funding for assessments, match funding applications accounted for less than 2% of all applications in the last financial year. It is important to put it in that wider context. There was wide disparity in the country on match funding but, as I have said, there are other avenues that adoptive parents and kinship carers can pursue to ensure that they get the additional support they need for their children.
I have listened carefully to Members’ remarks and I know that many outside this House will be very keen to follow up on what has been said. I am sure there will be opportunities to further question me and this Government on these issues, and a Backbench Business debate has been mentioned.
I am sure that hon. Members will agree that the biggest tribute must very much go to the parents and carers of adopted and kinship children. My hon. Friend the Member for Reading West and Mid Berkshire (Olivia Bailey) mentioned the joy that adopted children and kinship children bring to their families. I want to acknowledge that, and to thank all those parents and carers who continue to demonstrate compassion, resilience and dedication.
Hadlow College
Janet Daby Excerpts(2 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
I congratulate the right hon. Member for Tonbridge (Tom Tugendhat) on securing this important debate. I, too, wish to pay tribute to all the staff and students at the colleges and the school mentioned in the debate, North Kent College and Hadlow rural community school. In fact, I wish to extend that to all colleges and schools across Kent. I heard very clearly the points he made and I will attempt to address them during the course of my response.
Further education colleges are a vital part of the education system. It is important that we continue to support them and provide all the necessary tools to assist with ensuring that they have good financial sustainability. That includes the ability to respond to financial distress and, in its worst case, insolvency. Land-based provision is an important part of the further education system, with strong links to the Government’s mission to kick-start economic growth, support Britain’s ecology and make it a clean energy superpower.
Hadlow College, part of the North Kent College group, is the only land-based college in Kent. It has its own beef herd, sheep farm, horticultural production, a large animal management centre, fisheries lakes, a machinery and land-based technology facility, and equine centres. Its curriculum includes courses in agriculture, agricultural engineering, animal management, equine management, fisheries, floristry and horticulture, as well as some non-land-based courses. It has an important place within the Kent skills system.
Hadlow College has one main campus, in Hadlow. Prior to being placed into education administration, it was federated with another college, West Kent and Ashford College, a general further education college with campuses in Ashford and Tonbridge. Historically, in 2019, the colleges faced a series of financial challenges, resulting in a request to the Department for Education for exceptional financial support. At this time, the colleges continued to face significant creditor pressure, which was a key factor in the decision to place Hadlow College into education administration. Combined, the colleges owed creditors approximately £100 million prior to education administrators being appointed. Hadlow College was placed into education administration in May 2019, followed by West Kent and Ashford College in August 2019.
Following the appointment of education administrators, they, in conjunction with the Department, stabilised the financial position of the college while a solution was sought to ensure that learners were protected without the college needing to remain in education administration. The education administrators also hired an interim principal to run the colleges, with advice from a stakeholder education advisory board during this period. What followed was an intense period of options review, led by the Further Education Commissioner, to determine the best future outcomes for the colleges’ provision. This included inviting interested parties to make proposals to take on the provision. It should be noted that Ofsted visited both colleges during the process and found that they were making reasonable progress with regard to educational performance. This resulted in the recommendation that North Kent College should acquire the Hadlow College’s provision and its respective facilities. The transaction was supported with funding from the Department and was completed in August 2020. At this point, I would also like to say that the protection of learners was achieved, which I will go on to explain further.
Alongside the Hadlow College education administration, the education administrators for West Kent and Ashford College also ran an options review in conjunction with the Further Education Commissioner and invited interested parties to take on the college’s provision. This resulted in the recommendation that East Kent College should acquire the college’s provision and its respective facilities at the Ashford site. The transaction was supported with funding from the Department and was completed in March 2020. Combined with the transaction at Hadlow College, together with other smaller, similar sites between both colleges, more than 5,000 learners were protected through the education administration process.
An investigation into any mismanagement at the college was undertaken by the education administrators and then joint liquidators. This is a statutory lead investigation that applies not only to education administration, but to other insolvency processes. The outcomes of those investigations are detailed in the joint liquidators’ progress reports—publicly available at Companies House—but, in summary, they reached settlement agreements with the individuals involved.
The Department welcomed the conclusion of the joint liquidators’ investigations into the conduct of certain relevant individuals at Hadlow College and West Kent and Ashford College. The Department takes the protection of public funds extremely seriously, and we will continue to support robust action where there are concerns about the safeguarding of taxpayers’ money.
As the right hon. Gentleman points out, there have been implications of the education administration of the college for the co-location of Hadlow rural community school. The school was originally established by Hadlow College with a land-based specialism. The two organisations had governance links, and the school accessed the college’s extensive land-based facility to deliver its offer. During the process of the college’s education administration, separate governance arrangements for the school were established and the Department worked with the school to ensure that these arrangements were robust. The price for Hadlow rural community school to access the college’s facilities rose to the extent that it was no longer sustainable within the school’s budget, and the school has requested departmental support to help it develop its own land-based facilities.
I appreciate that the school has undertaken extensive work on proposals to the Department over a number of years to inform the officials’ assessment, and I pay tribute to headteacher Paul Boxall, his team and the Hadlow rural community school trust board for all the work they have done and for the passion they have shown in seeking to ensure the very best for their pupils. However, this is a complex case and it is critical that any support the Department may provide offers value for taxpayers’ money.
It is, of course, important that the school has clarity so that it can move forward with certainty and thrive. To be clear, Ministers value the school’s land-based specialism and appreciate the challenges this situation has caused for the school, and we remain open to considering ways to support the school to ensure it can continue to offer a high-quality and broad land-based curriculum.
The recent decision the right hon. Gentleman refers related not only to the Court Lane land, but to potentially significant capital investment to develop facilities on that land, particularly with high-quality specialist facilities at the neighbouring college. In the context of constrained public finances, Ministers decided that it did not offer good value for money.
Given those facilities at Hadlow College, our view is that, rather than replicating such specialist and expensive facilities next door, it is worth exploring whether an agreement can be reached between the college and the school on shared use of the college’s facilities. We understand that there will be complexities to that, and that it will be important to the school for any solution to offer security for the long term. Should the two organisations agree to negotiate, we have offered support from officials to try to help broker that, and, at the moment, this seems very likely.
To be clear, we understand the school’s desire for independence, and the Department has no intention of forcing the school to change its governance arrangements. We remain open to considering alternative proposals from the school. Indeed, the school has recently suggested a new option, which officials have agreed to consider.
The liquidations of both Hadlow College and West Kent and Ashford College remain open while the liquidators realise the remaining surplus non-educational assets. Again, the details of those assets are in the joint liquidators’ progress reports, available at Companies House, but, in summary, they relate to surplus plots of land in Hadlow. The liquidators’ strategy to realise the surplus land involves planning applications for its inclusion in Tonbridge and Malling borough council’s local plan, which would, if successful, enhance its value.
The Department has priority security on all these remaining land assets, and any realisations directly offset the costs of the education administration process and are effectively a return to the Department and the taxpayer. Those assets, which were not surplus and were required by either North Kent College or East Kent College, were transferred to those respective colleges as part of the transactions to take on the learners and provision of Hadlow College and West Kent and Ashford College and achieve the objectives of the education administration to protect those learners.
I know that the right hon. Member has requested a meeting, and I understand that that is in progress. I can assure him that we will continue to work with the joint liquidators to ensure the best possible outcome for taxpayers. We will also continue to work with North Kent College to ensure that the land-based and general further education provision in Hadlow continues to succeed for the benefit of its learners and for the right hon. Member’s constituency.
Question put and agreed to.
Oral Answers to Questions
Janet Daby Excerpts(2 months ago)
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Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
Labour is transforming the Tories’ failed apprenticeship levy into a growth and skills levy. The Government offer a range of support to non-levy-paying employers, including assistance with training costs and payments to take on younger apprentices. New foundation apprenticeships in construction will unlock opportunities for up to 10,000 young people. Apprenticeships, participation, achievement and starts have already increased under Labour, and we are going further and faster for growth.
Robin Swann
As the Minister will know, employers in Northern Ireland pay substantially into the apprenticeship levy but have no direct access to it. What steps is the Minister taking to enable them to receive direct benefits through the levy, so that we too can enjoy the benefits of which she spoke in her answer when she was having a dig at the Conservative party?
Janet Daby
As I am sure the hon. Member knows, skills are a devolved matter, and funding in the devolved Administrations remains the responsibility of those Governments. However, we will continue to engage with them as we deliver the levy-funded growth and skills offer for England.
Antonia Bance (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)
My constituency of Tipton, Wednesbury and Coseley, in the Black Country, is a proud manufacturing area and the birthplace of the industrial revolution. Will the Minister please tell me what she is doing to increase the uptake of manufacturing and engineering apprenticeships across the country and in the west midlands?
Janet Daby
Too many young people have been locked out of accessing apprenticeship opportunities, and apprenticeship starts by young people under 25 fell by almost 40% between 2015-16 and 2023-24 under the previous Government. We are developing new foundation apprenticeships to give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives.
Neil O’Brien (Harborough, Oadby and Wigston) (Con)
The British Chambers of Commerce has said that the lack of clarity around the future of the apprenticeship levy is creating uncertainty among businesses, and is “worrying and destabilising”. Employers in universities are worried about plans to cut higher apprenticeships, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants has said that plans to axe level 7 apprenticeships will lead to work leaving the UK altogether. Will Ministers agree to the proposal from the Campaign for Learning for a skills immigration worker test to be carried out before any cuts are made to level 7 apprenticeships, so that we do not go from simply investing in British workers to just importing workers from other countries?
Janet Daby
We are very excited about what this Government are achieving for young people in our apprenticeship schemes. There are, of course, tough choices to take on how funding should be prioritised to generate opportunities for young people so that they can make a good start in fulfilling careers going forward. The Department has received a wide range of representations regarding level 7 apprenticeships, and we will communicate our decision going forward. We are absolutely committed to making sure that people are on the right apprenticeship courses and that we have a wide range of apprenticeships available.
Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
The Tories were more interested in picking ideological fights than ensuring that universities were financially sustainable. They left students and taxpayers to bear the brunt. Labour has taken tough decisions to shore up higher education as we pave the way for reform. We will fix the foundations of higher education to deliver change for students.
Rachael Maskell
Over half of UK universities, including the University of York, are again consulting on academic and staff redundancies. In line with the University and College Union’s “Stop the Cuts” week of action, does the Minister agree that we need an urgent review into higher education funding and visa arrangements for international students and their dependants, and that we need to protect students from poverty, to safeguard our world-class universities and, ultimately, drive research, innovation and their economic output?
Janet Daby
We are committed to securing the future of our higher education sector and we absolutely recognise its excellent economic value, which is crucial to our future economic growth. We welcome international students, who enrich our campuses, forge networks with domestic students and become global ambassadors. We will set out our plan for reform in the summer.
Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)
Over the past few months, Bournemouth University has had to take steps to suspend 15 of its courses due to financial pressures and rising operational costs. Most were arts and humanities courses, including English, photography, sociology and politics. What options exist for universities to access other sources of funding, and what assessment is being done to protect arts and humanities courses across our higher education sector?
Janet Daby
I thank the hon. Member for her level of concern. Higher education providers are autonomous and responsible for managing their own budgets. If they were at any risk, we would work with the Office for Students to ensure that students were protected. The Government reserve the right to intervene to protect the interests of students. The strategic priorities grant is also available to support teachers and students in higher education in more expensive subjects.
Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)
Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam) (Lab)
A number of families have contacted me to share their concerns about the impact of the delays to the adoption and special guardianship support fund and the cuts to the service, describing the very real and distressing strain on them. What consideration has the Department given to addressing their challenges, and what steps are being taken to ensure that adoptive families receive the timely support they so desperately need?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
As my hon. Friend will be aware, we are providing £50 million through the adoption and special guardianship support fund. We are also funding Adoption England with £8.8 million to improve adoption services. This includes new support for the first 12 to 18 months after placement and better support for families in crisis. Adoptive families may also access mainstream family health services, and we are doubling the investment in these services to over £500 million.
Richard Foord (Honiton and Sidmouth) (LD)
Janet Daby
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point. Our youth guarantee will provide tailored support to young people, helping them to access high-quality education, training and employment. We want young people to be earning and learning, and we are wasting no time about that. Youth foundation apprenticeships provide more opportunities for young people, and we want to ensure that we expand access to university for disadvantaged students and that all learning is on an equal footing.
Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) (Con)
Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)
Has the Department made an estimate of how many children with SEND are at risk of losing therapeutic support as a result of the recent changes to the adoption and special guardianship support fund?
Janet Daby
I hear the concerns around the adoption and special guardianship support fund. We have had to make some really difficult decisions, but we have chosen the fairest approach to manage tight resources in the face of increasing demand for support. We will continue to review the situation.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
I recently had the opportunity to visit Echelford primary school in my constituency, where I saw an extraordinarily different approach to oracy from those I have seen in other schools. Will the schools Minister visit to see that for herself?
Claire Hughes (Bangor Aberconwy) (Lab)
Welsh universities, including Bangor University, face very real challenges as a direct result of policies introduced by the last UK Government. Will the Minister update us on conversations that her Department is having with the Welsh Government around higher education in Wales?
Janet Daby
My hon. Friend is aware that education is devolved and that the Welsh Government are responsible for education policies in Wales, including those covering universities, but I assure her that the Department for Education engages with the devolved Government at ministerial and official levels on a range of areas covering education and students.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
What assurances can the Minister provide to concerned adoptive parents in my constituency who benefited from the match funding element of the adoption and special guardianship support fund, and whose funding could be cut from £10,000 to £3,000? Will she consider reintroducing this vital element of the ASGSF?
Janet Daby
The adoption and special guardianship support fund still enables those who are eligible to access a significant package of therapeutic support to meet individual needs. The fund is important, which is why we have continued to fund it, but it is not the only source of adoption and kinship support, responsibility for which lies with local authorities and regional adoption agencies. Our £8.8 million of funding to support Adoption England can assist that.
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
Janet Daby Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
I announced on 1 April that the adoption and special guardianship support fund will be continuing from April 2025, with a budget of £50 million.
I fully appreciate the importance of ASGSF funding to many children and young people and have heard many reports of how much it means to families. Therefore, I recognise that this funding remains significant as part of the wider support which local areas should provide to adoptive and kinship families.
However, we are in a challenging fiscal climate and are having to make tough but fair decisions across the public sector to address the £22 billion black hole that the Government inherited and to ensure this fund is financially sustainable.
Demand for support from the ASGSF continues to grow significantly. In 2025-26, in order to maximise the number of children who can access this fund, we have had to make the difficult decision to set the maximum amount of funding for an individual child each year, known as the fair access limit, at £3,000.
Specialist assessments up to the level of £2,500 will continue to be considered for funding, though only within the overall fair access limit of £3,000. Where it is assessed as being needed, local authorities and regional adoption agencies can fund therapy above the £3,000 fair access limit out of their mainstream children’s services budget.
The adoption and special guardianship fund will still enable those eligible to access a significant package of therapeutic support, tailored to meet their individual needs.
I appreciate that these changes will require some applications which are currently in draft, or which have been submitted, to be reviewed. We have provided more detailed guidance to local authorities and regional adoption agencies about the practical implications of the changes, and the Department for Education’s delivery partner, Mott MacDonald, is also able to answer questions.
Finally, we recognise the importance of ongoing clarity and stability in the provision of this important support to vulnerable children. We will be discussing further the best approach to the management of funds in future years. Future funding will of course be subject to spending review decisions. As a result, we will, for the time being, only be able to consider applications where the therapy or specialist assessment will be fully completed before the end of March 2026. We will make a further announcement in due course about the plans for the ASGSF from April 2026.
[HCWS589]
Education
Janet Daby Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Janet Daby
The Government inherited a very challenging fiscal context, and we have had to make a small reduction to the overall adult skills budget for next year. However, we will still be investing £1.4 billion in the adult skills fund next year. It is in the region of 3% across the academic year, which equates to around £40 million.
[Official Report, Third Delegated Legislation Committee, 1 April 2025; c. 7.]
Written correction submitted by the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby):
Janet Daby
The Government inherited a very challenging fiscal context, and we have had to make a small reduction to the overall adult skills budget for next year. However, we will still be investing more than £1.4 billion in the adult skills fund next year. It is in the region of 3% across the academic year, which equates to around £40 million.
Janet Daby
The national statutory entitlement is to get the equivalent of GCSE level in maths and English, so that young people aged 19 to 23 have a second chance to get qualifications. Consultation has taken place in those three areas, and overwhelmingly, over 60% have confidence that the devolved money will be used for those local areas.
[Official Report, Third Delegated Legislation Committee, 1 April 2025; c. 7.]
Written correction submitted by the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby):
Janet Daby
The national statutory entitlement is to get the equivalent of GCSE level in maths and English, so that young people and adults aged 19 to 23 have a second chance to get qualifications. Consultation has taken place in those three areas, and overwhelmingly, over 60% agreed with the proposals.
Adoption Breakdown
Janet Daby Excerpts(3 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Janet Daby)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) on securing this important debate. I have indeed listened and heard his many concerns, issues and questions. There have been a great number of interventions from many hon. Members across the Chamber, and I will endeavour to respond to those, too.
The stories that the hon. Gentleman mentioned are heartbreaking. On the back of that, I would also like to say that there are many, many positive stories of adopted children and their successes, where things have gone incredibly well. I just want to give a bit of a balance. I know that when an adoptive parent adopts a child, they want to do their very best for them—to bring them into their family, love them, show them security and help them to thrive, grow and develop in every way possible. I know that people across this Chamber share that view, and that we all want the very best for adopted children and adoptive parents.
Supporting adoptive families and preventing adoption breakdown is a priority that I know all Members across the House support. As the Minister for Children, it is a significant priority for me, too, so I am pleased to be able to respond to this debate. Supporting children through adoption is a manifesto commitment for this Government. Every child deserves and needs a loving and stable family home, which is exactly what adoption can, should and must provide. Improving support for adopted families is a key part of our plan for change, to ensure that every child has the opportunity to succeed.
We inherited a system in which far too many families are missing out on vital post-adoption support services. We recognise that we need to improve our knowledge of adoption breakdown and are taking action to improve the statistics, the data we collect and other forms of research. The number of children who return to the care system who have an adoption order has remained between 170 and 180 in each of the past five years. However, these figures are not as robust as we would like them to be, and we will be challenging local authorities to improve the accuracy of their returns.
In particular, we need social workers always to record when a child entering care is living under an adoption order. We do not collect specific information on adoption breakdowns where the child does not return to care. Some adopted young people will go to live with birth relatives, and others to live independently at the age of 16 or 17 without the knowledge of the local authority. Sometimes this is for short periods, and sometimes they return home.
We know from previous research that around 3% of adoptions disrupt, but this research is 10 years old. To gain more up-to-date information, the Government have been funding the new research “Family Roots”—I am sure Members will be very interested to know more about that—which is looking at adopted children’s outcomes. This will give us new, up-to-date information on adoption disruption and breakdown, and the results will be published later in the year.
High-quality support for adopted children is critical. It can decrease the likelihood of adoption disruptions or breakdowns. Research shows that approximately one third of families are doing well, one third need extra support compared with other families, and one third report that they are in crisis.
Adoptive families often complain that they do not get the support they need when they are in crisis. They often experience blame and criticism of their parental approach and there is a lack of understanding about the impact of trauma on their children’s behaviour. I have asked regional adoption agencies to put in place services this year that can respond quickly and effectively to adoptive families in crisis, including trauma-trained professionals who provide evidence-based support.
We are also ensuring that all social workers work better to understand the long-term impact of trauma. We recently published new post-qualifying standards for social workers, in which we say that all social workers should be trained “to use evidence and best practice to reduce the impact of any trauma, increase the likelihood of secure relationships and ensure improved outcomes for the future.”
Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)
I wonder whether the Minister has heard of the outstanding charity Home for Good, which uses faith-based groups to support families through either fostering or adoption. Does the Minister believe that there are opportunities to give them extra support, so that we can grow a richer tapestry of support for those who adopt or foster?
Janet Daby
Yes, I know Home for Good; I have met the people involved and they do excellent work on fostering and adoption. There is so much more that could be done, so I absolutely take on board what the hon. Member has mentioned.
Rachael Maskell
I am grateful to the Minister for her commitment and for all that she is doing in this area. When young people are placed in adoption, can we look at ensuring that there is more open adoption? We certainly need to look at the data on that. We know that a teenager finding their birth parents can often lead to an adoption breakdown. That teenager might never be able to restore a relationship either with their birth parents or with their adoptive parents.
Janet Daby
I thank my hon. Friend for her comments. Adoption can be quite complex, especially when children reach their teenage years, as they are able to make contact through different social mediums. Contact and how it is managed is under constant review. We need to ensure that, where it is appropriate, where it is right and where it is safe, contact continues for adopted children. Again, I stress that is where it is appropriate, where it is right, and where it is with the agreement of the adoptive parents. Much of that takes place during the assessment process and the adoption order itself.
The majority of adopted children will have experienced neglect or abuse, which leads to ongoing and enduring problems. Providing support for families at an earlier stage before needs escalate to crisis point is critical. We are funding Adoption England to develop consistent and high-quality adoption support provision across all regional adoption agencies. This includes implementing a new framework for an early support core offer, which covers the first 12 to 18 months after placement. Adoption England will also be rolling out a new adoption support plan book for all new adoptive families.
This year we will fund Adoption England with £3 million to develop more multidisciplinary teams in regional adoption agencies. These are joint teams with local health partners that will enable families to receive holistic, high-quality support.
Josh Newbury
I thank the Minister for setting out the measures the Government are taking, which are very welcome. Returning to the conversations I had with my social worker, one of the suggestions she had was to have a designated lead within local authorities and adoption agencies, to ensure that support is there for adoptive families. They could also work with teams across the organisation that might not be as familiar with the challenges that adoptive families could face. Is that a suggestion the Minister might take away and look at?
Janet Daby
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his adoption, and I know he is a foster carer as well, which is wonderful. I appreciate what he says, and I will indeed take it away and come back to him.
The adoption and special guardianship support fund provides much-needed therapeutic support for adoptive and kinship families. Since 2015, over £400 million has helped to support nearly 53,000 children, and many have received multiple years of support. Therapeutic interventions help children to deal with difficulties related to their experience of trauma and to form attachments to their new adoptive parents. They can also help prevent adoption breakdowns. Evaluations of them show a statistically significant positive impact on children’s behaviour and mental health. In surveys, 82% of adopters said that the support from the adoption and special guardianship support fund had had a positive impact on their family. Much of that information can be found on the Government website.
I announced on Tuesday that the adoption and special guardianship support fund would continue in this financial year with a budget of £50 million. We recognise the importance of the adoption and special guardianship fund in helping children to have good outcomes and in preventing adoption breakdown.
Bobby Dean
It is great to hear the Minister’s support for the fund, but this year it was allowed to expire before it was renewed. Can we have assurances that we will get much better notice next time about the renewal of the fund?
Janet Daby
I appreciate what the hon. Member says. If he was there during the urgent question on Tuesday, he would have heard my regret about the delay. This Government are committed to ensuring that we continue to support adopted children through funding where it is needed.
Adopted children should receive support to obtain good educational outcomes. However, many do not do so, with poorer GCSE results than the overall population and higher exclusion rates. The Adoption UK barometer report shows that 58% of adoptive parents in England are parenting one or more adopted children with an education, health and care plan. Adopted children are entitled to priority school admissions as well as advice and support from school-designated teachers and local authority virtual school heads. Schools will also receive £2,630 in pupil premium plus this year for every adopted child in their school, but we do need to go further. We intend to fully update the statutory guidance for virtual school heads, including sections on supporting adopted children’s educational outcomes. We will conduct a public consultation to gain input from stakeholders, ensuring that the latest research and examples of good practice are incorporated.
Local authorities deliver adoption services through 33 regional adoption agencies, working in partnership with voluntary adoption agencies. Evaluation of regional adoption agencies shows that they provide a more strategic approach to delivering adoption support, including by early intervention becoming widely embedded.
I am enormously grateful to the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough for raising this issue. He has raised some important concerns, many of which I share. Adoption support is currently not good enough, and we must do better. This debate has given me the opportunity to talk about our plans to ensure that all adopted children get the support they need to experience a full and happy childhood.
Question put and agreed to.