Apprenticeships and T-Levels

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I am not a great mathematician, but I know that that means four minutes. I congratulate the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) on leading this debate. I know he undertook a lot of work on apprenticeships and T-levels in his time as Minister, and he did exceptionally well. He is in a different role now but he still shares his advice and experience.

We must do all we can to expand education and employment opportunities for young people across the United Kingdom. In every debate I give a Northern Ireland perspective and speak on the things we do well back home. The Department for the Economy has released its yearly statistics on the uptake of apprenticeships, and it is good news that there has been a rise. As of October ’24, there were 1,756 people undertaking an apprenticeship in the electrotechnical field, 500 in health and social care, and 700 in plumbing, which the right hon. Member referred to in opening the debate. In addition, 10,500 were studying for a level 2 award and 3,700 for a level 3 award.

I have spoken before about the importance of apprenticeships and the role they play in teaching young people a unique skillset after leaving school. However, it is crucial that this is properly reflected in their pay. I know this is not the Minister’s responsibility, but we have to ensure that apprenticeship pay encourages young people to stay on and finish their apprenticeships, as their colleagues and friends might be earning much more for stacking the shelves in Tesco or Asda. That is just one example. Apprenticeships are important, but young people need the time and money to get through them.

The right hon. Member for East Hampshire has spoken before about ensuring parity of esteem between academic and vocational routes. There must be an understanding that the university route does not always appeal to young people, and an option to encourage them to get out into the world of work. I believe that the Minister is committed to that, so it would be interesting to get her thoughts.

From July to September 2024, there were some 513,000 unemployed people aged 18 to 24 in the UK, which is an unemployment rate of 13.7%. Unfortunately, that is a rise on the 11.6% in the previous year. Again, apprenticeships are critical to that. Let us get young people into apprenticeships and reduce that unemployment rate.

I hear what the right hon. Member for East Hampshire said about T-levels. There is no doubt success with this option. In 2022, the first T-level results were announced. Out of 1,029, there was a 92.2% pass rate, which is excellent. As far as I am aware, the T-level system is for England and does not apply to the devolved nations, so it would be great to know what the Minister can do to exchange thoughts with the devolved Administrations and see how we can extend that success.

Apprenticeships are a fantastic way to earn while learning and they allow for people to be fast-tracked into the working world. Apprenticeships are available in numerous sectors across the UK. We must encourage young people to see them as an option after they choose to leave school. Many associate the word “apprenticeship” with male-dominant fields such as mechanics, engineering or plumbing, but there are endless opportunities out there in a large range of sectors for people of all ages and with all interests, man and woman. A lady can do a job equally as well as a man. That should never be discredited in any way.

Job creation is an important issue for the entirety of the UK. To get individuals into the job market, encouragement and prospects must be there from school age. We must do more to encourage young people to think about their careers and futures. More importantly, we must make them aware of the options for what they want to do when they leave school. I look to the Minister to see if engagement is possible on expanding T-level qualifications to Northern Ireland and Scotland. Will the Minister commit to undertaking future discussions on this with the Department for Education back home? Equal opportunities for all young people should apply across the whole of this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Government and Democracy Education

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[John Slinger]

I agree. I will come to that when I complete my remarks. We are talking about empowering our young people to set the agenda in their schools and, we hope, in their lives.

Learning standard subjects, such as history and science, enables young people to develop core skills, imbibe relevant knowledge and hone the powers of critical analysis that will empower them to thrive in future, whether in study or work.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for bringing this debate forward. I agree that it is important for young people to have an understanding of democracy at an early stage, especially in schools. My youngest staff member studied government and politics. There were 28 students in their class in the first year, but that went down to 11 in the second year. They then did a further course comprising 14 students, which included only two girls. Does the hon. Member agree that there is a disconnect between young people and the political system that needs to be addressed, possibly as a mandatory module through learning for life and work?

Primary School Breakfast Clubs

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Monday 18th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dhesi]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about the importance of free breakfast clubs in getting rid of the stigma.

One in 10 young people lives in a household classed as food insecure. During the covid pandemic, pupils from families using food banks attained, on average, GCSE grades half a grade lower than their peers. We know that working people are facing some of the toughest economic conditions in decades. The price of essentials has skyrocketed, childcare has become a luxury for many, and many parents feel as though they have been left out in the cold as they continue to do their level best to give their children a better future.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. There is such a crowd in the Chamber because we all agree with him.

Northern Ireland launched the extended schools programme in May 2006. Since then, some £167 million has been given to the most disadvantaged areas to offer a wide range of services, including free breakfast clubs, and it has been successful. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the Government and Parliament must provide greater central funding to ensure that all UK schools can offer free breakfast clubs to give children a good breakfast to boost their energy levels for the day? Quite simply, hungry children do not learn.

[Mr Dhesi]

I fully agree with the hon. Gentleman. He is right both to highlight Northern Ireland and to make the wider point. He is a regular feature of Adjournment debates, and I feel honoured that he has intervened on me.

The Minister and the Government need only see the number of Members in the Chamber at half-past 9, here to speak on behalf of their constituents and underline the importance of universal breakfast clubs. The Institute for Fiscal Studies reports that families whose children use breakfast clubs five days a week during term time save a staggering £760, which is a significant saving for working parents. With the roll-out of funded breakfast clubs, imagine the money that could remain in the pockets of working families in Slough and beyond.

Educational Opportunities

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 13th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Pritchard. I congratulate the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) on securing the debate and setting the scene. I thank him for being here and giving us all an opportunity to participate.

I have two helpful suggestions for the Minister. If things we have done in Northern Ireland have been successful, I want to share them and tell others about them. In Northern Ireland, the Minister of Education, my DUP colleague Paul Givan, has acknowledged that there are barriers and has implemented a new scheme called the RAISE programme. That it is an important opportunity to look afresh at the issues caused by deprivation and drive forward the whole community. It is a place-based approach to remove the barriers to learning and educational achievement. That is important to us because in Northern Ireland, young, white Protestant boys are not achieving their goals. The Government and the Education Minister recognise that and have set about trying to address it. The Education Minister said:

“My department will now continue to engage with key stakeholders in each RAISE locality through a series of workshops over the coming weeks and months—to identify needs, build the evidence base and bring forward strategic plans for consideration.”

I know the Minister here is always keen to participate. Has she had the opportunity to discuss that programme with Minister Givan, as she might wish to put it in place here too?

I want to reflect on one of the most effective residents’ associations in Strangford. The Scrabo Residents’ Association has a project to build up the confidence of young men within communities, so that they will understand that they can find a job, break the cycle within their family and have pride going to their job. I have met some of those young men; their pride in what they can do is excellent to see.

Government have made funding available for some residents’ groups to do such projects on the ground, thereby giving people jobs. Success stories include HGV driving, and work in factories and in fields. Will the Minister consider some of the things we have done in Northern Ireland, such as the Raise programme and projects that we are pursuing with community groups? With those we can add value, and add value to the local community at the same time.

Family and Work Visas

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 13th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the hon. Member for Belfast South and Mid Down (Claire Hanna) for securing the debate. She and I may have some constitutional and political differences, but this is a unifying issue for us both and for the community that we represent.

Connectivity across the UK is a subject that I have raised on multiple occasions over the past number of weeks, and the reason is clear: the lifeblood of Northern Ireland is our ability to trade skills and products with the mainland UK on a reciprocal basis. The ferry system is as vital to that ability as oxygen is to the very lungs with which we breathe in this Chamber. The current situation is concerning. It needs not simply a debate in this place, but action by the Government. We very much look to the Minister for assurance that the needs are heard and will receive attention and action.

Ferry routes across the Irish sea are vital to national infrastructure. They ensure that trade, tourism and essential services flow; without them, Northern Ireland cannot exist in this modern world. We need that movement, as the hon. Member for Belfast South and Mid Down outlined. The insidious Northern Ireland protocol, with its difficulties for the haulage companies and delays in transport, has highlighted the nature of Northern Ireland and shown that, within days of delayed shipping, shelves were empty. That is a fact of where we are. Our trade is important, and Stena Line in particular, which carries the bulk of trade, economy and tourism across the water, is very important. Clearly, the ferry routes must be protected and prioritised as vital infrastructure.

I therefore ask for a commitment by the Government, and the Minister in particular, to engage with Stena and its parent company to find a solution, perhaps using—I offer this as a solution—the offshore well boat concession as a template to solve the problem. There has been an understandable focus on the politics and the paperwork of the Windsor framework, but an offshoot of that has been that insufficient thought has gone into ensuring that we have the people with the necessary skills on the seafaring routes to ensure that there is no disruption to trade across the Irish sea. Their vital role must be protected. If the ferry routes are not able to operate in the future because we do not have qualified seafarers, that could lead to empty shop shelves, lack of certain medical supplies and certain difficulties for my constituents.

The hon. Member for Belfast South and Mid Down mentioned the fishermen. My understanding is that last week, the Government made concessions for horticulture and farming, including for those in mushrooms, vegetables and potatoes; but they have not made those concessions for the fishermen, although they could have done. Fishermen’s work is not only skilled but seasonal.

Last Saturday I was in the advice centre at Portavogie. Fishermen came to see me and underlined the issues clearly: they need a seasonal work system, so that they can bring people in for eight or nine months a year. Last week, the fish producer organisations met the Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs—a very constructive meeting—and I spoke to him before a debate. The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs was hoping to speak to the Minister who is in her place today. I suggest that more such contacts should be made, because I believe there will be a way forward. I make a plea for some help for the fishing sector.

The hon. Member for Belfast South and Mid Down and I did not agree on Brexit—I just say such things—and we did not agree on the protocol or on many other Northern Ireland issues, but I can tell hon. Members this: the visa programme is a clear uniting issue. That so often happens—that there are things that bring us together. I like to focus on the things that bring us together, and the hon. Lady likes to do so as well. We need those crews to operate, and they must be able to continue as they are, or Northern Ireland might well come to a standstill.

I look to the Minister again for consideration and action. I am happy, if necessary, to facilitate a meeting between the fishermen, Stena Line, the hon. Member for Belfast South and Mid Down and me to make that happen.

[Mark Pritchard (in the Chair)]

We now come to the Front Benchers—five minutes each for the two in opposition and 10 minutes for the Minister.

Kinship Carers

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 13th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Government support for kinship carers.

It is, as always, a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Pritchard. I start by welcoming my hon. Friend the Minister to her place. It is a real pleasure to see her in this role. Not only does she bring experience as someone who has worked in children’s social care, but her compassion and drive to improve situations for young people right across the country will be a powerful motivator to ensure that we deliver the change we have committed to as a Government, and will benefit of kinship carers in my constituency and right across the country over the coming years.

I am delighted to introduce my second debate on kinship care, having held one in the immediate aftermath of the last Government strategy earlier this year. As MPs, we get to meet, I think it is fair to say, quite a wide range of campaigners, all of whom are very powerful. I have to say that some are more convincing than others, but there can be no group more powerful or moving to work with than kinship carers. I was privileged, before I was even an MP, to be grabbed by Carol and Amanda, two kinship carers in the then constituency, to talk through some of the challenges they were facing. It was impossible not to be moved by their determination to do right by the young people in their care and young people in kinship care right across the country, so we stepped forward and agreed to work together.

I was soon to find that kinship carers are, rightly, an incredibly tenacious group of campaigners. One week after I was elected, Carol and Amanda pitched up at my surgery to ask what I had managed to do so far, and what I would be doing in the next week, to take their cause forward. It should have come as no surprise, then, that one month after my re-election—albeit in a slightly different constituency—they were beating down my door again. They did so because this is a cause that matters. Kinship carers do amazing work on behalf of the young people in their care right across the country. They step up at a moment of real trauma for a young person and ensure, through love, compassion and dedication, that everything possible is done to give that young person the stability, the common identity and the compassion they need to thrive.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman, who is equally tenacious, and so is everyone else in this room. Last year in Northern Ireland, there were 3,801 children in care. We welcomed the boost for foster carers earlier this year, but we did not see a boost for kinship carers. Does he agree that there must be more financial provision for kinship caring across all of this great United Kingdom?

[Alistair Strathern]

I thank the hon. Member for making incredibly poignant remarks, as he always does in these debates. I think I have yet to attend a debate here where he has not brought something to the table, and I could not agree more that we need to be thinking about the breadth of support that kinship carers get. I hope to touch on some of those points later in my remarks.

As a former councillor and lead for children’s services, I was also privileged to work closely with kinship carers and see at first hand the impact they could have in transforming the outcomes of the young people in their care. They were making sure, in those difficult moments, that the young people had the stability of place, the familiar face and the retention of their identity needed in order to be as resilient as possible in the face of more traumatic circumstances than many of us will ever have to comprehend or grapple with personally. It came as no surprise, then, that the independent review of children’s social care a few years ago remarked clearly that kinship carers deliver far better outcomes than many other parts of the care sector, but are often underserved by a care network that just is not set up to fully consider them, fully recognise their needs and fully embrace the role they can play in supporting young people through that really difficult moment.

School Transport: Northumberland

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 12th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered school transport in Northumberland.

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris.

In Westminster Hall today, I am delighted to see Members who share my concerns about school transport, not just in my constituency but across the county. I place on the record my thanks to organisations such as Contact, Adapt North East and local schools, in particular Queen Elizabeth high school, for their valuable contributions. The future of school transport is a pressing and increasingly concerning issue affecting my constituents —parents, students and teachers—in Hexham and in Northumberland more broadly.

I grew up in Hexham. I was fortunate enough to have been educated at Sele first school, Hexham middle school and Queen Elizabeth high school. I am, and always will be, incredibly grateful to my teachers for the valuable education that I received. In particular, I mention Tony Webster, my former headteacher at QE—he filmed a video supporting me during the general election campaign—for his constant support and mentorship.

Meeting students and teachers across my constituency—from Queen Elizabeth high school to Longhorsley St Helen’s Church of England first school and back to Sele first school, where I went a few weeks ago—has provided valuable insight into the issues affecting our local schools, and school transport in Northumberland is raised again and again.

During my maiden speech, I said:

“a great state education has the ability to change lives and to lift and change entire areas. I want every child in the constituency to have access to the kind of education that I was lucky enough to get.”—[Official Report, 19 July 2024; Vol. 752, c. 347.]

That is my motivation to secure this debate. Ensuring that every child in Northumberland gets the best education is a commitment that I share with my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith), and with my hon. Friends the Members for Blyth and Ashington (Ian Lavery) and for Cramlington and Killingworth (Emma Foody), who cannot join us today.

Home-to-school transport is an integral part of our education system in Britain. It ensures that no child of compulsory school age is prevented from accessing education by a lack of, or the cost of, transport.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. He is right to bring up the issue of school transport, especially in rural areas. We should never deplete services that children rely on to get to school; instead, we should increase their accessibility. I had a meeting with my Translink bus service and the education authority, and we were able to sort out some of the problems with rural transport. Does he agree that more needs to be done for bus services, especially in rural areas where transport is already limited, to ensure that kids’ education does not falter as a result of bus service issues? That is what could happen.

[Joe Morris]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention and for his attendance. I think he has attended every Westminster Hall debate that I have spoken in. I completely share his assessment. The provision of appropriate bus routes is important, and it comes up in my casework. I have spoken to families in villages such as West Woodburn, where they allegedly have a choice of school, but the only available routes go to one single school.

SEND Provision: Hampshire

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Mark. As the hon. Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) and I were walking down to Westminster Hall, I asked if he would be speaking and he said he was. I know that the debate is about Hampshire, but I always want to come along to support hon. Members who are bringing forward critical issues. I also want to add comments from a Northern Ireland perspective.

I am pleased to see the Minister in her place; I always look forward to meeting her and I know she clearly understands the issues that the hon. Member presented. I want to support him and his parents group, which has come here today. On the way here, he mentioned that those parents are the reason he secured the debate, and parents should be in everything that we do. These things are about our constituents and about what we can do to help them and give their perspective.

I spoke on this issue just last week; indeed, like almost everyone here, I have spoken in every debate on SEND education since we came back after the election. As I said, I want to give a Northern Ireland perspective, if I may.

I welcome the Budget, which allocated extra money to the SEND education system, as the hon. Member mentioned. I am always hopeful that some of that allocation will come our way through the Barnett consequential, which results in us gaining from investment here on the mainland.

[Sir Mark Hendrick (in the Chair)]

Order. The debate pertains to Hampshire. Although you raise issues that are common, the subject is aimed in the direction of Hampshire. Can you please make the main points and try not to veer off the subject in terms of specifics in your own part of the UK?

[Jim Shannon]

I will make sure that whenever I mention Northern Ireland, I mention Hampshire as well. That will hopefully keep the perspective right, because what the hon. Member said happens in Hampshire happens in my constituency as well. I want to illustrate that and make some suggestions on how we can provide better help in the system. What we do back home in Northern Ireland can help those in Hampshire with how they move forward.

We have a clear teacher funding issue, especially in the SEND sector. One of my questions to the Minister, which I hope will be helpful for the hon. Member for Basingstoke and for the wider debate, is this: what has been done to ensure that there are more adequately trained people to respond to this issue?

I also speak in this debate because this matter is personal for me. I have six grandchildren, and three of them unfortunately have some difficulties with autism, learning and speech issues. I will not mention their names, because it would not be appropriate, but that is why this is personal.

Whenever I come here to make a contribution, it is clear to me what I am asking for: for the same things that have already been done back home. I will give a couple of examples of how things have happened and, by doing so, show what has made the situation better. I know that the hon. Member has referred to that.

A teaching assistant back home told me that she did a level 3 qualification on specialist support for teaching and learning in schools. If she lived here in England, she would fully qualify as a substitute teacher; in Northern Ireland, further training is necessary. That is an example for us back home. With the same system here, someone qualifies, but with the system back home, they do not. That clearly highlights the issue.

Across Northern Ireland—the hon. Member’s contribution has convinced me that this is similar to what is happening in Basingstoke and Hampshire—we have autism assessments, and some 66,000 pupils have some form of SEND. That is 20% of the population—the figures are similar to what the hon. Member referred to. Children fight for a diagnosis from the day they enter school, but unfortunately there are detrimental educational psychology delays, which coincide with delays in our health service. Even though we are focusing on SEND and education, will the Minister, when she responds, consider that there must also be a tight relationship between education and health? That is important and I hope she will respond in a positive fashion.

As I said, this issue is a personal one: three of my six grandchildren unfortunately have autism and speech therapy needs. I want to give an example of what has happened. I have mentioned diagnosis; get the diagnosis done early and we can change the child’s life—wow! I will give an example that is personal, because it happened in our family. One of the grandchildren—one of the boys—was quite boisterous and seemed to have difficulty expressing himself. Unfortunately, the result was that when he was at nursery and early school, he was hitting out at other children and became quite a difficult child. It was nobody’s fault; it was just that he was not able to express himself in the way he wished to.

We got the early diagnosis, and with the early diagnosis came the speech therapy, and with the speech therapy came an absolute change in that wee boy. When we were going to my son’s house for Christmas, I said to my wife, “Sandra, there’ll be some goings-on the day, when we get there,” and she said, “You’ll see a difference.” I had not seen my grandson for a while, and what a difference there was in that wee boy because he had got the diagnosis and the speech therapy—you could not have kept him quiet. What a change in that wee fella because the system had worked and helped him.

I give that as an example of what can happen if we have the right strategy and the right way forward. The opposite is now true of the wee boy: he never keeps quiet. It is lovely to have a wee boy in the corner who is so boisterous and alive and so respectful—we heard so many pleases and thank yous. There can be such a difference as a result of the system when it works. We now have two others coming through, and the provision of an early diagnosis has to be the same for them. The hon. Member for Basingstoke has asked for that, and I am sure the Minister will respond.

Another example is about how education can help. This is an example to help the Minister, because I think the great advantage of these debates is that we can give examples of where things have been going the right way and thereby exchange ideas on ways forward and how we can do things better. Movilla high school in my constituency increased its enrolment from 401 to 600, because the education authority enabled it to extend the special provision for pupils with autism to include 10 and 11-year-olds, and it has established what are called nurture classes. It is not a novel idea, but it is a good idea in terms of helping to move forward education and mainstream education in particular.

Those are just two of the points I want to raise: early diagnosis and the nurture classes that we have in my constituency of Strangford. I do not know what the reason is, but in the last number of years—the last 10 to 15, in particular—I have certainly seen more children there who have difficulties with autism and other issues. More should be done to create specialist nurture units within mainstream schools and to support specialist training for teachers of all ages. There must be the capacity for us to do our best for pupils who require additional support; they should not have to suffer because of a funding crisis.

I look forward very much to hearing the Minister’s thoughts and those of the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for North West Norfolk (James Wild). Around this room, we have people with incredible knowledge, and I look forward to all their contributions. I hope the Minister can undertake further discussion with the devolved nations on this matter. I said earlier—I mean it, and it is true of any debate I come to—that there are always lessons that can be learned regionally, and we can then share them in this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There is that benefit that comes from regional knowledge, which may be specific, but which can help us all to do things better. With that, I commend the hon. Member for Basingstoke for bringing the debate forward. I hope my contribution kept exactly to the line that you asked me to keep to, Sir Mark. Thank you so much.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) on securing a debate on this incredibly important subject. I know that he, like every Member here, has been supporting families in his constituency to navigate the SEND system. He has raised this issue in the main Chamber regularly, particularly during oral questions. In his opening speech, he spoke incredibly passionately on behalf of his constituents, and I am sure that it will be a huge comfort to them to have their voices heard in such a powerful way in this Chamber.

Improving the special educational needs and disability system across the country is a priority for this Government. We want all children, regardless of where they are in the country, to get the right support to succeed in their education and lead happy, healthy and productive adult lives. Every child deserves the opportunity to achieve and thrive, but far from every child is getting that chance and, for far too long, families have been let down by a system that is not working. As my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke highlighted, a National Audit Office report last week echoed that, finding: a system that has totally lost the confidence of families; that children with special educational needs and disabilities are being failed on every measure; and that, despite the high-needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities rising to higher and higher levels, the whole system is not delivering and is clearly in need of reform.

I want to give a sense of light at the end of the tunnel. Our promise to families is that we are completely committed to improving the SEND system and rebuilding the confidence that the education system will provide for every child. I know that there are families in the Gallery today, and I am glad that they are here to hear this message. Last week, we published independently commissioned insights showing that if the system was extensively improved, using early intervention and better resourcing in the mainstream schools, it could lead to tens of thousands more children and young people having their needs met without an EHCP and in a mainstream setting, rather than in a specialist placement.

To do that, we need to urgently improve the inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools while ensuring that there are special schools that can cater to those with the most complex needs. As my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) said, this requires a holistic approach to reform: getting more teachers into our schools; creating a voice for support staff, who we know are so crucial in supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities, through the school support staff negotiating body that we will bring forward in legislation; and improving training for support staff, teachers and leaders to ensure that we have a curriculum and assessment system that truly serves every child and enables them to thrive, with a broad curriculum that gives them the opportunity to have a rich education that taps into their skills and talents.

Of course, we also need to look at Ofsted and how it is motivating the school system to be as inclusive as possible. We want to see all schools co-operating with their local authorities on admissions, strengthening the accountability of the mainstream system to be more inclusive through Ofsted and supporting the mainstream workforce to have that SEND expertise.

We want to see early intervention and identification improved and supported, which is why—as the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for North West Norfolk (James Wild), said—we have announced that the ongoing funded support for schools registered with the Nuffield early language intervention programme will continue. It is so important that children get speech and language intervention support at the earliest stage possible, so that they can find their voice and we can identify challenges at the earliest stage possible.

As hon. Members have highlighted, improving the SEND system is vital to fulfilling our opportunity mission to break the unfair link between background and opportunity, and that starts with giving every child with SEND, along with all children in our system, the best start in life. But this is huge, complex reform: there is no magic wand or quick fix, and the Government cannot do it alone. That is why we will work with the sector. It is essential that we work with valued partners to ensure that the approach is planned and delivered together with parents, schools, councils and expert staff, who we know already go above and beyond to support children. We ask for patience, but we will work as fast as we can to make the changes that we know families are crying out for.

Following the Budget announcement yesterday, high-needs funding will increase by almost £1 billion in 2025-26 compared with 2024-25, which brings the total high-needs funding to £11.9 billion. The funding includes £90 million to increase the high-needs element of the 2024-25 core schools budget grant to the full-year equivalent, which will be incorporated with the other teachers’ pay and pension grants for 2025-26 to make sure that they are fully funded.

We are now in the process of calculating the high-needs national funding formula, which will provide local authorities with their indicative allocations for 2025-26. We expect to publish that by the end of November. The structure of the high-needs national funding formula remains largely unchanged in 2025-26 because we want to take time to consider what changes are needed to make sure that we establish a fair education funding system that directs funding to where it is needed and to support the special educational needs and disability reforms that we want to take forward. That will take time, so we ask for patience.

My hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen asked specifically about the statutory override. We recognise the unprecedented pressures that local authorities find themselves under. We are providing almost £1 billion more for high-needs budgets in 2025-26, as I mentioned. The impact on individual local authorities’ deficits will be variable, and the statutory override is a temporary accounting measure that separates local authorities’ dedicated schools grant deficits from their wider financial position so that they can manage their deficits.

It remains important that every local authority continues to look at what it can do within the current system to manage its high-needs budget while continuing to provide the support that children with special educational needs and disabilities need. We are working to consider how we can help councils manage the impact of the dedicated schools grant deficits on their accounts within a SEND system that is in desperate need of longer-term reform.

With reference to Hampshire specifically, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission jointly inspect local area SEND provision to ensure that there is a joined-up approach for children and young people. The inspections enable the Department to intervene in cases of significant concern and to work with local areas and professional advisers to try to address weaknesses that have been identified.

The last joint local area SEND inspection in Hampshire took place in March 2020. Inspectors visited a range of providers and spoke to leaders, staff and governors to determine strengths and weaknesses in the local area’s SEND provision. The inspection found that leaders in Hampshire at the time were highly ambitious for children and young people with SEND, and although the inspection did identify areas for improvement, it did not identify areas of significant weakness. Since that inspection, the Department for Education and NHS England have stayed in regular contact with Hampshire local special educational needs and disabilities officials to discuss the local area’s strategic direction and to offer support where needed.

As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) rightly pointed out in his characteristically constructive contribution, there is a significant need for the Department for Education and Department of Health to work closely together at a local level on this issue. Hampshire will be inspected under the new area SEND inspections framework, which came into effect in 2023, in due course

[Jim Shannon]

The Minister has very kindly given us some hope about the way forward. I should have mentioned the Department for Work and Pensions earlier. It is important that parents are aware of all the help in the system—for instance, there is disability living allowance. Whenever somebody comes to me with a child who has experienced educational issues, I always ask them, “Are you aware that there is a system set up to help you?” Is that something we should emphasise a wee bit more strongly?

[Catherine McKinnell]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. That should happen at the earliest possible point, because we know—I have mentioned this already—that children’s earliest years make the biggest difference to their life chances, and high-quality early years education can lead to much better outcomes for all children. Arrangements are in place to support early years providers and access to early education, including disability access funding and special educational needs inclusion funding, but he is absolutely right to highlight the ways in which we can help children and families to access support. If we do that at the earliest possible stage in a child’s life, we will be able to improve children’s outcomes and families’ experiences.

We want more children and young people to receive the support that they need to thrive in their local mainstream setting, which reduces the need for them to travel a long way to access a specialist placement. Many mainstream settings are going above and beyond to deliver specialist provision locally through resourced provision and special educational needs units.

We know that there will always be a place in the system for special schools and colleges for children and young people with the most complex needs, so the Department supports local authorities to provide those places for children and young people through annual high-needs capital funding, which can be used to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools as well as in other specialist settings. It can also be used to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings, and we will set out plans for future high-needs capital funding in due course. The Government are committed to working with councils, school leaders and other sector partners nationally and in Hampshire to develop and improve inclusive education in the mainstream setting.

The hon. Member for North East Hampshire (Alex Brewer) raised concerns about transport. No child should struggle to get to school because of a lack of transport. Local authorities are obliged to arrange free travel for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there because of the distance; because of a special educational need, disability or 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, but we know how challenging home-to-school travel is for local authorities at the moment, in large part due to the pressures on the SEND system.

In our manifesto, we committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, which will mean that fewer children have to travel long distances to a school that can meet their needs. It will also reduce the pressure on home-to-school travel. I am keen to understand how well the school travel policy is working to support children to access educational opportunities, and I will continue to work with officials in the Department and across Government to improve the situation, because transport is a cross-Government challenge.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke again for bringing this matter forward and I thank all hon. Members who have contributed to the debate. We all care passionately about SEND outcomes in Hampshire and across the country.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive and helpful response. In my contribution, I referred to “nurture” classes in a school in my constituency, which bring together and look after children with educational challenges in a big school. That is in the education system in Northern Ireland, of course, but I know the Minister always makes contact with the Education Authority there. As I said earlier, different regions have ideas that may be helpful elsewhere, so will the Minister consider that?

[Catherine McKinnell]

I thank the hon. Gentleman and I will take that away, because we are open to examples of good practice and ideas for reform that can be rolled out and used in other settings. We do not want the SEND system to work only in pockets; it must work everywhere and we must have a reformed system across the board.

Childcare: Black Country

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the quality and availability of childcare in the Black Country.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. It is an honour to introduce this debate. I want to talk about the importance of high-quality and accessible childcare in the Black Country, a region that is rich in history, resilience and community spirit.

The Black Country, with areas such as Dudley at its heart, has always been a place where working families thrive, and where communities are built with hard work and strong values. For those families to thrive they need support, and childcare is a crucial part of the network for that. This is not just a family issue; it is also about children’s future in Dudley, our community strength and the local economy. Good affordable childcare supports parents in the workforce, boosts child development and helps build the foundation for a stronger society.

As of June 2024, Dudley has 45 registered childcare providers offering about 1,126 places for children under eight. Despite those numbers, much of the Black Country, including Dudley, is classified as a childcare desert. Families in the Black Country have long supported each other through community efforts but now face a lack of critical childcare options, with only 17 places per 100 children in Dudley. Those figures fall far below the national average of 25 per 100. Can Members imagine if every time they needed childcare, three out of every four doors they tried were shut? That lack of access leaves parents with fewer options and waiting longer, forcing them to make tough decisions about work and family care. The Black Country early years education sector faces unique challenges, especially for children with special educational needs and disabilities. The YMCA reports that over a third of children in its Black Country settings—34%—need additional support. That is significantly higher than the 13% in the most affluent areas of the UK, yet there is a shortage of resources, SEND assessments and funding, which limits vital one-on-one and specialist care. Without those early interventions, many children risk falling behind, underscoring the need for more targeted support in our community.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Lady for securing this debate and directly underlining the issues pertinent to her constituency. There are also other important issues to consider, including autistic children, children who need speech therapy and the one-to-one support needed in nurseries and childcare. Does she agree that a special priority needs to be given in circumstances where children need care early? By getting care early, they can get to a stage where they can do their schooling and are set up for their future life.

[Sonia Kumar]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman. Intervention is so necessary at early ages. If we catch children early, we can help their future development as they move from early years into schools, and if we help their development we can make sure that they succeed in the future.

It is about not just the availability of care, but the quality of care. Quality is just as critical as availability. Among 28 local providers inspected by Ofsted, only 7% received an outstanding rating, compared with the national average of 14%. Although most providers were rated good, Dudley still lags behind the national quality standards. Since 2022, rising costs have strained early years funding, making it difficult for childcare providers to maintain higher standards. Labour’s commitment to increase funding and expand access to vital services is essential for families that deserve and need them.

Rising poverty and inequality make those childcare challenges even tougher. In Dudley, child poverty rose from 22% in 2014 to 32% in 2023, while, across the UK, the rate rose from 15% to 20% over the same period. For local families under financial pressures, finding affordable childcare is significantly challenging. Department for Education data from 2023 shows that although 72% of mothers are working, nearly half of non-working mothers say that they would work if they had access to convenient and affordable childcare. For families with children under four, that number rises to 54%. With limited childcare options, many parents, particularly mothers, are forced to stay outside work, adding to family stresses and limiting the local economy.

Labour pledges to offer free quality childcare for children aged two to four, which will help parents to manage costs and allow more people to return to work. I welcome Labour’s promise to open 300 more nurseries within the year and use empty school classrooms to meet the demand for more childcare spaces, which are very much needed in places such as Dudley and the Black Country. By covering up to 80% of childcare costs for qualifying families, Labour’s plan to offer meaningful relief for working parents will help to build a foundation of support for children in the future.

Investing in early years education benefits not just families, but the entire economy. Studies show that universal childcare brings more parents, especially mothers, into the workforce, generating tax revenues that can help to cover programme costs. The Centre for Progressive Policy estimates that inadequate childcare access costs the UK about 1% of GDP a year. Imagine the positive effect that this would have in places such as Dudley if more parents could work with affordable, reliable childcare in place. Research from Ofsted highlights the significant role that early years education plays in lifelong learning and development. Its “Best start in life” report outlines four critical areas—literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design—that provide young children with the foundation for academic and personal success.

As we look to the future, I urge the Minister to prioritise childcare reform and ensure that it matches local need. I have the following asks. How will the Government address the persistent childcare deserts in areas such as Dudley, where places fall below the average? With child poverty rising, what specific measures will the Government put in place to ensure that families in financial hardship can access childcare, especially in places such as Dudley? How will the Government support childcare providers who face inflation-driven costs that continue to rise and that are a burden on the provision of good-quality care? Will the Minister visit the constituency of Dudley to see what the childcare provisions are and the areas where improvement could be made?

We need a childcare system that strengthens our communities, supports our economy and ensures that every child has the chance to succeed. Quality depends on not just childcare, but its accessibility for families—not only for those who can afford it, but for those who need it most. By investing in early years education, we are investing in a stronger and more resilient future for the Black Country and my constituency of Dudley. Let us work together to make quality childcare a reality for every family, giving each child the foundation that they need to thrive and each parent the support that they deserve.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell]

My hon. Friend makes the case very well. I agree that we need to work at pace to improve the mental health support available for young people, to improve the availability of educational psychologists and to work across government, including with colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care, to ensure that we are unlocking opportunity for all.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister very much for her answers to the questions and for always trying to be helpful. Movilla high school in my constituency has increased its enrolments from 402 to 600 pupils. That is because staff have worked hard, but also because education authority support has enabled the school to extend the special provision for pupils with autism to include 10 and 11-year-olds. It has established two nurture classes in the mainstream. Does the Minister agree that additional funding to create SEND units within the mainstream for the pupils who need support is a way forward? Will she consider that suggestion to make lives better?

[Catherine McKinnell]

The hon. Gentleman is, as always, characteristically constructive in his contribution, and I thank him for that. I am more than happy to take away his suggestion and consider it as part of our wider reform of the system.