Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support children living in secure accommodation receive after they have been restrained; and how incidents of restraint are recorded by relevant authorities.
Answered by Will Quince
All children’s homes, including secure children’s homes, are governed by the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. These have provisions around behaviour and restraint. The Regulations and quality standards require homes to have a behaviour management policy that focuses on establishing positive relationships with young people, encourages acceptable behaviour, and sets out acceptable restraint measures.
There is a requirement for homes to record any incidents of restraint under Regulation 35 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015, though central government does not collect any data on the use of restraint. The Regulations 2015, the guide to the children’s homes regulations, and the quality standards outline the types of support children receive from the home if they have been restrained. This includes, but is not limited to, the right to:
There is also a requirement under Regulation 40 of the Regulations 2015 for the registered person to inform Ofsted of any incident in relation to a child that they consider to be serious. The department is clear that restraint is only permissible in a very narrow range of circumstances, as set out in Regulation 20, and must always be necessary and proportionate.
In 2019, the government published guidance on reducing the need for restraint and restrictive intervention, available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/812435/reducing-the-need-for-restraint-and-restrictive-intervention.pdf.
Regarding the use of restraint during secure transportation, the registered person and relevant local authority (LA) have a responsibility to ensure that children are kept safe, and their welfare is promoted. If transportation is arranged by the LA who has responsibility for the child, then the care of the child would fall to them. Where LAs have contract arrangements with transport services, the department expects the same approach to the use of restraint to be applied.
There is a review of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 planned for the near future. The department will revisit guidance on the use of restraint and strengthen the law in this area if our findings prove this is necessary.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to introduce a minimum guarantee of access to early years services.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is leading a cross government approach to champion the family hub model. The government is investing over £34 million to champion family hubs. This includes a National Centre for Family Hubs to provide expert advice, guidance and advocacy; a £10 million transformation fund to open family hubs in around 10 new areas in England; an evaluation innovation fund to build the evidence base; and work with local authorities to develop data and digital products that will support the practical implementation of family hubs. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/20m-to-provide-more-early-help-for-vulnerable-families.
Alongside this, the government is committed to delivering the action areas set out in the Early Years Healthy Development Review led by my right hon. Friend, the member for South Northamptonshire: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-best-start-for-life-a-vision-for-the-1001-critical-days.
One key action area was to champion Family Hubs as a place where parents and carers can access Start for Life services. To support delivery of this, the National Centre for Family Hubs will support councils to understand how best to build a Family Hub network and to take steps at a national and local level to reduce the stigma some parents or carers experience when asking for help. We will consider the recommendations in the Action for Children report as we take forward this work.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of Action for Children in their report, Barriers to accessing early years services for children, published 21 September 2021.
Answered by Will Quince
The department is leading a cross government approach to champion the family hub model. The government is investing over £34 million to champion family hubs. This includes a National Centre for Family Hubs to provide expert advice, guidance and advocacy; a £10 million transformation fund to open family hubs in around 10 new areas in England; an evaluation innovation fund to build the evidence base; and work with local authorities to develop data and digital products that will support the practical implementation of family hubs. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/20m-to-provide-more-early-help-for-vulnerable-families.
Alongside this, the government is committed to delivering the action areas set out in the Early Years Healthy Development Review led by my right hon. Friend, the member for South Northamptonshire: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-best-start-for-life-a-vision-for-the-1001-critical-days.
One key action area was to champion Family Hubs as a place where parents and carers can access Start for Life services. To support delivery of this, the National Centre for Family Hubs will support councils to understand how best to build a Family Hub network and to take steps at a national and local level to reduce the stigma some parents or carers experience when asking for help. We will consider the recommendations in the Action for Children report as we take forward this work.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to improve accessibility to early years services.
Answered by Will Quince
High quality, accessible childcare is important in ensuring that every child has the best possible start in life. As of 31 March 2021, 96% of providers on the Ofsted Early Years Register were judged Good or Outstanding, a substantial increase from 74% in 2012. Ofsted are responsible for monitoring the quality of provision.
The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare through regular attendance data collection and monitoring the open or closed status of providers. We also discuss sufficiency of provision in regular conversations with local authorities. Local authorities are not currently reporting any significant sufficiency or supply issues and we have not seen a significant number of parents unable to secure a childcare place, either this term or since early years settings re-opened fully on 1 June 2020. The department provides support to local authorities with low take up of the entitlements.
All 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to 15 hours free childcare each week, providing children with high-quality early education. Take-up of this entitlement is high, with 90% of 3 and 4 year olds registered for a 15 hours per week free early education place in January 2021. Eligible working parents of 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to an additional 15 hours to help them with the additional costs associated with childcare. Households on a low income of under £15,400 (or £16,190 if receiving child tax credits) can qualify for 15 hours free childcare for 2 year olds.
In addition to free early education entitlements, the government offers Tax-Free Childcare for children from 0 to 11 years old, or up to 16 if disabled. For every £8 parents pay into their Tax-Free Childcare account, the government will pay £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year. For disabled children, the maximum is £4,000 per year. In total, 308,000 families used Tax-Free Childcare for 364,000 children in June 2021.
Working parents on a low income may also be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs (for children under 16) through Universal Credit Childcare. This is subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1108 for two or more children, payable in arrears.
As part of the COVID-19 education recovery strategy we are investing £180 million for training for early years staff to support the very youngest children’s learning and development. This includes Nuffield Early Language Intervention, improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most during COVID-19. Two thirds of eligible primary schools have signed up and we estimate 90,000 reception age children will get extra support with their speech and language development. Further detail on the additional training will be made available in due course.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what salary is proposed for the new post of Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom; and what budget will be made available to that postholder.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
The Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom will be responsible for overseeing the performance of the Office for Students’ (OfS) freedom of speech functions, including the monitoring and enforcement of freedom of speech registration conditions and the new students’ unions duties, as well as the new complaints scheme under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill.
The salary of the Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom has not yet been determined. They will be recruited through the public appointments process.
The department will work closely with the OfS to ensure it has the necessary resources to fulfil its duties.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the annual budget was for the Office for Students in the (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21 financial years; and what the budget is for the 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23 financial years.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
The budgets for the Office for Students (OfS) for financial years 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 are as follows:
2019-20 - £1.5 billion
2020-21 - £1.5 billion
2021-22 - £1.5 billion
2022-23 - Not yet confirmed
The funding for the financial year 2022-23 will be confirmed as part of the Spending Review.
The OfS budget includes the Strategic Priorities Grant. The Grant is funding supplied by the government on an annual basis to support higher education (HE) providers’ ongoing teaching and related activities. Since 2012, grant funding has been reduced, while student fees income has increased for HE providers. Fees now make up the bulk of providers’ income. The Strategic Priorities Grant accounts for a relatively small proportion of the total income of HE providers today.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to prioritise the replacement of Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme (CLASP) schools in the School Rebuilding Programme to ensure that teachers and schoolchildren are safe from asbestos.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department takes the issue of asbestos in schools very seriously, and is committed to supporting schools, local authorities and academy trusts to fulfil their duty to manage asbestos safely. Expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive is that if asbestos is unlikely to be damaged or disturbed then it is best managed in situ. We are clear that if asbestos does pose a safety risk and cannot be effectively managed in situ, then it should be removed from schools.
Since 2015, the Government has allocated over £9.5 billion, including an additional £560 million in financial year 2020/21 to those responsible for school buildings for essential maintenance and improvements, including removing or encapsulation when it is the safest course of action to do so.
In February, we announced the first 50 schools to benefit from the new School Rebuilding Programme as part of a commitment to 500 projects over the next decade. School Rebuilding Programme investment is targeted on the basis of buildings’ condition. A full explanation of the methodology used to prioritise the first 50 schools has been published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme.
The Department intends to consult later this year on the approach to prioritising schools for the longer-term programme. Further details will be set out at that time and we would welcome the views of the school sector and other interested parties, including on whether particular types of building should be prioritised.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve the quality of information available on the rates of infection and transmission of covid-19 in educational settings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department regularly reviews advice from Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), Public Health England, the Office for National Statistics and other sources to ensure our policies are guided by the most up to date scientific evidence. SAGE have committed to publishing minutes and papers following meetings on a regular basis and we will continue to work closely with them, keeping the guidance under review as we continue to monitor the situation over the winter. The Department will adjust and adapt our approach as necessary if more evidence becomes available.
The Department collects daily data on the open status of schools, the number of schools that have indicated they have sent children home due to COVID-19 containment, the number of pupils absent because they have suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19, and the number of pupils asked to isolate due to contact with a potential case.
The data from this collection is published at a national level as part of the official statistics series. The publication can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Public Health England also collects data on infection, incidence, and COVID-19 cases overall and publishes weekly data on COVID-19 incidents by institution, including educational settings. This can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/936672/Weekly_COVID-19_and_Influenza_Surveillance_Graphs_w47.pdf. It shows COVID-19 clusters or outbreaks by educational setting, including colleges and universities. Age-range data is also available from the Office for National Statistics here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/20november2020. This shows age-range positive test rates, including for academic school Year 12 to age 24.
The department intends to publish school workforce attendance data from the new year. This data will be included as part of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid 19) outbreak’.
The Department is continuing to review what we publish in our weekly dataset, alongside the quality of data we collect.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on keeping schools open and functioning effectively of the performance of the test and trace system.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Keeping schools and colleges open is one of the Government’s highest priorities. Being at school is vital for the education of children, and for their wellbeing. Time spent out of school is detrimental to the cognitive and academic development of children, particularly for disadvantaged children. It continues to be the Department’s aim that all pupils, in all year groups, remain in school full-time.
Those who have COVID-19 symptoms, or have someone in their household who does, must not attend school. All staff and students who are attending a school or college have access to a test if they display symptoms of COVID-19 and are encouraged to get tested. Guidance on how schools should respond to COVID-19 cases is available through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
Testing capacity is the highest it has ever been. The UK’s daily COVID-19 testing capacity passed the 500,000 mark on 31 October and continues to expand. In order to support schools further, the Department is also supplying COVID-19 test kits directly to them for both staff and students who develop the symptoms of COVID-19 and face significant barriers to accessing a test through existing routes.
Schools are playing a vital role in supporting the test and trace system. Where someone who has attended tests positive for COVID-19, schools are taking swift action to send home close contacts of the positive case, advising them to self-isolate for 14 days since they were last in close contact with that person when they were infectious. There is a dedicated advice line to help schools, colleges or early years settings to implement the most appropriate public health measures once a case is confirmed. If, following triage, further expert advice is required, the adviser will escalate the school’s call to the Public Health England local health protection team.
The Government is committed to introducing mass asymptomatic testing using new technologies to minimise the risk of infection spread in our communities, and pilots are already underway for using them in schools and colleges. Establishing this testing capability will enable students to continue their studies safely, and ensure staff are able to continue to deliver education and support.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, steps he is taking to improve understanding of the guidance on the use of personal protective equipment in (a) schools and (b) other educational settings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
COVID-19 related Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) use is very limited for staff in education, childcare and children’s social care settings, and relates only to:
Further guidance on the use of PPE in education and childcare settings is available through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings-including-the-use-of-personal-protective-equipment-ppe.
We continue to give schools and others in the education and childcare sectors information about our guidance, and any changes to it, through regular Departmental communications.