Asked by: Julie Minns (Labour - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the year one phonics screening check.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Through our Plan for Change, we will give children the best start in life and that means an excellent foundation in core subjects.
Since the right hon. Ruth Kelly, as a previous Secretary of State for Education and Skills, accepted the recommendations of the Rose Report in 2006, England has made significant progress in the teaching of early reading, especially phonics.
The current national curriculum at key stage 1 states that “skilled word reading involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words… phonics should be emphasised in the early teaching of reading to beginners when they start school”.
The department has introduced a range of measures to support early reading and help increase the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the year 1 phonics screening check.
In July 2024, we announced that funded support for the 11,100 schools registered for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme would continue for the 2024/25 academic year.
NELI is an evidence-based programme targeting reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development. It is proven to help children make four months of additional progress, with seven months progress for those eligible for free school meals.
Further, the English Hubs school-to-school support programme is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since starting in 2018, the programme has engaged over 10,000 schools (60% of all primary schools). So far, the department has invested over £90 million in the programme, and a further £23 million has been committed for the 2024/25 academic year.
The government’s reading framework also provides guidance on improving the teaching of reading from reception to key stage 3, including guidance on how to help pupils who need more support to learn to read proficiently.
Asked by: Julie Minns (Labour - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of pupils that have experienced hygiene poverty in each of the last five years.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty as part of our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child.
Child poverty has gone up by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. This not only harms children’s lives now, but it also damages their future prospects and holds back our society and economy.
The Child Poverty Taskforce recognises families' ability to afford essentials, including hygiene essentials, as a fundamental aspect of child poverty. Addressing acute poverty, including access to essentials, is a core focus of the work being developed through the Child Poverty Strategy. This is set out in more detail in the 23 October publication ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy.
Asked by: Julie Minns (Labour - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve support for kinship carers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government recognises the valuable and important role that kinship carers play. This government also appreciates that kinship carers often take on this role at a time in their lives when they are least expecting to raise a family.
We have recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kinship Allowance in up to 10 local authorities to test whether paying an allowance to cover certain costs, such as supporting a child to settle into a new home with relatives, can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends.
This investment could transform the lives of vulnerable children who can no longer live at home by allowing children to grow up within their families and communities, reducing disruption to their early years, so they can focus on schooling and building friendships.
The government also recently announced the appointment of the first ever National Kinship Care Ambassador. The Ambassador advocates for kinship children and their carers and works directly with local authorities to help them improve services, whilst sharing good practice across areas.
The department has recently published the updated guidance for local authorities, the Kinship Care statutory guidance, which is available on GOV.UK at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/670d3ed5e84ae1fd8592f2fa/Kinship_Care_-_statutory_guidance_for_local_authorities__October_2024.pdf. This guidance outlines the framework for the provision of support for kinship children and kinship families.
This government is also extending the delivery of over 140 peer support groups across England, available for all kinship carers to access, where they can come together to share stories, exchange advice and support each other. We are also delivering a package of training and support that all kinship carers across England can access.
I am determined to give every child the opportunities they deserve, and kinship carers play a crucial role in delivering this. This government is considering how to most effectively transform the children’s social care system to deliver better outcomes for children and families, including how best to support kinship families.