Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to allow discretion in (a) grading and (b) OFSTED inspections for schools affected by RAAC.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
An updated list of schools and colleges with confirmed cases of RAAC was published on 6 December, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information.
The department has committed to remove RAAC from the school estate. This will be delivered through capital grants or the School Rebuilding Programme. The department will set out further details in due course.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is providing support to Responsible Bodies with revenue funding to cover a range of RAAC-related costs, including lost income due to cancelled lettings. Affected Responsible Bodies should contact their RAAC caseworker to discuss any revenue needs including lost income, so that support from the ESFA can be sought as soon as possible.
On grading, the department’s focus is on supporting schools and colleges to put in place suitable mitigations to minimise disruption to learning. Officials in the department have also been working hard to ensure that any school or college that is struggling to deliver particular assessments due to RAAC receives the support they need for their specific circumstances. Officials have asked awarding organisations to agree extensions to coursework and non-examined assessment deadlines with affected schools and colleges wherever possible within the confines of their processes and regulations.
Special consideration is only given to a candidate who has temporarily experienced illness, injury or some other event outside of their control at the time of the exam or assessment. Decisions on special consideration are made by exam boards on an individual basis. The Joint Council for Qualifications’ guidance is clear that students would not be eligible for special consideration on the grounds that teaching and learning has been disrupted by building work or a lack of facilities. This is important so that employers and/or further or higher education institutions can rely on the qualification outcomes as evidence of an individual’s abilities against the published content requirements.
The department has a robust offer of support for pupils including extra education support for those who need it. The department has made more than £1 billion available to support tutoring. Since the launch of the National Tutoring Programme in November 2020, nearly four million tutoring courses have been started.
The department is investing record amounts of pupil premium funding with £2.6 billion in 2022/23 and £2.9 billion this financial year. The department also offers wider support for pupils who are disadvantaged and may need more support, such as free school meals that support 1.9 million children and the holiday activities and food programme where the department investing over £200 million a year for the next 2 years and support for 2,500 breakfast clubs.
Ofsted is avoiding scheduling school inspections during this term for schools on the department’s published list of settings affected by RAAC. For schools impacted by RAAC, but not on the list, Ofsted will carefully consider any requests for a deferral of an inspection.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timetable is for having replacement buildings and sports facilities for schools affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete; and what criteria will be used to assess the suitability of replacement buildings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with Ofsted on the potential merits of taking into account disruption to schools affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete when assessing their delivery of the National Curriculum.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to instruct Ofqual to give special consideration for students whose schools have been affected by RAAC.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to implement a 20% reduction target for Education Health and Care Plans as part of the Delivering Better Value in SEND programme.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s Delivering Better Value (DBV) programme has no targets to reduce the number of new Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. Decisions about individual children and young people and whether they require EHC plans must be made on an individual basis, following the processes set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. The department is protecting every parent and family’s existing legal right to an EHC plan when they need one, and that will not change.
The DBV programme is part of the wider reform work set out in detail in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan. DBV aims to put the SEND system on a more sustainable footing by funding system transformation in up to 55 local authorities with high dedicated schools grant deficits. It does so by providing diagnostic support to each local authority to engage with its stakeholders and identify opportunities to improve services and meet children’s needs at an early stage and with the right level of support.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there has been a reduction in Education Health Care Plans at any of the Local Authorities in Tranche 1 and 2 of the Delivering Better Value in SEND Programme.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s Delivering Better Value (DBV) programme has no targets to reduce the number of new Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. Decisions about individual children and young people and whether they require EHC plans must be made on an individual basis, following the processes set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. The department is protecting every parent and family’s existing legal right to an EHC plan when they need one, and that will not change.
The DBV programme is part of the wider reform work set out in detail in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan. DBV aims to put the SEND system on a more sustainable footing by funding system transformation in up to 55 local authorities with high dedicated schools grant deficits. It does so by providing diagnostic support to each local authority to engage with its stakeholders and identify opportunities to improve services and meet children’s needs at an early stage and with the right level of support.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing funding for exam remarks for students on the pupil premium.
Answered by Nick Gibb
If a pupil has concerns about their exam results, they should talk to their school or college who can request that the exam board reviews the marking of their exam script.
There may be a fee for a review of marking. Any fee paid to the awarding organisation will be refunded if a grade is changed following a review or appeal. It is for the school to decide whether they will pay for the review or whether the student should be charged for this service.
Schools are entitled to use pupil premium funding to pay for a review of marking, if they think it is appropriate.
Further information on how schools should use the pupil premium to raise the education attainment of disadvantaged pupils is set out in the government guidance here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1147853/Using_pupil_premium_guidance_for_school_leaders.pdf.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of the grant paid for free school meals.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department recognises the cost pressures that some schools and suppliers may be facing. The Department is holding regular meetings with other Government Departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies.
The Department keeps funding under review to ensure that schools continue to be able to provide healthy and nutritious meals. The funding for the free school meals programme is increasing in 2023/24, in line with the latest available gross domestic product deflator forecast when the National Funding Formula was published in July 2022.
Universal Infant Free School Meals are funded through a direct grant to schools. The funding rate for the 2023/24 academic years stands at £2.53. This represents a 5% increase on the previous year’s rate.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, to confirm how many Mental Health Support Teams are in (a) the North West and (b) Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) are now in place in around 6,800 schools and colleges across the country, with 398 expert teams offering support to children experiencing anxiety, depression, and other common mental health issues. Information on the delivery of MHSTs can found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1156762/Transforming_CYPMH_implementation_programme__data_release_May_2023.pdf. MHSTs have achieved their NHS Long Term Plan coverage ambition a year early, and more teams are coming, with over 500 MHSTs planned to be up and running by April 2024.
Data from NHS England shows that there are currently 58 MHSTs in the North West of England. 50 MHSTs are operational and 8 will be fully operational by April 2024. The data can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/cyp/trailblazers/#_Mental_Health_Support. Data on the number of MHSTs specifically in Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency is not currently available.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has held recent discussions with universities on student mental health.
Answered by Robert Halfon
It is a priority for the government that students are provided with the mental health support they need. The department engages regularly with universities and the broader higher education (HE) sector in pursuit of this goal.
We have made clear to the sector that our approach to supporting student mental health has three pillars:
I recently met with Universities UK (UUK), who represent 115 English Universities, to inform them of the department’s ambitions for the sector on mental health going forward. On 5 June 2023, I wrote to all university leaders, asking for their strongest possible commitment to the mental health of our students, including by showing ownership of mental health at an executive level. The department set a target for universities to sign up to the Mental Health Charter by September 2024, so universities take a whole-university approach to mental health and wellbeing and follow the principles set out in the Mental Health Charter.
We also made clear to the sector that we expect them to follow relevant best practice guidance shared with them by UUK and mental health experts.
The department will be engaging with the sector on implementation of best practice through the Higher Education Mental Health Taskforce. I have asked Student Support Champion, Professor Edward Peck to lead this, working with the sector, parents and students, and mental health experts. The Taskforce will set strong, clear, and measurable targets on which HE providers will report. The Taskforce will conclude its work with a final report in May next year, having produced an interim plan by the end of this year.
I will be chairing a roundtable with university and wider HE leaders to explore how the sector can make further improvements on mental health support, working alongside mental health experts and government.