Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees are studying degree courses at universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The UK has a longstanding and proud tradition of providing a safe haven to those who have no choice but to leave their home country because of endangerment to their lives or to those of their families. Higher education student support is available to those recognised as refugees, as well as their spouses, civil partners and children who were family members on the date the refugee applied for asylum, provided they have been ordinarily (i.e. lawfully) resident in the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and Isle of Man) since being recognised by the government as a refugee and are ordinarily resident in England on the course start date. They are exempt from the three-year ordinary residence requirement.
4,948 students with refugee status received student support from Student Finance England in the 2023/24 academic year to support their studies on full time undergraduate courses.
Individuals seeking asylum are not entitled to student support in England, whilst they are seeking asylum.
The department does not hold information on students who have self-funded their studies.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to support students with special needs in the Ashfield and Mansfield district.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Nottinghamshire received a joint local area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in February 2023 under the current Area SEND Inspection framework. Ofsted and the CQC found widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND which the local area partnership must address urgently. The report, which was published on 16 May 2023, included two areas for priority action (APA). The local area submitted a Priority Action Plan to Ofsted and the CQC to address these APAs, which was approved on 14 July 2023.
The department’s regional team has put in place systems to track outcomes against the APAs found by inspectors and the progress made by children and young people with SEND. Nottinghamshire County Council is committed to working closely with the department to improve services.
The department has appointed a SEND Advisor to work collaboratively with an NHS England Adviser to challenge, support and work alongside Nottinghamshire County Council and the local area partnership. In addition, the department commissioned the Council for Disabled Children, which is part of the Research and Improvement for SEND Excellence Consortium contract, to deliver a bespoke package, supporting the local area to develop an outcome-based framework to underpin their new SEND strategy. This is available here: https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/education/special-educational-needs-and-disabilities-send/special-educational-needs-and-disabilities-send/nottinghamshire-local-area-send-strategy.
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is committed to taking a community wide approach in collaboration with local area partnerships, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to children and young people with the most complex needs.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate her Department has made of when the re-build of Ashfield School will take place.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ashfield Comprehensive School is currently in the feasibility stage of the School Rebuilding Programme. The feasibility will determine the scope of the project, programme and the budget. Once the feasibility is concluded the department will procure a contractor to undertake the detailed design of the scheme and secure planning permission.
The department currently anticipates appointing a contractor in spring 2025, with construction beginning from autumn/winter 2025.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure school children are educated about knife crime.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Keeping children safe is a top priority for this government. Education plays a key role in ensuring children can lead safe and fulfilling lives, and it provides opportunity to intervene early, to prevent young people being drawn into crime.
Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) includes content on the situations that often lead young people to carry weapons such as knives, including criminal exploitation though involvement in gangs and county lines drugs operations and in particular the grooming relationships that often accompany this. Issues around gun and knife crime can also still be taught as part of a school’s wider curriculum. For example, schools can choose to include this content as part of their personal, social, health and economic education or citizenship curriculum.
Additionally, school-led Support, Attend, Fulfil, Exceed (‘SAFE’) taskforces have been established in 10 hotspot areas in England. The taskforces are investing in and delivering evidence-based interventions such as mentoring and social skills training to reach young people early, get them back on track with their education and reduce their vulnerability to serious violence. In alternative provision (AP), our Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces programme enables teams of specialists such as speech and language therapists, youth justice workers and family workers to provide integrated, child-centred support in 22 APs in hotspot areas.
Youth Endowment Fund’s Toolkit, backed by Home Office funding, supports schools and wider services to take evidence based interventions to tackle serious violence. More information on this toolkit is available here: http://www.youthendowmentfund.org.uk/toolkit/.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department taking to improve the provision of SEND support for children in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Nottinghamshire received a joint local area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in February 2023 under the current Area SEND Inspection framework. Ofsted and CQC found widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND which the local area partnership must address urgently. The report, published on 16 May 2023, included two areas for priority action (APA). The local area submitted a priority action plan (PAP) to Ofsted and CQC to address these APAs, which was approved on 14 July 2023.
The department’s regional team has put in place systems to track outcomes against the APAs found by inspectors and the progress made by children and young people with SEND. Nottinghamshire County Council is committed to working closely with the department to improve services.
The department has appointed a SEND advisor to work collaboratively with an NHS England Adviser to challenge, support and work alongside Nottinghamshire County Council and the local area partnership.
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with local area partnerships to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and to ensure special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help increase the (a) availability and (b) affordability of childcare in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving the life chances for every child and the work choices for every parent.
From April 2024, working parents of 2 year olds have been able to access 15 hours of government-funded childcare per week (over 38 weeks a year) from the term after their child’s birthday. From September 2024, this was extended to parents of children aged nine months and above and, from September 2025, working parents will be able to access 30 hours per week (over 38 weeks a year) for children from age nine months to when they start school. The department is also growing the provision of wraparound childcare, which is before and after school provision, for primary school children.
In 2024/25, we expect to provide over £1.7 billion to support local authorities and providers deliver the childcare expansion, which will rise in 2027/28 to over £4.1 billion. By the same year we expect to be providing over £8 billion every year overall on new and existing early years entitlements.
For Nottinghamshire County Council, the hourly rate for 3 to 4 year olds is £5.47, which is an increase of 5.2%. For 2 year olds, this rate is £7.63 per hour and for under 2s, £10.38 per hour.
The government has also committed to utilising unused space in primary schools to create much needed places in 3,000 nurseries, working in partnership with all parts of the sector and local authorities.
In addition to the entitlements, parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare. Parents can check what childcare support they are entitled to via the Childcare Choices website, which is accessible at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England on their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing, including supporting them through our childcare delivery support contract where appropriate.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending arrangements for childcare funding such that the funding is available from the child's relevant birthday irrespective of the time of year.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The entitlements work on a termly basis, so children become eligible from the termly date after they reach the relevant age or after they or their parents first meet the eligibility criteria. The dates on which the terms start are 1 September, 1 January or 1 April. Therefore, depending on when a child is born or when the eligibility criteria is first met, there will be differing periods to wait until the relevant termly date.
The termly basis also allows local authorities and childcare providers to plan and ensure sufficient early years places are available for parents each term, as there are clear periods at which children are likely to enter a place.
Currently, there are no plans to amend the eligibility criteria, but this may be considered in the future.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to expand the eligibility criteria for free school meals to include all primary school children.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is driving an agenda of change to break down the barriers to opportunity and to reduce child poverty, working across local and national government to bring about change.
Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. That is why the government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackling the root causes, and giving every child the best start at life. To support this, a new Ministerial taskforce has been set up to begin work on the Child Poverty Strategy.
The department is also committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity so that all children have the freedom to achieve and thrive in education. To support this aim, the department is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school, to set children up for the day and ensure they are ready to learn, while supporting parents and carers to work.
Disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as 16 to 18 year old students in further education, are entitled to receive free meals on the basis of low income. 2.1 million disadvantaged pupils are registered to receive free school meals (FSM) and a further 90,000 are registered to receive further education free meals. In addition, all children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England's state-funded schools are entitled to Universal Infant Free School Meals, which benefits around 1.3 million pupils. As with all government programmes, we will keep our approach to FSM under review.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to continue the school rebuilding programme for (a) Kirkby College, (b) Ashfield School, (c) Outwood Academy and (d) Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to rebuilding or refurbishing all schools selected for the School Rebuilding Programme, including all schools selected in Nottinghamshire.
Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department to ensure they support a high-quality education for all children. All future decisions remain subject to the Spending Review.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing compulsory mental health lessons in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Health education became a statutory part of the National Curriculum in September 2020. The aim of teaching pupils about physical health and mental wellbeing is to give them the information they need to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing, recognise issues in themselves and others and, when issues arise, seek support as early as possible from appropriate sources.
In primary school, pupils learn simple self-care techniques, including the importance of rest, time spent with friends and family and the benefits of hobbies and interests. At secondary school, teaching includes the benefits of community participation and voluntary and service-based activities on mental wellbeing and happiness.
Pupils are taught how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns, including common types of mental ill health, such as anxiety and depression. Pupils are also taught where and how to seek advice, including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions.
As part of the review of the relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance, the Department will undertake a deep dive into whether suicide prevention should be a statutory part of the curriculum.