Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote agricultural (a) careers and (b) skills development among young people in rural constituencies.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In October, the department published the Post-16 education and skills white paper, setting out a strategy to build a world-class skills system aligned with student and employer needs. Central to these reforms is Skills England, which provides expert insight into current and future skills needs.
The department funds the Careers & Enterprise Company to increase young people’s exposure to industry. They work with sector bodies, such as the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture to embed employer insight within careers education.
Through a network of careers hubs, the Careers & Enterprise Company connects careers provision in schools and colleges to the needs of local economies through strategic partnerships with local government. Several careers hubs covering rural constituencies work in line with local skills improvement plans by supporting young people’s career readiness and delivering application and interview support.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that all school children receive adequate first aid training.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
All state funded schools are required to teach first aid as part of the statutory health education set out in the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. Independent schools are required to cover health education as part of their responsibility to provide personal, social, health and economic education.
The statutory RSHE guidance includes basic first aid for primary school children, for example dealing with common injuries, such as head injuries. Pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid, for example how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the purpose of defibrillators and how to use them.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that families of children with SEND in rural areas have equitable access to early parenting support.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life sets out how the government will invest close to £1.5 billion over the next three years to expand and strengthen family services.
This will include £500 million for rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority. Each Best Start Family Hub will have a children and family services professional specifically trained in supporting parents of children with additional needs. This will help identify children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who may need extra help, making links with local early years settings and health services. We will also fund more evidence based parenting offers and set clearer rules to ensure that funding is used on high quality parenting programmes.
This will be supported by a new national Best Start digital service, linked to ‘My Children’ on the NHS app, bringing together the advice and guidance parents need in one place, and linking families to local services.
The Families First Partnership programme is embedding Family Help as a seamless offer of family support delivered by multi-disciplinary, community based teams. This includes a broad range of professionals, including those working in SEND. The location of services will be determined by local authorities, with partners, and we encourage areas to consider family hubs as a location.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of specialist evidence-based parenting support for families with children with SEND.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life sets out how the government will invest close to £1.5 billion over the next three years to expand and strengthen family services.
This will include £500 million for rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority. Each Best Start Family Hub will have a children and family services professional specifically trained in supporting parents of children with additional needs. This will help identify children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who may need extra help, making links with local early years settings and health services. We will also fund more evidence based parenting offers and set clearer rules to ensure that funding is used on high quality parenting programmes.
This will be supported by a new national Best Start digital service, linked to ‘My Children’ on the NHS app, bringing together the advice and guidance parents need in one place, and linking families to local services.
The Families First Partnership programme is embedding Family Help as a seamless offer of family support delivered by multi-disciplinary, community based teams. This includes a broad range of professionals, including those working in SEND. The location of services will be determined by local authorities, with partners, and we encourage areas to consider family hubs as a location.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of digital parenting programmes in supporting families of children with SEND.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life sets out how the government will invest close to £1.5 billion over the next three years to expand and strengthen family services.
This will include £500 million for rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority. Each Best Start Family Hub will have a children and family services professional specifically trained in supporting parents of children with additional needs. This will help identify children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who may need extra help, making links with local early years settings and health services. We will also fund more evidence based parenting offers and set clearer rules to ensure that funding is used on high quality parenting programmes.
This will be supported by a new national Best Start digital service, linked to ‘My Children’ on the NHS app, bringing together the advice and guidance parents need in one place, and linking families to local services.
The Families First Partnership programme is embedding Family Help as a seamless offer of family support delivered by multi-disciplinary, community based teams. This includes a broad range of professionals, including those working in SEND. The location of services will be determined by local authorities, with partners, and we encourage areas to consider family hubs as a location.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the effectiveness of the Childcare Funding system.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We see the early years as more than just childcare and central to our mission to give every child the best start in life. The department is focused on reforming the childcare system to ensure it is fit for purpose, so children get the best start in life and that high quality early education is available to all who need it.
To ensure that the early years funding system is hardwired to support those children and parts of the country that have higher levels of additional need, the department will review early years funding, including the early years national funding formulae, consulting on a set of changes by summer 2026.
We will review how funding is distributed nationally and locally to ensure the funding system remains fair and effective at reflecting the costs of delivery and supporting those children and parts of the country that have higher levels of additional need. The department will set out full details in the consultation next year.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve support for children with speech and language challenges in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department, in collaboration with NHS England, has extended the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme to strengthen early identification and intervention for children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) in early years settings and primary schools.
Under the Best Start in Life strategy, the department is investing in evidence-based initiatives such as the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), which has demonstrated significant impact on oral language and early literacy, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
Since 2021, English Hubs have delivered targeted professional development to enhance whole class early language provision, primarily in early years and key stage 1, with plans to expand support for reception classes.
Recognising the critical role of speech and language therapists, the department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department provides (a) training and (b) support to teachers working with children experiencing alienation from a (i) parent and (ii) grandparent.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework sets out the core content that defines great teaching and must be used by all providers of initial and early career teacher training to create their curricula. The framework sets out that trainees and early career teachers should learn how to develop an understanding of each pupil's individual needs by engaging with parents and carers to better understand these individual needs, and building trusting relationships with parents and carers to better understand each pupil's circumstances. Beyond the mandatory framework, decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rests with schools, headteachers, and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge the development and training that teachers in their schools need to support their pupils.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the number of kinship carers who will not be eligible for the new Kinship Allowance Pilot.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There is a duty on children’s services to arrange special guardianship support services in the local areas. Under section 14F of the Children Act 1989, “each local authority must make arrangements for the provision within their area of special guardianship support services, which includes financial support.”
The department is going further to increase the level of support offered to kinship carers through the trial of a new kinship allowance to support with the costs of raising a child.
At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced £40 million to pilot a new Kinship Allowance in some local authorities in England, to support up to 5,000 eligible children in kinship care.
As this is a pilot scheme, the allowance will not be universal at this stage. It is important that robust evidence underpins any future national rollout to ensure the best outcomes for children and families and value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to review the financial support available to kinship carers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There is a duty on children’s services to arrange special guardianship support services in the local areas. Under section 14F of the Children Act 1989, “each local authority must make arrangements for the provision within their area of special guardianship support services, which includes financial support.”
The department is going further to increase the level of support offered to kinship carers through the trial of a new kinship allowance to support with the costs of raising a child.
At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced £40 million to pilot a new Kinship Allowance in some local authorities in England, to support up to 5,000 eligible children in kinship care.
As this is a pilot scheme, the allowance will not be universal at this stage. It is important that robust evidence underpins any future national rollout to ensure the best outcomes for children and families and value for money for the taxpayer.