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Written Question
Relationships and Sex Education
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to require schools’ relationships and sex education syllabuses to include (1) information about sexually transmitted infections (STIs), (2) the full range of ways to avoid contracting STIs, (3) the health and other benefits of later onset of sexual activity, and (4) the health and other benefits of sexual activity within committed relationships.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance introduced in September 2020 states that secondary pupils should be taught factual knowledge around sex, sexual health, and sexuality, set firmly within the context of relationships. Pupils should learn about contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), developing intimate relationships and resisting pressure to have sex. Further information on this guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

The ‘intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health’ topic specifies that by the end of secondary school pupils should know how the different STIs are transmitted, how risk can be reduced through safer sex and the importance of and facts about testing. Pupils are also taught about STIs at key stage 4 of the science curriculum.

To support teachers to deliver these topics safely and with confidence the department has produced RSHE teacher training modules. The topic of ‘intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health’ includes content on STIs and sexual health advice. Further information on these modules can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health.

From primary education onwards, age-appropriate Relationships Education supports pupils to treat each other with kindness, consideration and respect, including understanding the importance of respectful relationships and the different types of loving and healthy relationships that exist.

The department will be launching a public consultation shortly on revised RSHE guidance, so that interested parties can contribute their comments and ideas, including on sexual health, relationships and STIs. The department will carefully consider responses received and intend to publish final guidance later in 2024.


Written Question
Family Hubs: Parents
Wednesday 2nd August 2023

Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government to what extent the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme is embedded in Family Hub services, particularly in local authorities that received money from the Family Hubs Transformation Fund.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Family hubs are ‘one stop shops’ that make it easier for families to get the support they need. The hub approach means professionals and partners work together more effectively, with a focus on supporting and strengthening family relationships.

The department is investing in 87 local authorities to develop family hubs in their areas. We have developed guidance and expectations for these participating local authorities, working across government to reflect a range of services to be accessed through their family hubs. This has included working with the Department for Work and Pensions to develop the expectations on family hubs around Reducing Parental Conflict.

Reducing Parental Conflict is embedded within the service expectations for family hubs. This means that staff in the family hub should be able to help identify families who may benefit from reducing parental conflict support and connect them to appropriate support, such as online resources or more intensive support, such as structured support from a trained practitioner.

The expectations for the family hubs funded through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme are available in the attached file.


Written Question
Universities: Drugs
Wednesday 19th July 2023

Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that the Universities UK strategic advisory panel involves students from Sensible Drug Policy UK; and what assessment they have made of the implications of this involvement for illegal drug use on university campuses.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is clear there is no safe way to take illegal drugs. These drugs can devastate lives, ruin families, and damage communities. The government welcomes activity by universities and other organisations to raise awareness of the harms of illicit drugs and discourage drug misuse. This includes focusing on the health, safety and wellbeing of students, while working with public health and law enforcement agencies.

This government has invested a record £780 million to rebuild the national drug treatment and recovery system, to improve treatment and provide wider support, such as employment and housing, that people need to rebuild their lives.


Written Question
Imperial College London
Tuesday 31st January 2023

Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the guidance 'How to be a white ally', published by Imperial College London; and whether they intend to take steps in response to review that institution’s funding.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Universities are autonomous institutions and as such have control over what they publish on their own websites.

Decisions about funding for individual higher education providers are made by the Office for Students, rather than the department.


Written Question
Higher Education: Care Leavers
Tuesday 31st May 2022

Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take, if any, to increase the number of care leavers at high tariff higher education institutions.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

We have published guidance for higher education (HE) providers, setting out areas where care leavers are likely to need additional support, including examples of the types of additional support that have been put in place, drawing on best practice from across the sector. We have also introduced the Care Leaver Covenant, which enables organisations, including HE providers, to make offers of support to care leavers.

The National Network for the Education of Care Leavers has developed the Quality Mark: a developmental accreditation process for universities and colleges to demonstrate their support for the inclusion and success of care experienced students. The Quality Mark has a focus on getting the right information to students on academic and pastoral support available to them, along with tailored mentoring and financial advice.

As autonomous bodies independent from government, HE providers are responsible for their own admissions decisions. However, the department encourages HE providers to put the interests of students at the heart of their decision-making, including providing the appropriate support for care leavers.

All HE providers in the approved (fee cap) category of the Office for Students’ (OfS) register are required to have an access and participation plan (APP) agreed by the Director for Fair Access and Participation at the OfS. In order to be approved, APPs must represent a credible, ambitious strategy to reduce gaps in access, participation and attainment for disadvantaged and under-represented groups.

As care leavers are underrepresented within HE, APPs will often address specific interventions by the provider for improving equality of opportunity for care-experienced individuals. This may take the form of targeted outreach, additional pastoral, accommodation or financial support while studying, or support through mentorship or buddy schemes.

Care leavers attending HE courses are treated as independent students when their entitlement to living costs is assessed. This means that in nearly all cases they will qualify for the maximum loan for living costs. Care leavers undertaking HE also qualify for a £2,000 HE bursary from their local authority. Additional bursaries are offered by some HE providers for care leavers in higher education.

The enclosed attachment contains the department’s analysis of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record showing the number of care leavers who entered courses at English HE providers in each academic year from 2018/19 to 2020/21. Coverage refers to entrants domiciled in England prior to study and care leavers are defined as codes 01 and 04 in the HESA care leaver collection documentation. Further information can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/collection/c20051/a/careleaver.

The summary table below shows the number of care leavers who entered courses at high tariff[1] English HE providers in each year, along with total care leavers entering courses at all HE providers. A full breakdown by institution can be found in the attachment.

Academic year

Care leavers entrants at high tariff providers

Care leavers entrants at all providers

2018/19

435

3,570

2019/20

505

3,895

2020/21

580

4,290

We will take account of the recommendations from the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, which is due to report shortly, when assessing what further support can be provided to increase the number of care leavers who attend university.

[1] The tariff grouping used here is the same as that which the Office for Students defined in Annex A (pg 20) of their technicaly guidance, available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/6591e671-624a-4ebf-a5fb-1be904a5eb9f/technical-gudiance-to-accompany-provider-modelling-finalforweb.pdf.

They are based on the average UCAS tariff score of their young (aged under 21) UK-domiciled undergraduate entrants in the 2012-13 to 2014-15 academic years. Providers in the top third of the ranking by average tariff score form the ‘High tariff’ group.


Written Question
Further Education: Children in Care
Tuesday 31st May 2022

Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they collect on the average level of educational attainment for looked after children (1) at Key Stage 5, and (2) in post-16 education.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not hold information centrally on the types of qualifications looked-after children study and complete beyond key stage 4. The department does hold and publish information on pupils who were at the end of key stage 4 in the 2018/2019 academic year and reports on their destinations in the following academic year (2019/2020).

The figures show in the 2019/20 academic year, 5,450 children looked after were in a sustained education destination in the year following the end of key stage 4. Of these, 2,910 were in further education, 860 were in a school sixth form or sixth form college and 1,240 were in some other form of education. The full figures can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d583af1d-ad7d-4f1f-990b-2b27586d6c69.

The department does not hold information on the educational attainment of looked after children beyond key stage 4.


Written Question
GCE A-level: Children in Care
Tuesday 31st May 2022

Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many looked after children (1) started, and (2) completed, A-Level courses in each of the last three years for which the data are available.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not hold information centrally on the types of qualifications looked-after children study and complete beyond key stage 4. The department does hold and publish information on pupils who were at the end of key stage 4 in the 2018/2019 academic year and reports on their destinations in the following academic year (2019/2020).

The figures show in the 2019/20 academic year, 5,450 children looked after were in a sustained education destination in the year following the end of key stage 4. Of these, 2,910 were in further education, 860 were in a school sixth form or sixth form college and 1,240 were in some other form of education. The full figures can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d583af1d-ad7d-4f1f-990b-2b27586d6c69.

The department does not hold information on the educational attainment of looked after children beyond key stage 4.


Written Question
Higher Education: Care Leavers
Tuesday 31st May 2022

Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many care leavers entered high tariff higher education institutions in each of the last three years for which the data are available; and how many entered each institution.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The enclosed attachment contains the department’s analysis of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record showing the number of care leavers who entered courses at English higher education providers (HEPs) in each academic year from 2018/19 to 2020/21. Coverage refers to entrants domiciled in England prior to study and care leavers are defined as codes 01 and 04 in the HESA care leaver collection documentation. Further information can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/collection/c20051/a/careleaver.

The summary table below shows the number of care leavers who entered courses at high tariff[1] English HEPs in each year, along with total care leavers entering courses at all HEPs. A full breakdown by institution can be found in the attachment.

Academic year

Care leavers entrants at high tariff providers

Care leavers entrants at all providers

2018/19

435

3,570

2019/20

505

3,895

2020/21

580

4,290

[1] The tariff grouping used here is the same as that which the Office for Students defined in Annex A (pg 20) of their technical guidance, available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/6591e671-624a-4ebf-a5fb-1be904a5eb9f/technical-gudiance-to-accompany-provider-modelling-finalforweb.pdf.

They are based on the average UCAS tariff score of their young (aged under 21) UK-domiciled undergraduate entrants in the 2012-13 to 2014-15 academic years. Providers in the top third of the ranking by average tariff score form the 'High tariff' group.


Written Question
Family Hubs: Finance
Wednesday 1st December 2021

Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding they have provided in total for family hubs since 2020; and how much of this has been allocated, broken down by fund.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

At Budget, the government announced £82 million to create a network of family hubs. This is part of a wider £300 million package to transform services for parents, carers, babies and children in half of council areas across England.

Further information on funding profiles and how funding will be allocated will be made available in due course.


Written Question
Pre-school Education: Finance
Thursday 25th November 2021

Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government to which named funds the £500 million of families and early years funding will be directed.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Supporting families and children across the country to get the best start in life is a crucial part of the government’s ambition to level up. The £500 million announced at the Autumn 2021 Budget includes:

  • £300 million to transform ‘Start for Life’ services and create a network of family hubs in half of the council areas across England. This package of support will provide funding for the creation of a network of family hubs (£82 million), infant and perinatal mental health support (£100 million), breastfeeding support (£50 million), and parenting programmes (£50 million) in 75 areas. It will also provide the 75 local authorities with funding to co-design their Start for Life offer with parents and carers and publish it in an accessible format (£10 million). Trials of innovative workforce models for health visitors will also be funded in a smaller number of council areas to test approaches to improve the support available to new parents.
  • a £200 million uplift to the existing Supporting Families Programme to enable local authorities and their partners to provide help earlier and secure better outcomes for up to an additional 300,000 families across all aspects of their lives.