Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to consult with occupational therapists as part of investment plans to increase the number of children with special education needs and disabilities in mainstream schools in England.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to ensuring that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.
The department regularly consults with various experts, stakeholders and stakeholder groups, including the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. We will continue to work with the sector as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission.
The department is working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services, including occupational therapy, for children and young people with SEND. NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting lists to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services, and continues to look at actions to reduce waiting times for these services.
The Department of Health and Social Care have launched a 10 Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central part of this will be workforce and how they ensure they train and provide the staff the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to increase recruitment of specialist occupational therapists supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities; and what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for children's occupational therapy services.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to ensuring that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.
The department regularly consults with various experts, stakeholders and stakeholder groups, including the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. We will continue to work with the sector as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission.
The department is working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services, including occupational therapy, for children and young people with SEND. NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting lists to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services, and continues to look at actions to reduce waiting times for these services.
The Department of Health and Social Care have launched a 10 Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central part of this will be workforce and how they ensure they train and provide the staff the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities within the hairdressing industry; and what support her Department provides salons to help them hire apprentices.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Apprenticeships are a great way for individuals to begin, or progress in, a successful career in hairdressing. Employers in the sector have developed a level 2 Hairdressing Professional apprenticeship and a level 2 Barbering Professional apprenticeship to help them develop their workforces.
The department continues to promote the benefits that apprenticeships offer, to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme, as part of the Skills for Life campaign.
Employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, that are usually small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are important to the economy and to apprenticeships. SMEs are more likely to employ younger apprentices and apprentices from disadvantaged areas.
To support non-levy paying employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care. Employers of all sizes, including SMEs, can also benefit from £1000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care.
Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 where they earn less than £967 a week, or £50,270 a year.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) reduction to the National Insurance threshold and (b) costs for employing part-time (i) teaching assistants and (ii) school support staff on (A) special education providers and (B) local authorities' high needs budgets.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has agreed that the department will be compensated for the increase in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) paid by state-funding schools. Work is underway to determine how much the department will receive for those employers within its remit.
Compensation for special education providers funded from local authorities’ high needs budgets will be additional to the £1 billion increase to high needs funding announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. Due to timing constraints, NICs funding will need to be provided as a separate grant, alongside the dedicated schools grant, in 2025/26.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on whether teachers in (a) sixth forms and (b) other further educational institutions will receive the same pay rise as teachers in other settings; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the level of pay rise received by teachers in those settings on (i) recruitment and (ii) retention.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE), including in sixth form colleges and other FE institutions. The pay and conditions of FE staff remains the responsibility of individual colleges and providers who are free to implement pay arrangements in line with their local needs.
The department recognises the vital role that teachers in sixth form colleges, as well as other FE colleges, play in developing the skills needed to drive our missions to improve opportunity and economic growth. The department is investing around an additional £600 million to support FE across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas, including in sixth form colleges. The department also continues to support recruitment and retention with teacher training bursaries worth up to £30,000 tax-free in certain key subject areas, and with support for industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through the Taking Teaching Further programme.
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a budget on 30 October to be followed by a multi-year spending review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future post-16 funding and capital programmes will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport of the potential impact of the introduction of VAT on independent school fees on the international competitiveness of British sport.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Details of the government’s assessment of the expected impacts of introducing VAT on private school fees will be published at the Budget in the usual way.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of introducing VAT on independent school fees on the number of children taking up sports scholarships.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
While details of the government’s assessment of the expected impacts of introducing VAT on private school fees will be published at the Budget in the usual way, the government does not collect figures on scholarships, bursaries and other financial support offered by private schools. There are therefore no plans to make an assessment of the impact on the number of children taking up sports scholarships.