Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number of pupils who have been absent from school due to a lack of provision of SEND services.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold information on the number of pupils who have been absent from school due to the lack of provision of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services. However, we recognise that rates of absence are generally higher for pupils with SEND and children attending special schools.
We also recognise that barriers to attendance are wide and complex, and this is particularly true for pupils with SEND. Addressing these barriers requires a support-first approach and strong relationships between families, schools, local authorities and other relevant local services.
This is why the department has published the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which became statutory in August 2024. The guidance promotes a support-first approach and provides detail on additional support for pupils with SEND. Where a pupil is not attending due to unmet or additional needs, this guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services work together to access and provide the right support to improve attendance.
The department is working closely with schools and local authorities to ensure that education settings are able to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, including announcing £1 billion investment in high needs at the Autumn Budget 2024. This funding will help to ensure all children can access the high quality education that should be their right.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many state-funded school playing pitches have been sold in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of the department’s transparency data, a register of decisions to dispose of school playing field land is published on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-land-decisions-about-disposals.
Playing field land is defined as land in the open air which is provided for the purposes of physical education or recreation.
85 applications were given consent to dispose of playing field land between 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2023 (12 in 2019, 21 in 2020, 14 in 2021, 20 in 2022 and 18 in 2023). The majority of those were disposals by way of freehold sale, but the figures also include appropriation of playing field land to another local authority use, such as, social housing or highways, or the grant or surrender of a lease of more than 30 years.
18 applications were given consent to dispose of playing field land between 1 January and 31 October 2024. The department anticipates the cases will be added to the published list on GOV.UK by the end of January 2025.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help protect school pupils who are known to have allergies.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions, including allergies.
The statutory guidance ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions. Schools should ensure they are aware of any pupils with medical conditions and have policies and processes in place to ensure these can be well managed.
The department included a reminder to schools of these duties in its regular schools’ email bulletin in both March and September 2024. In the same communication, the department also alerted schools to the newly created Schools Allergy Code. The Code was developed by the Allergy Team, the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association and the Benedict Blythe Foundation, who are all trusted voices on the matter of allergies. The department has now also added a link to the Code to its online allergy guidance on GOV.UK.
The department will keep the statutory guidance under review as it takes forward its commitment to delivering an inclusive mainstream system.