Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of exempting parents from fines for school absences caused by their child's (a) neuro diverse needs and (b) pathological demand avoidance.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Thanks to the efforts of the sector, overall absence is moving in the right direction, with children attending over 3.1 million more days this year compared to last, and over 100,000 fewer children persistently absent.
Some children face complex barriers to attendance, such as pupils who have special educational needs and disabilities. Whatever the cause of absence, school staff should always first work with families and pupils to understand the barriers to attendance and provide support where possible. This might include providing pastoral support or making reasonable adjustments where a pupil has a disability. Our statutory guidance expects this ‘support first’ approach from all types of school. The guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.
The law does not exempt parents from receiving penalty notices for absence based solely on their child’s characteristics. It is up to the school and the local authority to decide whether to issue a penalty notice for unauthorised absence or not. They retain discretion about whether to issue a penalty notice because only they know the specific facts of the particular case.
The decision to issue a penalty notice must be made on an individual case by case basis and should only be used in cases where it is deemed likely to change parental behaviour and improve attendance, and in cases where support has already been provided and has not worked or not been engaged with or is not appropriate. For example, in cases of holidays taken in term-time.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much additional funding her Department has allocated for special educational needs provision to Lancashire County Council since the Autumn Budget 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to over £12 billion. Of that total, Lancashire County Council is being allocated over £219 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £18 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 8.8% increase per head of their 2-18 year old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.
In addition, local authorities will receive a separate core schools budget grant for high needs in the 2025/26 financial year. We plan to publish individual local authorities’ allocations later in May 2025.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the sustainability of childcare in breakfast and after school clubs which rely on volunteers.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Schools have the discretion to identify the most appropriate workforce to deliver their breakfast and after school clubs, depending on their school’s context, existing staff contracts and arrangements and the mix of skills and experience required.
The department does not collect data on the number of breakfast and after school clubs run by volunteers, however these clubs can be led by various individuals, including teachers, teaching assistants, school catering staff, volunteers such as parents or others specifically hired to deliver the role. As such, the department has not made any specific assessment of the sustainability of breakfast and after school clubs that rely on volunteers.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many breakfast and after school clubs are run by volunteers in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Schools have the discretion to identify the most appropriate workforce to deliver their breakfast and after school clubs, depending on their school’s context, existing staff contracts and arrangements and the mix of skills and experience required.
The department does not collect data on the number of breakfast and after school clubs run by volunteers, however these clubs can be led by various individuals, including teachers, teaching assistants, school catering staff, volunteers such as parents or others specifically hired to deliver the role. As such, the department has not made any specific assessment of the sustainability of breakfast and after school clubs that rely on volunteers.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's ambition for 75% of five-year-olds to be school ready by 2028, whether she plans to set sub-targets on outcomes for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. That is why the Plan for Change set out the government’s ambition for a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn in the classroom. The department will measure our progress through 75% of children reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile assessment by 2028.
We are clear that in driving progress towards our milestone we must deliver better early education experiences and outcomes for children from low-income families and children with special educational needs and disabilities. The department will set out further plans in due course.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to set targets for the school readiness of children from low-income families.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. That is why the Plan for Change set out the government’s ambition for a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn in the classroom. The department will measure our progress through 75% of children reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile assessment by 2028.
We are clear that in driving progress towards our milestone we must deliver better early education experiences and outcomes for children from low-income families and children with special educational needs and disabilities. The department will set out further plans in due course.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to extend the free childcare offer to parents in (a) education and (b) training.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to delivering the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare offer so that, from September 2025, eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their child turns nine months old to when they start school. Accessible and high-quality early education and childcare is a crucial part of giving every child the best start in life, boosting children’s life chances and giving parents work choices.
Students who work in addition to their studies and earn the equivalent of at least 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage, which is equivalent to £183 per week/£9,518 per year in 2024/25, and under £100,000 adjusted net income per year, may be eligible for this offer. If parents are unable to meet this threshold, they will remain eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education, which is available to all three and four-year-olds regardless of family circumstances.
We recognise the value of parents continuing in education and provide a range of support for students in further or higher education (HE) to support them with childcare. Support available to full-time HE students with dependent children includes the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance. Entitlement to these grants is based on a student’s household income.
Asked by: Maya Ellis (Labour - Ribble Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of opportunities for childcare providers to feedback on plans for the sector.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is working with the sector to create an integrated early years and childcare system that works for parents and gives every child the best start in life.
Childcare providers’ feedback, intelligence and engagement are at the heart of the department’s way of working.
Departmental officials and ministers meet regularly with sector representatives including the National Partnership in Early Learning and Childcare (NPELC), the London Early Years Foundation (LEAF), the Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC) and the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) to gather feedback and inform policy development and delivery.
Departmental officials meet regularly with each local authority and ministers visit settings across England to gather feedback from managers, staff, childminders and parents.
Since January 2024, we have been running provider roadshows across England to support the expansion of childcare entitlements, giving hundreds of providers the opportunity to speak directly to policy officials on a range of early years topics.