Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to improve guidance on child sexual exploitation.
Answered by Edward Timpson
In response to the Ofsted thematic review ‘The sexual exploitation of children: it couldn't happen here, could it?’[1] the Department for Education will revise and re-issue the 2009 ‘Safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation’ guidance to reflect recent research, good practice and findings from child sexual exploitation reviews and criminal investigations. As it is statutory guidance, the department will consult and discuss with other government departments on the scope of the document.
On 3 March 2015, a summit was held where the government launched new measures to tackle child sexual exploitation: ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’.[2]
[2] www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-exploitation--2
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to increase the number of science graduates teaching in primary schools.
Answered by David Laws
The Department for Education wants to see more science graduates in teaching, both at primary and secondary level. There are currently around 26,100 primary teachers in state schools with science-related degrees (11.5%). We promote primary teaching to science graduates through our “Get into Teaching” campaign as well as supporting 500 primary places to Teach First which recruits top graduates into teaching.
In addition to initial teacher training, we are supporting a number of initiatives to improve the science knowledge of existing primary teachers. There are 266 Specialist Leaders of Education in science who are boosting other teachers’ knowledge across the country. We are also collaborating with the Wellcome Trust who are developing a programme for primary science teachers to strengthen further their expertise. In this way, they will be able to train non-specialist teachers to excel in science, providing further capacity in this important area.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that children who have been looked after because of abuse or neglect receive appropriate support and monitoring to prevent further abuse when they return home.
Answered by Edward Timpson
A robust assessment of the needs of a child and their family and how these needs will be met through on-going support from the local authority is crucial if children are to return home safely and successfully from care. The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 are clear that the child’s care plan must provide details of the advice, assistance and support that the responsible authority intends to provide after the child has returned home. Page 19 of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013 sets out the principles and parameters of a good assessment. The guidance is published online at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children
Improving practice when children return home from care is a priority for the Government. In 2013 we consulted on a range of proposals to improve permanence for looked-after children. Department for Education officials have convened a meeting of the relevant Expert Group on 9 September to discuss these issues and the Government’s formal response will be published later this year.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations he has received in support of his proposals to allow further delegation of children's social care functions in order to improve outcomes for children in receipt of child protection services.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Responses to the consultation on further delegation of children's social care functions are currently being considered.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to develop pilot projects of his proposals to allow further delegation of children's social care functions.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Responses to the consultation on further delegation of children's social care functions are currently being considered. Local authorities will be able to apply to the Children's Social Care Innovation Programme for support to make use of any new freedoms introduced, and the impact of activities funded through the programme will be robustly evaluated.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department takes to ensure that third party organisations delegated to undertake children's social care functions of local authorities are of an appropriate standard.
Answered by Michael Gove
The Government's recent consultation seeks to enable local authorities to delegate children's social care functions to broaden the range of approaches available to secure the best outcomes for children in their area. The proposals do not remove responsibilities from local authorities for ensuring their statutory obligations on child protection and children's social care are met, and it remains local authorities' responsibility to ensure the quality of that provision.
Delegated social care function arrangements will continue to be inspected by Ofsted, in the same way as directly delivered local authority social care functions, as part of its local authority inspection framework. In addition, regulations currently govern the fitness of third party providers and require their registration with Ofsted.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to exempt any functions from his proposals to allow further delegation of children's social care functions.
Answered by Michael Gove
Part 1 of the Children and Young Person's Act 2008 currently allows local authorities to delegate social care functions relating to children in care and care leavers. The legislation precludes delegation of independent reviewing officer functions, and of adoption functions, unless the other party to the arrangement is a registered adoption society.
The Government's proposals would not alter those exemptions, but seek to enable local authorities to delegate a wider range of social services functions (if they so wish), to broaden the range of approaches available to secure the best outcomes for children in their area. The recent consultation on the proposals closed on Friday 30 May and responses are being considered.
Asked by: Meg Munn (Labour (Co-op) - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effects of proposals for further delegation of children's social care functions on the implementation of the recommendations of the Munro Review of child protection.
Answered by Michael Gove
The Government is considering the outcome of its consultation on proposals to enable local authorities to delegate children's social care functions to third parties, to help broaden the range of approaches available to secure the best outcomes for children in their area. The proposals place no obligations on local authorities and do not remove their responsibility for ensuring their statutory obligations on child protection and children's social care are met.