Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nadhim Zahawi and Alex Burghart

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alex Burghart (Brentwood and Ongar) (Con)]

12. What progress his Department has made on strengthening the social work profession.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Nadhim Zahawi)]

Social workers do an invaluable job in protecting the most vulnerable children and families in our society. We are improving initial education standards, and providing professional development at key stages throughout a social worker’s career. A new independent regulator, Social Work England, will have a strong focus on better standards, while the national assessment and accreditation system will provide additional confidence in the quality of practice.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nadhim Zahawi]

My right hon. Friend is right to point out that the national assessment and accreditation system is a critical means of embedding high standards in the social work profession. We are currently in phase 1, and more than 100 social workers have been accredited so far. We will be considering questions like my right hon. Friend’s during the national roll-out.

[Alex Burghart]

Initiatives such as Step Up to Social Work and Frontline have done a very good job in bringing high-qualities graduates into the profession, but what is the Department doing to encourage better continuing professional development for those who are already in the workforce?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

Continuing professional development is crucial to high-quality social work. The Department funds it through the assessed and supported year in employment for new social workers, and an aspiring practice leaders programme. This autumn we launched a programme for more than 1,000 people moving into supervisory roles.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nadhim Zahawi and Alex Burghart

Monday 10th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi]

High-needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs, including those with autism, is £6 billion this year—the highest it has ever been—and an increase from £5 billion in 2013. We have increased overall funding allocations to local authorities for high needs by £130 million in 2017-18 and £142 million in 2018-19, and we will increase this further, by £120 million, in 2019-20.

[Alex Burghart (Brentwood and Ongar) (Con)]

Will the Minister update the House on the progress of the national assessment and accreditation system for children’s social workers?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nadhim Zahawi and Alex Burghart

Monday 14th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi]

We are determined to close the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers. The early years are crucial to getting that right. The gap continues to narrow, having gone from 19 to 17 percentage points. In our ambitious £800 million plan, “Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential”, we committed £100 million of investment to help close the gap further. Councils decide how they use children’s centres in the overall provision, and I have seen great work being done in Wigan, Hackney and Staffordshire. It is not simply about bricks and mortar.

[Alex Burghart (Brentwood and Ongar) (Con)]

Will the Minister confirm that the excellent review of the outcomes of children in need will look not just at educational outcomes, but at employment and other outcomes?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I can confirm that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nadhim Zahawi and Alex Burghart

Monday 19th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alex Burghart (Brentwood and Ongar) (Con)]

1. If he will take steps to improve outcomes for children in need.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Nadhim Zahawi)]

We must help children in need to achieve their full potential. That is why we are already implementing vital social care reforms to improve children’s safety and stability. On Friday, we launched the children in need review. That will develop the evidence so that we can understand what makes a difference to those children’s educational outcomes and what works to improve those outcomes in practice.

[Alex Burghart]

I strongly welcome the review that was announced last week. Many of us have been pushing for that for a long time, and I am sure that it will make a difference to the nearly 400,000 children in need in our country. As the Minister goes about the review, will he commit to using the considerable data at his disposal to highlight those areas and children that buck the trend, so that we can learn from their example?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

My hon. Friend has been a champion of children in need. The review is absolutely intended to establish best practice. It builds on work that we already do with our partners in practice local authorities, the expansion of which I announced last week.