Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to publish a response to her Department's review of RSHE statutory guidance launched by the previous Administration in May 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The public consultation on the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education statutory guidance was open for eight weeks and received over 14,300 responses.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance for schools. Therefore, the government will look carefully at the consultation responses, discuss with stakeholders and consider the relevant evidence, including the Cass Review which has since been published, before setting out next steps.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's guidance for local authorities entitled Travel to school for children of compulsory school age, published in January 2024, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Part 1: Local authorities, statutory duty in relation to eligible school children.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s home to school transport policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education due to a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free travel to school for children of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so.
The department formally consulted on the statutory guidance for local authorities in 2019, and continued to engage with key partners until the updated guidance was published in June 2023. We continue to engage with local authorities on a regular basis on this issue.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help local councils reduce waiting times for education, health and care plans.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department knows that parents often struggle to get the right support for their children, including having to go through long and difficult education, health and care (EHC) plan processes.
We want to ensure that EHC plan applications are processed promptly and, where required, plans are issued so that children and young people can access the support they need. The department has listened to parents, schools and local authorities and is reflecting on what practice could be made consistent nationally.
Where local authorities are failing to deliver consistent outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), we work with them using a range of support, and challenge, improvement programmes and SEND specialist advisors, to address identified weaknesses.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help local councils support children with special educational needs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), or in alternative provision, receive the right support to achieve and thrive including as they move into adult life. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with local area partnerships to improving support for all children and young people with SEND.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) introduced a strengthened area SEND inspection framework in January 2023, leading to a greater emphasis on the outcomes being achieved for children and young people. It is the primary tool to maintain a focus on high standards in the SEND system across all partners.
The department works to monitor, support and challenge local authorities as needed, working closely with NHS England to tackle weaknesses that sit with health partners.
Where a council does not meet its duties, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement. We offer a range of universal, targeted and intensive support through department-managed programmes, such as our Sector Led Improvement Partners, which provide peer-to-peer tailored support.
We will continue to work closely with Ofsted and CQC as they review the local area SEND inspection framework in response to feedback from the Big Listen exercise.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on future funding for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The future of the Holiday Activities and Food programme, beyond 31 March 2025, is subject to the next government Spending Review taking place this autumn. The department will communicate the outcome of that process in due course.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of VAT on school fees on state school capacity in (a) Epping Forest constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
HM Treasury is considering the potential impact of VAT on school fees on state schools as part of its development of an economic case. It is anticipated this impact will be minimal. Projections by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggest that the number of pupils who may switch schools would represent only a very small proportion of overall pupil numbers in the state sector, less than 0.5%. Any pupil transfers from the private to state sector would also be expected to take place over several years, as many pupils transfer at normal transition points. The department will work with local authorities in England to help them manage any local pressures through normal processes where required.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support land-based education.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Land-based colleges play a central role in meeting local and national skills needs, including supporting the department's commitments on Net Zero. These colleges are significant assets to their local communities, enabling people of all backgrounds to gain sought-after skills, get good jobs and climb the ladder of opportunity.
Departmental officials are working closely with Landex and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to develop a strategy for land-based colleges which recognises their central role in supporting the delivery of key national priorities. This strategy will position land-based colleges within the Green Jobs Plan as hubs of skills training and technical innovation, boosting take-up in rural areas of high-quality skills training and ensuring high-quality, updated technical qualifications are available in each local area.
In addition to receiving capital funding, land-based colleges have benefitted from the £300 million the department has invested in the 21 employer led Institutes of Technology, which are leading the development of technical qualifications in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics related areas.
In the 2023/24 academic year, land-based colleges also benefitted from a significant uplift in the specialist programme cost weighting from 1.75 to 1.975. This means where young people are taking specialist land-based courses at these institutions, they now attract a 97.5% uplift on the core funding rate.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to support students in rural areas to be physically active.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In July 2023, the Department published an update to the School Sport and Activity Action Plan, which will support teachers and schools to deliver two hours of high quality physical education (PE) and to provide competitive and extracurricular opportunities to pupils in all areas of England.
The Department has announced over £600 million of funding across the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years for the Primary PE and Sport Premium, along with £22 million of funding for the School Games Organiser network.
The Department is funding up to £57 million to deliver phase three of the Opening School Facilities programme, which allows schools to open their sports facilities outside of the core school day to provide more extracurricular opportunities for pupils and communities to play sport and be physically active. The programme targets groups who have lower participation levels in sport, where funding will have the most positive impact. 1,419 schools across England have already signed up to deliver the programme, including 16 schools in Cumbria.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the safety of students using public transport to access their place of education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Transport is responsible for maintaining high standards of safety and security in transport.
The Department for Education is responsible for home to school travel. The Department requires Local Authorities to arrange free home to school travel for eligible pupils of compulsory school age. They decide what travel arrangements to make, provided they are suitable. They might provide a pass for free travel on public transport.
Local Authorities are also required to publish an annual transport policy statement specifying the arrangements they consider necessary to facilitate attendance at education or training by young people of sixth form age. The Department expects them to take account of local transport infrastructure in doing so.
The Department also publishes statutory guidance which highlights that everyone who works with children has a responsibility for keeping them safe and sets out what professionals and organisations need to do to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people. A link to the statutory guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department have made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the statutory requirement for funding of educational and training transport to people aged over 16.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has given local authorities the flexibility to decide what transport arrangements to put in place to help young people aged 16 to 19 and those aged up to 25 with a special educational needs to access education or training, based on the needs of their population, local transport infrastructure and the resources they have available.
The department recognises that the cost and availability of transport can be difficult for some pupils. Many local authorities do offer some form of subsidised transport to young people over the age of 16. In addition, our 16 to 19 bursary provides financial support to pupils from low income households and this can be used to support travel costs. For example, Westmoreland and Furness Council offer concessionary fares and free transport for young people from low income families, and that local schools and colleges offer the 16 to 19 bursary fund.
In academic year 2023/24 the department allocated over £160 million of bursary funding to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with costs including travel. The department has also made available £20 million each year specifically to support pupils in defined vulnerable groups, such as those in care, care leavers and those supporting themselves in receipt of certain social security funds.