Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many exclusions of (a) SEN and (b) other pupils there were in schools in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department publishes figures from the school census on permanent exclusions and suspensions from state funded schools in England. The latest full academic year figures are for the 2020/21 academic year and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england/2020-21.
The attached Excel spreadsheet gives the number of permanent exclusions and suspensions for pupils with and without special educational needs at state funded schools in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency between the 2018/19 and 2020/21 academic years.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) there are in each constituency; and what the cost of funding those plans is, broken down by constituency, in the latest year for which figures are available.
Answered by Will Quince
Figures for education, health and care (EHC) plans are not available at the level of parliamentary constituency. The department publishes annual figures on the number of EHC plans being administered by each local authority in England. The local authority level figures for 2022 can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
The department does not hold figures specifically for the cost of funding the plans. Allocations of high needs funding to local authorities as part of their dedicated schools grant for the current financial year, from which they cover the cost of the provision for those children and young people with EHC plans, are set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2022-to-2023.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of eligible parents in Blackpool North and Cleveleys claim the Early Years Pupil Premium.
Answered by Will Quince
Data on the number and percentage of children registered to receive the funded early education entitlements is published in the 'Education provision: children under 5' national statistics release which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5/2021.
The table shows the number and percentage (where available) of eligible 2 year old and 3 and 4 year old children registered to receive funded early education, extended funded early education, and those in receipt of early years pupil premium.
Data is not available at parliamentary constituency level, therefore it has been provided for Blackpool local authority.
Data is not held for the number of parents eligible for early years pupil premium or extended funded early education at local authority or parliamentary consistency level, therefore percentages cannot be provided.
Number and take up rate of eligible 2 year olds and 3 and 4 year old children registered to receive funded early education, extended early education and those in receipt of early years pupil premium January 2021 Blackpool local authority:
| Number | Take up rate |
Eligible 2 year olds funded early education | 496 | 60% |
3 and 4 year olds funded early education | 2,900 | 87% |
3 and 4 year olds extended early education | 836 | data not available |
Early years pupil premium | 295 | data not available |
Source: Early Years Census and School Census
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of families in Blackpool North and Cleveleys have taken up their entitlement to 15 hours of early education and childcare per week.
Answered by Will Quince
Data on the number and percentage of children registered to receive the funded early education entitlements is published in the 'Education provision: children under 5' national statistics release which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5/2021.
The table shows the number and percentage (where available) of eligible 2 year old and 3 and 4 year old children registered to receive funded early education, extended funded early education, and those in receipt of early years pupil premium.
Data is not available at parliamentary constituency level, therefore it has been provided for Blackpool local authority.
Data is not held for the number of parents eligible for early years pupil premium or extended funded early education at local authority or parliamentary consistency level, therefore percentages cannot be provided.
Number and take up rate of eligible 2 year olds and 3 and 4 year old children registered to receive funded early education, extended early education and those in receipt of early years pupil premium January 2021 Blackpool local authority:
| Number | Take up rate |
Eligible 2 year olds funded early education | 496 | 60% |
3 and 4 year olds funded early education | 2,900 | 87% |
3 and 4 year olds extended early education | 836 | data not available |
Early years pupil premium | 295 | data not available |
Source: Early Years Census and School Census
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 21 May 2021 from the hon Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys on childcare support for student nurses.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
I can confirm that a response has been sent to the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to review the self-isolation requirements in educational settings before the new school year.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In line with Step 4 of the roadmap, nurseries, schools, and colleges are no longer routinely required to undertake contact tracing for pupils and staff. Instead, those who test positive will be subject to the normal test and trace process, which will identify close contacts.
From 16 August 2021, children under the age of 18 years old, and staff who are fully vaccinated, will no longer be required to self-isolate if they are contacted by NHS Test and Trace as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case. Instead, they will be advised to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. The Department encourages all individuals to take a PCR test if advised to do so.
18 year-olds will be treated in the same way as children up until four months after their 18th birthday to allow them the opportunity to get fully vaccinated, at which point they will be subject to the same rules as adults. Therefore, if they choose not to get vaccinated, they will need to self-isolate if identified as a close contact.
Nurseries, schools, and colleges will continue to have a role in working with health protection teams in the case of a local outbreak. If there is a COVID-19 outbreak or if central Government offers the area an enhanced response package, a director of public health might advise a nursery, school or college to temporarily reintroduce some control measures.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on amending the school admissions code to enable summer-born children to start reception at five years old.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance is in place on the provision schools must make for children with allergies at risk of anaphylaxis.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Governing bodies of maintained schools and proprietors of academies have a legal duty to ensure that their school has a policy in place to support pupils with medical conditions. The department’s statutory guidance ‘Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions at School’ makes it clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. The guidance provides advice on a range of areas including staff training, administration of medicines and consulting with parents. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.
Schools should also be aware of Department of Health and Social Care guidance for schools on adrenaline auto-injectors: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/using-emergency-adrenaline-auto-injectors-in-schools. Any member of staff may volunteer to take on the responsibilities set out in this guidance, but they cannot be required to do so.
We have also made allergies part of the Health Education curriculum for all pupils in state funded schools, which has been mandatory since September 2020. Schools must have regard to the guidance we have issued, which sets out that pupils should be taught about the facts and science relating to allergies, immunisation and vaccination: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
In addition to this, officials in the department work closely with the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance, of which the Anaphylaxis Campaign is a member, to explore how we can supplement the statutory requirements with accessible resources to help schools to improve the way they support children with allergies.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the Ecorys evaluation of the 2019 Holiday Activities and Food Scheme with respect to free school meals eligibility.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Last year, we commissioned Ecorys to carry out an independent evaluation of our 2019 Holiday Activities and Food programme.
The report has been delayed due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak but it is now in the final stages and is being prepared for publication. We will continue to work with Ecorys on this and we expect their report to be published in the near future.
Asked by: Paul Maynard (Conservative - Blackpool North and Cleveleys)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the ECORYS evaluation of the 2019 Holiday Activities and Food scheme.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Last year, we commissioned Ecorys to carry out an independent evaluation of our 2019 Holiday Activities and Food Programme.
The completion and publication of the final report has been delayed due to the impact of COVID-19. We continue to work with Ecorys on this and their report will be published at the earliest opportunity.