Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve community (a) understanding and (b) acceptance of (i) residential and (ii) support services for vulnerable children (A) in the community and (B) in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Children’s Social Care National Framework acknowledges that receiving help from children’s social care can be a stigmatising experience and encourages practitioners from first interactions to tackle stigma, build strong relationships with children, young people and families, and communicate clearly and effectively.
Through the Families First Partnership Programme, we are giving children and families access to better local support services to break the cycle of late intervention and help more children and families to stay safely together. Our reforms to Family Help will embed targeted support in the heart of communities, providing a non-stigmatising access point to a range of services to address the needs of the whole family.
We are determined to address the stigma and discrimination faced by children in care and care leavers and ensure they are supported. We are prioritising extending corporate parenting responsibilities to all government departments and relevant public bodies, through measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. This will ensure that policies and services take account of the challenges they face, and remove barriers and provide opportunities for them to achieve and thrive.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will launch a public awareness campaign to support the integration of children’s social care services into local communities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Through the Families First Partnership (FFP) Programme, the department is giving children and families access to better local support services to break the cycle of late intervention and help more children and families stay safely together. We recognise the crucial role that universal services and community-based early help play in identifying emerging problems and providing early and ongoing support at an early stage.
The department’s reforms to Family Help will embed targeted support in the heart of communities, providing a non-stigmatising access point to a range of services to address the needs of the whole family. The FFP programme guide is clear that local areas should build on the strengths of their universal and community-based early help models when implementing Family Help, and we continue to share learning from the Families First for Children Pathfinder areas to support this.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number and proportion of young people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training in (a) Cornwall and (b) Camborne and Redruth constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes statistics on those not in education, employment or training (NEET) for England, however, these estimates are not available at lower-level geographies due to limitations with sample sizes. Therefore, NEET rates for young people aged 16 to 24 in Cornwall and Camborne and Redruth constituency are not available. Statistics for England can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief/2024.
Data showing the number of young people aged 16 and 17 years old who were known to Cornwall local authority and the number and proportion of those NEET or activity not known is accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/5dbec461-d6ee-4ee3-19fd-08dde95206d2. These statistics are published as transparency data so some caution should be taken when using these figures.
Additionally, 16 to 18 destination measures are published, showing the percentage of pupils not continuing to a sustained education, apprenticeship or employment destination in the year after completing 16 to 18 study, that is six months of continual activity. The latest publication includes destinations in 2022/23 by parliamentary constituency boundaries at that time, and data for Cornwall local authority and Camborne and Redruth parliamentary constituency can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/5994cbf5-1e91-4af3-19ff-08dde95206d2.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the position of children in social care in Camborne and Redruth constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has announced the biggest overhaul to children’s social care in a generation, and this will ensure opportunity for all children, including those in Camborne and Redruth. Our reforms include significant new investment in children’s social care and landmark legislation through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
The local government finance settlement for 2025/26 grants councils in England access to over £69 billion in funding, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase on 2024/25. The settlement for 2025/26 includes a new children’s Social Care Prevention Grant, worth £270 million. In June, we announced that the total investment in children’s social care over the forthcoming spending review period will reach over £2 billion.
The Families First Partnership programme is rolling out national reforms to Family Help, multi-agency child protection and family group decision making from April 2025, to help more children and families to stay safely together. These reforms are backed by over £500 million of funding in 2025/26 and we are providing all local authorities, including Cornwall, with a flexible support offer, targeted to local needs, as they transform their children’s services.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to help (a) raise the profile and (b) increase levels of use of the Best Start digital service.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Best Start digital service is still in the early stages of development. The department is currently exploring how best to design, position and deliver the service to meet the needs of parents and families. As this work progresses, we will consider how to raise its profile and encourage take-up as part of the wider implementation approach.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the policy paper entitled Giving every child the best start in life, published on 7 July 2025, what the terms of the review into fairer funding for early years will be.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life.
The department will review early years funding, including the early years national funding formulae, consulting on a set of changes by summer 2026.
We will review how funding is distributed nationally and locally to ensure the funding system remains fair and effective at reflecting the costs of delivery and supporting those children and parts of the country that have higher levels of additional need.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to review the legal duty of care between universities and Students' Unions.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Camborne and Redruth to the answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21514.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of risk assessments for Students' Union activities.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Camborne and Redruth to the answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57705.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on developing a Behavioural Delivery Plan.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Children and staff should be able to learn and work in safe, calm environments and good behaviour is essential to ensuring all pupils can benefit from a high-quality education.
To support schools the department has announced up to 90 new Attendance and Behaviour Hubs. These Hubs will be led by schools with excellent attendance and behaviour practice who will work closely with other schools to help improve their approach and drive-up standards of behaviour across our classrooms.
Around 500 schools every year will benefit from intensive, one to one support and a further 4,500 schools will benefit from a schedule of termly regional events including training, best practice sharing events and open days.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve therapeutic continuity for adoptive families.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department has supported therapeutic continuity in a range of ways. Therapy which began in 2024/25 could continue into 2025/26 for up to 12 months under transitional funding arrangements. Applications may continue to be made for therapy lasting up to 31 March 2026. The eligibility criteria for the adoption and special guardianship support fund have remained stable, enabling children to continue receiving therapy. The department has also maintained the range of therapies which may be funded.