Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of free speech provisions in higher-education.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, confirmed to Parliament on 15 January the government’s plans for future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which will create a more proportionate, balanced and less burdensome approach to protecting academic freedom and freedom of speech.
While reviewing the Act, prior to the announcement, departmental officials and my noble Friend, the Minister for Skills, conducted a period of stakeholder engagement on the future of the Act with over 60 individuals, discussing freedom of speech policies, practices and challenges within higher education (HE). Amongst the individuals they met were academics with concerns about constraints on freedom of speech, sector representative groups like Universities UK and Guild HE, and mission groups such as the Russell Group, University Alliance and Independent HE, vice-chancellors, university administrators, unions and representatives of minority groups. This engagement informed decisions on the future of the Act.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what safeguards are in place to ensure people who (a) own, (b) manage and (c) work in private children's homes are properly qualified.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Providers of children’s homes must register with Ofsted and prove that they are financially, mentally, and physically fit to carry on a children’s home, and that they are of integrity and good character. These requirements are set out in Regulation 26 of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015.
Managers of children’s homes are required to register with Ofsted. They are required to hold a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England) and to have at least two years’ experience working in children’s residential care, as per Regulation 28 of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015. They must also pass a fit and proper persons interview with Ofsted to demonstrate they have the required knowledge and skills to manage the home.
Non-managerial staff in children's homes must hold Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) or an equivalent qualification, as per Regulation 32 of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015. It is the responsibility of the registered manager to verify that their staff hold, or are working towards, this qualification. Providers have a responsibility to ensure that their staff are trained to meet the needs of the children they care for.
Providers and anyone working in regulated activity in a children’s home must undergo an enhanced DBS check, including the barred list.
Ofsted aim to inspect children’s homes at least once per year. When a home is judged to be inadequate or require improvement to be good, Ofsted usually conduct a second, assurance visit within the same inspection period.
The policy paper ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’ details the department’s ambition to introduce a provider oversight scheme to increase Ofsted’s existing powers to ensure provider groups are held responsible for the quality of the children’s homes that they own through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
This will give Ofsted the power to issue fines for breaches of the Care Standards Act 2000, including to unregistered providers, and enable them to hold provider groups to account for quality issues in the provision of care. The Bill will also protect 16 and 17-year-olds from ill-treatment or wilful neglect by making low-level abuse of these young people in children’s social care settings a prosecutable offence. The Bill will also introduce a financial oversight scheme to increase financial and corporate transparency of children’s social care providers in order to allow for assessment of financial risk and advance warning of risks to providers’ financial sustainability.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to local authorities is of housing children in privately run children's homes.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes data on local authority expenditure on looked after children. This data is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure#explore-data-and-files.
The department does not hold data on the cost to local authorities of housing children in privately run children’s homes. In total, local authorities spent £8.1 billion on looked after children in 2023/24, including £3.1 billion on residential care.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many private dwellings have been converted into children's homes in Leicestershire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Neither the department nor Ofsted keep a record of the number of homes that are converted into children’s homes.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are taken to inform local (a) doctors and (b) police when children in care are relocated by a local authority to a privately run children's home.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Regulation 7 of the ‘The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010’ outlines local authorities’ responsibilities in respect of the health and wellbeing of looked after children. The responsible local authority must ensure looked after children receive appropriate health care services according to their health plan, including medical and dental care, and health advice. They must also arrange for a registered medical practitioner, nurse, or midwife to review the child’s health and provide a written report every 6 months before the child’s fifth birthday and every 12 months after the child’s fifth birthday.
Specifically, under Regulation 13 of the above Regulations, the responsible authority must give written notification of the child’s placement before that placement takes place (or within 5 days if the placement is made in an emergency) to the following parties: NHS England and the integrated care board (or the local health board for a child in Wales) for both the current and new areas; the child’s registered medical practitioner and, if applicable, the new medical practitioner; any educational institution attended or to be attended by the child. The written notification of the placement arrangements should include a summary of the proposed arrangements and objectives, and for an accommodated child, it should also outline the agreed arrangements for ending the placement.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authority is responsible for children's care when they are relocated to a privately run children's home by a local authority.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The local authority which has responsibility to provide services for a looked after child will be the authority within which the child is when the responsibility arises, for example when they are subject to a Section 20 or Care Order. This duty remains in place when a child is placed in a privately run children’s home, even if this home is located outside of the local authority.
Under Section 22G of the Children Act 1989, local authorities have a duty to ensure that they provide accommodation that meets children’s needs and is within the authority’s area. The decision to place a looked after child outside the area of the responsible authority (including a placement outside England) must not be put into effect until it has been approved by a nominated officer, and, if the placement is at a distance, the director of children’s services. The responsible authority must notify the authority area of the child’s placement, but responsibility for the child remains with the placing local authority.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many employee settlement agreements there were in her Department in each year since 2020; and what the total value of such agreements is.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The table below shows the number of employee settlement agreements since 2020.
| Number of employee settlement agreements | Total value (£) |
2020/21 | 0 | 0 |
2021/22 | 0 | 0 |
2022/23 | <5 | <£10,000 |
2023/24 | <5 | £25,001 - £50,000 |
2024/25* | <5 | £10,000 - £25,000 |
*Until 30 November 2024
For 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 details where numbers are five or fewer are being withheld under section 40(2) of the Act that relates to Personal Information, as releasing the numbers may potentially lead to the identification of individual(s).
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve financial education in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Financial education currently forms a compulsory part of the National Curriculum for mathematics (at key stages 1 to 4) and citizenship (at key stages 3 and 4). The primary mathematics curriculum includes arithmetic knowledge that supports pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money, including, for example, calculations with money and percentages. In secondary mathematics, pupils are taught topics such as how to calculate compound interest, which is relevant for personal finance. In citizenship, pupils are taught the function and uses of money, how to budget and manage credit and debt, as well as concepts like insurance, savings and pensions.
High and rising school standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. The government‘s ambition is for a broad, rich and cutting-edge curriculum that equips children and young people with the essential knowledge and skills required to thrive as citizens, in work and throughout life. That is why the department has established an independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The review will seek to deliver an excellent foundation in the core subjects of reading, writing and mathematics, and a broader curriculum that readies young people for life and work, and reflects the diversities of our society. The review group ran a call for evidence, receiving over 7000 responses, and held events over the autumn term to gather the views of education professionals and other experts, parents, children and young people, and other stakeholders. The feedback received will help the review group to consider its next steps and recommendations. The review group will publish an interim report early in 2025 setting out their interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work and the final report with recommendations will be published in autumn 2025.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 changes to (a) employer national insurance contributions and (b) the level of the minimum wage on the number of (i) apprenticeship starts for young people and (ii) apprenticeship providers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
To repair public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance.
The government recognises the need to protect the smallest employers, which is why the Employment Allowance has been more than doubled to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with National Insurance Contributions (NICs) liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Employers will continue to be able to claim employer NICs reliefs, including the relief for employing apprentices under 25, where eligible.
In addition, at the Autumn Budget 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that from April 2025 the Apprentice Minimum Wage will increase by 18% from £6.40 to £7.55. The government has accepted the findings of the independent Low Pay Commission in full and this increase will boost the hourly wage for thousands of young apprentices across a range of sectors and those in their first year of an apprenticeship.
The government remains committed to ensuring that apprentice wages support the attraction of talented individuals into apprenticeships and remain fair for employers. High quality apprenticeships are key to unlocking a more skilled and productive economy.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
At present, the department is working to ensure that our approach to lifelong learning will be as effective as possible and will enable people to gain the skills they need to support their careers.
The government recognises that lifelong learning is a core part of a sustainable higher education system, which provides opportunities for all and offers learners greater flexibility in an ever-evolving economy.
The department will make further announcements about this work shortly.