Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will support food growing schemes in schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating.
Having a school garden or setting up a gardening club are some of the ways schools can achieve this approach. This is a decision for schools to make, dependent upon local circumstances. The department recognises a lot of schools find ways to collaborate between headteachers, school cooks, children, teachers, governors and parents to make this happen.
All education settings are welcome to register as participants in the National Education Nature Park. This initiative inspires children and young people to learn about and connect with nature, spend time outdoors and develop valuable green skills.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she plans to implement the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children's Social Care.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to helping children thrive and wants the best for every child and family.
Reforming children’s social care (CSC) is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve. It is also necessary to achieve financial stability for local authorities.
That is why the government commits to working in partnership with local government to continue the work to reform CSC. The department will build on the foundations already laid by dedicated social care professionals and go further to deliver a social care system that works for everyone.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Universities on the financial viability of the sector.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Office for Students (OfS), as the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England, is responsible for monitoring the financial sustainability of registered HE providers, and therefore undertakes regular engagement with the sector.
The government recognises the financial strain that some providers are facing, and works closely with the OfS to monitor emerging risks and issues within the sector and to ensure there are robust mitigations in place to ensure the interests of students are protected.
The department also undertakes regular engagement with sector representatives and providers to understand the risks and issues facing the sector and to discuss the overall climate for HE provider financial sustainability.
The department is looking forward to speaking with providers in the coming weeks, months and years on a variety of matters, including financial sustainability.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will commission a review into the funding of further education.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education (FE) plays a critical role in delivering the government’s missions and ensuring that everyone has access to the opportunities they need, breaking down the barriers to their success and boosting economic growth.
FE funding in future years will be considered as part of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Holiday Activities Fund on children living in poverty.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving every child the best start in life. This is why we have established a new cross-government taskforce to develop an ambitious strategy to tackle the child poverty crisis.
During this summer, the government will be providing more than three million holiday club places through the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, supporting children who are living in poverty to access free, healthy meals and enriching activities.
An independent evaluation of HAF from 2021 showed that attending HAF clubs can have a positive impact on children and young people living in poverty. The evaluation highlights that HAF clubs work best when they provide consistent and easily accessible enrichment activities, when they offer healthy food, and when they involve children and parents in meal preparation.
As part of the next spending review, the department will consider the impact of the programme and how the programme could continue to support children living in poverty.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that children with (a) SEND, (b) anxiety and (c) trauma can access (i) support and (ii) therapeutic services during the school holidays.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving every child the best start in life. The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme funds free holiday club places for children in every local authority in England in the summer, Christmas, and Easter holidays. HAF clubs provide heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families. In addition, 15% of HAF funding is available to fund places for children who may not qualify on household income, but who may have additional needs or disadvantages that mean they would benefit from a place. Thousands of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will access inclusive and specialist HAF provision this summer.
Local authorities are responsible for delivering the HAF programme in their area. Guidance clearly sets out that they must give specific consideration to the needs of children with SEND, or additional needs, and the department encourages local authorities to engage with local and national organisations, including special schools, to draw on their expertise in how best to support these children and their families during the school holidays.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the funding for children with SEND to help provide access to (a) activities and (b) childcare during school holidays.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving every child the best start in life. The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme funds free holiday club places for children in every local authority in England in the summer, Christmas, and Easter holidays. HAF clubs provide heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families. In addition, 15% of HAF funding is available to fund places for children who may not qualify on household income, but who may have additional needs or disadvantages that mean they would benefit from a place. Thousands of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will access inclusive and specialist HAF provision this summer.
Local authorities are responsible for delivering the HAF programme in their area. Guidance clearly sets out that they must give specific consideration to the needs of children with SEND, or additional needs, and the department encourages local authorities to engage with local and national organisations, including special schools, to draw on their expertise in how best to support these children and their families during the school holidays.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to ensure there is adequate provision for children with SEND to access activities during school holidays.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving every child the best start in life. The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme funds free holiday club places for children in every local authority in England in the summer, Christmas, and Easter holidays. HAF clubs provide heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families. In addition, 15% of HAF funding is available to fund places for children who may not qualify on household income, but who may have additional needs or disadvantages that mean they would benefit from a place. Thousands of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will access inclusive and specialist HAF provision this summer.
Local authorities are responsible for delivering the HAF programme in their area. Guidance clearly sets out that they must give specific consideration to the needs of children with SEND, or additional needs, and the department encourages local authorities to engage with local and national organisations, including special schools, to draw on their expertise in how best to support these children and their families during the school holidays.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of (a) children and (b) young people not in school; and if she will commission a review into the reasons behind such absences.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to taking steps to better understand how many children of compulsory school age in England are not in school. Beginning October 2022, aggregate data on children in elective home education (EHE) and children missing education (CME) was collected from local authorities for the first time.
Recent data shows on census day in autumn 2023, local authorities reported an estimated 33,000 CME that are not registered at school or otherwise receiving suitable education. This is an increase of approximately 4,900 children from the summer 2023 census day. In the autumn 2023 term, where known by the local authority, primary reasons given for CME included the child having moved out of the country, the child having moved out of the local authority and the child is awaiting a school application outcome.
As at the census date in autumn 2023, an estimated 92,000 children were in EHE. This includes adjustments made for non-response and is based on a figure of 87,700 reported by 95% of local authorities. This is an increase from an estimated 80,900 in the previous autumn term. The leading reasons provided for deciding to home educate were philosophical, mental health, lifestyle and school dissatisfaction.
The government is committed to making it a statutory duty for local authorities to maintain children not in school registers and submit data returns to the department when requested to do so. Additionally, from autumn this year, the department is mandating the collection of aggregate data on EHE and CME from local authorities in the 2023/24 academic year. This will increase the amount and detail of information available to local authorities and government on local and national levels, allowing the department to identify outlying local data and improve understanding of the drivers.
Alongside better data, the government will help to tackle drivers of children not being in school including via a requirement for school to cooperate with their local authority on school admissions, special educational needs and disabilities inclusion and place planning.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of broadening the eligibility criteria for children to receive free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government has not made a formal assessment of the merits of broadening the free school meals (FSM) eligibility criteria.
This adds to the department’s programmes which provide over 3 million children with free and nutritious meals. Such programmes include FSM, which 2.1 million disadvantaged pupils are registered to receive, and universal infant free school meals which benefit around 1.3 million pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2.
Additionally, the government is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school, to set children up for the day and ensure they are ready to learn.