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Written Question
Children: Corporal Punishment
Monday 23rd December 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to legislate for (a) a ban on the physical chastisement of children and (b) penalties for people who do so.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government does not condone violence or abuse of children. There are laws in place to protect children against this.

Crown Prosecution Service guidance is clear that only the mildest form of physical punishment can be used to justify discipline. Where a defence is unsuccessful, the usual sentencing powers for charges of assault and/or battery would be available for courts to consider.

The department is looking closely at changes in Wales and Scotland but has no plans to legislate at this stage.

We recognise that parents have different views and approaches to disciplining their children and that we need to consider all those voices, including those that might be disproportionally affected by the removal of the defence, as well as the voice of the child and trusted stakeholders in making any decisions.

The government encourages the use of evidence-based parenting programmes. Many such programmes address the issue of managing children’s behaviour and promote positive parenting. This does not include the use of physical punishment. Family support might be available at Family Hubs to help parents with positive parenting and discipline and details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/find-family-hub-local-area.


Written Question
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
Thursday 17th October 2024

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 her Department has made of the potential merits of ringfenced crisis funding within the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund to enable families facing an urgent crisis to access therapeutic interventions more quickly.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Funding for Children’s Social Care, which includes the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), is being considered as part of the current spending review.

The department has been making a range of changes to improve the timeliness of the ASGSF application process. For example, we will be streamlining the online application process to reduce administration for local authorities and regional adoption agencies (RAAs), and have already changed systems to ensure that application outcomes are delivered more swiftly. We have also introduced a direct communication link with therapy providers to give early updates on any changes and advice on submitting applications.

These changes should help to reduce delays within local authorities and RAAs before applications are received. The additional support to providers, with better sharing of information about the ASGSF, should also help families to receive support more quickly.

One of the main aims of the ASGSF is to support families whose adoption or special guardianship order is at risk of breakdown, with children being at risk of being returned to care, without the specialist therapy linked to trauma and attachment we fund. For this reason, all funding for the ASGSF can be considered crisis funding, and efforts are made to get that support to those in need as soon as possible. The adequacy of the therapies available within the ASGSF is currently being assessed from multiple angles. The National Institute for Health Research is currently conducting a randomised control trial into Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). This research is currently in the third and final phase and will give robust evidence into the effectiveness of DDP. Moreover, the collection of data from Outcomes Measurement Tools for ASGSF-funded therapies began in December 2023. This data will give an overall picture of the impact and adequacy of ASGSF-funded therapies.


Written Question
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
Thursday 17th October 2024

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 her Department has made of adequacy of the time it takes families to receive therapeutic support through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Funding for Children’s Social Care, which includes the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), is being considered as part of the current spending review.

The department has been making a range of changes to improve the timeliness of the ASGSF application process. For example, we will be streamlining the online application process to reduce administration for local authorities and regional adoption agencies (RAAs), and have already changed systems to ensure that application outcomes are delivered more swiftly. We have also introduced a direct communication link with therapy providers to give early updates on any changes and advice on submitting applications.

These changes should help to reduce delays within local authorities and RAAs before applications are received. The additional support to providers, with better sharing of information about the ASGSF, should also help families to receive support more quickly.

One of the main aims of the ASGSF is to support families whose adoption or special guardianship order is at risk of breakdown, with children being at risk of being returned to care, without the specialist therapy linked to trauma and attachment we fund. For this reason, all funding for the ASGSF can be considered crisis funding, and efforts are made to get that support to those in need as soon as possible. The adequacy of the therapies available within the ASGSF is currently being assessed from multiple angles. The National Institute for Health Research is currently conducting a randomised control trial into Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). This research is currently in the third and final phase and will give robust evidence into the effectiveness of DDP. Moreover, the collection of data from Outcomes Measurement Tools for ASGSF-funded therapies began in December 2023. This data will give an overall picture of the impact and adequacy of ASGSF-funded therapies.


Written Question
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
Thursday 17th October 2024

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 her Department is taking to reduce delays in families accessing therapeutic support through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Funding for Children’s Social Care, which includes the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), is being considered as part of the current spending review.

The department has been making a range of changes to improve the timeliness of the ASGSF application process. For example, we will be streamlining the online application process to reduce administration for local authorities and regional adoption agencies (RAAs), and have already changed systems to ensure that application outcomes are delivered more swiftly. We have also introduced a direct communication link with therapy providers to give early updates on any changes and advice on submitting applications.

These changes should help to reduce delays within local authorities and RAAs before applications are received. The additional support to providers, with better sharing of information about the ASGSF, should also help families to receive support more quickly.

One of the main aims of the ASGSF is to support families whose adoption or special guardianship order is at risk of breakdown, with children being at risk of being returned to care, without the specialist therapy linked to trauma and attachment we fund. For this reason, all funding for the ASGSF can be considered crisis funding, and efforts are made to get that support to those in need as soon as possible. The adequacy of the therapies available within the ASGSF is currently being assessed from multiple angles. The National Institute for Health Research is currently conducting a randomised control trial into Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). This research is currently in the third and final phase and will give robust evidence into the effectiveness of DDP. Moreover, the collection of data from Outcomes Measurement Tools for ASGSF-funded therapies began in December 2023. This data will give an overall picture of the impact and adequacy of ASGSF-funded therapies.


Written Question
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
Thursday 17th October 2024

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 adequacy of the therapeutic modalities available within the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Funding for Children’s Social Care, which includes the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), is being considered as part of the current spending review.

The department has been making a range of changes to improve the timeliness of the ASGSF application process. For example, we will be streamlining the online application process to reduce administration for local authorities and regional adoption agencies (RAAs), and have already changed systems to ensure that application outcomes are delivered more swiftly. We have also introduced a direct communication link with therapy providers to give early updates on any changes and advice on submitting applications.

These changes should help to reduce delays within local authorities and RAAs before applications are received. The additional support to providers, with better sharing of information about the ASGSF, should also help families to receive support more quickly.

One of the main aims of the ASGSF is to support families whose adoption or special guardianship order is at risk of breakdown, with children being at risk of being returned to care, without the specialist therapy linked to trauma and attachment we fund. For this reason, all funding for the ASGSF can be considered crisis funding, and efforts are made to get that support to those in need as soon as possible. The adequacy of the therapies available within the ASGSF is currently being assessed from multiple angles. The National Institute for Health Research is currently conducting a randomised control trial into Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). This research is currently in the third and final phase and will give robust evidence into the effectiveness of DDP. Moreover, the collection of data from Outcomes Measurement Tools for ASGSF-funded therapies began in December 2023. This data will give an overall picture of the impact and adequacy of ASGSF-funded therapies.


Written Question
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
Thursday 17th October 2024

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 her Department has made of potential merits of the recommendation in the report entitled the Adoption Barometer, published by Adoption UK in May 2024, that the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund be made permanent.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Funding for Children’s Social Care, which includes the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), is being considered as part of the current spending review.

The department has been making a range of changes to improve the timeliness of the ASGSF application process. For example, we will be streamlining the online application process to reduce administration for local authorities and regional adoption agencies (RAAs), and have already changed systems to ensure that application outcomes are delivered more swiftly. We have also introduced a direct communication link with therapy providers to give early updates on any changes and advice on submitting applications.

These changes should help to reduce delays within local authorities and RAAs before applications are received. The additional support to providers, with better sharing of information about the ASGSF, should also help families to receive support more quickly.

One of the main aims of the ASGSF is to support families whose adoption or special guardianship order is at risk of breakdown, with children being at risk of being returned to care, without the specialist therapy linked to trauma and attachment we fund. For this reason, all funding for the ASGSF can be considered crisis funding, and efforts are made to get that support to those in need as soon as possible. The adequacy of the therapies available within the ASGSF is currently being assessed from multiple angles. The National Institute for Health Research is currently conducting a randomised control trial into Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). This research is currently in the third and final phase and will give robust evidence into the effectiveness of DDP. Moreover, the collection of data from Outcomes Measurement Tools for ASGSF-funded therapies began in December 2023. This data will give an overall picture of the impact and adequacy of ASGSF-funded therapies.


Written Question
Children: Mental Health
Wednesday 16th October 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to ensure schools take account of the NHS five steps to mental wellbeing in their education provision.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is working to support children and young people to thrive and achieve at school as a critical part of its mission to break down barriers to opportunity. That is why this government is working to ensure the right support is available to every young person that needs it, which includes providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school. The government will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support in schools, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.

Additionally, we recognise that mental health is built over a lifetime and know that the NHS’s 5 Steps to Mental Wellbeing guidance can provide a useful framework for children and young people to learn how to develop good habits for their mental wellbeing. Schools may choose to take account of the 5 Steps to Mental Wellbeing when considering their education provision, alongside the department’s guidance on the 8 principles of a whole school or college approach to promoting mental health and wellbeing. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.


Written Question
Adoption
Tuesday 15th October 2024

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 is taking to help tackle longer waiting times for adoption experienced by (a) disabled children, (b) Black, Asian and ethnic minority children, (c) older children and (d) children with other protected characteristics.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to working with Regional Adoption Agencies, groups of local authorities joining up to deliver adoption services, to ensure that children waiting to be adopted are placed with a loving family as quickly as possible. In 2024/25, the government supported Regional Adoption Agencies with £9 million to develop a wide range of high quality and innovative services. A key focus of their work includes action to reduce how long children wait to be adopted, with a particular focus on those children who statistically wait the longest: black and minority ethnic children; children with disabilities; sibling groups; and children aged over 4 years old. This work includes supporting regional and national adopter recruitment campaigns to attract prospective adopters from a wider range of communities and walks of life, alongside a series of innovative matching projects looking at how to improve decision making; increasing the ethnic diversity of adoption panels to better reflect the communities they serve; and regional and national activity days to increase matching by bringing approved adopters and children together in a safe environment.


Written Question
Adoption: Children in Care
Tuesday 15th October 2024

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 is taking to help encourage more people to become adopters of children in the care system.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to working with Regional Adoption Agencies, groups of local authorities joining up to deliver adoption services, to ensure that children waiting to be adopted are placed with a loving family as quickly as possible. In 2024/25, the government supported Regional Adoption Agencies with £9 million to develop a wide range of high quality and innovative services. A key focus of their work includes action to reduce how long children wait to be adopted, with a particular focus on those children who statistically wait the longest: black and minority ethnic children; children with disabilities; sibling groups; and children aged over 4 years old. This work includes supporting regional and national adopter recruitment campaigns to attract prospective adopters from a wider range of communities and walks of life, alongside a series of innovative matching projects looking at how to improve decision making; increasing the ethnic diversity of adoption panels to better reflect the communities they serve; and regional and national activity days to increase matching by bringing approved adopters and children together in a safe environment.


Written Question
Foster Care
Tuesday 15th October 2024

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 is taking to help increase the number of people available to foster children in the care system.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is committed to working in partnership with local authorities to recruit more foster carers. This includes delivering ten regional fostering recruitment and retention hubs, covering 64% of local authorities in England. The hubs will transform the way people who are interested in fostering are supported and rollout the Mockingbird programme, which offers peer-support to foster carers and the children in their care. The department is also funding ‘Fosterlink’, a new support service for local authority fostering services not in the regional programme. This identifies areas for improvement and creates a national network to share best practice.