Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how graduates of the Youth Training Scheme can access records of their qualifications.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Youth Training Scheme, introduced in 1983, was managed by the Manpower Services Commission and then Training and Enterprise Councils in 1989 when it became Youth Training.
The department does not hold any records of participants on the scheme. Where an individual may know the qualification they undertook, the best course of action would be for them to contact the relevant awarding organisation.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding his Department plans to provide for early years education in each of the next five years.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 provided the following settlement for the Early Years Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant:
Details on the Spending Review can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-and-spending-review-2021-documents.
This funding settlement reflected cost pressures and changes in the number of eligible children anticipated at the time of the Spending Review. Early years spending is demand-led, and allocations will be adjusted based on the actual number of children and hours taken up, as recorded on the annual censuses. Therefore, actual spending may vary from the planned expenditure detailed above.
Early years funding beyond the 2024/25 financial year will be determined at a future Spending Review.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 1 July 2020 to Question 63300 on Sex and Relationship Education, what proportion of the (a) £2 million for 2019-20 and (b) £4 million for 2020-21 had been spent on relationship, sex and health education implementation by the end of those financial years.
Answered by Will Quince
The expenditure by the department in the package of support to help schools implement the relationships, sex, and health education (RSHE) curriculum is set out as follows: £1.2 million in the 2019/20 financial year, £1.8 million in the 2020/21 financial year and £0.2 million in the 2021/22 financial year.
The maximum investment of £6 million, referenced by the former Minister for School Standards in his response dated 1 July 2020, was based on the estimated costs for a package of support. This can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-06-23/63300.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what was the cost to the public purse of teacher training for the relationship and sex education curriculum since September 2020.
Answered by Robin Walker
It is for schools to determine their needs following changes in the curriculum, and to use their budget allocation to resource their implementation costs, including teacher training. Core school funding increased by £2.6 billion in the 2020/21 financial year, £4.8 billion in the 2021/22 financial year and is increasing by £7.1 billion in the 2022/23 financial year.
The department recognises the need to support schools to teach relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) subjects more effectively, and that is why we have invested over £3.2 million since the 2019/20 financial year (£2 million since the 2020/21 financial year) in a package of support to help schools implement the RSHE curriculum. The package of support includes a training and peer support programme delivered by teaching schools, webinars, training materials, and implementation guidance available online for teachers to use in their own schools to support delivery of high-quality RSHE teaching.
Following the publication of Ofsted’s review into sexual abuse in schools and colleges last year, the department has committed to provide additional support to help teachers deliver RSHE effectively and confidently to support young people to develop healthy relationships and to prevent sexual violence and sexual harassment. Our existing package of support is available via a one-stop page for teachers on GOV.UK, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health.
To provide additional support to schools in all areas of the curriculum, the Schools White Paper announced the establishment of a new curriculum body which builds on the success of Oak National Academy’s work during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will create and continually improve packages of optional, free, adaptable digital curriculum resources for all subjects, including RSHE, to help teachers deliver a high-quality curriculum that is informed by the best available evidence. These resources will ensure high-quality lessons are available nationwide for the benefit of all children. The department will provide further information on when the new resources will be available in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to introduce a statutory requirement to have a trained mental health professional or counsellor in every school in England.
Answered by Will Quince
The government remains committed to promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools and colleges. The department recognises that it is more important now than ever that children and young people have access to the support they need for their mental health and wellbeing, and we know that having the right provision within education settings is key to ensuring they do so.
Schools already support the mental wellbeing of their pupils as part of their curriculum provision and pastoral support, which is paid for from schools’ core funding. The autumn 2021 Spending Review delivers an additional £4.7 billion for the core schools’ budget by 2024-25, compared to previous plans.
The hon. Member for Rotherham will be pleased to know that in March 2021 the Department of Health and Social Care announced £79 million to significantly expand children’s mental health services. This will partly be spent on speeding up and expanding the provision of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges, meaning nearly three million children in England will access school or college-based support by April 2023.
These teams are comprised of newly trained Education Mental Health Practitioners, an entirely new role, as well as more senior clinicians and therapists, they work alongside existing provision, such as counselling services, to help ensure children and young people get the support they need. They support staff within schools and colleges to develop their whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing, as well as providing early intervention for those experiencing mild to moderate issues and liaising with external specialist services where additional support is needed.
The government is providing £9.5 million to offer senior mental health lead training to around a third of all state schools and colleges in England in the 2021/22 financial year. The senior mental health lead is a strategic leadership role, with responsibility for overseeing the school’s ‘whole school approach’ to mental health and wellbeing. As part of this training, leads will learn about how to develop a culture and ethos that promotes positive mental health wellbeing, as well as how to make the best use of local resources, including counselling services, to support children and young people experiencing issues.
School-based counselling, by well-qualified practitioners, can be an effective part of a ‘whole school approach’. Our national survey of school provision, published in 2017, found that 61% of schools offered counselling services, with 84% of secondary schools providing their pupils with access to counselling support. Recently, findings from the department’s COVID-19 School Snapshot Survey in July 2021, found that 96% of schools were providing support in school for pupils identified as having mental health needs.
The department has produced guidance on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling, to further support schools who have decided that counselling support is appropriate for their pupils. As a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak, the department has committed to updating this guidance to make sure it reflects the current context.
The guidance sets out our strong expectation that over time, all schools will offer counselling services, alongside other interventions.
However, with regards to mandating counselling for schools, the department will not be doing so as we believe it is vital that schools have the freedom to decide what support to offer their pupils, based on their particular needs.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of looked after children living in (a) independent accommodation and (b) semi-independent accommodation in each of the last three years were in full-time education.
Answered by Will Quince
The department does not collect information on the educational activity of looked after children.
Information on the proportion of looked after children living in independent or semi-independent accommodation within 20 miles of their home is shown in the attached table, Table A. Figures on the number of looked after children living in independent or semi-independent accommodation who went missing is shown in the attached table, Table B. More general information on children looked after in England by placement type, locality and distance and those who went missing is contained in the Children looked after in England statistics release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions. Figures for the reporting year ending 31 March 2021 will be published in November 2021.
Information in the 2020 Annual Report of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel contained statistics showing in the 2020 calendar year that there were 43 incidents of serious harm involving looked after children. However, no further breakdowns were published in this report.
The number of children looked after who died whilst in independent or semi-independent accommodation during 2018-2020 was 22. All children were aged 16 or over. Due to the small numbers involved this figure cannot be broken down by individual age or local authority or into separate years to protect confidentiality.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of looked after children living in (a) independent accommodation and (b) semi-independent accommodation in each of the last three years were placed within 20 miles of their home.
Answered by Will Quince
The department does not collect information on the educational activity of looked after children.
Information on the proportion of looked after children living in independent or semi-independent accommodation within 20 miles of their home is shown in the attached table, Table A. Figures on the number of looked after children living in independent or semi-independent accommodation who went missing is shown in the attached table, Table B. More general information on children looked after in England by placement type, locality and distance and those who went missing is contained in the Children looked after in England statistics release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions. Figures for the reporting year ending 31 March 2021 will be published in November 2021.
Information in the 2020 Annual Report of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel contained statistics showing in the 2020 calendar year that there were 43 incidents of serious harm involving looked after children. However, no further breakdowns were published in this report.
The number of children looked after who died whilst in independent or semi-independent accommodation during 2018-2020 was 22. All children were aged 16 or over. Due to the small numbers involved this figure cannot be broken down by individual age or local authority or into separate years to protect confidentiality.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children went missing while living in (a) independent accommodation and (b) semi-independent accommodation in each of the last three years; and if he will provide an age breakdown of those children.
Answered by Will Quince
The department does not collect information on the educational activity of looked after children.
Information on the proportion of looked after children living in independent or semi-independent accommodation within 20 miles of their home is shown in the attached table, Table A. Figures on the number of looked after children living in independent or semi-independent accommodation who went missing is shown in the attached table, Table B. More general information on children looked after in England by placement type, locality and distance and those who went missing is contained in the Children looked after in England statistics release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions. Figures for the reporting year ending 31 March 2021 will be published in November 2021.
Information in the 2020 Annual Report of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel contained statistics showing in the 2020 calendar year that there were 43 incidents of serious harm involving looked after children. However, no further breakdowns were published in this report.
The number of children looked after who died whilst in independent or semi-independent accommodation during 2018-2020 was 22. All children were aged 16 or over. Due to the small numbers involved this figure cannot be broken down by individual age or local authority or into separate years to protect confidentiality.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children suffered serious harm while living in (a) independent accommodation and (b) semi-independent accommodation in each of the last three years, and if he will publish (i) an age breakdown and (ii) the names of the local authorities that were corporate parents of those children.
Answered by Will Quince
The department does not collect information on the educational activity of looked after children.
Information on the proportion of looked after children living in independent or semi-independent accommodation within 20 miles of their home is shown in the attached table, Table A. Figures on the number of looked after children living in independent or semi-independent accommodation who went missing is shown in the attached table, Table B. More general information on children looked after in England by placement type, locality and distance and those who went missing is contained in the Children looked after in England statistics release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions. Figures for the reporting year ending 31 March 2021 will be published in November 2021.
Information in the 2020 Annual Report of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel contained statistics showing in the 2020 calendar year that there were 43 incidents of serious harm involving looked after children. However, no further breakdowns were published in this report.
The number of children looked after who died whilst in independent or semi-independent accommodation during 2018-2020 was 22. All children were aged 16 or over. Due to the small numbers involved this figure cannot be broken down by individual age or local authority or into separate years to protect confidentiality.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children died while living in (a) independent accommodation and (b) semi-independent accommodation in each of the last three years; and if he will publish (i) an age breakdown and (ii) the names of the local authorities that were corporate parents of those children.
Answered by Will Quince
The department does not collect information on the educational activity of looked after children.
Information on the proportion of looked after children living in independent or semi-independent accommodation within 20 miles of their home is shown in the attached table, Table A. Figures on the number of looked after children living in independent or semi-independent accommodation who went missing is shown in the attached table, Table B. More general information on children looked after in England by placement type, locality and distance and those who went missing is contained in the Children looked after in England statistics release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions. Figures for the reporting year ending 31 March 2021 will be published in November 2021.
Information in the 2020 Annual Report of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel contained statistics showing in the 2020 calendar year that there were 43 incidents of serious harm involving looked after children. However, no further breakdowns were published in this report.
The number of children looked after who died whilst in independent or semi-independent accommodation during 2018-2020 was 22. All children were aged 16 or over. Due to the small numbers involved this figure cannot be broken down by individual age or local authority or into separate years to protect confidentiality.