Oral Answers to Questions

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Monday 27th February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Claire Coutinho]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. This is a really important area. As I have said, we are working in the interim to do a lot of things regarding data to make sure that we can keep track of attendance. We are seeing what we can do in the meantime, but I absolutely commit to legislating at the earliest possible opportunity.

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

9. What steps her Department is taking to support local councils in delivering children’s services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Claire Coutinho)]

We spend close to £11 billion on children’s services, helping some of our most vulnerable children through challenging times. In addition, we recently set out an ambitious package of reforms, the “Stable Homes, Built on Love” strategy, backed by £200 million, and our improvement and intervention programme is working, with 58% of local authorities now rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted, compared with 36% in 2017.

[Selaine Saxby]

Given the issues surrounding Devon’s children’s services, is it possible to look for a granular solution that recognises the differences between the more urban south and the rural north of the county; one in which more localised solutions such as the northern opportunity area can be considered, as well as expediting the Government’s promised funding safety valve?