Children in Care

Shaun Davies Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[John Whitby]

Unsurprisingly, I definitely agree with the hon. Member: of course we need to support children in kinship care. I am sure the Minister will talk about kinship care as well, and I am glad to say that part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill requires local authorities to make an offer on kinship care, which is very positive.

As I was saying, a lack of foster care places means more children in highly expensive residential placements, in many cases a great distance from their home town. There is a very good chance that they will end up in the north-west, because that is where a quarter of children’s homes are located. Of course, some children need to be placed away from familiar surroundings, but not on this scale. It is great that the Government are looking to address this issue through the planning process, so that care homes can more easily be created where they are needed. Personally, I would like to see a focus on smaller homes, because they feel less institutionalised and are easier to integrate into the community.

The cost of some residential children’s home placements is extraordinary, and it is one of the factors pushing councils ever closer to section 104 notices. The cost of looked-after children has risen from £3.1 billion in 2009-10 to £7 billion in 2022-23.

[Shaun Davies (Telford) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a fantastic speech, giving us great insight into his experience both as a foster carer and as a lead member. A recent survey by the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum found that 77% of children with experience of care struggle to afford food, and three quarters said that the cost of living crisis has damaged their mental health. Does he agree that this issue requires a cross-Government, cross-agency and cross-sector approach, as well as learning from the best in the sector, including my own local council, Telford and Wrekin council, which only last year was recognised as a national leader for its work in this space?

[John Whitby]

All of government and all councils need to do more. They need to understand that we need to do more for children in care to create a level playing field, because they have such difficult issues to overcome. I completely agree with my hon. Friend.

In the same period that the cost of children in care went up to £7 billion, local councils’ overall core funding went down by 9% in real terms. The Government are absolutely right to introduce a financial oversight scheme, because some providers have made excessive profits. It was widely reported that the 20 largest national providers of children’s placements collectively made profits of £310 million in 2021-22.

Of course, we must focus on outcomes for children in care, which are historically and currently very poor. In 2018-19, just 6.8% of children in care received a grade 5 or above in English and maths, compared with 43.2% of all children. In turn, that explains why just 22% of care leavers aged 27 are in employment. Even when they are in employment, there is a £6,000 pay gap between care leavers and those in the general population. It would be easy to blame educators or the care sector for the problem, but the reality is that these children have suffered some sort of significant trauma in their lives. Whether that is neglect, abuse or something else, it is never good.

School Accountability and Intervention

Shaun Davies Excerpts

Monday 3rd February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell]

We expect the range of structural interventions to continue as currently, at least for the next 12 months, because we will continue to intervene where schools are causing concern and to mandate structural change. We will also continue to mandate it where significant improvements are required in schools. We will, however, see a doubling of the number of schools that need significant improvement through the RISE system; so we are not reducing the number of interventions that the previous Government undertook, but doubling the number of schools being helped and supported to improve.

[Shaun Davies (Telford) (Lab)]

I welcome my hon. Friend’s statement. In Telford there are five stuck schools. The rise in investment from £6,000 to potentially £100,000 per stuck school means that up to £470,000 of extra investment is coming the way of Telford schools. From speaking to my wife, who is a primary school teacher in Telford, I know that it is about not just money, but peer support and tapping into excellence and expertise. Can my hon. Friend assure me that the money, which is game changing, will also be accompanied by that extra support?

[Catherine McKinnell]

My hon. Friend has correctly identified that we see the future of school improvement as very much driven by a whole school self-improving system, where schools will support one another to drive that improvement. We are putting the extra money in place and we really want to be laser-focused on those 600 schools that have been stuck on far too low a rating for far too long, to ensure that the more than 300,000 children in them are supported as quickly as possible with improved outcomes. As my hon. Friend says about peer support, it is important that we tap into knowledge and expertise from trusts that we know are doing an excellent job.

Government’s Childcare Expansion

Shaun Davies Excerpts

Thursday 17th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Morgan]

Families have an important role to play in supporting children in the first few years of their life. We are committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child, in every part of the country, and our childcare system has a key role to play in that.

[Shaun Davies (Telford) (Lab)]

As a former school governor and a dad, I see the amazing work that preschools and nurseries do up and down the country. These measures will be a key way to break down barriers to opportunity and get the country growing, as the Minister says. Will the Minister commit to ensuring that children in care and the children of those in the armed forces are prioritised for the additional care places? Will he reassure childminders that we are on their side, because childminders in Telford have missed the memo from the Government on this set of improvements?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Order. I remind hon. Members to ask short questions.

SEND Provision

Shaun Davies Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2024 Westminster Hall

[Richard Burgon]

The hon. Gentleman puts it very well indeed.

This crisis is a result of many factors, which others will no doubt give more detail on in today’s debate, but at its core is the mishandling, I would argue, of the Children and Families Act 2014. Its aims—the widening of access to SEND support and the promotion of a more integrated approach, involving health, education and social care—were laudable, but the reality has proved otherwise. Since 2014, the number of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities has increased to 1.7 million. That is one in six pupils.

[Shaun Davies (Telford) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on bringing this debate forward. As well as more money, better use of money is key. We have seen a huge reduction in the amount of money being spent in primary schools for speech and language therapy, which then costs the system far more in secondary school, as well as, of course, meaning worse outcomes for children across our country. Does he agree?

[Richard Burgon]

I certainly agree with my hon. Friend, because early intervention is so important, both in giving adequate and timely support to young people and, in the long run, in keeping the costs down; without early intervention, the problems that children face can only get worse and worse. The number needing more support through an education, health and care plan has more than doubled, but the required resources have, as others have said, simply not followed.

--- Later in debate ---

[Shaun Davies]

The LGA and the CCN have assessed that the safety valve is worth about £3 billion. Had the Conservative party stayed in power, what would their solution have been to fill that black hole?

[James Wild]

The hon. Gentleman will be aware from his presence in the Chamber that we did not win the election, so it is for the Government to come forward with what they will do. They are now in power and must take decisions and take responsibility—that is the difference between Opposition and Government.

Finally, I must highlight the impact of the Labour Government’s plans to impose VAT on independent schools from January and what that will mean for SEND provision. More than 100,000 children and young people without an EHCP are educated and receive specialist support in independent schools. My right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Esther McVey) made the point well. She highlighted the fact that putting VAT on their fees will disrupt education for thousands of those pupils and place further strain on SEND provision in the state sector. By bringing the changes in partway through the academic year, Labour’s plans seem designed to cause maximum disruption to those children’s learning and to the state school system. Are the Minister and the Government listening to schools and parents, and will they act to ensure that those vulnerable children do not bear the brunt of that policy?

Ofsted

Shaun Davies Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell]

We recognise that this is a first step on the journey towards removing single headline grades, which we see as reductive—we have widespread agreement on that—across all educational remits. At this stage, we are implementing it in schools as a matter of priority, but we will work with Ofsted and the sector over the next year to develop reporting arrangements across a whole range of areas for which Ofsted has responsibility.

[Shaun Davies (Telford) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Minister on this rapid work. The Conservatives had 14 years, but Labour Ministers have done it in a matter of weeks. Can I have a commitment that Ofsted’s focus on attainment, SEND and attendance will be laser-focused?

For the benefit of the House, there are only two more Conservatives Members in the Chamber for this statement on education standards than are standing for the Conservative party leadership.

[Catherine McKinnell]

My hon. Friend is right. We have delivered at pace and hit the ground running when it comes to improving our education system. Just as every day at school matters, every day in government matters for driving high and rising standards for every child.

My hon. Friend rightly identifies attendance as a key issue, and we share that concern. The previous Government talked a lot about that, but did very little to turn the tables. We want to see attendance prioritised, as we know that far too many children are missing far too much school, which is harming not only their educational opportunities but their life chances and the whole school community. We want to send the message loud and clear, in this first week back at school, that every day at school matters and every child should be attending school.