Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will issue guidance to schools to make clear every child with epilepsy is entitled to have an Individual Healthcare Plan with (a) information about their epilepsy and (b) any support they need.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Statutory guidance on supporting pupils at school with medical conditions recommends the use of individual healthcare plans as good practice, as they can help schools to support pupils with medical conditions by providing clarity about what needs to be done when and by whom. The school, healthcare professionals and parents should agree, based on evidence, when a healthcare plan would be appropriate.
This statutory guidance is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ce6a72e40f0b620a103bd53/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf. The department will keep this statutory guidance under review as we take forward our commitment to delivering an inclusive mainstream system.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students took the (a) BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Business and (b) WJEC Level 3 Applied Diploma in Criminology in (i) Brighton and Hove and (ii) the UK in the 2023-24 academic year; and whether students will be able to enrol on these courses in the 2025-26 academic year.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The full-year participation data for the 2023/24 academic year is expected to be available in November 2024. After this point the department will be in a position to provide additional breakdowns.
Regarding student enrolment for the 2025/26 academic year, on 24 July 2024 the Secretary of State announced that the department is conducting a short, internal review of Post-16 qualifications reform at Level 3 and below. Defunding decisions for 2025 onwards will be confirmed after the short review and we will set out the position before the end of December 2024.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the 2024-25 pay award does not apply to teachers in (a) sixth form and (b) further education colleges; and if she will make it her policy to apply the award to those teachers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education (FE) providers are not in scope of the School Teacher Review Body’s remit. The government neither sets nor makes recommendations about FE teacher pay, and it is instead the responsibility of individual colleges to make awards in line with their own local circumstances.
The fiscal situation that the government has inherited means that it has had to take incredibly difficult decisions about how to allocate scarce resources. However, I can assure you that this government knows the very important contribution of sectors where pay is not currently set by a Pay Review Body, including FE.
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer will announce a Budget on 30 October, to be followed by a multi-year spending review in Spring 2025. Decisions about future post-16 funding and capital programmes will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.
The department will continue with plans to invest in FE teachers, as part of the c.£600 million funding across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years that was announced last autumn. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. We will also work with the FE sector to recruit 6,500 additional teachers across schools and colleges to raise standards for children and young people.