Steve Darling

It is crucial that we ensure everyone is treated fairly when accessing services, so that they can thrive and reach their full potential, including people with disabilities.

We believe that the Equality Act 2010 is effective in ensuring service providers make anticipatory reasonable adjustments to facilitate access for people with disabilities and where they do not, it offers a means of redress. The way it operates is kept under review, and the EHRC’s Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, is under consultation currently.

The government is committed to ensuring that the Civil Service workforce operates across the country, including in the South West, to improve policy making and outcomes for UK citizens.

The Government recognises the challenges and worry facing parents whose babies are admitted to neonatal care; we will set out more information on our plans in this area shortly.

The Government is committed to reviewing the parental leave system so that it best supports working families.

The Government greatly values kinship carers who care for children who cannot live with their parents. The Government has committed in the Plan to Make Work Pay to review the system of parental leave to ensure that it best supports all working families. We will set out more information in due course

In relation to legal safeguarding, the Law Commission will carry out a review into the legal statuses and orders for kinship carers, to ensure that the legislative framework is fair, modern, and meets the needs of its users.

The UK has worked closely with international partners to constrain Russian oil revenues while maintaining energy market security. The Government does not speculate on future sanctions measures as to do so could reduce their impact. We continue to monitor the effectiveness of our sanctions.

The Government has no current plans to change the approach to Daylight Savings.

Impacts of proposed offshore wind developments on affected stakeholders, including fishers, is considered during the development consent process. The Government encourages offshore wind developers and the fishing industry to discuss potential impacts at an early stage.

In cases where there have been monetary settlements for disruption or displacement, these have been agreed on an individual project basis between the offshore wind developer and the affected fishers.

Digital inclusion is a priority for this Government and we have already set up a Digital Inclusion and Skills Unit to ensure that everyone has the access, skills, support and confidence to engage in our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances.

This country has been without a digital inclusion strategy for 10 years, and during that time other countries have leapt ahead of us. This Government is determined that that will no longer be the case. I hope to say more on this soon.

Volunteering is critical to a vibrant and resilient civil society; it benefits volunteers and the organisations involving them and has transformational impacts on local communities. Government undertakes a range of policy work to enable as many people to volunteer as possible, from developing the wider volunteering ecosystem to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to take part, to supporting the sustainability of the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector.

This Government recognises the vital role that civil society plays in supporting volunteering, and is committed to resetting the relationship with civil society. Government understands the need to treat civil society as an equal, expert partner who is integral to the delivery of the Government’s vision for national renewal. The first step in rebuilding that relationship is going to be the co-creation of the recently announced Civil Society Covenant.

We currently support people to volunteer nationally through a range of programmes. These include the Know Your Neighbourhood (KYN) Fund, an up to £30 million funding package running until March 2025, designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England.

We also provide funding to the #iwill Fund, a £66 million joint investment between DCMS and the National Lottery Community Fund, running since 2016, which supports the creation of new opportunities to engage young people in volunteering and community engagement in their local areas.

The Department does not allocate funds to Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) directly, but has allocated £7.15 million in core funding to its arm’s-length body VisitEngland, plus £1.35 million for destination management organisations; and VisitEngland has accredited Devon and partners which can apply for VisitBritain/VisitEngland grant funding programmes.

Short-term lets are an integral part of what the UK has to offer visitors. They can bring a range of benefits to local and national economies, but communities in tourism
destinations, particularly coastal and rural communities, must be able to reap the benefit of thriving tourism without losing the spirit of their community when the holiday season ends.

Parliament legislated for a registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 and we are working on precisely how to implement that statutory
requirement.

The department has collected termly data from local authorities concerning their cohorts of home-educated children since autumn 2022.

The most recent published data shows an estimated 92,000 children in home education in October 2023, a rise of around 12,000 from the previous year. The most common reasons for home education are religious, philosophical, mental health and dissatisfaction with schools. The department has used this data to analyse trends in the growth and motivations behind parents opting to home-educate. This analysis has helped to identify impacts on the school system and local authority resources. For instance, in relation to numbers of school attendance orders issued and types of support offered to home-educating families. It also enables the department to better understand the educational journeys of these children.

The government provides funding through the local government financial settlement, enabling local authorities to carry out their duties toward children not on a school roll. This includes overlap with children’s social care teams, whose work includes those children not in school and their safeguarding.

The government’s elective home education guidance contains information about safeguarding children, as well as the principles of a suitable education. This guidance should be read in conjunction with other documents such as ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The department’s elective home education guidance is currently under review following a consultation and an updated version will be published in due course.

The department’s guidance is clear that parents who choose to home-educate are responsible for the costs of doing so. When a child who is moved into home education has an education, health and care plan, it is the local authority's duty to ensure that the educational provision set out in that plan is provided to the child, unless the child’s parents have arranged for them to receive a suitable education in some other way, in which the responsibility for the educational provision rests with the parents.

The government is committed to a system of registration of children who are not in school, including those who are home-educated. It intends to introduce this system as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in this year’s King’s Speech. Registers will aid local authorities in their duties to identify those children who are receiving their education otherwise than at school and ensure that those children are receiving a suitable education.

The statutory requirements to maintain registers and provide data to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will ensure the department obtains more robust and thorough data on home education issues that will further inform policy development and identification of those children who most need support. The measures in the Bill will include a requirement on local authorities to provide support to those home educating families who request it. A full new burdens assessment will be conducted in anticipation of the measures coming into force, to ensure that local authorities are equipped with the training and resources needed to comply with these new duties.

The department has collected termly data from local authorities concerning their cohorts of home-educated children since autumn 2022.

The most recent published data shows an estimated 92,000 children in home education in October 2023, a rise of around 12,000 from the previous year. The most common reasons for home education are religious, philosophical, mental health and dissatisfaction with schools. The department has used this data to analyse trends in the growth and motivations behind parents opting to home-educate. This analysis has helped to identify impacts on the school system and local authority resources. For instance, in relation to numbers of school attendance orders issued and types of support offered to home-educating families. It also enables the department to better understand the educational journeys of these children.

The government provides funding through the local government financial settlement, enabling local authorities to carry out their duties toward children not on a school roll. This includes overlap with children’s social care teams, whose work includes those children not in school and their safeguarding.

The government’s elective home education guidance contains information about safeguarding children, as well as the principles of a suitable education. This guidance should be read in conjunction with other documents such as ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The department’s elective home education guidance is currently under review following a consultation and an updated version will be published in due course.

The department’s guidance is clear that parents who choose to home-educate are responsible for the costs of doing so. When a child who is moved into home education has an education, health and care plan, it is the local authority's duty to ensure that the educational provision set out in that plan is provided to the child, unless the child’s parents have arranged for them to receive a suitable education in some other way, in which the responsibility for the educational provision rests with the parents.

The government is committed to a system of registration of children who are not in school, including those who are home-educated. It intends to introduce this system as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in this year’s King’s Speech. Registers will aid local authorities in their duties to identify those children who are receiving their education otherwise than at school and ensure that those children are receiving a suitable education.

The statutory requirements to maintain registers and provide data to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will ensure the department obtains more robust and thorough data on home education issues that will further inform policy development and identification of those children who most need support. The measures in the Bill will include a requirement on local authorities to provide support to those home educating families who request it. A full new burdens assessment will be conducted in anticipation of the measures coming into force, to ensure that local authorities are equipped with the training and resources needed to comply with these new duties.

The department has collected termly data from local authorities concerning their cohorts of home-educated children since autumn 2022.

The most recent published data shows an estimated 92,000 children in home education in October 2023, a rise of around 12,000 from the previous year. The most common reasons for home education are religious, philosophical, mental health and dissatisfaction with schools. The department has used this data to analyse trends in the growth and motivations behind parents opting to home-educate. This analysis has helped to identify impacts on the school system and local authority resources. For instance, in relation to numbers of school attendance orders issued and types of support offered to home-educating families. It also enables the department to better understand the educational journeys of these children.

The government provides funding through the local government financial settlement, enabling local authorities to carry out their duties toward children not on a school roll. This includes overlap with children’s social care teams, whose work includes those children not in school and their safeguarding.

The government’s elective home education guidance contains information about safeguarding children, as well as the principles of a suitable education. This guidance should be read in conjunction with other documents such as ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The department’s elective home education guidance is currently under review following a consultation and an updated version will be published in due course.

The department’s guidance is clear that parents who choose to home-educate are responsible for the costs of doing so. When a child who is moved into home education has an education, health and care plan, it is the local authority's duty to ensure that the educational provision set out in that plan is provided to the child, unless the child’s parents have arranged for them to receive a suitable education in some other way, in which the responsibility for the educational provision rests with the parents.

The government is committed to a system of registration of children who are not in school, including those who are home-educated. It intends to introduce this system as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in this year’s King’s Speech. Registers will aid local authorities in their duties to identify those children who are receiving their education otherwise than at school and ensure that those children are receiving a suitable education.

The statutory requirements to maintain registers and provide data to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will ensure the department obtains more robust and thorough data on home education issues that will further inform policy development and identification of those children who most need support. The measures in the Bill will include a requirement on local authorities to provide support to those home educating families who request it. A full new burdens assessment will be conducted in anticipation of the measures coming into force, to ensure that local authorities are equipped with the training and resources needed to comply with these new duties.

The department has collected termly data from local authorities concerning their cohorts of home-educated children since autumn 2022.

The most recent published data shows an estimated 92,000 children in home education in October 2023, a rise of around 12,000 from the previous year. The most common reasons for home education are religious, philosophical, mental health and dissatisfaction with schools. The department has used this data to analyse trends in the growth and motivations behind parents opting to home-educate. This analysis has helped to identify impacts on the school system and local authority resources. For instance, in relation to numbers of school attendance orders issued and types of support offered to home-educating families. It also enables the department to better understand the educational journeys of these children.

The government provides funding through the local government financial settlement, enabling local authorities to carry out their duties toward children not on a school roll. This includes overlap with children’s social care teams, whose work includes those children not in school and their safeguarding.

The government’s elective home education guidance contains information about safeguarding children, as well as the principles of a suitable education. This guidance should be read in conjunction with other documents such as ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The department’s elective home education guidance is currently under review following a consultation and an updated version will be published in due course.

The department’s guidance is clear that parents who choose to home-educate are responsible for the costs of doing so. When a child who is moved into home education has an education, health and care plan, it is the local authority's duty to ensure that the educational provision set out in that plan is provided to the child, unless the child’s parents have arranged for them to receive a suitable education in some other way, in which the responsibility for the educational provision rests with the parents.

The government is committed to a system of registration of children who are not in school, including those who are home-educated. It intends to introduce this system as part of the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as announced in this year’s King’s Speech. Registers will aid local authorities in their duties to identify those children who are receiving their education otherwise than at school and ensure that those children are receiving a suitable education.

The statutory requirements to maintain registers and provide data to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will ensure the department obtains more robust and thorough data on home education issues that will further inform policy development and identification of those children who most need support. The measures in the Bill will include a requirement on local authorities to provide support to those home educating families who request it. A full new burdens assessment will be conducted in anticipation of the measures coming into force, to ensure that local authorities are equipped with the training and resources needed to comply with these new duties.

Mainstream schools receive the majority of their core school funding through the schools block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG).

DSG has funding data for Cornwall, Plymouth, Torbay and Devon. It does not include funding in respect of the ‘local authorities with the highest level of education attainment’ because there are a number of different ways in which education attainment can be measured. The local authorities which have the highest level of education attainment would depend on which of these measures were used.

The primary and secondary per-pupil funding for the 2024/25 financial year through the schools block of the DSG can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2024-to-2025.

The DSG funding excludes the additional funding schools have received through other grants, notably the 2024/25 teachers’ pay additional grant, the 2024/25 teachers’ pensions employer contribution grant and the 2024/25 core schools budget grant.