Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the letter of 3 February 2025 on (a) mental health support for school staff and (b) automated external defibrillators governance and compliance from the Hon. Member for Torbay.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I can confirm that a response to the correspondence dated 3 February 2025 from the hon. Member for Torbay was sent on 26 February 2025.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will pause the safety valve scheme until it's review is published.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Over time, 38 local authorities have been supported to manage their high needs budgets through the Safety Valve programme. We will continue to work with local authorities with Safety Valve agreements to deliver their plans, and to provide the additional funding support set out in those agreements where plans are being delivered. The department has already said that it will not enter into any more Safety Valve agreements, pending wider reform of the whole system to prioritise early intervention, properly supporting councils to bring their finances under control.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities are part of the review into safety valve schemes.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The areas taking part in this research are: Barnsley, Croydon, Darlington, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kent, Kirklees, Torbay, Salford, Surrey and York.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help low-income families pay for after-school clubs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare for working parents is a priority for this government. We want all families to benefit from the childcare support they are entitled to, helping them with the cost of childcare, enabling parents to work and giving children the best start in life. This includes ensuring that after school clubs are available and accessible. The government is improving access to before and after school care through the national wraparound childcare programme.
The programme has provided local authorities with more than £160 million to deliver the expansion of new before and after school places for primary school-aged children. This government’s ambition is that, by 2026, all parents and carers of primary school-aged children who need it will be able to access term-time childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm.
To support with costs, parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare. Parents can check what childcare support they are entitled to via the Childcare Choices website, which can be accessed here: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
On 23 September 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that up to 750 state-funded schools with primary aged pupils will begin delivering free breakfast clubs from April 2025. The funding will allow these schools to run free breakfast clubs for their pupils starting in the summer term as part of a ‘test and learn’ phase to inform delivery of a national rollout. This new offer will also support parents to have more choices on when to work and will support families with the cost of childcare.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to sixth form academies on securing capital funding for new school buildings when existing buildings are no longer fit for purpose.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ensuring schools, including sixth form college academies, have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life.
Responsibility for keeping school and sixth form buildings safe and well-maintained lies with institutions and their responsible bodies. These are typically local authorities, academy trusts, or voluntary aided school bodies. The department supports them by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support.
The department has allocated £1.8 billion in condition funding for 2024/25 for schools, including sixth form academies, informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate. As part of the 2025/26 budget, the department is increasing capital allocations to improve the condition of school buildings to £2.1 billion, £300 million more than this year.
The £1.8 billion of funding allocated in 2024/25 includes £1.15 billion in School Condition Allocations (SCA) for local authorities and other large responsible bodies, including large multi-academy trusts, to invest in maintaining and improving the condition of their school buildings, including any sixth form academies. This funding is calculated formulaically, and paid directly to the responsible bodies, without the need to apply. The department provides guidance on how funding is calculated and how it can be spent at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding.
Smaller academy trusts and sixth form colleges are able to apply to the condition improvement fund (CIF), instead of receiving SCA. This is a bid-based fund for projects to address condition issues with buildings, with a focus on keeping them safe and in good working order. Guidance on the CIF can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund.
The 2025/26 budget also includes £1.4 billion to support the current school rebuilding programme, reaffirming the department’s commitment to rebuilding or refurbishing 518 schools and sixth form colleges through the programme. Future capital funding for schools beyond 2025/26 will be confirmed following the next multi-year phase of the spending review.
Any responsible body that has a significant safety issue with one of its buildings that cannot be managed through local resources can contact the department directly for advice and support.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce the allocation by local authority for the £740 million of SEND funding.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department allocates capital funding to local authorities to support them to meet their statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision. Earlier this month, the department announced £740 million for high needs capital in 2025/26.
This capital funding can be used to adapt classrooms to be more accessible for children with SEND, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs, and create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.
This will be used to deliver this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best life chances while fixing the foundations of the school system.
The department expects to confirm plans to allocate funding for the 2025/26 financial year by the end of March 2025 and will work with valued partners in the sector, schools, trusts and local authorities to ensure that children and young people can access the placements they need and deserve, restoring parents’ trust.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve access to (a) university and (b) other further education and training opportunities for people living in coastal resorts in (i) the South West and (ii) the rest of the country; and what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of educational attainment in those areas.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This new government will be mission-led, with the Opportunity Mission building opportunities for all by giving every child the best start in life, helping them achieve and thrive, build skills for opportunity and growth and ensure family security.
Building skills for opportunity and growth is key to the Opportunity Mission. The department will ensure every young person around the country, including in coastal areas, can follow the pathway that is right for them. Whether built through high quality apprenticeships, colleges or universities, skills give people the power to progress into good jobs and seize opportunity. We will support the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, regardless of their background, where they live and their personal circumstances. Opportunity should be available to all, and it is our aspiration that no groups are left behind.
Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) support the department’s long term priority to drive local economic growth by reshaping the skills system to better align provision of post-16 technical education and training with local labour market needs and to support learners to gain the skills they need to get good jobs.
Over 50% (20 out of 38) of LSIP areas have coastal towns and communities within their geographies and in these areas, the designated employer representative body leading the LSIP may have engaged with coastal industry businesses and businesses and supply chain links operationally based in coastal towns and communities, as well as relevant local leaders and national sector and trade bodies.
For example, the Dorset LSIP has identified skills gaps within the marine industry and is in consultation with local providers around the introduction of Level 3 Marine Electrician and Marine Engineer Apprenticeships. These qualifications would help to resolve skills and labour shortages in coastal areas and build clusters of expertise in priority local industries.
A Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) was introduced to support local action. For example, the Cornwall and Isle of Scilly LSIP identified a need to improve sustainability skills in the local construction sector. As a result, Truro and Penwith College received £1.07 million to fund the development of a Level 3 Design, Installation and Commissioning of Electrical Energy Storage Systems, as well as the development of an industry-led Higher Technical Qualification for Construction in Cornwall.
In the South West there are a number of colleges within coastal locations or who are close enough to readily attract learners from coastal areas. All colleges have specialisms to complement a general offer delivering programmes from foundation level through levels 1 to 3 and then, in most cases, offering higher education provision. Further education colleges often work in partnership with key employers and stakeholders to ensure specialist provision meets local and regional need.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, an expert in education policy, including curriculum and social inequality. The review will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people, and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve, in particular those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, or with special educational needs or disabilities.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure families that opt for elective home education have access to adequate (a) resources and (b) guidance to support the educational needs of their children.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure local authorities have the necessary (a) resources and (b) training to effectively safeguard children receiving elective home education.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent trends in the number of families choosing elective home education for their children on (a) local authorities, (b) schools and (c) the wider educational system.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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.