Asked by: Tony Vaughan (Labour - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to work with Local Authorities to improve the teaching quality of Education otherwise than in a school packages.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities or who are in alternative provision, including those receiving education otherwise than in a school (EOTAS), receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
Last year, the department published a consultation titled ‘Strengthening protections in unregistered alternative provision’, which sought views on proposals intended to improve practice and raise standards for children in non-school settings, including those with education, health and care plans that gave them support through EOTAS. We are committed to improving the outcomes for vulnerable children being educated in this way and will set out the government’s response to the consultation and next steps in due course.
Asked by: Tony Vaughan (Labour - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department used to decide which schools would access Round 1 of funding for the Free Breakfast Club scheme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will require every state-funded school with children on roll from reception to year 6 to offer a free breakfast club before the start of each school day. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day. The Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed over £30 million of funding for breakfast clubs for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding will enable the department to fund up to 750 early adopters of the new breakfast clubs. Decisions about future funding for breakfast clubs will be taken as part of the next phase of the spending review.
The department selected up to 750 early adopter schools to ensure a broad range of representation across different school types, sizes, and geographical areas. The aim is to test and learn from a variety of school settings, including those that already work with private, voluntary, and independent providers.
All state-funded schools with primary-aged children were eligible to apply, including primary schools, infant and junior schools, all-through schools, special schools, and alternative provision settings.
Asked by: Tony Vaughan (Labour - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether schools in Folkestone and Hythe can apply for the second round of funding for the Free School Breakfast Club program.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will require every state-funded school with children on roll from reception to year 6 to offer a free breakfast club before the start of each school day. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day. The Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed over £30 million of funding for breakfast clubs for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding will enable the department to fund up to 750 early adopters of the new breakfast clubs. Decisions about future funding for breakfast clubs will be taken as part of the next phase of the spending review.
The department selected up to 750 early adopter schools to ensure a broad range of representation across different school types, sizes, and geographical areas. The aim is to test and learn from a variety of school settings, including those that already work with private, voluntary, and independent providers.
All state-funded schools with primary-aged children were eligible to apply, including primary schools, infant and junior schools, all-through schools, special schools, and alternative provision settings.
Asked by: Tony Vaughan (Labour - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has plans to help promote the uptake of apprenticeships in areas with high levels of youth unemployment.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity and to grow the economy. Too many young people are struggling to access high-quality opportunities, and this government wants to ensure that more young people can undertake apprenticeships.
The department is developing new foundation apprenticeships to give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives whilst supporting the pipeline of new talent that employers will need to drive economic growth. This signals an important step towards realising a Youth Guarantee, which brings together a range of existing and new entitlements and provision so that 18 to 21-year-olds can access training, an apprenticeship, or support to find work in England. The department and the Department for Work and Pensions are developing the Guarantee with mayoral authorities to provide local, tailored support and will work with local areas on future expansion.
The department is promoting apprenticeships to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme and targeting young people through the Skills for Life campaign. The department is also transforming career opportunities and advice to increase awareness of the range of high-quality options available to young people, including apprenticeships. The department has committed to improve careers advice and guarantee two weeks’ worth of work experience for every young person, as well as establish a national jobs and careers service to support people into work and help them get on at work.
Asked by: Tony Vaughan (Labour - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to use education in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools to prevent violence against women and girls.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade. Education has a crucial role to play in tackling harmful behaviour, helping children and young people to develop empathy, boundaries and respect for difference.
Through compulsory relationships education, all pupils will learn how to form positive and respectful relationships and develop an understanding of the concepts and laws around sexual harassment and sexual violence.
The department is currently reviewing the statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum for primary and secondary pupils and as part of this review we are looking at how to ensure that the guidance equips pupils, including at primary, to form healthy and respectful relationships. We are analysing consultation responses, talking to stakeholders and considering relevant evidence to determine how this can fully complement our wider actions to tackle violence against women and girls.