Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on extending the free 30 hours of childcare offer to include parents who are postgraduate students receiving PhD stipends.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
In the Spring Budget 2023, the government announced a number of transformative reforms to childcare. This includes the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare offer, through which eligible, working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks per year from when their child is 9 months old to when they start school. This will be rolled out in phases:
To be eligible for this offer, as with the current 30 hours offer, parents will need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week of pay at national minimum or living wage and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year.
The key objective of this measure is to support parental participation in the labour market, which is why this offer is conditional on work. Students who participate in paid work in addition to their studies and meet the income requirements will still be eligible.
There are no plans to extend the eligibility criteria at present. The department recognises the value of parents continuing in education and provides a range of support other than 30 hours for those in further or higher education.
The reforms announced build on the government’s current early education entitlements, which includes the universal 15 hour offer for all parents of 3 and 4-year-olds.
Students starting a postgraduate doctoral degree in 2022/23 are eligible to receive a postgraduate doctoral loan of up to £27,892. The loan is intended as a contribution to the cost of study, rather than to specifically cover tuition fees or livings costs.
Further information on the childcare offers available to parents can be found at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of people employed within her Department have recorded that they have a disability.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Data compiled of all paid employees (headcount of 8,160) as at March 2023 shows 75.9% of staff have completed their disability declaration. Of those who have declared, 12.9% are disabled, 80.8% non-disabled, and 6.3% have selected the ‘Prefer not to say’ option.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of young carers there were in (a) Lewisham Deptford constituency, (b) London and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Information on the number of young carers is not currently held by the department. Data is now being collected via the Spring school census for the first time from all state-funded schools in England to identify whether a student undertakes caring responsibilities at home. This will increase young carers visibility in the school system and provide an annual data collection to help identify long-term trends.
Data is also collected relating to young carers via the Children in Need census. When a child is assessed as being in need of children’s social care services, social workers will record factors that are relevant to that episode of need, with ‘young carer’ as one of those possible factors. The recorded factors are published annually in the statistics release ‘Characteristics of children in need’ which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need.
The following link contains data for 2017/18 to 2021/22 for Lewisham, Inner London, London and England (figures at parliamentary constituency level are not available) where ‘young carer’ was identified in episodes of need: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d0e547fd-650c-4144-947e-08db08498a11. It should be noted that not all episodes have factors recorded, but this has improved over time. Nonetheless, there can be differences in the recording practices between local authorities, therefore this data should be treated with a degree of caution. In addition, not all young carers will be children in need so these figures represent an undercount on the true number of young carers.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2022 to Question 26814 on Qualifications, how many of the independent assessors that were commissioned to evaluate qualifications that overlap with T-Levels are (a) employed and (b) formerly employed by (i) his Department or (ii) its agencies.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The department appointed six independent experts, through a competitive procurement, to evaluate qualifications against the three overlap tests. The experts were selected based on relevant experience and expertise, such as qualification design, development, delivery, and assessment approaches.
We are unable to release any personal information on their prior employment history.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the guidance by his Department entitled Qualifications that overlap with T Levels, published on 11 May 2022, what the evidential basis is for his Department's assessment that 160 qualifications overlap with T-levels in waves one and two.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
There are over 2,000 qualifications available at level 3, and as part of first overlap process T Levels we asked independent assessors to look at over 700 of these as they are in similar subject areas to wave 1 and 2 T Levels.
Assessors were asked to assess qualifications against three tests:
Only qualifications which met all three tests in relation to a wave 1 and 2 T Level were included on the provisional list. Assessors considered evidence such as qualification specifications to determine whether these tests were met.
To ensure the rigour of this process recommendations were moderated internally and we published a provisional list of 160 qualification on 11 May. We have put in place an appeals process if awarding organisations do not feel we have applied the criteria correctly, and awarding organisations have until 8 July 2022 to submit appeals.
The assessors commenced work in summer 2021 and their involvement in the wave 1 and 2 overlap process will conclude once the appeals process has been completed in September 2022.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the independent assessors that were commissioned by his Department to evaluate qualifications that overlap with T-Levels in waves one and two (a) started and (b) concluded their work; and how many qualifications those assessors evaluated.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
There are over 2,000 qualifications available at level 3, and as part of first overlap process T Levels we asked independent assessors to look at over 700 of these as they are in similar subject areas to wave 1 and 2 T Levels.
Assessors were asked to assess qualifications against three tests:
Only qualifications which met all three tests in relation to a wave 1 and 2 T Level were included on the provisional list. Assessors considered evidence such as qualification specifications to determine whether these tests were met.
To ensure the rigour of this process recommendations were moderated internally and we published a provisional list of 160 qualification on 11 May. We have put in place an appeals process if awarding organisations do not feel we have applied the criteria correctly, and awarding organisations have until 8 July 2022 to submit appeals.
The assessors commenced work in summer 2021 and their involvement in the wave 1 and 2 overlap process will conclude once the appeals process has been completed in September 2022.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the finding in the report by the Disabled Children’s Partnership entitled Left Behind: 6 Months On, which found nearly 70 per cent of parent carers of disabled children have seen their physical health deteriorate as a result of lack of the right support, what steps he is taking to improve support for parent carers.
Answered by Will Quince
On 1 February 2022, the government launched its plan to level up the country so that every person can make the most of their abilities and succeed in life. For those children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), levelling up must be even more ambitious, which is why the department has recently announced an additional £45 million of investment over the next three years to support education settings, children and young people with SEND, and their families.
The department is also improving access to short breaks and respite care for those who care for children with SEND, with funding of £30 million being made available over the next three years to set up more than 10,000 additional respite and short breaks placements for disabled children.
We will also invest £82 million in a network of family hubs so more children, young people and their families can access wraparound support. These new projects will help to provide positive opportunities for disabled children and young people, whilst also supporting parents and carers with their caring responsibilities.
In addition to statutory services, the department is providing £27.3 million to the Family Fund in the 2021/22 financial year to support over 60,000 families on low incomes raising children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses. Grants can be used for a range of purposes, including family breaks.
The department will continue to work to ensure the right support is in place for the parents and carers of disabled children.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the funding allocated from the high needs budget to young people aged 16-25 years when compared with the proportion of Education Health and Care Plans that are held by people in that age bracket.
Answered by Will Quince
When the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) was created in 2013/14, it incorporated funding to reflect the costs of support to young people up to age 25. The expected additional cost to local authorities was directly taken into account by:
An additional £272 million was allocated to the DSG in the financial year 2013/14, and £390 million in the financial year 2014/15. The difference between the two years lies in the fact that some of the changes relating to funding provision for young people aged over 16 years old with high needs started in August 2013, rather than at the start of the financial year in April 2013.
These increases in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 financial years were consolidated into the funding baseline. This informed the 2015 spending review settlement reached between the department and Her Majesty’s Treasury. Local authorities’ increased spending, including on 16-25-year-olds, was also considered in subsequent decisions on the appropriate level of high needs funding through the DSG, and for informing overall Spending Review settlements.
As a result of the Autumn 2021 Spending Review, the core schools budget will have increased by more than £7 billion by the financial year 2024/25, compared to 2021/22. High needs funding for children and young people with complex needs is increasing in the next financial year 2022/23 by £1 billion to over £9.1 billion. This unprecedented increase in high needs funding of 13% in the financial year 2022/23, compared to 2021/22, comes in addition to the £1.5 billion increase over the last two years. It will continue to support local authorities and schools with the increasing costs they are facing.
In 2017, the department produced guidance for local authorities about education, health and care (EHC) plans for 19 to 25-year-olds with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This non-statutory guidance is primarily for local authorities. It aims to support them in making fair and consistent decisions about when they should maintain an EHC plan beyond the age of 19 or issue an EHC plan to a young person aged 19 or over. The guidance facilitates the decisions in remaining in line with local authorities’ duties under the Children and Families Act 2014, and as described in the SEND code of practice.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Education to address the high level of staff vacancy in residential specialist colleges that are also registered care homes.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
It is essential that all learners in the further education (FE) sector, including those with complex special needs, experience the highest quality teaching. We recognise that teacher recruitment and retention can be challenging for providers which is why, in the current financial year, the government is investing £50 million in programmes designed to improve the supply and quality of FE teachers. For those specialising in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) teaching in the FE sector, we recently announced that we will offer training bursaries worth £15,000 each, tax-free, for a further academic year (2022/23). This should help to boost the supply of teachers with specialist training to support learners with SEND in FE including the specialist college sector.
We also recognise the challenges the adult social care sector is currently experiencing in recruiting staff. The Department for Health and Social Care have put in place a range of measures to address this, including £462.5 million in funding to boost recruitment and support existing care work through winter, expansion of the Health and Care Visa to make care worker roles eligible for overseas recruitment, and the Made with Care National Recruitment Campaign which will run until March 2022.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment has he made of the capacity of the further education sector to meet the needs of the young people with more complex special education needs and disability who will be entering further education over the next five years.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
It is essential that all learners in the further education (FE) sector, including those with complex special needs, experience the highest quality teaching. We recognise that teacher recruitment and retention can be challenging for providers which is why, in the current financial year, the government is investing £50 million in programmes designed to improve the supply and quality of FE teachers. In January 2022 we launched a recruitment campaign to raise awareness of the opportunities to teach in FE with a wider audience. For those choosing to specialise in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) teaching in the FE sector, we have also announced that we will offer training bursaries worth £15,000 each, tax-free, for a further academic year (2022/23). This will help to boost the supply of teachers with specialist training to support learners with SEND in the FE sector.
We are also investing £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to deliver new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision. This funding represents a transformational investment in new high needs provision and will help deliver tens of thousands of new high needs places, including in post-16 and FE settings.
Local authorities are best placed to understand the capacity of their local FE provision to accommodate additional children and young people with SEND. The department does not currently collect data centrally on available capacity in high needs provision but is continuing to work with local authorities to better understand future demand for SEND provision, including in FE settings, as it considers how it can best support the sector going forwards.