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.

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.