Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional support her Department is providing in the educational setting to children and young people housed in temporary accommodation.

The department’s guidance on school attendance sets out clear expectations of schools, trusts and local authorities in relation to improving school attendance. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance. This guidance recognises that issues with housing (such as being in temporary accommodation) can impact on children’s ability to attend school regularly, and highlights the importance of effective multi-disciplinary support for the family to address attendance problems where that is the case.

The government provides a range of help to schools to support disadvantaged pupils, which may include those in temporary accommodation. The Pupil Premium, rising to around £2.9 billion next financial year, is supporting schools to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. School leaders use this extra funding to tailor support, based on the needs of their disadvantaged pupils, and to invest in proven practices that improve outcomes. Currently 1.9 million of the most disadvantaged children are eligible for and claiming a free nutritious meal. In addition, the government is committed to continuing support for school breakfasts. In November 2022, the department extended the National School Breakfast Programme for an additional year until the end of the summer term in 2024.