Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff have been recruited to date through the Wellbeing in Schools Return Fund.

Wellbeing for Education Return is a new £8 million package of training and support for schools and colleges, to help education staff to promote and support children and young people’s wellbeing and mental health recovery, responding to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

It includes:

• A new, nationally developed training package for education staff.
• Grant funding for local authorities to appoint local experts to deliver the training into schools and further education providers during this autumn term, and to provide ongoing advice and support until March 2021.

147 of England’s 151 upper tier local authorities (97%) have taken up the offer of training. This will help them to support local schools and colleges, having received funding and materials from the government in September.

Local areas can decide how to engage with the programme and are taking a range of approaches to deliver training and support into schools and colleges in a way that is most appropriate for them and the demands on their time. It is too early to assess how many education settings have received support through the programme. Plans are in place to monitor delivery of this training and support with local authorities, up to 31 March 2021.