Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to address the findings in the Children’s Rights Alliance for England report on the State of Children’s Rights in England in 2018, in particular in respect of the proportion of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children deprived in three or more dimensions of deprivation compared to the proportion of all other children.

The government welcomes this report and we will continue to work with the Children’s Rights Alliance for England through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Action Group to promote the importance of children’s rights across the government.

Through the pupil premium, we are addressing low economic circumstances, which affects a high proportion of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children. We have provided over £15 billion in pupil premium funding from April 2011 to March 2019 to help schools improve the progress and attainment of their disadvantaged pupils.

We are also focusing specifically on Gypsy, Roma and Travellers through a number of initiatives, including working with the communities in Opportunity Areas and prioritising Gypsy, Roma and Traveller young people in our £1.7 million investment in careers provision for disadvantaged young people. I am also very grateful to the noble Baroness Whitaker for chairing a new stakeholder group for my department aimed at ensuring that improvements to the whole school system take into account Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupil needs.