Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

348275

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Modern Greek Language: GCE A-level and GCE AS-level
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that Modern Greek continues to be available to students to study as A and AS-levels after 2017.
tabling member constituency	North Thanet
tabling member printed	Sir Roger Gale
uin	957
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education is currently considering what further support and encouragement can be provided to awarding organisations to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level, including Modern Greek.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The government has been clear that it wants to see all pupils provided with the opportunity to take a core set of academic subjects, including modern foreign languages. The number of pupils entering for a modern language GCSE has increased by 20% since 2010 due to the introduction of the English Baccalaureate. There are considerable benefits to learning a second language and the government is keen to see the range of languages at GCSE and A level preserved. To this end, the Secretary of State for Education wrote to exam boards during the pre-election period in April to express her concern about their decision to stop awarding qualifications in some languages. She asked awarding organisations to work with Ofqual on the future of these qualifications and committed, if there is no further action, to launching a consultation on how best to secure the future of these qualifications.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 08/06/2015 16:15:22 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	87 label Biography information for Sir Roger Gale

348295

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Adoption
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether adopters are assessed for their suitability as permanent guardians of a child after they take a child into their care.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	998
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>Prospective adopters are all assessed as part of the adopter approvals process. The processes involved in approving prospective adopters and post-placement review visits are covered by regulations and explained in the Adoption Statutory Guidance:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-statutory-guidance-2013" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-statutory-guidance-2013</a></p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:12:59 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348296

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Adoption
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether all permanence options for children in public care receive the same level of post-placement support.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	999
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>There are currently a range of permanence options for children in public care, all of which can deliver good outcomes for individual children.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For many looked-after children, permanence will be secured outside of the care system through a safe return to their family. In April 2015, the government made changes to the care planning regulations and the statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ to ensure a sharper focus on a safe and successful return home for children where this is the best route to permanence. This included a requirement that the authority appropriately assesses the proposed arrangements for the child and sets out the support that will be provided when the child ceases to be looked-after.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Special guardianship or adoption offer permanence for other groups of children. Local authorities are responsible for core adoption and special guardianship support, including information, advice, guidance, training and financial assistance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To improve practice where the best permanence option for children is to remain looked-after, the government amended regulations in April 2015 to introduce ‘long term foster care’ as a distinct placement type. Every looked-after child must have a care plan which includes a ‘plan for permanence’ and sets out the support they will receive.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:11:49 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348297

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what figures her Department holds on the break-down rate of (a) adoption arrangements, (b) fostering arrangements and (c) family-based arrangements in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	1000
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>Information on the break-down rate of adoption arrangements, fostering arrangements and family arrangements since 2010, is not held by the Department for Education.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the previous permanence placement of children entering care was collected in the SSDA903 data collection for the first time in the year ending 31 March 2014. Figures for 2013-14 are published in Table C1 here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2</a></p><p> </p><p>The research report ‘Beyond the Adoption Order: challenges, interventions and adoption disruption’ was published last year at the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beyond-the-adoption-order-challenges-intervention-disruption" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beyond-the-adoption-order-challenges-intervention-disruption</a></p><p> </p><p>The study estimated that, over a 12-year period, the post order national disruption rate was 3.2%.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:14:57 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348299

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Adoption
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria must be met for her to direct one or more local authorities to have their adoption service functions carried out by another authority or agency.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	1002
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education will work with local authorities in order to deliver regional adoption agencies. The department will provide both financial and practical support to help form these new agencies.</p><p> </p><p>The Education and Adoption Bill seeks to drive a system-wide change and the department will use its powers where local authorities are unwilling to join regional adoption agencies.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:08:21 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348300

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Adoption
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to assess the funding needs for the (a) measures relating to local authority adoption functions, (b) measures relating to joint arrangements and (c) other measures that her Department plans to include in the Education and Adoption Bill.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	1003
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>The move to regional adoption agencies will improve the efficiency of adoption services and increase the scale at which services operate. This is expected to lead to savings for local authorities through efficiency gains as they benefit from economies of scale and through improvements in the timeliness of adoptions. The Department for Education is working with local authorities to encourage voluntary consolidation. The department will assess and evaluate the costs and savings resulting from the measures as part of this work. The department will also provide some financial support for transition to regional adoption agencies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Education and Adoption Bill also includes measures to improve the overall quality of education received by children in England. This includes streamlining the process by which failing schools become academies and introducing new powers to support and challenge coasting schools. The department is assessing the funding implications of wider intervention and meeting these costs will be considered as part of the Budget and Spending Review process.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 15:57:45 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348301

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what figures her Department holds on the numbers of children in public care by permanence option.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	1004
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>Figures relating to children looked after in England are published in the annual Statistical First Release (SFR) at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 15:59:59 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348302

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Adoption
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether foster parents are assessed for their suitability as permanent guardians of a child after they take a child into their care.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	1005
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>Permanence provides an underpinning framework for all social work with children and their families. Every looked-after child must have a care plan which includes a ‘plan for permanence’. Permanence can take the form of a successful return to the child’s family, long-term foster care, adoption or special guardianship.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In order to improve practice in instances where the best permanence option for children is to remain looked-after, the government amended regulations in April 2015 to introduce ‘long term foster care’ as a distinct placement type. In cases such as these, statutory guidance is clear that the local authority should assess the ability of the identified foster carer to care for the child (this may be the foster carers currently looking after the child, or new carers who are best able to meet the child’s needs). The statuary guidance is published online at: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416720/Stat_Guidance_Permanence_2015.pdf" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416720/Stat_Guidance_Permanence_2015.pdf</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:10:12 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348303

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Adoption
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether regional adoption agencies consider varied permanence options other than adoption when finding a solution for a child in public care.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	997
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>The duty to make a decision about which permanence option to pursue for a particular child will remain with the local authority. If local authorities wish to pursue other permanence services, as well as adoption services, they have the freedom to do so.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:07:20 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348315

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education Maintenance Allowance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the allocation of the education maintenance allowance on participation rates in post-16 education.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Heeley
tabling member printed	Louise Haigh
uin	971
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2015 answer text <p>The final report of the quantitative evaluation of the Education Maintenance Allowance pilots was published in 2005. It contains an assessment of the impact of the allowance on participation and attainment and is available at: <a href="http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/5734/1/RR678.pdf" target="_blank">http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/5734/1/RR678.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p>The Education Maintenance Allowance was abolished and replaced by the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund in the 2011/12 academic year</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Mr Sam Gyimah question first answered 09/06/2015 09:25:55 answering member 3980 label Biography information for Mr Sam Gyimah
tabling member	4473 label Biography information for Louise Haigh