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1463977

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what provision has been made for participants of the (a) Homes for Ukraine Scheme and (b) Ukraine Family Visa scheme to access the student loan scheme with home fee status so that they can attend higher education.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	4607
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2022 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member for Bristol West, to the answer I gave on 19 May 2022 to Question <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-05-10/304" target="_blank">304</a>.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 24/05/2022 09:44:57 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1463979

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children's Play
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to help ensure that opportunities for play will be encouraged, supported and facilitated through Early Years provision as part of covid-19 catch-up strategies; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Hayes and Harlington
tabling member printed	John McDonnell
uin	4460
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>To support education recovery, the department is investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years (EY) sector. This will be used to build a stronger, more expert workforce, enabling education providers to deliver high quality teaching and help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the youngest children, particularly those in the most disadvantaged areas. The support includes up to £153 million which will provide the opportunity for evidence-based professional development for EY practitioners.</p><p>New programmes will focus on key areas such as speech and language development, and physical and emotional development for the youngest children, for which play is an important part. The department is also investing up to £17 million for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention and up to £10 million for a second phase of the EY professional development programme in the 2021/22 academic year, targeted to support EY staff working with disadvantaged children.</p><p>The package will build on EY foundation stage reforms. These will support more effective EY curriculum and assessment, reducing unnecessary assessment paperwork so that practitioners and teachers can spend more time engaging children in enriching activities, including play, to support their learning.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/05/2022 13:46:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	178 label Biography information for John McDonnell

1463980

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what powers he has to compel children's services in England to improve when they have been judged by Ofsted to (a) be inadequate and (b) require improvement to be good.
tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
uin	4514
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>In line with the department’s intervention policy which is set out in its ‘Putting Children First’ guidance, whenever Ofsted finds children’s social care services to be inadequate, an adviser is provided to diagnose problems and support the local authority on its improvement journey. The guidance is available here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/554573/Putting_children_first_delivering_vision_excellent_childrens_social_care.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/554573/Putting_children_first_delivering_vision_excellent_childrens_social_care.pdf</a>. The department would expect most of those local authorities to improve with support and challenge from experts.</p><p>If there is insufficient improvement in a local authority’s performance, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, may issue an improvement notice. The improvement notice requires the local authority to take steps to improve its services for children, such as putting an improvement plan in place to address areas of weakness identified by Ofsted. Improvement notices may be issued as a way of forewarning a local authority of a future statutory direction if there is no improvement in its performance.</p><p>Should the local authority be unwilling or unable to comply with an improvement notice, or if ministers are not satisfied with the local authority’s progress at any stage, the Secretary of State may choose to invoke his statutory powers of intervention (under Section 497A of the Education Act 1996) by issuing a statutory direction. The Secretary of State can issue directions to ensure that functions are performed to an adequate standard, such as directing the local authority to set up an improvement board or appointing a children’s services commissioner to work with the local authority to help secure improvement.</p><p>A children’s services commissioner is usually appointed when local authority failure is systemic (an inadequate rating across all three of Ofsted’s key judgments in one report) or has become persistent (two or more inadequate judgments within five years), to determine whether the local authority has the capacity and capability to retain and improve children’s social care services in a reasonable timeframe. If not, the Section 497A power can also be used to direct that children’s social care services will be removed from local authority control for a period of time and transferred to a different organisation, usually a trust, in order to secure sustainable improvement.</p><p>The department’s improvement programme also seeks to identify and work collaboratively with local authorities where children’s services have been judged ‘Requires Improvement’, providing targeted support to help them improve the services they provide to vulnerable children. The department has increased the amount of funded sector-led improvement activity that can be delivered from 2021 by expanding our cohort of strong performing local authorities to work as sector-led improvement partners.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/05/2022 13:44:15 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

1463984

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the SEND review, published March 2022, what plans he has to establish new national standards to meet the needs of (a) children with complex disabilities and (b) every child.
tabling member constituency	Rother Valley
tabling member printed	Alexander Stafford
uin	4722
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper sets out the department’s proposals to improve the outcomes and experiences of children and young people with SEND and their families. The proposals aim to drive national consistency in how needs are assessed, identified and met across education, health and care through the introduction of national standards. These standards are intended to set out the full range of support and provision for meeting all needs, including those of children and young people with more complex needs.</p><p> </p><p>All of the proposals within the green paper are currently open to a full public consultation and the department will be listening carefully to all views expressed to ensure the policies secure department ambitions to improve outcomes and parental confidence in the system. The department is committed to ensuring everyone has the opportunity to take part in the consultation and encourages everyone to do so.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 27/05/2022 13:41:32 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4866 label Biography information for Alexander Stafford

1464029

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to increase free school meal budgets in line with inflation; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	4534
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2022 answer text <p>The provision of free school meals (FSM) to children from out-of-work families or those on low incomes is of the utmost importance to this government. Under the benefits-related criteria, the department provides a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well-nourished and can concentrate, learn, and achieve in the classroom.</p><p>Under this government, eligibility for FSM has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century, including the introduction of universal infant FSM, and further education FSM.</p><p>Schools fund benefit-related FSM from their core funding which they receive through the schools' block of the dedicated schools grant and is derived from the national funding formula (NFF). For the 2022/23 financial year, the funding schools attract through the 'FSM factor' in the NFF is increasing to £470 per eligible pupil.</p><p>In recognition of cost pressures, after the NFF rates were set, the department received additional funding from HM Treasury for core schools funding in the 2022/23 financial year, which was distributed through a schools supplementary grant. As a result of this additional funding, core schools funding for mainstream schools has increased by 5.8% per pupil in 2022/23.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/05/2022 17:11:12 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1464073

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	School Meals: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with schools in England on the impact of inflation on the (a) size and (b) quality of school meals.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	4649
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>Through the benefits-related criteria, the department provides a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well-nourished and can concentrate, learn and achieve in the classroom. Under this government, eligibility for free school meals (FSM) has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century, including the introduction of universal infant FSM, and further education FSM.</p><p>In addition, the temporary extension of FSM eligibility to some groups with no recourse to public funds that has been in place since 2020 was extended to all groups and made permanent, subject to income thresholds.</p><p>The department thinks it is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. We will continue to keep all FSM eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.</p><p>The department encourages all schools to promote healthy eating and provide healthy, tasty and nutritious food and drink. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools including academies and free schools.</p><p>It is for schools and caterers to decide what is an appropriate portion and to balance the food served across the school week. The guidance to accompany the School Food Standards includes guidance on portion sizes and food groups and is available on GOV.UK at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools</a>.</p><p>Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals as required by the School Food Standards. In recognition of cost pressures, after the National Funding Formula rates were set, we received additional funding from Her Majesty’s Treasury for core schools funding in the 2022/23 financial year, which we distributed through a schools supplementary grant. As a result of this additional funding, core schools funding for mainstream schools is increasing by 2.5 billion in 2022/23, compared to last year.</p><p>The department holds regular meetings with other government departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies. We also spend around £600 million per year ensuring around 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy, and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the universal infant free school meal policy in 2014. The per meal rate of £2.34 per child was increased in the 2020/21 financial year. The funding rate for the 2022/23 financial year will be published with the funding allocations in June.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 4650 4651 4652 4653 question first answered 27/05/2022 13:29:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1464075

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the cash for free school meals in primary schools, priced at £2.34 per meal.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	4650
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>Through the benefits-related criteria, the department provides a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well-nourished and can concentrate, learn and achieve in the classroom. Under this government, eligibility for free school meals (FSM) has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century, including the introduction of universal infant FSM, and further education FSM.</p><p>In addition, the temporary extension of FSM eligibility to some groups with no recourse to public funds that has been in place since 2020 was extended to all groups and made permanent, subject to income thresholds.</p><p>The department thinks it is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. We will continue to keep all FSM eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.</p><p>The department encourages all schools to promote healthy eating and provide healthy, tasty and nutritious food and drink. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools including academies and free schools.</p><p>It is for schools and caterers to decide what is an appropriate portion and to balance the food served across the school week. The guidance to accompany the School Food Standards includes guidance on portion sizes and food groups and is available on GOV.UK at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools</a>.</p><p>Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals as required by the School Food Standards. In recognition of cost pressures, after the National Funding Formula rates were set, we received additional funding from Her Majesty’s Treasury for core schools funding in the 2022/23 financial year, which we distributed through a schools supplementary grant. As a result of this additional funding, core schools funding for mainstream schools is increasing by 2.5 billion in 2022/23, compared to last year.</p><p>The department holds regular meetings with other government departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies. We also spend around £600 million per year ensuring around 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy, and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the universal infant free school meal policy in 2014. The per meal rate of £2.34 per child was increased in the 2020/21 financial year. The funding rate for the 2022/23 financial year will be published with the funding allocations in June.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 4649 4651 4652 4653 question first answered 27/05/2022 13:29:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1464076

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the impact of reducing free school meal portions on the development of school children.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	4651
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>Through the benefits-related criteria, the department provides a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well-nourished and can concentrate, learn and achieve in the classroom. Under this government, eligibility for free school meals (FSM) has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century, including the introduction of universal infant FSM, and further education FSM.</p><p>In addition, the temporary extension of FSM eligibility to some groups with no recourse to public funds that has been in place since 2020 was extended to all groups and made permanent, subject to income thresholds.</p><p>The department thinks it is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. We will continue to keep all FSM eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.</p><p>The department encourages all schools to promote healthy eating and provide healthy, tasty and nutritious food and drink. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools including academies and free schools.</p><p>It is for schools and caterers to decide what is an appropriate portion and to balance the food served across the school week. The guidance to accompany the School Food Standards includes guidance on portion sizes and food groups and is available on GOV.UK at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools</a>.</p><p>Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals as required by the School Food Standards. In recognition of cost pressures, after the National Funding Formula rates were set, we received additional funding from Her Majesty’s Treasury for core schools funding in the 2022/23 financial year, which we distributed through a schools supplementary grant. As a result of this additional funding, core schools funding for mainstream schools is increasing by 2.5 billion in 2022/23, compared to last year.</p><p>The department holds regular meetings with other government departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies. We also spend around £600 million per year ensuring around 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy, and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the universal infant free school meal policy in 2014. The per meal rate of £2.34 per child was increased in the 2020/21 financial year. The funding rate for the 2022/23 financial year will be published with the funding allocations in June.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 4649 4650 4652 4653 question first answered 27/05/2022 13:29:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1464077

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to amend the eligibility criteria for free school meals in the context of the increases in the cost of living.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	4652
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>Through the benefits-related criteria, the department provides a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well-nourished and can concentrate, learn and achieve in the classroom. Under this government, eligibility for free school meals (FSM) has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century, including the introduction of universal infant FSM, and further education FSM.</p><p>In addition, the temporary extension of FSM eligibility to some groups with no recourse to public funds that has been in place since 2020 was extended to all groups and made permanent, subject to income thresholds.</p><p>The department thinks it is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. We will continue to keep all FSM eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.</p><p>The department encourages all schools to promote healthy eating and provide healthy, tasty and nutritious food and drink. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools including academies and free schools.</p><p>It is for schools and caterers to decide what is an appropriate portion and to balance the food served across the school week. The guidance to accompany the School Food Standards includes guidance on portion sizes and food groups and is available on GOV.UK at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools</a>.</p><p>Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals as required by the School Food Standards. In recognition of cost pressures, after the National Funding Formula rates were set, we received additional funding from Her Majesty’s Treasury for core schools funding in the 2022/23 financial year, which we distributed through a schools supplementary grant. As a result of this additional funding, core schools funding for mainstream schools is increasing by 2.5 billion in 2022/23, compared to last year.</p><p>The department holds regular meetings with other government departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies. We also spend around £600 million per year ensuring around 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy, and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the universal infant free school meal policy in 2014. The per meal rate of £2.34 per child was increased in the 2020/21 financial year. The funding rate for the 2022/23 financial year will be published with the funding allocations in June.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 4649 4650 4651 4653 question first answered 27/05/2022 13:29:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1464080

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Primary Education: Free School Meals
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason funding for free school meals for all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 has not increased in line with inflation since that scheme was introduced in 2014.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	4653
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>Through the benefits-related criteria, the department provides a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well-nourished and can concentrate, learn and achieve in the classroom. Under this government, eligibility for free school meals (FSM) has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century, including the introduction of universal infant FSM, and further education FSM.</p><p>In addition, the temporary extension of FSM eligibility to some groups with no recourse to public funds that has been in place since 2020 was extended to all groups and made permanent, subject to income thresholds.</p><p>The department thinks it is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest income. We will continue to keep all FSM eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.</p><p>The department encourages all schools to promote healthy eating and provide healthy, tasty and nutritious food and drink. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for all maintained schools including academies and free schools.</p><p>It is for schools and caterers to decide what is an appropriate portion and to balance the food served across the school week. The guidance to accompany the School Food Standards includes guidance on portion sizes and food groups and is available on GOV.UK at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools</a>.</p><p>Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. The department is confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals as required by the School Food Standards. In recognition of cost pressures, after the National Funding Formula rates were set, we received additional funding from Her Majesty’s Treasury for core schools funding in the 2022/23 financial year, which we distributed through a schools supplementary grant. As a result of this additional funding, core schools funding for mainstream schools is increasing by 2.5 billion in 2022/23, compared to last year.</p><p>The department holds regular meetings with other government departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies. We also spend around £600 million per year ensuring around 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy, and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the universal infant free school meal policy in 2014. The per meal rate of £2.34 per child was increased in the 2020/21 financial year. The funding rate for the 2022/23 financial year will be published with the funding allocations in June.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 4649 4650 4651 4652 question first answered 27/05/2022 13:29:44 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West