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1383353

	registered interest
	date	30/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will provide additional support to local authorities to meet increased demands for statutory assessments for Education and Health Care Plans for children, beyond specific support from the Department for Education and Ofsted to manage historical backlogs.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	84391
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/12/2021 answer text <p>The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities is responsible for local government funding, including funding necessary to support local authorities to meet their statutory duties with regards to all children's services, including special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services.</p><p>This year, local authorities have access to £51.3 billion to deliver their core services, including SEND services. Local authorities have the flexibility to spend according to local needs and priorities, including to undertake education, health and care needs assessments.</p><p>The autumn 2021 Spending Review delivered an additional £4.7 billion for the core schools' budget by financial year 2024-25. That includes an additional £1.6 billion for schools and high needs in financial year 2022-23, on top of the funding we announced last summer. The department will confirm in due course how this additional funding for 2022-23, and for the two subsequent years, will be allocated for schools and high needs. Increasing funding for schools should help to reduce the demand for statutory assessment, thereby reducing the burden on local authorities.</p><p>We have introduced the ‘safety valve’ intervention programme for those local authorities with the very highest percentage dedicated schools grant deficits. The programme requires the local authorities involved to develop substantial plans for reform to their high needs systems, with support and challenge from the department, to rapidly place them on a sustainable footing, including appropriately managing demand for education. The department will help these local authorities with additional funding over time to contribute to their historic deficits, contingent on delivery of reforms and targets set out in published agreements.</p><p>The department will continue to work with other government departments, including the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to ensure the Spending Review reflects the needs of children’s services.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 06/12/2021 17:04:23 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1198285

	registered interest
	date	22/05/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Command Paper 239 entitled Our Plan to Rebuild: The UK Government's Covid-19 recovery Strategy, if he will consider allowing community spaces such as church halls and community centres to offer space for groups for pre-school age children due to move to primary school in September.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	52136
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2020 answer text <p>From 1 June, places of worship and community centres are allowed to open for providers on the early years register which usually use those premises. Information about this can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures</a>.</p><p>Providers should ensure they are acting in line with the protective measures and safe working guidance as well as the planning guide for early years and childcare settings. They should also ensure they are managing risks related to other users of the premises.</p><p>Guidance on protective measures and safe working guidance can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings</a>.</p><p>The planning guide for early years settings can be viewed here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-early-years-and-childcare-settings-from-1-june" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-early-years-and-childcare-settings-from-1-june</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 52152 question first answered 09/06/2020 14:00:44 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1282857

	registered interest
	date	02/02/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Extended Services: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make financial support available to playscheme and breakfast club providers during the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	147907
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2021 answer text <p>We appreciate that the wraparound childcare sector, like many sectors, is facing unprecedented financial pressures as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is for this reason that the government has made a range of financial packages of support available for businesses to access throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes tax relief, business loans or cash grants through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, as well as a £594 million discretionary fund for councils and the devolved administrations to support local businesses that may not be eligible for other support, during the current national lockdown. More information on this can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support</a>.</p><p>Additionally, we have encouraged all local authorities to consider which local grants could be used to bolster this part of the childcare sector in their areas, to safeguard sufficient childcare provision for children of critical workers and vulnerable children. This includes funding streams such as the holiday activities and food programme. The expanded programme, which comprises a £220 million fund to be delivered through grants to local authorities, will be expanded to reach all local authority areas over the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays in 2021.</p><p>The National School Breakfast Programme continues to be funded, and our suppliers Family Action along with Magic Breakfast are working closely with participating schools to make sure that children can still receive healthy breakfasts during this period, including for children staying at home.</p><p>Family Action have reported that more than 1,000 schools in disadvantaged areas are registered to receive breakfast deliveries from this programme during the COVID-19 outbreak.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 10/02/2021 10:38:24 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1328086

	registered interest
	date	26/05/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Poverty
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what research his Department has carried out or commissioned on the effect of hunger and poverty on children's ability to learn effectively.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	7851
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2021 answer text <p>The government supports the provision of nutritious food in schools, which ensures that pupils are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and can concentrate and learn. Under the benefits-related criteria, there are currently 1.6 million pupils eligible for and claiming a free school meal, and a further 1.4 million infant-aged children who benefit from our Universal Infant Free School Meals policy.</p><p>The government also funds breakfast clubs in over 2,450 schools to support more than a quarter of a million children in the most disadvantaged areas of the country. Up to £24 million will be available to extend our support for school breakfast clubs until 2023, to make sure that thousands of children in disadvantaged areas have a healthy start to the day. We know that breakfast clubs can bring a wide range of benefits for children. An evaluation by the Education Endowment Foundation found that supporting schools to run a free-of-charge, universal breakfast club before school delivered an average of 2 months’ additional progress for pupils in key stage 1 with moderate to low security. Breakfast club schools also saw an improvement in pupil behaviour and attendance.</p><p>Backed by an investment of up to £220 million, the Holiday Activities and Food programme ran nationwide throughout the Easter holiday period and will run during the summer and Christmas holidays in 2021, supporting disadvantaged pupils with enriching activities, providing them with healthy food, helping them to learn new things and improving socialisation. This programme builds on pilots of the scheme since 2018, including last summer’s programme, which supported around 50,000 children across 17 local authorities. We have developed this programme, as we know that disadvantaged children are more likely to experience unhealthy holidays (in terms of nutrition and physical exercise), are less likely to take part in enriching activities and can experience isolation during the holidays.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 07/06/2021 12:06:29 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

749372

	registered interest
	date	06/07/2017
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Maintained Schools: Special Educational Needs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure all maintained schools receive adequate funding for catering for children with special needs.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	3389
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2017 answer text <p>Mainstream schools are funded through the formula set by their local authority. The funding formula is decided by each local authority and often uses factors such as the prior level of attainment of the pupils in the school to give an estimate of the additional support for those with special educational needs (SEN) that the school will need to make available.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities are required to delegate funds to a level that enables schools to meet the additional cost of pupils with SEN up to £6,000 per annum, and when a school can demonstrate that the costs exceed this, the local authority should allocate top-up funding from its high needs budget.</p><p> </p><p>The local authority can also use its high needs budget to give extra funding to schools with a disproportionate number of pupils with SEN.</p><p> </p><p>We have provided local authorities with £130 million of additional funding for high needs this year.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 17/07/2017 14:17:38 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

804519

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2017
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Day Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of providers of 30 hours of funded childcare in Bristol West constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	118721
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2017 answer text <p>I am sorry, but the department does not hold the data requested.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 19/12/2017 15:42:27 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

804520

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2017
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Day Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children who are currently eligible for 30 hours free childcare in Bristol West constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	118722
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2017 answer text <p>As of 6 September, 2010 codes were generated for eligible children in Bristol with 1,299 (64%) of these being validated by childcare providers. This figure continues to increase as per our latest management information release in October, which showed 90% of codes being validated across all local councils (compared to 70% in September).</p><p> </p><p>On 19 December we will publish an experimental statistics release ’30 hours free childcare: Autumn term 2017’ which will include a local council breakdown of codes issued and validated.</p><p><strong><br> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 19/12/2017 15:25:50 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

810051

	registered interest
	date	20/12/2017
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Day Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate her Department has made of the contribution of the childcare industry to the UK economy.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	120517
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/01/2018 answer text <p>By 2019-20, the department will be spending around £6 billion on childcare support – a record amount. We have not recently undertaken an economic assessment of the contribution of the industry to the UK economy.</p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 08/01/2018 17:44:27 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1026696

	registered interest
	date	17/12/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What assessment he has made of the sustainability of the current level of funding for schools.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	908231
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/12/2018 answer text <p>With the additional £1.3 billion the Government has invested across this year and next, the core schools and high needs budget will increase from almost £41 billion in 2017-18 to £43.5 billion by 2019-20. The Government is committed to securing the right deal for education in the upcoming Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 17/12/2018 16:53:48 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1185486

	registered interest
	date	16/03/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Supply Teachers: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to provide Statutory Sick Pay to (a) teachers and (b) other staff supplied to schools by agencies in the event that schools close as a result of covid-19.
	tabling member constituency	Bristol West
	tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
	uin	30144
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government is asking all schools to close from Friday 20 March until further notice, except for children of critical workers and vulnerable children, as part of the country’s ongoing response to coronavirus.</p><p>Schools will continue to be fully funded. That will ensure that they are able to continue to pay all their staff, and meet their other regular financial commitments, throughout these difficult times.</p><p>The Government has announced changes to statutory sick pay to support those affected by coronavirus. Details can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-for-those-affected-by-covid-19/support-for-those-affected-by-covid-19" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-for-those-affected-by-covid-19/support-for-those-affected-by-covid-19</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 24/03/2020 16:08:36 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire