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1273806

	registered interest
	date	06/01/2021
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Infant Foods
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on whether the provision of first infant formula milk to formula fed babies at (a) baby and (b) food banks across the UK complies with relevant regulatory requirements.
	tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Riverside
	tabling member printed	Kim Johnson
	uin	134241
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/01/2021 answer text <p>Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation. Decisions about which donations to accept and make available to food bank users are therefore a matter for food bank providers.</p><p><br>Healthy Start vouchers support pregnant women or households with children under four, who are on a low income, with the cost of milk (including infant formula), fruit and vegetables helping to boost children’s long-term health. We are increasing the weekly value of these vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25 in April.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 134221 question first answered 11/01/2021 17:37:12 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4824 label Biography information for Kim Johnson

1379548

	registered interest
	date	17/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Food Poverty
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, (a) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Government's steps to end child food poverty and (b) if he will make it his policy to expand free school meals eligibility to include more children.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	76585
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/11/2021 answer text <p>This government is committed to supporting those on low incomes and continues to do so through many measures, such as spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22.</p><p>As our recovery gathers pace and with record vacancies, our focus is now on continuing to support parents progressing into work. This is because we know that work, particularly where it is full-time, substantially reduces the risks of child poverty and improves long-term outcomes for families and children. Our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has recently been expanded by £500 million, will help people across the UK to find work and to boost their wages and prospects.</p><p>We recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41 million for the Scottish Government, £25 million for the Welsh Government and £14 million for the Northern Ireland Executive), for a total of £500 million.</p><p>To support low income families further, we have increased the value of Healthy Start food vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25, helping eligible low income households buy basic foods like milk, fruit and vitamins. We are also investing over £200 million a year from 2022 to continue our Holiday Activities and Food programme which is already providing enriching activities and healthy meals to children in all English local authorities.</p><p>We support over 1.7 million pupils from the lowest income families to concentrate, learn, and achieve in the classroom through the provision of free school meals. An additional 1.3 million infants receive a free meal under the universal infant free school meals policy</p><p>Under this government, eligibility for free school meals (FSM) has been extended several times.</p><p>In 2018, the government introduced new eligibility criteria for families on Universal Credit, following a consultation in 2017. It was estimated that this will be more generous in its reach by 2022, in comparison to the legacy benefit system. We included generous protections, which mean any family eligible for FSM transitioning to Universal Credit from a legacy benefit will continue to have access to FSM even if they move above the earnings threshold.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 25/11/2021 16:28:01 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1362260

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2021
	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, excluding pupils absent for covid-related reasons, how many pupils (a) with an Education, Health and Care Plan, (b) who had a social worker and (c) eligible for free school meals attended a state-funded school on (i) 15 October 2020 and (ii) 14 October 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Hove
	tabling member printed	Peter Kyle
	uin	60475
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2021 answer text <p>The daily education setting (EdSet) survey asks schools and colleges to report data such as attendance at an institution level.</p><p>The department holds overall attendance data on the number of pupils attending state-funded schools on site, including for pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan, with a social worker, and since 30 March 2021, for pupils who are eligible for free school meals. Table 1b contains available data for 15 October 2020 at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/2020-week-42" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/2020-week-42</a>. Available data for 14 October 2021 is available here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/2021-week-42" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/2021-week-42</a>.</p><p>Data is also collected daily on the number of pupils absent due to COVID-19 related reasons across all pupils overall. However, balancing data needs against reporting burdens, data is not collected on COVID-19 related absence for each of these pupil groups. Therefore, the department does not hold the figures requested. EdSet monitors COVID-19 related absence specifically by design and a full breakdown on absence for all reasons is not included in the survey.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 26/10/2021 16:04:46 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4505 label Biography information for Peter Kyle

1422902

	registered interest
	date	18/02/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Adoption: Communication
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, following the publication of the Adoption strategy, what steps his Department has taken to improve the Letterbox contact system.
	tabling member constituency	Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport
	tabling member printed	Luke Pollard
	uin	125476
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2022 answer text <p>Local authorities have a legal duty to provide a comprehensive adoption service. This specifically includes, ‘Assistance, including mediation services, in relation to arrangements for contact between an adoptive child and a natural parent, natural sibling, former guardian or a related person of the adoptive child’.</p><p>As set out in our published ‘Adoption Strategy: achieving excellence everywhere’ we are working with local authorities and Regional Adoption Agencies to improve support around contact with birth relatives, including letterbox contact. This will include working closely with birth parents and those with lived experiences. The strategy can be accessed here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-strategy-achieving-excellence-everywhere" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-strategy-achieving-excellence-everywhere</a>.</p><p>More details on actions to improve contact will be confirmed in due course.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 28/02/2022 13:39:08 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4682 label Biography information for Luke Pollard

1378103

	registered interest
	date	12/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Leeds
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason Leeds local authority received £20.8 million less for High Needs between 2018-19 and 2021-22 than indicated by the National Funding Formula.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds Central
	tabling member printed	Hilary Benn
	uin	73735
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2021 answer text <p>High needs funding is the money the department distributes, mainly to local authorities, for children and young people with the most complex needs. The department announced in summer 2021 that high needs funding will increase nationally by £780 million, or 9.6%, in 2022-23 compared to the 2021-22 financial year; this follows the increase of more than £1.5 billion over the previous two years. This will bring the total high needs funding we allocate to £8.9 billion, an increase of over a third since 2019-20.</p><p>On top of this, the 2021 Spending Review settlement includes an additional £1.6 billion for schools and high needs in the 2022-23 financial year, on top of the funding we previously announced. The department will confirm in due course how we will allocate this additional funding for 2022-23, and what local authorities’ high needs allocations for 2023-24 and 2024-25 will be.</p><p>The increase next year that we announced in the summer means that every local authority will attract an increase of at least 8% per head of 2-18 population, with some local authorities seeing increases of up to 11%. Leeds Council will be receiving a maximum increase of 11% per head on the amount of high needs funding allocated in the 2021-22 financial year. This amounts to a provisional high needs funding allocation of over £108 million in 2022-23, and that does not yet include an allocation of the additional funding the department has available from the 2021 Spending Review.</p><p>In setting the limit on gains, the department considers the distribution of funding across all local authorities, including how many are on the minimum percentage increase. This distribution balances improving fairness according to the high needs national funding formula (NFF), with ensuring that every local authority attracts a significant increase to help with the cost pressures they are facing. The table below shows the significant year-on-year increases that Leeds Council has been receiving since 2018-19 and the reducing impact of the limit on their NFF gains, as well as how the £20.8 million adds the differences each year between the provisional NFF allocations with and without the formula gains capped.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>See note 1 below [1]</p></td><td><p><strong>2018-19</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019-20</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020-21</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2021-22</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2022-23</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>A.</strong> Limit (cap) on per head gains (year-on-year)</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>6%</p></td><td><p>17%</p></td><td><p>12%</p></td><td><p>11%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>B.</strong> NFF provisional allocation before gains cap</p></td><td><p>£73.4m</p></td><td><p>£75.0m</p></td><td><p>£90.0m</p></td><td><p>£101.3m</p></td><td><p>£110.4m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>C.</strong> NFF provisional allocation after gains cap</p></td><td><p>£66.3m</p></td><td><p>£69.8m</p></td><td><p>£85.3m</p></td><td><p>£97.4m</p></td><td><p>£108.5m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>D. </strong>Difference between allocations with and without gains capped [2] (B-C)</p></td><td><p>£7.1m</p></td><td><p>£5.1m</p></td><td><p>£4.7m</p></td><td><p>£3.9m</p></td><td><p>£1.9m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total difference between allocations with and without gains capped 2018-19 to 2020-21</strong></p></td><td colspan="4"><p><strong>= £20.8m</strong></p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes to table:</p><ol><li>The high needs NFF provisional allocations shown in the table are to provide the explanation of the £20.8 million requested in Question 73735. They do not include additional funding that was made available to all local authorities in 2018-19 and 2019-20, and do not include any of the deductions for academies and colleges’ place funding, or other adjustments that are made in the final allocations of high needs funding to authorities.</li><li>All the numbers have been rounded so the differences may not add up precisely.</li></ol><p> </p><p>Finally, the department are unable to publish the high needs block funding per pupil for every local authority in England in each of the last five years. This is because the department does not collect information on the number of pupils who attract to their school the different types of high needs funding, or the level of funding that an individual pupil attracts. In addition, there is a wide range of practice in the proportion of children awarded an Education, Health and Care Plan, for example, across different local authorities, which make such comparisons difficult. It is possible to make a range of other local authority comparisons using the data in the department’s published high needs benchmarking tool. That tool is here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-benchmarking-tool" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-benchmarking-tool</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 73736 73737 question first answered 22/11/2021 12:09:16 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	413 label Biography information for Hilary Benn

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

1461482

	registered interest
	date	10/05/2022
	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 universal infant free school meals (USIM) of £2.34 per meal is no longer in line with funding for free school meals (FSM) of £2.47 per meal; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the UIFSM funding rate to match that of FSM.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham South
	tabling member printed	Lilian Greenwood
	uin	220
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2022 answer text <p>The department spends 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><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. Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. We are confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals as required by the school food standards.</p><p>The department routinely considers contingency arrangements and expect schools and catering companies supplying them to do the same.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 221 222 223 224 question first answered 16/05/2022 12:03:07 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4029 label Biography information for Lilian Greenwood

1451800

	registered interest
	date	16/03/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childminding: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason guidance states that childminders cannot operate if they have a positive or suspected covid-19 case in their household, despite the removal of legal self-isolation requirements on 24 February 2022.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	141128
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2022 answer text <p>Since 17 March 2022, if someone in a childminder’s household has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms, childminders can continue to operate at home.</p><p>Childminders are advised to follow the steps below to reduce the risk of onward transmission:</p><ul><li>The person who has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms should avoid contact with the children being cared for in the home.</li><li>Where possible, use separate toilets and handwashing facilities. If this is not possible, maintain extra cleaning and hygiene routines, particularly after the person has used the facilities.</li><li>Notify parents, carers, and any assistants that someone has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms, as soon as reasonably possible and maintain open communication with them throughout.</li><li>Consider the need to reduce the spread of COVID-19 with mitigations, such as ventilation and extra cleaning and hygiene routines. They should be applied where practical and safe to do so. Additional information on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 is available in the guidance published by the Cabinet Office, available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-coronavirus-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do?priority-taxon=774cee22-d896-44c1-a611-e3109cce8eae?utm_source=17%20March%202022%20C19&amp;utm_medium=Daily%20Email%20C19&amp;utm_campaign=DfE%20C19" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-coronavirus-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do?priority-taxon=774cee22-d896-44c1-a611-e3109cce8eae?utm_source=17%20March%202022%20C19&amp;utm_medium=Daily%20Email%20C19&amp;utm_campaign=DfE%20C19</a>.</li><li>Comply with health and safety law by reviewing risk assessments in place. The risk assessment must demonstrate that the provision of childcare in the home is safe, and how any additional but proportionate measures will be put into place.</li></ul><p>Childminders can also consider using alternative places to operate, such as other childminders’ houses, where possible.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 24/03/2022 12:23:35 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1490981

	registered interest
	date	20/07/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	All Saints Roman Catholic School York: Buildings
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason he determined that All Saints School in York was not eligible for the latest funding for a new build; and if he will make an assessment of the steps that need to be taken for that school to be successful in the next round of funding.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	40841
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2022 answer text <p>The department will select up to 300 schools this year for the School Rebuilding Programme, from the 1,105 nominations received from local authorities, academy trusts and dioceses by 31 March. We announced 61 schools in July to maintain the pace of delivery and begin to address some of the poorest condition schools. These were prioritised on the basis of their condition.</p><p>The department is still assessing all other nominations, including any supplementary evidence provided. No nominated school has been ruled out at this point and that includes All Saints Roman Catholic School in York, which is still being assessed. The department plans to make another announcement later this year to confirm further schools selected.</p><p>Once we have selected schools for up to 300 places this year, we will have allocated 400 out of the 500 places available in the School Rebuilding Programme. We are reserving 100 places on the programme for a future round to be announced at a later date.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 40842 40843 question first answered 05/09/2022 07:52:38 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1453642

	registered interest
	date	23/03/2022
	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, for what reason his Department does not use data held by the Department for Work and Pensions to automatically register all pupils eligible for means-tested free school meals; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
	tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
	uin	145865
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/03/2022 answer text <p>Under benefits-related criteria, the department provide 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 free school meals has been extended several times, including through the introduction of universal infant free school meals, and further education free school meals.</p><p>The department are permanently extending free school meal eligibility to children from all groups with no recourse to public funds. This will come into effect for the start of the summer term.</p><p>Whilst take-up of free school meals is strong, we want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility.</p><p>To support this, the department provides an eligibility checking system to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. The department have also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals and provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals. We continue to explore ways that the verification process can be improved.</p><p>As announced in the Spring Statement, the government is continuing to provide targeted cost of living support for households most in need. From April 2022, the government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of household essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 145864 145866 question first answered 30/03/2022 15:40:29 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell