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

1003844

	registered interest
	date	09/11/2018
	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, how many contested adoptions have taken place in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	189539
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/11/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally. The department does not collect data on specific adoption circumstances.</p><p>Information on those children placed for adoption where consent is dispensed by the court is published annually in Table D1 of the statistical release, ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2016 to 2017’ at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2016-to-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2016-to-2017</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Figures for the year ending 31 March 2018 will be published on 15 November 2018. These are circumstances where the court can dispense without the consent of a parent, to the placement and adoption of their child if the welfare of the child requires it. This may be a decision in some situations that is not in accordance with the parents’ wishes.</p><p> </p><p>The welfare of a child is paramount and local authorities have a statutory duty to intervene to undertake child protection enquiries and to take action to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare. However, decisions on adoption are ultimately taken by an independent judge based on the evidence presented.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 19/11/2018 17:24:12 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1008448

	registered interest
	date	16/11/2018
	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 recent assessment he has made of the effect of the practice of contested adoption on the well-being of the child.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	192088
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/11/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally. Individual decisions on adoption are ultimately taken by an independent judge based on the evidence presented.</p><p>Adverse childhood experiences such as neglect or abuse often cause lifelong problems. In most cases, local authorities will provide support so that children can remain with their birth families. However, for those children who cannot live with their birth parents, it is vital we find them permanent new homes as quickly as possible, whether that be by adoption, special guardianship or long-term fostering. Adoption can be transformative for many children and can provide them with the stability and care they need to recover from the trauma they may have experienced in early life.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 26/11/2018 12:12:21 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1109467

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2019
	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 steps he has taken to increase the number of available childcare places for parents working full-time.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	240484
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>The department has taken several steps to increase the number of available childcare places for parents working full-time. These include the following:</p><p> </p><ul><li>In June 2016, the department invited local authorities to apply to the Early Years Capital Fund, through which we have allocated £100 million of capital funding to help nurseries, pre-schools and playgroups to create additional places for eligible children from working families.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Further, in July 2018, we announced the School Nurseries Capital Fund. This is a £30 million capital fund which aims to create new high-quality, school-based nursery places for 2, 3 and 4 year olds.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>The department has funded Childcare Works to provide expert support to local authorities and childcare providers about maintaining and improving sufficient childcare places in their local area. This has included national events focussing on sufficiency planning and bespoke support for local authorities to strengthen their sufficiency assessments. We have also promoted flexible childcare business models and allocated £7.7 million to 147 local authorities through our Delivery Support Fund, specifically to create additional 30 hours places.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 10/04/2019 16:11:38 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1109468

	registered interest
	date	03/04/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Obesity
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help improve the ability of schools to tackle childhood obesity.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	240485
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>Schools have an important role to play in helping equip children with the knowledge they need to make healthy choices for themselves and creating a healthy environment for children to learn and develop a lifelong habit of physical activity.</p><p> </p><p>Many Department for Education policies, some of which are already being delivered, are expected to make a direct contribution to reducing the incidence of childhood obesity, such as the introduction of universal infant free school meals, the school food standards, the addition of food education in the national curriculum, and the primary physical education (PE) and sport premium. We are not complacent however, and recognise that there is more to do.</p><p> </p><p>The doubled primary PE and sport premium provides £320 million per year to improve the quality and access to PE and sport for primary age pupils to develop healthy habits early. We have also invested significant funding in measures to increase cycling and walking to school.</p><p> </p><p>Sport England supports our efforts to engage inactive children to take up sport and physical activity by investing in programmes like the School Games and Satellite Clubs. Sport England is also providing specialist training free of charge to teachers in every secondary school in England by 2020, which will help teachers better meet the needs of all children, irrespective of their level of sporting ability, and involve them in shaping the sporting opportunities that are on offer.</p><p> </p><p>The School Food Standards provide the legislative framework to ensure schools provide children with healthy food and drink options and we are working with Public Health England to update the School Food Standards, focusing on reducing sugar consumption.</p><p> </p><p>As part of the second chapter of the Childhood Obesity Plan we are investing up to £26 million in breakfast clubs. Breakfast clubs can contribute to improved attainment, attendance and overall health and ensure that more children benefit from a healthy start to their school day.</p><p> </p><p>We have also established a £100 million healthy pupils capital fund to facilitate an improvement in children’s physical and mental health by increasing and improving access to and use of relevant facilities, such as kitchens, dining facilities, changing rooms and sports facilities.</p><p> </p><p>From September 2015, Ofsted inspectors look at how provision supports pupils’ knowledge on how to keep themselves healthy, including through exercising and healthy eating and we welcome the new inspection framework which Ofsted is currently developing for September 2019. This will consider how schools build knowledge across the whole curriculum and support pupils’ personal development more broadly, including in relation to healthy behaviours.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 10/04/2019 16:29:06 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1123945

	registered interest
	date	30/04/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Swimming: Primary Education
	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 introduce a statutory requirement to provide primary school (a) teaching and (b) support staff with (i) training and (ii) regular up-skilling in swimming and water safety; and if he will ensure that all pupils of primary age have adequate opportunities to access publicly-funded swimming facilities.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	249198
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2019 answer text <p>Swimming is a vital life skill, which is why swimming and water safety are compulsory elements of the national curriculum physical education (PE) at key stages 1 and 2. It sets out the expectation that pupils should be taught to:</p><ul><li>swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres;</li><li>use a range of strokes effectively; and</li><li>perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.</li></ul><p> </p><p>The government asked the Swim Group, which includes representatives from across the swimming and education sector, to submit an independent report setting out recommendations for improving curriculum swimming, as part of the Sporting Future strategy. The department has worked closely with Swim England and other members of the Swim group to review the recommendations in their report. In October 2018, we announced that schools would receive extra support to help all pupils to swim and know how to be safe in the water by the time they leave primary school. This included guidance to schools on:</p><p> </p><ul><li>effective use of the PE and sport premium to support additional teacher training and top-up swimming for those children not yet able to meet the national curriculum requirements after core lessons;</li><li>a drive to boost partnerships between independent schools to offer the use of facilities, coaching and other forms of support to schools in their area;</li><li>new guidance from Swim England and the Swim Group for swimming providers, primary schools, swimming teachers and parents and carers.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Information on school swimming pools is not held centrally. Since 2012, Sport England has invested £67 million into 46 new local authority facilities which include pools, resulting in around £700 million investment from those authorities. In addition, Sport England is currently working with around 100 local authorities which have plans for new pool provision.</p><p> </p><p>Sport England also provide guidance to local authorities on facility management options and specifications, this guidance is currently under review and will be available in the forthcoming months.</p><p> </p><p>The new guidance will contain information on pool programming from Swim England and will reference good practice where facility management organisations have worked in cooperation with primary schools to improve logistics in relation to delivery of school swimming.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 09/05/2019 14:09:41 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1123946

	registered interest
	date	30/04/2019
	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, if he will make it his policy to implement the child's right to play in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child through the establishment of a national play strategy.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	249199
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2019 answer text <p>The UK government remains fully committed to children’s rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and I reaffirmed our commitment in my Written Ministerial Statement on 20 November 2018.</p><p>The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework sets the regulatory standards for ‘learning and development’ and ‘safeguarding and welfare’ requirements for all early years providers caring for children from birth to 5. The framework defines 7 areas of learning and development and is clear that each area must be implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity.</p><p>The EYFS Statutory Framework is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 09/05/2019 14:19:10 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1123950

	registered interest
	date	30/04/2019
	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, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) quality, (b) number and (c) adequacy of the content of local authority play strategies throughout England.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	249200
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2019 answer text <p>The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework sets the regulatory standards for ‘learning and development’ and ‘safeguarding and welfare’ requirements for all early years providers caring for children from birth to 5. The framework defines 7 areas of learning and development and is clear that each area must be implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity.</p><p>The department is not currently reviewing local authority play strategies in England. The EYFS does not promote a particular pedagogical approach - instead, it is for individual early years settings to determine how the areas of learning should be implemented to support children to meet the expected level of development by the end of the reception year.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 08/05/2019 07:45:46 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1126802

	registered interest
	date	15/05/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children's Centres
	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 (a) reverse the closure of children's centres and (b) publish a strategy for the long-term expansion of the provision of children's centres.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	254727
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/05/2019 answer text <p>As set out in the government response to recommendation 13 of the Education Select Committee report on tackling disadvantage in the early years, published on 4 April 2019, we are clear that children’s centres have an important role to play in achieving my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s social mobility ambition, but it is right for local authorities to decide how to use them as part of the wider system of local services. The government response can be accessed here: <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Education/Correspondence/Government-response-to-committee-9th-report-tackling-disadvantage-in-the-early-years-CP-68.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Education/Correspondence/Government-response-to-committee-9th-report-tackling-disadvantage-in-the-early-years-CP-68.pdf</a>, the select committee report can be accessed here: <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmeduc/1006/1006.pdf" target="_blank">https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmeduc/1006/1006.pdf</a>.</p><p>The government’s role is to engage with the sector, find out what works and support local areas to make the right decisions for their communities, which is why we have commissioned the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) to examine research and practice evidence with the aim of developing tools to help local authorities make informed choices about their children’s centre provision. The EIF project is part of the Department for Education’s £8.5 million local government programme, which will inform the next steps, including considering any future consultation, on children’s centres. Funding for the local government programme runs until March 2020, with evidence and learning emerging by its conclusion.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 22/05/2019 13:11:22 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1131850

	registered interest
	date	12/06/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Primary Education: Admissions
	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 implications for his policies of the recent London School of Economics report which has found that children with special educational needs and disabilities who attend nurseries based in primary schools are significantly less likely than their peers to be admitted into the school’s reception class.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	263684
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2019 answer text <p>The government’s ambition for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is the same for every other child: to make the most of early education, thrive in school and to live happy fulfilled lives.</p><p> </p><p>The London School of Economics report focusses on data related to the behaviour of schools and a cohort of children born into the 2006/07 academic year. This report does not consider parental choice in that some children may have gone onto a special school rather than the primary school they attended as their preschool choice.</p><p> </p><p>Where a child’s education health care (EHC) plan names a school, the child must be admitted to that school. Where a child does not have an EHC plan, places will be allocated in accordance with the school's published admission arrangements.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, all mainstream state-funded schools must comply with the school admissions code and wider admissions law, as well as with equalities law. The code is clear that admission authorities must ensure their arrangements will not disadvantage unfairly, directly or indirectly a child with SEND.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 21/06/2019 11:14:09 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1139910

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Higher Education: Care Leavers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the number of care leavers (a) accessing and (b) completing a higher education award.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
	tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
	uin	278347
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>The government is committed to improving the outcomes of care leavers. To support this, in March 2019, the department published a set of principles to guide the higher education sector on improving care leavers’ access and participation. A copy of the principles is available at the following link: <a href="https://mycovenant.org.uk/featured-signatories/educational/" target="_blank">https://mycovenant.org.uk/featured-signatories/educational/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>As part of its drive to galvanise the support that wider civil society can provide to support care leavers, the government has launched the Care Leaver Covenant. This asks organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors, including higher education providers, to commit to help care leavers to successfully transition from care to independence, by setting out clearly what support they can offer.</p><p> </p><p>17 higher education providers have already signed the covenant and published their offers on the covenant website: <a href="https://mycovenant.org.uk/offers/educational/" target="_blank">https://mycovenant.org.uk/offers/educational/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>We want all higher education providers to work with Spectra First (the delivery partner appointed by the department to promote the covenant), which provides support in developing offers, with a view to them signing the covenant. To support this, we are organising a workshop with Universities UK and Spectra First in September, for higher education providers who are yet to sign. The event will make clear why they should support care leavers and provide examples of best practice on how they can do this.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 24/07/2019 11:27:48 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe