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1140175

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Further Education
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 potential merits in extending consumer protection law to cover further education courses.
tabling member constituency	Canterbury
tabling member printed	Rosie Duffield
uin	279134
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>An assessment of the potential merits of extending consumer protection law to cover further education (FE) courses has not been made. However, the government promotes high quality FE within a regulatory framework, that aims to protect the rights of learners accessing FE courses.</p><p> </p><p>FE college corporations operate as independent charities and are subject to robust accountability arrangements for the public funding they receive. Ofsted inspects and publicly reports on the quality of education within FE providers. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) allocates significant annual funding to providers of education and skills training for young people and adults. ESFA holds providers to account for their performance to ensure they consistently raise standards.</p><p> </p><p>The FE Choices learner satisfaction survey 2017-18 captures learners’ experiences of their college or training organisation. The most recent survey was published by the department on 19 July and reports that 82% of learners were ‘likely’ or ‘extremely likely’ to recommend their learning provider to friends or family.</p><p>FE providers must also ensure that complaint handling processes and practices are accessible, clear and fair to learners.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 23/07/2019 07:13:04 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	4616 label Biography information for Rosie Duffield

1140179

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Sexual Offences
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of sexual offences committed on university campuses in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	278962
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The department does not collect information on the number of sexual offences committed on university campuses. The responsibility for this, and for meeting legal obligations, lies with individual higher education (HE) providers.</p><p> </p><p>The government expects HE providers to keep records of incidents disclosed to them and act swiftly to investigate and address them. It is important to recognise that under-reporting is common and HE providers should continue to break down barriers to reporting by ensuring that students and staff feel safe and are able to disclose sexual misconduct.</p><p> </p><p>The government takes all forms of sexual harassment extremely seriously. Therefore, the government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students (OfS) to support work to address sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination in HE institutions. This includes implementation of the UUK’s sexual violence and harassment taskforce’s recommendations on handling of reports and disclosures, as well as enabling accurate data to be captured to determine the scale of the problem and track year on-year trends.</p><p> </p><p>The government expects HE providers to take these recommendations seriously. Furthermore, the government has tasked the OfS to support this work. The OfS have invested £2.45 million in projects tackling sexual harassment, including supporting the development and improvement of reporting procedures.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 23/07/2019 16:43:01 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1140212

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the proportion of looked-after children that have (a) run away and (b) gone missing from homes and hostels not subject to the children’s homes regulations since 2014.
tabling member constituency	Bedford
tabling member printed	Mohammad Yasin
uin	279124
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Information on the proportion of looked after children who ‘run away’ from homes and hostels, not subject to children’s home regulations, is not collected and categorised under this definition. The information that is collected is the number of looked after children who go missing from residential homes or hostels not bound by children homes regulations. The definition of ‘missing’ is defined as a looked after child who is not at their placement or a place they are expected to be, such as a school, and their whereabouts is not known.</p><p>The table presents the proportion of the number of children who had been looked after at some point during this year in this same type of placement. As these statistics are experimental statistics and based on data collected for the first time in 2015, the figures are not comparable between years. Some authorities have informed the department that they do not record any incidents as 'away without authorisation' but instead report all incidents as 'missing' information. We estimate that around 1 in 3 local authorities record this data this way. We will continue to assess whether the figures are considered robust enough to be classed as national statistics, rather than experimental.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Number and percentage of children who went missing from residential homes<strong>[1]</strong> not subject to Children's homes regulations<strong>[2]</strong> <strong>[3]</strong> <strong>[4]</strong> </strong><strong>(Years ending 31 March 2015 to 2018)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>All children looked after during the year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Children who had a missing incident during the year<strong>[5]</strong></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Percentage</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>4,690</p></td><td><p>1,460</p></td><td><p>31</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>4,310</p></td><td><p>1,170</p></td><td><p>27</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>3,970</p></td><td><p>840</p></td><td><p>21</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>3,000</p></td><td><p>440</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The information provided does not mean that the number of children going missing is increasing in the volumes indicated in the table. All figures on the overall number of children who were looked after during the year - who were missing are still classified as experimental statistics. This is the fourth year these statistics have been collected in this way, and local authorities have reported some variation over recent years in how these incidents are recorded.</p><p>For more information, the latest national figures on looked after children who go missing and the number of incidents are published in Table G1 of the statistical release, Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018, which is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018</a>.</p><p>1. Residential accommodation not subject to the Children’s Homes Regulations, but where some supervisory or advice staff are employed (although they do not have to live on the premises). This placement code includes hostels, foyers, YMCAs. Also includes lodgings, flats and bedsits where supervisory staff or advice workers are specifically employed and available to provide advice and support to the residents.</p><p>2. Missing is defined as a looked after child who is not at their placement or a place they are expected to be (e.g. school) and their whereabouts is not known.</p><p>3. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number. See the looked after children statistics guide for more information on rounding.</p><p>4. Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements.</p><p>5. Includes children who were missing on 1 April, therefore carried over from previous years. Some very young looked after children may go missing with their mothers who may well be looked after themselves.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/07/2019 17:11:14 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4598 label Biography information for Mohammad Yasin

1140224

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Adoption: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to respond to the recommendations in the all-party Parliamentary group on adoption and permanence’s report entitled Investing in Families, published 16 July 2019.
tabling member constituency	South Shields
tabling member printed	Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck
uin	279068
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>There are no plans for the department to formally respond to the recommendations in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on adoption and permanence’s report entitled ‘Investing in Families’ at this time.</p><p>We welcome the fact that the report shows how thousands of children have had their lives transformed by therapeutic support provided by the Adoption Support Fund as they settle in to their new homes. The government has spent more than £124 million through the fund which has benefitted more than 44,500 families.</p><p>The report has helpfully identified a number of areas for improvement in the delivery of the Adoption Support Fund that will be considered carefully over the coming months and be incorporated into our Spending Review plans.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/07/2019 15:36:40 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4277 label Biography information for Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck

1140229

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
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, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of children who are at risk of experiencing hunger during the school summer holidays in 2019.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
tabling member printed	Stephen Twigg
uin	278892
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally.</p><p>In 2018, the department announced a programme of work to explore ways of supporting disadvantaged families during school holidays. We received 94 applications for funding from organisations across the country, for a share of £2 million.</p><p>The 2018 programme saw charities and community groups provide meals and activities such as football, play sessions, and cooking classes for more than 18,000 children across the country. Building on this, the department has quadrupled funding and strengthened the programme to encourage coordination in local communities, so that even more disadvantaged children can benefit from the programme. Applications were invited from organisations to act as coordinators in a specific local authority area. The 2019 programme received 92 applications and selected 11 locations for funding, including at least one in each of the 9 regions of England. This summer, around 50,000 disadvantaged children will be offered free meals and activities over the upcoming summer holidays, funded by £9.1 million.</p><p>The purpose of this programme is to allow us to gather more evidence about the scale of the issue, the most effective ways of tackling it, and the costs and delivery challenges associated with doing so. As a result, the department will be able to make an evidence based decision about whether and how we should intervene in the longer term.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 278893 question first answered 23/07/2019 15:27:47 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	167 label Biography information for Stephen Twigg

1140230

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
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, what support her Department is providing to families with children who are at risk of experiencing hunger during the school summer holidays in 2019.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
tabling member printed	Stephen Twigg
uin	278893
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally.</p><p>In 2018, the department announced a programme of work to explore ways of supporting disadvantaged families during school holidays. We received 94 applications for funding from organisations across the country, for a share of £2 million.</p><p>The 2018 programme saw charities and community groups provide meals and activities such as football, play sessions, and cooking classes for more than 18,000 children across the country. Building on this, the department has quadrupled funding and strengthened the programme to encourage coordination in local communities, so that even more disadvantaged children can benefit from the programme. Applications were invited from organisations to act as coordinators in a specific local authority area. The 2019 programme received 92 applications and selected 11 locations for funding, including at least one in each of the 9 regions of England. This summer, around 50,000 disadvantaged children will be offered free meals and activities over the upcoming summer holidays, funded by £9.1 million.</p><p>The purpose of this programme is to allow us to gather more evidence about the scale of the issue, the most effective ways of tackling it, and the costs and delivery challenges associated with doing so. As a result, the department will be able to make an evidence based decision about whether and how we should intervene in the longer term.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 278892 question first answered 23/07/2019 15:27:47 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	167 label Biography information for Stephen Twigg

1140241

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
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 accessibility of childcare in Merseyside.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, West Derby
tabling member printed	Stephen Twigg
uin	278895
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The government provides the following childcare support to parents and foster parents:</p><ul><li>15 hours of free childcare a week for disadvantaged 2 year olds. This applies to all families in receipt of Universal Credit, with an annual net earned income equivalent to - or less than - £15,400. It also applies to families in receipt of benefits that currently entitle them to free school meals and those receiving working tax credits (with an annual gross household income of no more than £16,190). Equally, it applies to children entitled to certain benefits or support for a disability or special educational need and looked after children and certain children who have been in care, including those who have been adopted.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>15 hours of free childcare a week for all 3 year olds and 4 year olds, worth around £2,500 a year on average.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>30 hours of free childcare a week for working parents of 3 year olds and 4 year olds with working parents. 30 hours of free childcare is available to families where both parents are working (or where the sole parent is working in a lone parent family) and where each parent earns a weekly minimum equivalent to 16 hours at national minimum wage or living wage. This also includes self-employed parents.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Help with up to 70% of childcare costs for people on low incomes through working tax credits. In April 2016, this help increased to up to 85% through Universal Credit, subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1108 for 2 or more children.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Tax-free childcare, for which 1.5 million families who have childcare costs will be eligible. For every £8 parents pay into an online account, the government will pay £2 – up to a maximum contribution of £2,000 per child each year, for children aged under 12. Parents of disabled children will receive extra support (worth up to £4,000 per child, each year and until their child is 17).</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Childcare vouchers provided through some employers, allowing parents to save money by paying for childcare from their pre-tax salary. This scheme is closed to new applicants from October 2018.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li>Shared Parental Leave, giving parents the chance to share up to 50 weeks’ leave and up to 37 weeks’ parental pay in the first year following their child’s birth or adoption.</li></ul><p>It is the responsibility of the local authority to ensure that every child that is eligible for the 15 hours and 30 hours of free childcare is able to access a place. Local authorities also have a statutory duty to provide parents with information, advice and guidance on their websites about how these childcare offers can be accessed locally.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/07/2019 16:56:10 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	167 label Biography information for Stephen Twigg

1140336

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Incontinence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of pupils who experience bowel and bladder problems; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the needs of those pupils are met.
tabling member constituency	Wythenshawe and Sale East
tabling member printed	Mike Kane
uin	279070
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested regarding the number of pupils who experience bowel and bladder problems is not held centrally. However, the government is committed to ensuring that pupils with medical conditions are properly supported at school so that they have full access to education.</p><p> </p><p>In 2014, the government introduced a new duty on schools to support pupils with all medical conditions, and has published statutory guidance on this for schools and others. The guidance can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The guidance does not specify which medical conditions should be supported in schools. Instead, it focuses on how to meet the needs of each individual child and the impact of their medical condition on school life.</p><p> </p><p>Schools also have duties under the Equality Act (2010) to make reasonable adjustments and not to discriminate against disabled children, including those with long-term health conditions such as bowel and bladder conditions, in relation to their access to education and associated services. Schools must make reasonable adjustments to their practices, procedures and policies to ensure that they are not putting those with long term health problems at a disadvantage.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/07/2019 14:52:55 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4316 label Biography information for Mike Kane

1140357

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Higher Education: Admissions
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 potential merits of requiring universities in England to use contextual admissions tools to widen participation in higher education.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	278922
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Widening access and participation in higher education is a priority for this government. This means that everyone with the capability to succeed in higher education should have the opportunity to participate, regardless of their background or where they grew up.</p><p>We have made real progress in ensuring universities are open to all, with record rates of disadvantaged 18 year olds in higher education. However, we are aware that more needs to be done to ensure that background isn’t a barrier to realising potential in higher education.</p><p>Many higher education providers are already using contextual admissions, to support widening access, and the government supports this.</p><p>It’s important that higher education providers use good quality and meaningful data to identify disadvantage and under-representation. We encourage institutions to use a range of measures to identify disadvantage and under-representation, including individual-level indicators, area data (such as POLAR, Index of Multiple Deprivation or ACORN), school data, intersectional data such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service's (UCAS) Multiple Equality Measure and participation in outreach activities. The department is continuing to work with the Office for Students, UCAS and sector representatives to further explore how we can support universities to improve and enhance access to data.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 23/07/2019 07:33:37 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1140360

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to widen access to the highest performing schools in England and Wales.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	278923
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>86% of schools in England are good or outstanding.</p><p>The Department has committed £7 billion to create new school places between 2015 and 2021, the vast majority of which are being created in the best existing schools or through good new schools. The Department is on track to create 1 million places this decade, the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations.</p><p>Of the mainstream free schools approved between 2014 and 2017, 86% have been in areas where there was a need for more school places. 84% of free schools with inspection reports published by the end of May are rated good or outstanding.</p><p> </p><p>98% of grammar schools are also good or outstanding and the Department wants more disadvantaged pupils to be able to access a place at them. That is why it has made £100 million available through the Selective Schools Expansion Fund to create additional places, where needed, in selective schools that commit to a plan to improve access for disadvantaged children. In 2018 the Department announced 16 selective schools to be funded to expand, and it launched a second bidding round in 2019.</p><p>Education is a devolved matter and it is for the Welsh national assembly to decide on education in Wales.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 23/07/2019 15:45:06 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly