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749228

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	Children: Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report of the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the public cost of student loans.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL564
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2017 answer text <p>The Government has noted the recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.</p><p> </p><p>The student funding system is fair and sustainable. The cost of the system is not an unintended loss, nor a waste of public money. It is the policy subsidy required to make higher education widely available, achieving the Government’s objectives of increasing the skills in the economy and ensuring access to university for all with the potential to benefit.</p><p> </p><p>Andreas Schleicher of the OECD said in September 2016 that “the UK has been able to meet rising demand for tertiary education with more resources…by finding effective ways to share the costs and benefits”.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 20/07/2017 14:39:04 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

642884

registered interest
date	23/11/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 16 November (HL3148), whether they will publish the questionnaire used in the Children's Services Omnibus Survey before they publish the research report.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL3486
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2016 answer text <p>The Department for Education intends to publish the questionnaire from the first Children’s Services Omnibus Survey in Spring 2017, as part of the research report. This is standard practice for research reports. There are no plans to publish the questionnaire prior to this.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 07/12/2016 17:56:39 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

632750

registered interest
date	09/11/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Nash on 6 July (HL Deb, col GC248), whether they will provide more details of the children's service omnibus survey, including how they intend to frame the request to local authorities about how they analyse demands for services; and whether they plan to consult on the construction of the questionnaire, and if so, when and with whom.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL3148
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/11/2016 answer text <p>The Department for Education (DfE) Children’s Services Survey, also referred to as the Children’s Services Omnibus Survey, is conducted by an independent research agency, NatCen social research, on behalf of the DfE.</p><p> </p><p>The survey has been funded for two years and will survey local authorities twice a year. The survey will help the DfE understand key issues facing children’s services and local authorities’ experiences of implementing different policies, focusing on Early Years and Childcare, Children’s Social Care and Special Educational Needs and Disability.</p><p> </p><p>The first survey was completed by local authorities in October 2016. The results from this survey will be published in a research report on the Government’s website, www.gov.uk, in spring 2017.</p><p> </p><p>One of the topics local authorities were asked about in the first survey was their use of data to analyse need for services. Local authorities were asked how confident they feel that their authority is able to identify unmet needs for individual children and families. Local authorities were also asked if they have a function or team that is able to (a) analyse the demand for children’s social care; (b) compare the cost of different interventions to make planning decisions for children’s services, (c) assess the impact of different interventions to make planning decisions for children’s services; and (d) identify unmet needs for individual children and families. The questionnaire for the second survey is currently in development.</p><p> </p><p>Questions for the survey are proposed by policy officials to the research team, and these are developed with an advisory group of local authority representatives. The survey is piloted in 20 local authorities; data and feedback from the pilot is used to develop the final questionnaire. The final questionnaire is signed off by children’s services policy directors.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 16/11/2016 15:24:57 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

592915

registered interest
date	03/10/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what conclusions they have drawn from the research commissioned by the Department for Education in 2010 into the development of government guidance on governance arrangements in children’s services: <i>Research governance in children’s services: the scope for new advice</i>.
tabling member printed	Lord Ramsbotham
uin	HL2041
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2016 answer text <p>This report highlighted the importance of governance and ethical consideration in children’s services research. The report suggested that at the time of the research, local practice was variable, but there were, and still are, a number of accepted research governance arrangements in place for local authorities and other research organisations to seek guidance and approval, including the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), the Social Research Association, the NSPCC, and university ethics boards. The Department for Education has concluded that these arrangements are the best route for local authorities and external research organisations to obtain external guidance on research governance and ethics.</p><p>Following publication of the report, the Department, in consultation with the ADCS Research Group, has developed ethics guidance and an ethics checklist for its own funded research and evaluation. This is based on the Government Social Research Professional Guidance, which sets out the principles that should be used when conducting social research for the Government. It states that those conducting, commissioning or managing Government social research have a responsibility to ensure that research is conducted using appropriate methods and that the rights and interests of all those involved in the research process are protected. Research should be conducted in a manner that:</p><ul><li><p>ensures valid, informed consent is obtained before individuals participate in research (for children under 16, parents/legal guardians as well as the children themselves must be approached for consent to participate);</p></li></ul><ul><li><p>takes reasonable steps to identify and remove barriers to participation;</p></li><li><p>avoids personal and social harm; and</p></li><li><p>protects the confidentiality of information about research participants and their identities.</p></li></ul> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 17/10/2016 16:58:42 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	3744 label Biography information for Lord Ramsbotham

525461

registered interest
date	15/06/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 June (HL351), what consideration they are giving to (1) the issuing of guidance on the establishment of children's social care trusts so that lessons can be learned from earlier experiences of doing so; and (2) the regulatory implications for such bodies if more local authorities establish them given the regulatory arrangements in place for the outsourcing of adult social care.
tabling member printed	Lord Warner
uin	HL733
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2016 answer text <p>The evaluations of Doncaster and Slough Children’s Services Trusts are underway and will provide learning from the experiences of establishing those organisations. There are no new regulatory implications for trusts. Where a trust is created to carry out children’s social care services on behalf of an authority, the statutory responsibility for those services remains with that authority. Ofsted will continue to inspect children’s social care services whether they are delivered by a local authority or by a trust.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 28/06/2016 16:23:14 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	1732 label Biography information for Lord Warner

525463

registered interest
date	15/06/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 9 June (HL354), how long it took to set up the Trusts in Kingston-upon-Thames and Slough; what were the costs of setting up those Trusts; and who bore those costs.
tabling member printed	Lord Warner
uin	HL735
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2016 answer text <p>Slough Borough Council was issued with a Statutory Direction in October 2014, which required the Council to cooperate in setting up a Trust. The Trust became operational in October 2015. The Department for Education met the costs of setting up the trust, which came to £3.3m.</p><p>Achieving for Children is a community interest company owned and established by the councils of Kingston-Upon-Thames and Richmond. The Department does not hold information about the total costs of setting up this company but Achieving for Children received grant funding of £500,000 from the Department of Communities and Local Government and £105,605 of professional advice and support from the Cabinet Office Mutuals Support Programme.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 28/06/2016 16:25:24 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	1732 label Biography information for Lord Warner

521494

registered interest
date	25/05/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance has been issued by the Department for Education to local authorities about the transfer of children's social care services to an arms-length trust; and what role the Department and its Ministers play in advising or approving local authority decisions to make such transfers, including provision of financial support.
tabling member printed	Lord Warner
uin	HL351
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2016 answer text <p>The Department for Education has not issued guidance to local authorities about the transfer of children’s social care services to a trust. The Prime Minister announced in December 2015 that, where Ofsted find persistent or systematic failure in a council’s children’s social care services, we will appoint a commissioner to review, within three months, whether services should be removed from council control. There is now a presumption that services will be placed outside of the Council’s control in these cases, unless the Commissioner identifies good reasons not to do so.</p><p> </p><p>Decisions to transfer local authority children’s social care services to other organisations are subject to ministerial approval only where a local authority is in intervention following an inadequate Ofsted judgement. Other high-performing local authorities are also considering innovative delivery models, such as trusts, for their services. Financial support may be provided on a case-by-case basis.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 09/06/2016 13:37:26 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	1732 label Biography information for Lord Warner

521495

registered interest
date	25/05/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes to local authority accountability for children's social care services take place if these services are transferred to the management of an arms-length trust.
tabling member printed	Lord Warner
uin	HL352
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2016 answer text <p>Statutory responsibility for children’s social care services remains with the local authority, but its functions are delegated to and carried out by the trust on the authority’s behalf. The accountabilities are set out in a service delivery contract between the authority and the trust.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 09/06/2016 13:36:42 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	1732 label Biography information for Lord Warner

521497

registered interest
date	25/05/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government which local authorities have had their children's services transferred into arms-length trusts; whether these transfers cover all such services; what Ofsted reports are available on such transferred services; and what changes in performance these reports show.
tabling member printed	Lord Warner
uin	HL354
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2016 answer text <p>Doncaster Children’s Services Trust took over responsibility for delivering all children’s social care functions, apart from services for disabled children and universal early help services, on behalf of the council under Direction from the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in September 2014. Ofsted inspected children’s services in Doncaster in September 2015. The judgement was inadequate overall. However, the inspection found improvement since the previous inspection in 2012, when all sub-judgements were inadequate. In 2015, all sub-judgements were requires improvement, save for children in need of help and protection, which was inadequate; and adoption performance, which was good.</p><p> </p><p>Slough Children’s Services Trust took over responsibility for the provision of children’s early help and social care functions along with specific special educational needs services on behalf of the council under direction from the Secretary of State for Education in September 2015. Ofsted inspected children’s social care services in Slough in November 2015, less than 8 weeks after the Trust went live. The judgement was ‘inadequate’ overall. Despite the short amount of time that the trust had been in operation at the time of the inspection, Ofsted commented positively on the impact of the Trust leadership. Their report described how the pace of improvement accelerated since it was established. Encouragingly the inspectors reported that there were clear signs that the Trust understands what needs to change and there is evidence that it can deliver the required improvements.</p><p> </p><p>Achieving for Children is a social enterprise company that delivers all education support and children’s services, as well as integrated health services for children with disabilities, on behalf of Kingston Upon Thames and Richmond Upon Thames councils. Prior to the creation of this voluntary trust in April 2014, safeguarding and looked after children services in Kingston were judged to be inadequate in May 2012, and child protection services were judged to be inadequate in June 2013. Children’s services in Kingston were judged to be good when they were inspected again in May 2015. Children’s services in Richmond were last inspected in March 2012 when they were rated good.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 09/06/2016 13:27:20 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	1732 label Biography information for Lord Warner

510296

registered interest
date	11/04/2016
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they apply, and what circumstances they take into account, in deciding whether to appoint a Commissioner to take over the running of a local authority’s children’s service.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL7502
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2016 answer text <p>Commissioners are appointed where Ofsted find persistent or systemic failure by a council to deliver children’s services to an acceptable quality.</p><p> </p><p>Persistent failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate more than once within a five year period. Systemic failure is defined as a council being rated inadequate across the board on all key Ofsted judgements.</p><p> </p><p>Commissioners are appointed to direct the improvement of children’s social care services; the Council’s leadership and management of them; and, increasingly, to review whether these services should be removed from council control in order to secure more rapid and sustainable improvement.</p><p> </p><p>Since January 2015 the Secretary of State has appointed five Children’s Services Commissioners.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash grouped question UIN HL7503 question first answered 19/04/2016 16:25:05 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood