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1010103

registered interest
date	19/11/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions the Department for Education is having with the Russell Group of universities regarding adding music to their list of facilitating subjects.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL11550
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/12/2018 answer text <p>Universities are autonomous from government, and consequently control the criteria used to determine admissions. We are aware that the Russell Group, which comprises 24 of the UK’s leading universities, publishes guidance designed to assist applicants in identifying the A level subjects most likely to facilitate entry to one of their member universities. From engagement with the Russell Group, we understand they are currently reviewing their guidance. The department recognises the importance of arts subjects, including music, and students’ ability to make informed choices is at the heart of our recent reforms to higher education. We are increasing the information available to students to ensure they can make informed choices about what and where to study.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/12/2018 11:53:35 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

755107

registered interest
date	20/07/2017
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 whether they monitor the performance of Ofsted in relation to that agency's responses to family members who raise concerns relating to (1) children's services, and (2) children's homes; and what steps, if any, they are taking to improve that performance.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL1116
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2017 answer text <p>Ofsted is a Non-Ministerial Government Department and is not an executive agency of the Department for Education (DfE). The responsibility for performance rests with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, with oversight undertaken by the Ofsted Board. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector also reports to the Education Select Committee on matters relating to Ofsted’s performance.</p><p>Officials from DfE’s and Ofsted’s social care teams engage with one another frequently so that any policy or operational issues, including how concerns raised by families are dealt with, can be addressed. Where appropriate DfE raises issues of concern with Ofsted and refers members of the public to Ofsted’s complaints procedure.</p><p>The details of how Ofsted addresses improvement in performance on these matters will be placed in the libraries of the House.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 31/07/2017 08:46:52 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

755109

registered interest
date	20/07/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Ofsted
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the methodology by which the performance of the Chair of Ofsted is monitored.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL1117
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2017 answer text <p>The expectations around performance monitoring of public appointment holders are set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments published by the Cabinet Office. This is found in paragraph 3.5 of the current code.</p><p> </p><p>These expectations are reflected in the terms on which the Chair is appointed by the Secretary of State. As part of this process, the Chair is required to participate in a performance appraisal with the Permanent Secretary.</p><p> </p><p>Also under these terms, the Chair will share a copy of his own objectives, and have a discussion to review progress at least annually with the Permanent Secretary. This arrangement reflects Ofsted’s independence from the Department of Education. The current Chair has shared his objectives with the Board, and Board members have agreed to establish a framework for reviewing his effectiveness.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, the Chair is also expected to adhere to the highest personal and professional standards, in accordance with the Nolan principles published by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, and to comply with the Board Code of Conduct as set out in the Ofsted corporate governance framework. Ofsted is currently reviewing its corporate governance arrangements.</p><p> </p><p>The Cabinet Office Governance Code can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-code-for-public-appointments" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-code-for-public-appointments</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Ofsted corporate governance framework can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsteds-corporate-governance-framework" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsteds-corporate-governance-framework</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 31/07/2017 12:01:14 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

753929

registered interest
date	19/07/2017
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 steps, short of the appointment of commissioners, they can take to deal with children's services departments which are a cause of concern.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL1076
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2017 answer text <p>The Department for Education intervenes in all local authorities that receive an inadequate Ofsted rating for children’s services.</p><p>In the most serious cases, improvement may require statutory intervention, whereby, under the Education Act 1996, the Secretary of State is able to direct a local authority to take whatever action is deemed necessary to secure improvement. In the last few years, Ministers have directed the setting up of new governance structures, including partnering with another local authority (e.g. Isle of Wight), bringing in extra improvement support (e.g. Somerset), or establishing a Children’s Services Trust (e.g. Doncaster).</p><p>In other cases the department takes non-statutory steps, issuing an ‘improvement notice’ detailing what actions a local authority is expected to take to improve its services and closely monitoring progress. We deploy government improvement advisers who are appointed to support and challenge these authorities to make rapid progress.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 31/07/2017 08:44:14 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

753930

registered interest
date	19/07/2017
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 (1) which local authority children's services departments have been found by Ofsted since January 2015 to be persistently or systemically failing; (2) which were made subject to the appointment of commissioners; and (3) which are currently run by commissioners.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL1075
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2017 answer text <p>The Department has categorised local authority children’s social care services as ‘systemic’ or ‘persistent’ failures since December 2015 when it introduced a tougher intervention regime. The following authorities have been subject to this new policy:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>LA</p></td><td><p>Systemic/Persistent</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Barnet</p></td><td><p>Systemic</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bromley</p></td><td><p>Systemic</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dudley</p></td><td><p>Systemic</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Kirklees</p></td><td><p>Systemic</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Norfolk</p></td><td><p>Persistent</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Reading</p></td><td><p>Systemic</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sandwell</p></td><td><p>Persistent</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sunderland</p></td><td><p>Systemic</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Torbay</p></td><td><p>Persistent</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Worcestershire</p></td><td><p>Persistent &amp; Systemic</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>All of these authorities have been subject to the appointment of Commissioners, with the exception of Barnet where recruitment for a Commissioner has not yet concluded. These authorities retain accountability for the effective running of their children’s services. Commissioners do not run the services, but do make recommendations to the Secretary of State on whether operational control of services should be removed from the council. Where Ministers accept a recommendation that services should transfer to alternative delivery arrangements, such as a new Children’s Services Trust, Commissioners will oversee this process</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 31/07/2017 08:43:09 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

753931

registered interest
date	19/07/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Social Services: Lambeth
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government whether they have received representations about failings in children's services in the London Borough of Lambeth.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL1077
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2017 answer text <p>The London Borough of Lambeth Council’s children’s social care services became subject to Government intervention in May 2015, following Ofsted’s judgement that these services are ‘Inadequate’. The Department has issued the Council with an improvement notice and has appointed an expert adviser to provide the Council with advice and challenge and to report regularly to the Department on improvement progress. Ofsted also conducts quarterly monitoring visits to Lambeth’s children’s social care services, and publishes progress reports on its website.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 31/07/2017 08:45:33 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

753932

registered interest
date	19/07/2017
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 whether they will publish the current detailed business plans of those sections of the Department for Education dealing with child welfare.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL1078
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2017 answer text <p>The department has recently responded to the Public Accounts Committee on this question. The department agrees it is appropriate to set out its vision with timescales, as it has done in ‘<em>Putting Children First’</em><em>.</em> The department will also produce a roadmap of how the Department intends to transform services, which will be a publically available document. This will address the challenge in the NAO report and set out more clearly a timeframe for delivery of the reforms.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 31/07/2017 08:46:01 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

753933

registered interest
date	19/07/2017
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 steps are being taken to improve the performance of Ofsted in responding to family members who raise matters of concern in relation to children's services departments and children's homes.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL1079
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/07/2017 answer text <p>This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to you and a copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.</p> answering member printed Lord Nash question first answered 31/07/2017 08:46:17 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood