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348295

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
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, whether adopters are assessed for their suitability as permanent guardians of a child after they take a child into their care.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	998
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>Prospective adopters are all assessed as part of the adopter approvals process. The processes involved in approving prospective adopters and post-placement review visits are covered by regulations and explained in the Adoption Statutory Guidance:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-statutory-guidance-2013" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-statutory-guidance-2013</a></p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:12:59 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348296

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
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, whether all permanence options for children in public care receive the same level of post-placement support.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	999
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>There are currently a range of permanence options for children in public care, all of which can deliver good outcomes for individual children.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For many looked-after children, permanence will be secured outside of the care system through a safe return to their family. In April 2015, the government made changes to the care planning regulations and the statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ to ensure a sharper focus on a safe and successful return home for children where this is the best route to permanence. This included a requirement that the authority appropriately assesses the proposed arrangements for the child and sets out the support that will be provided when the child ceases to be looked-after.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Special guardianship or adoption offer permanence for other groups of children. Local authorities are responsible for core adoption and special guardianship support, including information, advice, guidance, training and financial assistance.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To improve practice where the best permanence option for children is to remain looked-after, the government amended regulations in April 2015 to introduce ‘long term foster care’ as a distinct placement type. Every looked-after child must have a care plan which includes a ‘plan for permanence’ and sets out the support they will receive.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:11:49 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348297

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
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 figures her Department holds on the break-down rate of (a) adoption arrangements, (b) fostering arrangements and (c) family-based arrangements in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	1000
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>Information on the break-down rate of adoption arrangements, fostering arrangements and family arrangements since 2010, is not held by the Department for Education.</p><p> </p><p>Information on the previous permanence placement of children entering care was collected in the SSDA903 data collection for the first time in the year ending 31 March 2014. Figures for 2013-14 are published in Table C1 here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2</a></p><p> </p><p>The research report ‘Beyond the Adoption Order: challenges, interventions and adoption disruption’ was published last year at the following link:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beyond-the-adoption-order-challenges-intervention-disruption" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beyond-the-adoption-order-challenges-intervention-disruption</a></p><p> </p><p>The study estimated that, over a 12-year period, the post order national disruption rate was 3.2%.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:14:57 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348299

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
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 criteria must be met for her to direct one or more local authorities to have their adoption service functions carried out by another authority or agency.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	1002
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education will work with local authorities in order to deliver regional adoption agencies. The department will provide both financial and practical support to help form these new agencies.</p><p> </p><p>The Education and Adoption Bill seeks to drive a system-wide change and the department will use its powers where local authorities are unwilling to join regional adoption agencies.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:08:21 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348300

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
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 plans her Department has to assess the funding needs for the (a) measures relating to local authority adoption functions, (b) measures relating to joint arrangements and (c) other measures that her Department plans to include in the Education and Adoption Bill.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	1003
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>The move to regional adoption agencies will improve the efficiency of adoption services and increase the scale at which services operate. This is expected to lead to savings for local authorities through efficiency gains as they benefit from economies of scale and through improvements in the timeliness of adoptions. The Department for Education is working with local authorities to encourage voluntary consolidation. The department will assess and evaluate the costs and savings resulting from the measures as part of this work. The department will also provide some financial support for transition to regional adoption agencies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Education and Adoption Bill also includes measures to improve the overall quality of education received by children in England. This includes streamlining the process by which failing schools become academies and introducing new powers to support and challenge coasting schools. The department is assessing the funding implications of wider intervention and meeting these costs will be considered as part of the Budget and Spending Review process.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 15:57:45 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348301

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
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 figures her Department holds on the numbers of children in public care by permanence option.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	1004
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>Figures relating to children looked after in England are published in the annual Statistical First Release (SFR) at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption--2</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 15:59:59 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348302

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
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, whether foster parents are assessed for their suitability as permanent guardians of a child after they take a child into their care.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	1005
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>Permanence provides an underpinning framework for all social work with children and their families. Every looked-after child must have a care plan which includes a ‘plan for permanence’. Permanence can take the form of a successful return to the child’s family, long-term foster care, adoption or special guardianship.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In order to improve practice in instances where the best permanence option for children is to remain looked-after, the government amended regulations in April 2015 to introduce ‘long term foster care’ as a distinct placement type. In cases such as these, statutory guidance is clear that the local authority should assess the ability of the identified foster carer to care for the child (this may be the foster carers currently looking after the child, or new carers who are best able to meet the child’s needs). The statuary guidance is published online at: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416720/Stat_Guidance_Permanence_2015.pdf" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416720/Stat_Guidance_Permanence_2015.pdf</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:10:12 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348303

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
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, whether regional adoption agencies consider varied permanence options other than adoption when finding a solution for a child in public care.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	997
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2015 answer text <p>The duty to make a decision about which permanence option to pursue for a particular child will remain with the local authority. If local authorities wish to pursue other permanence services, as well as adoption services, they have the freedom to do so.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Edward Timpson question first answered 10/06/2015 16:07:20 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

348359

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Recruitment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on recruiting teachers in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Heeley
tabling member printed	Louise Haigh
uin	1083
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/06/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education funds initiatives designed to boost recruitment and supports the costs of training new teachers. Prior to April 2012 recruitment to initial teacher training (ITT) was funded by the former Training and Development Agency. The information provided in the table below reflects the main departmental spend on recruiting teachers for academic years 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td colspan="3"><p><strong>ITT academic year</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong>2012/13</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013/14</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014/15 (as at end-May 2015)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Marketing and advertising</p></td><td><p>£6,321,204</p></td><td><p>£3,374,320</p></td><td><p>£5,230,196</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>ITT bursaries and scholarships</p></td><td><p>£159,809,000</p></td><td><p>£134,733,000</p></td><td><p>£123,029,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Subject knowledge enhancement programme</p></td><td><p>£20,650,000</p></td><td><p>£9,123,000</p></td><td><p>£14,718,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Additional support services</p></td><td><p>£5,074,155</p></td><td><p>£4,623,591</p></td><td><p>£3,563,250</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>These figures do not include funding for the School Direct (Salaried) or Troops to Teach programmes which pay for the training of teachers and subsidise their employment costs. Funding for schools for School Direct (Salaried) is in the form of a single grant payment and the department does not hold information on the element of spend relating to employment costs, which will vary by school.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 12/06/2015 10:22:22 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4473 label Biography information for Louise Haigh

348426

registered interest
date	03/06/2015
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Homelessness: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that 16 and 17 year-olds presenting as homeless receive a seamless joint assessment from Children's Services and Housing Services.
tabling member printed	Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb
uin	HL238
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2015 answer text <p>The Department for Education is clear about how local authorities should support 16 and 17 year-olds presenting as homeless. The report from the Children’s Society, ‘Getting the house in order’ reminds local authorities to ensure that under-18s who are homeless receive the help they need. The government has no current plans to legislate on this issue, but we are taking action to ensure that all homeless people have access to the help that they need: we have invested £500 million in homelessness services, including funding for the development of the ‘Youth accommodation pathway’ service model. This is designed to support all young people remain in the family home where it is safe to do so, and offer tailored support options for those that cannot remain in the family home, including supported accommodation as a starting point for 16- to 17-year-olds.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>With regard to 16- to 17-year-old care leavers, revised statutory guidance was issued to local authorities in 2010, setting out how they can better meet the needs of this group. It makes clear that local authorities should work pro-actively with young people and their families to identify and resolve issues which have led them to become homeless. The guidance also underlines the importance of effective agency collaboration between Children’s Services and Housing Services.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The guidance reminds Housing Services that applicants cannot be considered to have become homeless intentionally if they fail to take up an offer of accommodation; the guidance says that homelessness can only be deemed to be ‘intentional’ where the applicant has ceased to occupy accommodation that it would have been reasonable for him or her to continue to occupy. Local authorities that do not follow these procedures are open to legal challenge. The full statutory guidance on the provision of accommodation for 16- to 17-year-olds who may be homeless or require accommodation can be accessed on GOV.UK.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Since 2013, Ofsted inspections of local authorities’ children’s social care services have included a separate sub-judgement on care leavers, which includes an assessment of whether the local authority is ensuring that care leavers have access to suitable accommodation. Where Ofsted judges that a local authority’s social care services are inadequate, the department may intervene to secure necessary improvements in the quality of care that is provided.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Nash grouped question UIN HL239 HL240 question first answered 17/06/2015 13:22:49 answering member 4270 label Biography information for Lord Nash
tabling member	4297 label Biography information for Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb