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1140099

	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: Social Services
	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 improve local authority support for vulnerable children.
	tabling member constituency	Colne Valley
	tabling member printed	Thelma Walker
	uin	912085
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>We are providing local authorities with more money to support vulnerable children, with an additional £410 million invested this year across adults’ and children’s social care. Separately, we are investing £84 million over 5 years to drive improvements in children’s services across local authorities, especially through early intervention.</p><p>In 2018, the department introduced a new, tougher Ofsted inspection framework to drive improvement in children’s services. The department intervenes robustly in every local authority judged ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, bringing in experts to assess which improvements will ensure better services. This might include removing service delivery from the council’s control by establishing a trust, giving children’s services a fresh start.</p><p>Since May 2010, 46 local authorities have been lifted out of intervention and have not returned, and the number of inadequate local authorities has reduced from 30 to 19 since July 2017. We aim to continue making these improvements at pace so that, by 2022, less than 10% of local authorities are rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted, halving failure rates within 5 years and providing consistently better services for thousands of children and families across the country.</p><p>To get ahead of failure, we are investing an additional £20 million in our regional improvement strategy, working collaboratively with the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, Local Government Association, Solace and the rest of the sector to identify local authorities that need additional support. Our Regional Improvement Alliances and high-performing ‘Partners in Practice’ local authorities support those at risk of failure, embedding a system of sector-led improvement with more than 70 local authorities receiving support to date.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 22/07/2019 16:46:42 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4649 label Biography information for Thelma Walker

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

1140362

	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	Private Education: Overseas Aid
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of Official Development Assistance allocated to his Department is spent on independent schools; and what other programmes are funded by that Assistance.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
	uin	279002
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The department’s estimated Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend in 2018 was £20 million, which also included a £5 million contribution to the Association of Commonwealth Universities’ scholarship endowment fund. This spend was announced last April and exclusively funds master’s level scholarships for citizens of ODA-eligible Commonwealth countries.</p><p>This estimate of spending on ODA primarily relates to the provision of education of child and unaccompanied child asylum seekers in the 12 months after they make an asylum claim in the UK. The department estimates how much of the wider core schools funding for England is allocated due to having these children on schools’ rolls. The estimate does not include any spending on independent schools.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/07/2019 16:51:50 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1140396

	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	Holiday Activities and Food Programme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July 2019 to Question 276204, on the Holiday Activities and Food Research Fund, what funding organisations that unsuccessfully bid for funding from that fund can apply for to feed children.
	tabling member constituency	South Shields
	tabling member printed	Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck
	uin	279069
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The purpose of the Holiday Activities and Food Research Fund is to allow us to gather more evidence about the number of disadvantaged children at risk of going hungry during the school holidays, the most effective ways of tackling this, and the costs and burdens associated with doing so. As a result, we will be able to make an evidence-based decision about whether and how we should intervene in the longer term.</p><p>The 2019 programme follows a successful £2 million programme in the summer of 2018, which 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. To build on that, we have more than quadrupled the funding for 2019 so that even more disadvantaged children can benefit. This summer around 50,000 disadvantaged children will be offered free meals and activities over the upcoming summer holidays with funding of £9.1 million.</p><p>This programme of work will help us to continue to research how it can best support children eligible for free school meals during the holidays and to test a new model under which local co-ordinators oversee and fund clubs in their areas.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/07/2019 16:25:27 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4277 label Biography information for Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck

1140406

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Ethnic Groups
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many BAME staff are employed at (a) grade 7, (b) grade 5 and (c) grade 3 in his Department.
	tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
	tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
	uin	279041
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has 118 employees declared BAME at grade 7; 8 employees who have declared BAME at Grade 5 and; 2 employees who have declared BAME at Grade 3.</p><p> </p><p>Note that personal characteristics are voluntary declarations and only 54% of BEIS employees have declared their ethnicity.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 30/07/2019 16:31:23 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra