Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1699156

registered interest
date	26/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that children with autism are adequately supported at school.
tabling member constituency	Hampstead and Kilburn
tabling member printed	Tulip Siddiq
uin	20720
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>In the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision Improvement Plan, the department set out a vision to improve mainstream education by setting standards for the early and accurate identification of need and the timely provision of access to support. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support. This will give parents confidence and clarity on how their child’s needs will be met.</p><p>As part of this, the department has committed to developing practitioner standards, which were known as practice guides in the Improvement Plan, to provide advice to education professionals. At least three practitioner standards will be published by the end of 2025, one of which will be focused on autism. The department will build on existing best practice and will include guidance on how an education environment may be adapted to better support the needs of autistic pupils.</p><p>The department's Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuous professional development and support for the school and further education workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those who are autistic.</p><p>The contract offers autism awareness training and resources delivered by the Autism Education Trust (AET). Over 135,000 education professionals have undertaken autism awareness training as part of AET's ‘train the trainer’ model since the Universal Services programme commenced in May 2022.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 19/04/2024 12:35:41 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4518 label Biography information for Tulip Siddiq

1687078

registered interest
date	02/02/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues on adapting school environments to support the needs of autistic students.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	12769
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2024 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member for Huddersfield to the answer of 12 February 2024 to Question <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-26/11638" target="_blank">11638</a>.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 12/02/2024 16:46:38 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1685257

registered interest
date	26/01/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing guidance on how to adapt school environments to support the needs of autistic students.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	11638
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2024 answer text <p>The department’s ambition is for all children and young people, no matter what their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are, to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department aims for children to achieve well throughout their education, to find employment, to lead happy and fulfilled lives and to experience choice and control.</p><p> </p><p>Under the Equality Act 2010, schools must make reasonable adjustments to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage. Additionally, under the Children and Families Act 2014, mainstream schools must use their best endeavours to make sure a child or young person who has Special Educational Needs, including those who are autistic, gets the special educational provision they need. The SEND Code of Practice is clear that teachers are expected to monitor the progress of all pupils and put support in place where needed.</p><p> </p><p>In the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, the department sets out its vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for the early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support. This will give parents confidence and clarity on how their child’s needs will be met.</p><p> </p><p>As part of this, the department has committed to developing practitioner standards, which were known as practice guides in the Improvement Plan, to provide advice to education professionals. These will set out evidence-based best practice in identifying and meeting individual needs. The department will publish three practitioner standards by the end of 2025, one of which will be focused on autism. The department will begin building on existing best practice and will include guidance on how an education environment may be adapted to better support the needs of autistic pupils.</p><p> </p><p>Additionally, the department’s Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuous professional development and support for the school and further education workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those who are autistic, through one programme, which aims to reach 70% of schools and colleges in England per year.</p><p> </p><p>The contract offers autism awareness training and resources. Over 100,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training since the Universal Services programme commenced in May 2022.</p><p> </p><p>There is no specific guidance for adapting physical school environments to support autistic students. However, the department does publish a range of guidance documents, including Building Bulletins, which support the provision of inclusive learning environments. These are available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-requirements-part-b-generic-design-brief" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-requirements-part-b-generic-design-brief</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The Building Bulletins which have particular relevance to designing inclusive environments for children and young people with SEND, including those who are autistic, are the following:</p><ul><li>BB93, ‘Building Bulletin 93: Acoustic Design of Schools - Performance Standards’, which can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bb93-acoustic-design-of-schools-performance-standards" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bb93-acoustic-design-of-schools-performance-standards</a>.</li><li>BB101, ‘Building Bulletin 101: Ventilation of School Buildings’, which is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings</a>.</li><li>BB104, ‘Area guidelines for SEND and alternative provision’, which defines area standards by setting out non-statutory area guidelines for buildings and can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f23ec4e8fa8f57ac968fb11/BB104.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f23ec4e8fa8f57ac968fb11/BB104.pdf</a>.</li></ul> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 12/02/2024 15:59:02 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1667981

registered interest
date	07/11/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase support for autistic (a) children and (b) young adults in the education system.
tabling member constituency	Ealing Central and Acton
tabling member printed	Dr Rupa Huq
uin	338
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2023 answer text <p>In the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, the department set out its vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for early and accurate identification of need and timely access to support to meet those with SEND. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings, who is responsible for securing the support and from which budgets. This will give children and young people confidence and clarity on how their needs will be met. The department will establish a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND, including autism, so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes, and are well prepared for adulthood and employment.</p><p> </p><p>In the immediate term, the system is being supported to deliver change and improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including autism, by investing:</p><ul><li>A further £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists across the 2024 and 2025 academic years to increase the capacity of specialists.</li><li>£2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to fund new special and AP places and improve existing provision, including announcing 41 new special free schools, with a further 38 special free schools currently in the pipeline.</li><li>£18 million between 2022 and 2025 to double the capacity of the Supported Internships Programme. In addition, up to a further £3 million has been invested to pilot extending Supported Internships to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities without Education, Health and Care plans.</li><li>£30 million to develop innovative approaches for short breaks for children, young people, and their families over three years.</li><li>An additional £6 million to fund extension of the AP Specialist Taskforce pilot programme (delivering now in 22 local authorities), to run until 2025.</li><li>Funding for up to 7,000 early years staff to gain an accredited Level 3 Early Years Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) qualification to support the development of the early years workforce.</li></ul><p>To help frontline professionals better support the needs of autistic children and young people in their settings, the department’s Universal Services contract offers autism awareness training and resources for the school and further education workforce. This aligns with the all-age autism strategy and its ambition to improve autistic children and young people’s access to education and support positive transitions into adulthood. Over 100,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training as part of a train the trainer model since the Universal Services programme launched in 2022.</p><p>Additionally, new practitioner standards are being developed to further help education staff support children and young people with SEND. The first three practitioner standards, including one on autism, will be published by the end of 2025.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 14/11/2023 13:41:38 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4511 label Biography information for Dr Rupa Huq

1663438

registered interest
date	13/10/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Applied Behaviour Analysis for autistic children.
tabling member constituency	Rother Valley
tabling member printed	Alexander Stafford
uin	201292
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The department has not undertaken an assessment of the effectiveness of Applied Behaviour Analysis for autistic children and young people.</p><p> </p><p>The 2023 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan sets out our vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for early and accurate identification of need and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and practice guides will be developed to support frontline professionals. The first three practice guides will be published by the end of 2025 and will include a practice guide on autism.</p><p> </p><p>To inform this, we are continuing to work with a wide range of stakeholders to understand what the most effective ways are to support autistic children and young people in education settings.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 23/10/2023 17:10:35 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4866 label Biography information for Alexander Stafford

1661040

registered interest
date	15/09/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has issued guidance to schools on making adjustments to support pupils who are on the waiting list for an autism assessment.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	199770
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/09/2023 answer text <p>All those working with, or commissioning services for children and young people, must have regard to the statutory Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice: 0-25 years. This sets out clearly that early years settings, schools and colleges must use their best endeavours to make sure that a child or young person with Special Educational Needs (SEN) gets the support they need. This includes autistic children and young people. This support should be put in place at the earliest opportunity when a child or young person with SEN has been identified. There is no need to wait for a medical assessment or diagnosis.</p><p>The Code states that, where it has been identified that a child or young person needs SEN support, the early years setting, school or college should work with the child or young person and the family to agree the adjustments, interventions and support to be put in place.</p><p>Where an assessment of needs indicates that support from specialist services is required, it is important that children and young people receive it as quickly as possible. Agencies across education, health and care should work together to support children and young people.</p><p>In the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, the department set out its vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for early and accurate identification of need, including timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings, who is responsible for securing the support and from what budgets.</p><p>The department will also develop new practice guides to support frontline professionals. The first three practice guides will be published by the end of 2025, focusing on advice for mainstream settings, and will include a practice guide on autism.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 199847 question first answered 25/09/2023 13:19:24 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1586713

registered interest
date	17/02/2023
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to provide additional funding for the education of children with autism.
tabling member constituency	Chipping Barnet
tabling member printed	Theresa Villiers
uin	146829
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2023 answer text <p>The department is providing an unprecedented level of high needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), most of which is allocated to local authorities for them to pass through to schools, including special schools.</p><p>As a result of the additional funding following the Autumn Statement 2022, high needs funding will increase by £970 million in the 2023/24 financial year compared to 2022/23. This is an increase of 10.6%, and will bring total high needs funding to £10.1 billion next year. This extra funding will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of educating children and young people with SEND, including those with autism. From the additional funding provided at the Autumn Statement, all special schools will receive a 3.4% increase to their budgets for 2023/24.</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho grouped question UIN 146830 question first answered 22/02/2023 16:22:41 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
tabling member	1500 label Biography information for Theresa Villiers

1127783

registered interest
date	21/05/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Autism
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 children with autism spectrum condition who have been (a) excluded and (b) isolated in schools in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Totnes
tabling member printed	Dr Sarah Wollaston
uin	257063
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2019 answer text <p>Permanent and fixed period exclusions in England: 2016-2017 can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2016-to-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2016-to-2017</a>.</p><p>Permanent and fixed period exclusions by type of special educational need can be found in national table 6.</p><p>The information requested, on the number of children with autism spectrum condition who have been isolated in schools in the last 12 months, is not held centrally.</p><p>As part of Ofsted inspections, however, schools will be asked to provide records and analysis of any use of internal isolation. Ofsted inspectors will expect schools to have clear and effective behaviour policies that promote high standards of behaviour and are applied consistently and fairly. In reaching a judgement on pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare, inspectors will take account of a range of information, including schools’ use of internal isolation.</p><p>The Department’s behaviour and discipline guidance to schools makes clear that schools must act lawfully, reasonably and proportionately when using isolation, and must take account of any special education needs or disabilities pupils placed in isolation may have.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 24/05/2019 15:59:00 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4073 label Biography information for Dr Sarah Wollaston

943936

registered interest
date	18/07/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of children who have an autism diagnosis who are home schooled.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	165666
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2018 answer text <p>The department does not hold information on the number of children who have an autism diagnosis who are home schooled.</p><p>Information on the number of children with statements of special educational needs (SEN) and education, health and care (EHC) plans only, where educational arrangements made by parents in accordance with Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 is available in the publication “Statements of SEN and EHC plans: 2018”, are available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statements-of-sen-and-ehc-plans-england-2018</a>.</p><p>This information cannot be broken down by type of need.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/07/2018 16:26:14 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

943938

registered interest
date	18/07/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Autism
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 (a) effectiveness of Applied Behaviour Analysis in relation to autistic students and (b) effect of that analysis on the mental wellbeing of those students.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	165667
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2018 answer text <p>Autism is a spectrum condition where children have a range of strengths and difficulties. There is no well-founded research to show that any one intervention for children with autism (such as Applied Behaviour Analysis, TEACCH or Options/Son Rise) is more effective than all the other interventions or which interventions are best for which children on the spectrum. The government believes that intervention decisions should be taken by professionals locally, in consultation with parents and young people, after a thorough assessment of the child or young person’s needs.</p><p>The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities system as a whole is constructed to ensure that children with autism and with all other types of need are identified, understood and supported appropriately. Local authorities and education providers are expected to consult parents and children themselves and to review provision regularly. It is this overarching framework which is of fundamental importance in promoting the progress, and also the wellbeing of children with autism.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 23/07/2018 12:50:09 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes