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1272165

	registered interest
	date	17/12/2020
	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, with reference to the finding of the survey by Pregnant Then Screwed that 46 per of mothers who had been made redundant or expected to be made redundant said that a lack of childcare provision played a role in their redundancy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of childcare places to support working parents.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	131384
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/01/2021 answer text <p>The government prioritised the opening of early years settings in full because of the clear benefits to children’s education and wellbeing, and to support working parents. In July 2020, when the Pregnant Then Screwed survey was in the field from the 16-18 of July, official data shows there were an estimated 43,000 settings open with 417,000 children attending. This data is available here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/2020-week-29" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/2020-week-29</a>.</p><p>Since then, we have continued to see more early years settings open, and attendance has steadily increased over the course of the 2020 autumn term. As of 10 December 2020, official data, also available via the above link, shows an estimated 55,000 early year settings were open with 792,000 children in attendance. On a typical day in the autumn term, we expect attendance to be 929,000, due to different and part-time patterns of childcare during the week. We estimate that the 792,000 children attending early years settings was approximately 85% of the usual daily level.</p><p>On 21 December 2020, I wrote to Directors of Children’s Services at local authorities, to remind them of the statutory responsibilities shared between local authorities and the Secretary of State for Education to ensure there is enough Early Years childcare for parents. We are not aware of any local authority reporting a current sufficiency issue. However, we anticipate that the role of local authorities in market stewardship through the next year may prove significant in ensuring that the market is able to continue providing free early education entitlements, and to meet the needs of parents.</p><p>We will continue to both monitor sufficiency of childcare places through our regular ongoing contact with early years departments in local authorities, and work in partnership with local authorities and the sector to support working parents.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 12/01/2021 13:20:46 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1348332

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Respite Care: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the finding of the Disabled Children’s Partnerships Left Behind report that six in 10 parents remain socially isolated, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing funding for ring-fenced additional respite care for families with disabled children.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	35836
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2021 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Members for the City of Durham, Bath, and Stockton North to the answer I gave on 2 June 2021 to Question <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-05-25/7328" target="_blank">7328</a>.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 35629 35896 35897 question first answered 22/07/2021 15:35:47 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1307770

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Disabled Children’s Partnership's Report entitled The Loneliest Lockdown, what plans his Department has to tackle social isolation among disabled children.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	179332
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2021 answer text <p>Supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families is a priority for this government, and their educational, physical and mental wellbeing remains central to our cross-government response to the COVID-19 outbreak. That is why education settings have remained open for children and young people with an education, health and care plan throughout periods of national lockdown.</p><p>The return to school for all pupils was prioritised due to the significant and proven impact caused by being out of school, including on wellbeing. The support schools provide to their pupils as they return to face-to-face education should include time devoted to supporting wellbeing, which will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing recovery. The expectations for schools in this regard are set out clearly in the main Department for Education guidance to schools, which also signposts further support, available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak</a>.</p><p>We have worked with our partners, including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Health Education England, Public Health England and other key voluntary sector organisations to deliver the Wellbeing for Education Return programme, which has provided training and resources to help school staff respond to the wellbeing and mental health needs of pupils. This £8 million government backed programme provided schools and colleges all over England with the knowledge and access to resources they need to support children and young people, teachers and parents.</p><p>The return to school on 8 March 2021 has been supported with a new £700 million package, which includes a Recovery Premium for state primary, secondary and special schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged students. This will help schools to provide academic and pastoral support for disadvantaged pupils that has been proven most effective in helping them recover from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>£200 million will be available to all secondary schools, including specialist settings, to deliver face-to-face summer schools. Schools will be able to target provision based on pupils’ needs. The size and shape of the summer schools will be decided by school leaders who know best what the most effective summer school will look like for their pupils, allowing them to tailor support for pupils, including those with SEND.</p><p>Additionally, we have expanded the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children since 2018. From 2021, the programme will cover the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays at a cost of up to £220 million. It will be available to children in every local authority in England, building on previous programmes and we are working to ensure that the programme is fully inclusive and accessible for children with SEND.</p><p>Sir Kevan Collins has been appointed as the Education Recovery Commissioner and is considering how schools and the system can more effectively target resources and support at pupils in greatest need. Additionally, Dr Alex George was appointed on 4 February as Youth Mental Health Ambassador to advise government and raise the profile of mental health education and wellbeing in schools, colleges and universities. He will use his clinical expertise and personal experience to champion government’s work on children’s and young people’s mental health and shape policy on improving support for young people in schools, colleges and universities.</p><p>In the long term, we remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with DHSC and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.</p><p>The department will continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and its subsequent COVID-19 recovery plans on all pupils, including those with SEND, to ensure it targets support across the system most effectively.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 178648 question first answered 20/04/2021 12:01:58 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1405329

	registered interest
	date	21/01/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Disabled Children's Partnership Count Disabled Children In polling results, released 17 January 2022, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the time taken to consider Education, Health and Care Plan assessments for disabled children.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	109356
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2022 answer text <p>The department works closely with the Disabled Children’s Partnership and we are reviewing the findings of their latest report.</p><p>The Children and Families Act 2014 (Section 97) requires local authorities to assess and support the needs of parents/carers as well as those of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Assessments are based on individual needs but should include parents’ well-being and ‘control over day-to-day life’.</p><p>The SEND code of practice also makes clear that local authorities must give their decision in response to any request for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment within a maximum of 6 weeks from when the request was received or the point at which a child or young person was brought to the local authority’s attention.</p><p>However, the SEND system currently does not deliver for all children and young people with SEND. We further recognise that the COVID-19 outbreak disproportionately impacted young people with SEND and their families, which is why we are conducting a review of the SEND system. The department uses data to monitor and assess local authority performance and has been supporting local authorities to meet their statutory duties for SEND, including by providing challenge and support to those local authorities where there are long-standing delays.</p><p>Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission continue with their full inspection programme and our team of SEND advisers and colleagues in NHS England are continuing to provide support and challenge to help improve performance.</p><p>Depending on the underlying issues that each local authority faces, such as those relating to EHC assessments, we commission specialist and regional support from our delivery partners or facilitate peer to peer support.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 109355 question first answered 31/01/2022 17:56:22 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1405328

	registered interest
	date	21/01/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Disability: Children and Families
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Disabled Children's Partnership Count Disabled Children In polling results, released 17 January 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that 18 per cent of the public thought that disabled children and families got the right support from councils and the NHS.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	109355
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2022 answer text <p>The department works closely with the Disabled Children’s Partnership and we are reviewing the findings of their latest report.</p><p>The Children and Families Act 2014 (Section 97) requires local authorities to assess and support the needs of parents/carers as well as those of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Assessments are based on individual needs but should include parents’ well-being and ‘control over day-to-day life’.</p><p>The SEND code of practice also makes clear that local authorities must give their decision in response to any request for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment within a maximum of 6 weeks from when the request was received or the point at which a child or young person was brought to the local authority’s attention.</p><p>However, the SEND system currently does not deliver for all children and young people with SEND. We further recognise that the COVID-19 outbreak disproportionately impacted young people with SEND and their families, which is why we are conducting a review of the SEND system. The department uses data to monitor and assess local authority performance and has been supporting local authorities to meet their statutory duties for SEND, including by providing challenge and support to those local authorities where there are long-standing delays.</p><p>Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission continue with their full inspection programme and our team of SEND advisers and colleagues in NHS England are continuing to provide support and challenge to help improve performance.</p><p>Depending on the underlying issues that each local authority faces, such as those relating to EHC assessments, we commission specialist and regional support from our delivery partners or facilitate peer to peer support.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 109356 question first answered 31/01/2022 17:56:22 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1367021

	registered interest
	date	08/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Autumn Spending Review 2021, what steps his Department is taking to measure how effective the Government's spending plans are in tackling the backlog in new Education, Health and Care Plan assessments.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	71433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2021 answer text <p>The government is committed to having clear oversight of local areas’ performance on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We work closely with Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and our delivery partners to support and, where appropriate, challenge those local areas at risk of, or who are, underperforming.</p><p>We are still looking at the Autumn Spending Review settlement and working across the department to ensure that it does have a measurable impact in reducing backlogs in Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments.</p><p>However, we currently support local authorities to meet their statutory duties for SEND, including challenging those local authorities where there are long-standing backlogs in EHCP assessments. As part of this support, we deliver a training programme to local authorities, health, and social care staff on their statutory duties, as well as funding projects to support children with SEND. This in turn supports improved practice so that local authorities are able to address backlogs more effectively.</p><p>Additionally, this year, local authorities have access to £51.3 billion to deliver their core services, including SEND services. Local authorities have the flexibility to spend according to local needs and priorities, including to undertake Education, Health and Care needs assessments.</p><p>Also, educational psychologists have a statutory duty to assess the needs of individual children and young people for EHCPs. We provide funding to train cohorts of educational psychologists. Since 2020, the number of trainees has increased from 160 to over 200 per year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 17/11/2021 16:11:55 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1367022

	registered interest
	date	08/11/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Disability: Children
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Autumn Spending Review 2021, what steps his Department is taking to measure how effective (a) education recovery and (b) other funding streams are in improving the mental and physical wellbeing of disabled children and parent carers.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	71434
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2021 answer text <p>As highlighted in the Disabled Children’s Partnership ‘Then There Was Silence’ report earlier this year, children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>Through the autumn Spending Review 2021, schools will receive an additional £4.7 billion in core funding in the 2024/25 financial year, including £1.6 billion for schools and high needs in 2022/23 on top of already planned increases from the 2019 Spending Review. This is equivalent to a total cash increase of £1,500 per pupil between 2019/20 and 2024/25; taking the total core schools budget to £56.8 billion in 2024/25.</p><p>This core funding sits alongside a further £1.8 billion dedicated to supporting young people to catch up on missed learning, following on from the existing investment in catch up for early years, schools and colleges, including for tutoring and teacher training opportunities. This includes a one-off £1 billion recovery premium for the next two academic years - 2022/23 and 2023/24 - to support disadvantaged pupils in all state-funded primary and secondary schools.</p><p>Outside of the Spending Review, specifically on mental health and wellbeing, the government announced on 5 March 2021 that as part of the £500 million for mental health recovery, £79 million will be used to significantly expand mental health services for children, including disabled children. £31 million will also be used to address particular challenges faced by individuals with a learning disability and autistic people, including £3 million for community respite services. For the 2021/22 academic year, the department is also providing more than £17 million to build on existing mental health support available in schools and colleges. This includes £9.5 million to enable up to a third of schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead, as part of our commitment to fund training for leads in all schools and colleges by 2025, and £7 million into our Wellbeing for Education Recovery programme, enabling local authorities to continue supporting schools and colleges to meet ongoing mental wellbeing.</p><p>The government also announced on 6 September 2021 an additional £5.4 billion for the NHS to support the COVID-19 response over the next six months, bringing the total government support for health services in response to COVID-19 to over £34 billion this year. This includes £2 billion to tackle the elective backlog, reducing waiting times for patients, including disabled children. We are providing over £42 million in 2021/22 to continue funding projects to support children with SEND including £27.3 million to the Family Fund in 2021/22 to support over 60,000 families on low incomes raising children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/11/2021 16:00:15 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1359243

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Disability
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Scope and the Disabled Children’s Partnership’s report, The gap widens, published in October 2021, which found that by funding additional investment in disabled children’s social care more disabled young people and parent carers would be able to access employment and education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic and social benefits from additional investment in disabled children’s social care.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	56263
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2021 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member for Bath to the answer given to Question <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-09-07/44424" target="_blank">44424</a>, on 14 September 2021.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 20/10/2021 15:54:22 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1640114

	registered interest
	date	24/05/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Programme for International Student Assessment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether schools in England will participate in the next PISA creative thinking assessment.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	186771
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2023 answer text <p>England did not participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 creative thinking assessment, the results of which will be published in 2024.</p><p>The organiser of PISA, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, has not announced whether the creative thinking assessment will be repeated in a future cycle of PISA.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 08/06/2023 15:15:06 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse

1519627

	registered interest
	date	10/10/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of sourcing more British produce for the School Fruit and Vegetable scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Bath
	tabling member printed	Wera Hobhouse
	uin	59978
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2022 answer text <p>In the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ food strategy, published in June 2022, the Government set out its commitment to conduct a review of the policy and delivery of the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme. The Department is working together with officials from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on the review. The scope of the programme and sustainability of produce will be factors for consideration.</p><p>The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is operated by a private contractor on behalf of DHSC. Seasonal produce is used as part of the scheme and organic produce may be used. Officials in DHSC and the Department have been working together in recent months on how the scheme might be improved in the future.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 59977 question first answered 14/11/2022 14:59:39 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4602 label Biography information for Wera Hobhouse