https://www.gov.uk/government/news/child-poverty-taskforce-kicks-off-urgent-work-to-publish-strategy-in-spring<\/a>.<\/p>The proposed Children\u2019s Wellbeing Bill will ensure education and children\u2019s social care systems transform life chances for millions of children and young people in England.<\/p>
The department will remove barriers to opportunity to ensure the school system is fair for every child. As announced in the King\u2019s Speech, under the Children\u2018s Wellbeing Bill, every primary school in England, will offer a free breakfast club. They will play an important role in driving up standards of attendance and attainment, ensuring children are able to listen and concentrate throughout the school day. Alongside removing a barrier to opportunity for every child and supporting families with the cost of living, breakfast clubs will also offer parents more choices in childcare. To ensure that every child, no matter their background, is well prepared for the school day, the department will limit the number of branded uniform items that a school can require.<\/p>
In addition to free school meals and the over £2.9 billion pupil premium funding, the department has also provided over £200 million of funding this year to all local authorities across England to deliver the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme in their area. This is to ensure that over the longer school holidays, children from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families are able to take up free childcare spaces, which offer healthy meals and enriching activities, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. This summer, the department anticipated that over three million HAF places would be provided to young people in this country.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4125", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Catherine McKinnell"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-09-02", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to help alleviate child poverty in Sherwood Forest constituency.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/5226", "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Sherwood Forest"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Michelle Welsh"}
], "uin" : "3907"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1723725", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1723725/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Child poverty has gone up by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. This not only harms children\u2019s lives now, but it also damages their future prospects and holds back the economic potential of the country.<\/p>
<\/p>
My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced the appointment of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education to be the joint leads of a new ministerial taskforce to begin work on a child poverty strategy. The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, to tackle the root causes and give every child the best start at life.<\/p>
<\/p>
This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and learning. The right support should be available to every young person that needs it, which is why the government will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.<\/p>
<\/p>
The government will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to speed-up access to treatment for children and adults.<\/p>"}
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, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-08-08T11:58:15.317Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-07-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce stress for children in poverty in schools and other educational settings in order to improve their mental health outcomes, and how they will assess the effectiveness of interventions in this area.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/542", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Touhig"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Touhig"}
], "uin" : "HL373"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1722303", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1722303/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Tackling child poverty, everywhere, is at the heart of breaking down barriers to opportunity and improving the life chances for every child. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper.<\/p>
<\/p>
Child poverty has gone up by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. This not only harms children\u2019s lives now, but it also damages their future prospects, and holds back our economic potential as a country.<\/p>
<\/p>
On 17 July 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced the appointment of the Secretary of State for Work and Pension and the Secretary of State for Education to be the joint leads of a new ministerial taskforce to begin work on a Child Poverty Strategy. The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start at life.<\/p>
<\/p>
The proposed Children\u2019s Wellbeing Bill will ensure education and children\u2019s social care systems transform life chances for millions of children and young people in England.<\/p>
<\/p>
The department will remove barriers to opportunity to ensure the school system is fair for every child. Every primary school, including those in Burton and Uttoxeter, will be required to provide free breakfast clubs. To ensure that every child, no matter their background, is well prepared for the school day, the department will limit the number of branded uniform items that a school can require.<\/p>
In addition to free school meals and the over £2.9 billion pupil premium funding, the department has also provided over £200 million of funding this year to all local authorities across England to deliver the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme in their area. This is to ensure that over summer holidays children from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families are able to take up free childcare spaces, which offer healthy meals and enriching activities, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. This summer, the department anticipates that over 3 million HAF places will be provided young people in this country.<\/p>
<\/p>"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-07-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she will take to help alleviate child poverty in Burton and Uttoxeter constituency.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/5077", "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Burton and Uttoxeter"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Jacob Collier"}
], "uin" : "842"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1701853", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1701853/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Spreading opportunity and ensuring every child can reach their potential no matter their background or where they live remains a key priority for the department. The department has a range of support in place for pupils, families and schools.<\/p>
<\/p>
Low-income families and children experiencing other forms of disadvantage can qualify for 15 hours free early education for 2 year olds, a year before all children become eligible for 15 hours at ages 3 and 4. These entitlements support children\u2019s development and helps prepare them for school.<\/p>
<\/p>
Within schools, the department has consistently taken steps to help economically disadvantaged pupils, including improving the quality of teaching and curriculum resources, strengthening the school system and providing targeted support where needed. Underpinning this is pupil premium, worth over £2.9 billion this year. In 2024/25, the department has targeted a greater proportion of schools National Funding Formula towards disadvantaged pupils than ever before; 10.2% (over £4.4 billion) of the formula has been allocated according to deprivation in 2024/25.<\/p>
<\/p>
To offer children from low-income families a free nutritious breakfast, the department is investing up to £35 million in the National School Breakfast Programme until the end of July 2025. This funding is reaching up to 2,700 primary and secondary schools in disadvantaged areas to better support attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn.<\/p>
<\/p>
Since 2021, the department has also provided more than £200 million of funding every year to local authorities across England for holiday provision for school-aged children from reception to year 11 (inclusive) who receive benefits-related free school meals and other families that most need it. The department has also published statutory guidance on the cost of school uniform to ensure uniform is affordable for all families.<\/p>
<\/p>
Family hubs are a one stop shop for families to get the help they need. They provide services for children of all ages, or between 0 to 19 or 0 to 25 for families with children who have special educational needs and disabilities, with a great Start for Life offer at their core.<\/p>
To support families with the cost of living in recent years, the government has provided one of the most generous support packages in Europe. The total support over 2022 to 2025 to help households and individuals with higher bills amounts to £108 billion, which is on average £3,800 per UK household.<\/p>
<\/p>"}
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, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "David Johnston"}
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, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Education"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-04-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Children: Poverty"}
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, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support (a) pre-school, (b) primary school and (c) secondary school-aged children living in poverty other than through the provision of free school meals.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4471", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rachael Maskell"}
}
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, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Rachael Maskell"}
], "uin" : "22337"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1701857", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1701857/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
This government published \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019 in February 2023. \u2018Stable Homes, Built on Love\u2019 is an implementation strategy and consultation that sets out the department\u2019s plans to reform children\u2019s social care. It set out how the department will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships and opportunities for a good life.<\/p>
This government has announced over £1 billion for programmes to improve early help services, including delivering on Family Hubs and helping families facing multiple disadvantage through the Supporting Families programme and Holiday Activities and Food programme.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programme is investing £84 million over five years between 2019 and 2024 to support 17 local authorities to adopt improvement approaches that have strong evidence of reducing the numbers of children requiring statutory support and entering care.<\/p>
<\/p>
The department is also testing innovative new approaches to provide earlier help to families when they face challenges through the Families First for Children Pathfinder.<\/p>
Over recent years, this government has demonstrated its commitment to supporting the most vulnerable with one of the largest support packages in Europe. The total support over 2022 to 2025 to help households and individuals with higher bills amounts to £108 billion, which is an average of £3,800 per UK household.<\/p>
<\/p>
Through an extension of the Household Support Fund, local authorities in England will receive an additional £421 million to support those in need locally, including supporting vulnerable households with the cost of essentials such as food and utilities.<\/p>
<\/p>"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2024-04-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to provide support for children living in poverty who are at risk of being taken into the care system.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4471", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rachael Maskell"}
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, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Rachael Maskell"}
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, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1643861", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1643861/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The department has evaluated the impact of poverty on educational outcomes. The evidence shows that disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs are more likely to fall behind and need extra support to reach their full potential. That is why the department has a range of support in place to support pupils, families, and schools.<\/p>
The Schools White Paper set out a long-term vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time. This is founded on achieving world-class literacy and numeracy. We are also investing in 55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs), including Portsmouth, where outcomes in literacy and numeracy are the poorest. In these areas, we will implement a package of measures to drive school improvement and improve pupil outcomes. Portsmouth is also one of the 24 Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) where the department will make more intensive investment on top of the significant support available to all EIAs. PEIAs are a subset of EIAs that have particularly low attainment and high rates of disadvantage.<\/p>
More widely, the government is committed to closing the disadvantage gap. This government\u2019s work for the ten years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic showed that progress can be made to narrow the gap, and that the department\u2019s policies and programmes are making an impact. We will continue to monitor progress and to deliver programmes designed to help disadvantaged pupils, for example through the Pupil Premium, introduced in 2011, and worth over £2.9 billion in 2023/24.<\/p>
Thanks to the measures brought in by this government, we have driven up school standards across the country. 88% of schools are now rated \u2018Good\u2019 or \u2018Outstanding\u2019. The rate of improvement has been even greater in Portsmouth, where there has been an increase in schools reaching this high bar of 36% over the course of this government.<\/p>
In 2018, the department launched the £60 million English Hubs Programme. The 34 English Hubs are primary schools which are rated outstanding at teaching early reading. Since its launch, the English Hubs Programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousands of schools across England. Schools supported as partner schools outperformed non-partner schools by around 7 percentage points, when comparing the change in year 1 phonics screening check results between pre-COVID-19 pandemic and 2022.<\/p>
Portsmouth\u2019s local English Hub, Springhill English Hub, is working hard to engage and support primary schools across Portsmouth to improve the teaching of phonics, including offering showcase events especially for Portsmouth schools. The Hub has supported four schools in the city, with another six expected to become partner schools in September 2023.<\/p>
Schools within Portsmouth are also supported by Solent Maths Hub. Maths Hubs aim to raise the standard of mathematics education from reception through to A level, and harness mathematics leadership and expertise within an area to develop and spread excellent practice, for the benefit of all students. Maths Hubs use their networks to deliver a range of Continued Professional Development in mathematics to schools in their geographical patch.<\/p>
In April 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced plans to extend the £100 million Teaching for Mastery programme to reach 75% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools by 2025. This was accompanied by plans to provide more intensive Maths Hubs support to schools that need it most, including in Priority Education Investment Areas, to continue driving up the quality of mathematics teaching in schools.<\/p>
Outcomes, as measured by international comparison studies, show improvements in key subjects like reading and maths. Most recently, England came fourth out of the 43 countries that tested children of the same age, in the Progress in International Literacy Study (PIRLS), with an average score of 558.<\/p>
Providing support for vulnerable children and young people is a priority for this government. We recognise the strain that families are under and will continue to work collaboratively with local areas to ensure children, young people, and families have access to the support they need, for instance to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and in support of cost of living pressures. Many of the department\u2019s recovery programmes, including the Recovery Premium, are especially focused on helping the most disadvantaged. Funding for the National Tutoring Programme is also allocated on the basis of disadvantage. The department\u2019s guidance to schools highlights the help to those students in particular.<\/p>
The government spends over £1 billion annually delivering free school meals (FSM) to pupils in schools, as the provision of nutritious food ensures pupils are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits, and can concentrate and learn. In addition, the department has extended the National School Breakfast programme for another year until July 2024. Overall, we are investing up to £30 million in the programme, covering the period from July 2021 to July 2024. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing, and readiness to learn.<\/p>
This Government has extended FSM eligibility several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. The department provides free meals for 2 million disadvantaged pupils through the benefits-related criteria. Combined with almost 1.3 million infant pupils who also receive an FSM through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, this accounts for over one third of all pupils in school, compared to one sixth of pupils in 2010.<\/p>
This year, the department is again investing over £200 million in the Holiday Activities and Food programme, with all local authorities in England delivering in the Easter, summer, and Christmas holidays. The programme provides healthy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their physical and mental health and wellbeing.<\/p>"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of recent trends in child poverty in Portsmouth South constituency.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4653", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Stephen Morgan"}
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