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1141044

registered interest
date	22/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education: Rural Areas
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) adequacy of funding available for rural pre-schools and (b) quality of the learning environment for children attending a rural pre-school.
tabling member constituency	South Northamptonshire
tabling member printed	Andrea Leadsom
uin	280303
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>We plan to spend around £3.5 billion on our early education entitlements this year alone, more than any previous government. The government recognises the need to keep the evidence base on costs up to date.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to monitor the provider market closely through a range of regular and one-off research projects which provide insight into various aspects of the provider market. That includes the 2018 Early Years Provider Costs report, which looked at a representative sample of providers, both in terms of provider type and geography, and which can be found at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-statistics</a>.</p><p> </p><p>As at 31 March 2019, 95% of early years providers were rated “Good” or “Outstanding” by Ofsted, compared with 68% in 2010. This information can be found at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-statistics</a>.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 24/07/2019 11:27:22 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom

1141046

registered interest
date	22/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education: Training
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 effect on pre-schools of the removal of funding for training of pre-school staff to level 3 standard.
tabling member constituency	South Northamptonshire
tabling member printed	Andrea Leadsom
uin	280305
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>Funding for training of pre-school staff to level 3 has not been removed.</p><p>Employers can access up to £6,000 for level 3 Early Years Educator apprenticeship training and employers are only required to pay 5% of the costs of training and assessing an apprentice. A link to the apprenticeship standards for Early Years Educator apprenticeship training can be found here: <a href="https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/early-years-educator/" target="_blank">https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/early-years-educator/</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 24/07/2019 11:06:17 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom

1141047

registered interest
date	22/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education: Rural Areas
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 adequacy of the staff to children ratio at pre-schools in rural areas.
tabling member constituency	South Northamptonshire
tabling member printed	Andrea Leadsom
uin	280306
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>The statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (EYFS) sets the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five years of age. This includes the minimum staff to child ratios that all early years providers must comply with, which is referenced in section 3 of the framework here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/596629/EYFS_STATUTORY_FRAMEWORK_2017.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/596629/EYFS_STATUTORY_FRAMEWORK_2017.pdf</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Ofsted inspects early years settings against the EYFS statutory framework, which includes ensuring that safeguarding and welfare requirements are being met. As at 31 March 2019, 95% of early years providers were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, up from 68% in 2010.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 24/07/2019 11:48:32 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom

1141140

registered interest
date	22/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Cricket
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase participation in cricket in state schools.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	280224
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>The physical education (PE) national curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time and lead healthy and active lives.</p><p> </p><p>State schools are free to organise and deliver a diverse and challenging PE curriculum that suits the needs of all their pupils. Cricket is specifically listed as an example of a sport that can provide important elements of the PE national curriculum programme of study in key stages 2 to 4.</p><p> </p><p>The recently announced School Sport and Activity Action Plan includes additional support for schools to open their facilities over the holidays and after hours to encourage every child to find a sport they love. The government will update the action plan in the light of the outcome of the forthcoming Spending Review and will work with sports governing bodies, including the England and Wales Cricket Board, in developing the proposals.</p><p> </p><p>Through the Essential Life Skills fund, the department has recently provided £75,000 to the national cricket charity, Chance to Shine, to deliver extra-curricular sport to young people in Stoke-on-Trent, one of the department’s 12 Opportunity Areas. In addition, Sport England supports children and young people in England by ensuring that there is a good sports and activity offer before and after the school day. This includes investing £28 million into Satellite Clubs between 2017 and 2021, some of which are cricket clubs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 24/07/2019 11:39:24 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1140517

registered interest
date	19/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Mental Health Services
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 adequacy of funding for resources to engage parents and carers of children in receipt of therapeutic services within school; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	High Peak
tabling member printed	Ruth George
uin	279406
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>The department places a high priority on supporting parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).</p><p>Engaging parents fully in determining support for children with SEND is a critical part of the SEND reforms. Section 19 of the Children and Families Act places a duty on local authorities and others to listen to and take account of the views of parents in SEND matters.</p><p>The department continues to support families by funding parent carer forums (PCF) in each local authority area, providing £15,000 per year per PCF. The department also funds plus £1.9 million per year until March 2020 to support strategic participation and co-production with local authorities and other partners, by parents and young people through the charity Contact.</p><p>The department is also providing £20 million until March 2020 to improve the quality of local authority SEND Information, Advice and Support Services (IASS), and to provide a national helpline and online support.</p><p>The IASS support builds on the £60m per year Independent Supporters programme (between 2014-18), which provided support to families going through the Education, Health and Care needs assessment and plan process.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 24/07/2019 11:30:22 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1140573

registered interest
date	19/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Department for Education: Credit Unions
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 9 July 2019 to Question 271327, for what reasons his Department does not offer a payroll deduction service to enable employees to join a credit union; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Harrow West
tabling member printed	Gareth Thomas
uin	279363
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>The department does not have the facility to allow staff to join a credit union through payroll deductions. This is because our employees have access to many other means of support including: arrangements to contribute to a credit union via direct debit; the opportunity to request salary advances; season ticket loans; and a tenancy rental deposit scheme. The department also encourages staff to make use of the Employee Assistance Programme to access support and advice on financial management where required.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 24/07/2019 11:25:27 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	177 label Biography information for Gareth Thomas

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

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

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