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1093507

registered interest
date	22/03/2019
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 additional financial support his Department provides to local authorities that experience a significant increase in the number of looked-after children under their care.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	235757
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2019 answer text <p>Funding for children’s services is made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS), which gives local authorities flexibility to target spending according to local needs and to fulfil their statutory responsibilities, including services for looked-after children.</p><p> </p><p>Over the five-year period to 2019-20, councils have access, through the LGFS, to over £200 billion to deliver local services, including children’s services. Core spending power has increased from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4 billion in 2019-20.</p><p> </p><p>Social worker caseload data is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childrens-social-work-workforce-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childrens-social-work-workforce-2018</a>. The average caseload per children and family social worker was 17.4 cases (based on full-time equivalent counts) in 2018. Specific data on the ratios for social workers working with looked after children is not available.</p><p> </p><p>Along with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, we regularly meet key stakeholders, including Directors of Children’s Services, to discuss children’s services. Officials in regional teams also meet local authorities regularly and the most recent meeting with Durham County Council was earlier this month.</p><p> </p><p>The department recognises how important it is to speak directly with those who are delivering services for children and families and we are working between now and the Spending Review to get a sharper and more granular picture of children’s services costs and pressures.</p><p> </p><p>We are also, through our ‘Strengthening Families, Protecting Children’ programme, investing £84 million over the next 5 years to support up to 20 local authorities with high or rising demand for children’s social care to work more effectively with their most vulnerable families.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 235789 235790 question first answered 27/03/2019 16:59:08 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1093508

registered interest
date	22/03/2019
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 recent assessment he has made of the average caseload ratios for social workers working with looked-after children.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	235789
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2019 answer text <p>Funding for children’s services is made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS), which gives local authorities flexibility to target spending according to local needs and to fulfil their statutory responsibilities, including services for looked-after children.</p><p> </p><p>Over the five-year period to 2019-20, councils have access, through the LGFS, to over £200 billion to deliver local services, including children’s services. Core spending power has increased from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4 billion in 2019-20.</p><p> </p><p>Social worker caseload data is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childrens-social-work-workforce-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childrens-social-work-workforce-2018</a>. The average caseload per children and family social worker was 17.4 cases (based on full-time equivalent counts) in 2018. Specific data on the ratios for social workers working with looked after children is not available.</p><p> </p><p>Along with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, we regularly meet key stakeholders, including Directors of Children’s Services, to discuss children’s services. Officials in regional teams also meet local authorities regularly and the most recent meeting with Durham County Council was earlier this month.</p><p> </p><p>The department recognises how important it is to speak directly with those who are delivering services for children and families and we are working between now and the Spending Review to get a sharper and more granular picture of children’s services costs and pressures.</p><p> </p><p>We are also, through our ‘Strengthening Families, Protecting Children’ programme, investing £84 million over the next 5 years to support up to 20 local authorities with high or rising demand for children’s social care to work more effectively with their most vulnerable families.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 235757 235790 question first answered 27/03/2019 16:59:08 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1093509

registered interest
date	22/03/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care: County Durham
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had had with Durham County Council on managing the increase in the number of looked-after children in County Durham.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	235790
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2019 answer text <p>Funding for children’s services is made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS), which gives local authorities flexibility to target spending according to local needs and to fulfil their statutory responsibilities, including services for looked-after children.</p><p> </p><p>Over the five-year period to 2019-20, councils have access, through the LGFS, to over £200 billion to deliver local services, including children’s services. Core spending power has increased from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4 billion in 2019-20.</p><p> </p><p>Social worker caseload data is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childrens-social-work-workforce-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childrens-social-work-workforce-2018</a>. The average caseload per children and family social worker was 17.4 cases (based on full-time equivalent counts) in 2018. Specific data on the ratios for social workers working with looked after children is not available.</p><p> </p><p>Along with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, we regularly meet key stakeholders, including Directors of Children’s Services, to discuss children’s services. Officials in regional teams also meet local authorities regularly and the most recent meeting with Durham County Council was earlier this month.</p><p> </p><p>The department recognises how important it is to speak directly with those who are delivering services for children and families and we are working between now and the Spending Review to get a sharper and more granular picture of children’s services costs and pressures.</p><p> </p><p>We are also, through our ‘Strengthening Families, Protecting Children’ programme, investing £84 million over the next 5 years to support up to 20 local authorities with high or rising demand for children’s social care to work more effectively with their most vulnerable families.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 235757 235789 question first answered 27/03/2019 16:59:08 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1050120

registered interest
date	28/01/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Social Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will link the funding of local authority children's services to levels of demand.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	213328
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2019 answer text <p>The department is working alongside the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the sector as part of the review of relative needs and resources to develop a robust, up to date approach to funding distribution for children's services, which will determine new baseline funding allocations for local authorities in England in 2020-21.<strong><br> <br> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 31/01/2019 17:37:49 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1050121

registered interest
date	28/01/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Social Work: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will (a) set a recommended social worker caseload figure and (b) provide funding to reduce the average caseloads of such workers.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	213329
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>Local authorities are best placed to determine appropriate social worker caseload levels, taking into account their particular local needs, circumstances and structures. We are clear, however, that social worker caseloads must be manageable, so that social workers are able to make effective interventions to improve the lives of vulnerable children.</p><p>We are supporting local authorities to consider how they can best manage delivery of services so that resources are used effectively, including through our £200 million investment in the Innovation Programme. In addition, the Autumn Budget announced an extra £410 million in 2019-20 for local authorities to invest in adult and children’s social care services. We are also investing £84 million, over five years, in targeted, evidence-based interventions to unlock better work with vulnerable children and their families. This will save money for local authorities and improve the quality of services for our most vulnerable children. We will consider long-term children’s services funding at the forthcoming spending review.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 05/02/2019 17:49:28 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1050124

registered interest
date	28/01/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care: County Durham
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children have been transferred into County Durham from other local authorities.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	213332
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>Information requested on the number of looked after children who have been transferred into County Durham from other local authorities is not held centrally.</p><p>During the year ending 31 March 2018, 560 children in England ceased care because they had been transferred into the care of another local authority. This figure is published in table D1 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>. However, there is no universal child identifier which allows us to consistently track the movement of a looked after child between local authorities as children will receive a new identifier in the new local authority.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 05/02/2019 17:42:16 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

983369

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupil Premium
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, will he will make it his policy to extend the provisions of the pupil premium to disadvantaged students moving from secondary to further education.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	176247
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>The national funding formula for 16 to 19 year olds includes extra funding for disadvantaged students. This is provided to institutions specifically for students with low prior attainment or for students who live in the most disadvantaged areas.</p><p>In the period 2017 to 2018, around £520 million was allocated to provide extra support to disadvantaged students. We also provided student support funding to help disadvantaged young people to access education and training.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 16/10/2018 15:01:13 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

972313

registered interest
date	12/09/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupil Premium
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 10 September 2018 to Question 170788 on Schools: Fees and Charges, what information his Department holds on the use of the pupil premium by schools to support children from low-income families.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	174029
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/10/2018 answer text <p>The department has commissioned and published research on how schools are using the pupil premium funding that they have been allocated, to support pupils from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. For example, in 2015, a report was published detailing the findings of research led by the National Foundation for Educational Research. This looked at the strategies used by schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and the characteristics of those schools in which such pupils have better outcomes . This report is available at:</p><p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473974/DFE-RR411_Supporting_the_attainment_of_disadvantaged_pupils.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/473974/DFE-RR411_Supporting_the_attainment_of_disadvantaged_pupils.pdf</a>.</p><p>In monitoring the progress of our policy, we also take into account, evidence from research commissioned and carried out by other organisations on how schools are using the pupil premium. These organisations include the National Audit Office, which in 2015 published the findings of it’s inquiry into funding for disadvantaged pupils, which is available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/report/funding-for-disadvantaged-pupils/" target="_blank">https://www.nao.org.uk/report/funding-for-disadvantaged-pupils/</a>.</p><p>The Sutton Trust also publishes annually the results of its polling of teachers and school leaders on school priorities for spending the pupil premium, the most recent results of which, are available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/best-in-class-2018-research/" target="_blank">https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/best-in-class-2018-research/</a>.</p><p>Policy officials also engage in ongoing discussions with schools on how they are using their pupil premium funding, in order to inform the development of our policy.</p><p>Furthermore, all local authority maintained schools publish details online for parents and other stakeholders, on how much pupil premium funding they have been allocated, how they are spending this funding to overcome the barriers to academic progress encountered by disadvantaged pupils and the impact this expenditure is having on eligible pupils.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 09/10/2018 09:51:31 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

971479

registered interest
date	10/09/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Period Poverty
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 school days missed by girls due to being unable to afford sanitary products.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	172594
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2018 answer text <p>In March 2018, the department produced additional analysis of its absence statistics which show that while absence rates amongst girls do increase after a certain age, there is no evidence to suggest that this is related to pupils being disadvantaged. This suggests period poverty does not have a significant, nation-wide impact on attendance. The department would like to find out more information on these issues so has included questions relating to period poverty in the 2018 surveys for pupils and senior school leaders.</p><p> </p><p>The government has awarded more than £1.6 million from the £15 million Tampon Tax Fund to Brook Young People, who will educate girls about menstruation and hand out pre-paid cards allowing girls and young women in need to access free sanitary products.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 17/09/2018 15:11:09 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi previous answer version 75800 answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

971500

registered interest
date	10/09/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Apprentices
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 trends in the level of apprenticeship starts since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in April 2017.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	172610
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/09/2018 answer text <p>From May 2017 to the end of April 2018, there were 338,500 apprenticeship starts. Rigorous apprenticeship standards accounted for just over 40 per cent of all starts reported in the first three quarters of the 2017/18 academic year, compared to just 2.5 per cent in the same reporting period in 2016/17. These new standards are driven by employers to provide high quality training, which will lead to increased productivity at every level and equip apprentices with the skills they need to progress in their careers.</p><p>During the first three quarters of 2017/18, the fall in starts has been greatest at level 2, whilst we have seen the numbers of starts at higher levels (4 and above) rise by nearly 13 per cent. This is good news; it shows a healthier balance across apprenticeships at all levels, helping people progress to higher skills.</p><p> </p><p>Please note, that the figures reported in the 2017/18 academic year are based on provisional in-year data and are subject to change until the final data is reported in November 2018.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 17/09/2018 15:30:51 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris