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984783

registered interest
date	10/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education: Carers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support young carers with their education in the (a) North East of England and (b) UK.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
uin	177691
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/10/2018 answer text <p>The government is committed to supporting young carers; to improve their health and wellbeing, and to protect them from excessive or inappropriate caring responsibilities that can impact on their education.</p><p> </p><p>In June, the cross-government Carers Action Plan, a two-year programme of tailored work to support unpaid carers of all ages, was launched: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carers-action-plan-2018-to-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carers-action-plan-2018-to-2020</a>. Section 3 sets out the government’s actions specifically to support young carers. This includes plans to improve: identification of young carers; educational opportunities and outcomes; access to support and services; and transition for young adult carers. In delivering on these commitments, together with the Department for Health and Social Care, the Department for Education is currently inviting bids to undertake a review of best practice in identifying young carers.</p><p> </p><p>This action builds on significant changes to the law through the Children and Families Act 2014, to improve how young carers and their families are identified and supported.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 15/10/2018 16:46:13 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

984919

registered interest
date	10/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has carried out an assessment of the potential effect of the end of transitional funding on the number of maintained nursery schools in England.
tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton North East
tabling member printed	Emma Reynolds
uin	177680
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/10/2018 answer text <p>Maintained nursery schools (MNS) make an important contribution to improving the lives of some of our most disadvantaged children. In recognition of the costs that MNS experience over and above other providers, we are providing supplementary funding - additional to funding received under the Early Years National Funding Formula (EYNFF), of around £60 million a year to enable local authorities to protect MNS pre-EYNFF funding levels at least until 2019-20.</p><p>Decisions about what happens after that will be taken as part of the next Spending Review and informed by research we are carrying out on the value that MNS offer.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 15/10/2018 16:43:29 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4077 label Biography information for Emma Reynolds

984530

registered interest
date	09/10/2018
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, how many children access 30 hours childcare in maintained nursery schools.
tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
uin	177331
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/10/2018 answer text <p>In January 2018, 8,882 three and four-year-old children benefitted from extended early education in maintained nursery schools. This information is published in Table 3LA of the 'Provision for children under 5 years of age, January 2018' statistical publication: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/education-provision-children-under-5-years-of-age-january-2018</a>.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 15/10/2018 14:03:31 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

984541

registered interest
date	09/10/2018
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care: Suicide
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children living in social care died by suicide in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Wavertree
tabling member printed	Luciana Berger
uin	177282
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/10/2018 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally.</p><p>Figures on looked after children who died in each year can be found in Table D1 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2016 to 2017’ at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2016-to-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2016-to-2017</a> but the cause of each death is not collected.</p><p>The number of reviews of child deaths with a category of ‘suicide or deliberate self-inflicted harm’ for the year ending 31 March 2017 is given in Table 4 of the statistical release ‘Child death reviews: year ending 31 March 2017’ at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-death-reviews-year-ending-31-march-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-death-reviews-year-ending-31-march-2017</a> but this is not limited to looked after children.</p><p>We recognise that this is a very serious issue, and we are piloting new approaches to the assessment of mental health needs that looked-after children receive on entry to care – ensuring that their individual needs are understood and at the centre of the process. Up to 10 sites across the country will benefit from a share of £650,000 to deliver this scheme. The expression of interest for pilots went live 24 September and the deadline for applications is set for noon 19 October. We welcome the appointment of Jackie Doyle Price as suicide prevention minister.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 15/10/2018 13:34:06 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4036 label Biography information for Luciana Berger

982526

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	Academies: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve financial transparancy in academy trusts.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	176650
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2018 answer text <p>The department requires a high level of transparency of academy trusts. All academy trusts must have an annual independent audit of their annual accounts by a registered statutory auditor and academy trusts must be open and transparent and publish their accounts. This is not a requirement of local authority maintained schools.</p><p> </p><p>Academy trusts must prepare annual accounts. This provides considerably more information than other schools and provides a far higher level of public scrutiny than is required of local authority schools. Their financial performance is instead summarised within the authorities’ accounts. In addition, academy trusts are audited externally to international auditing standards, again this is not required of local authority schools.</p><p> </p><p>The department also publishes the ‘Consolidated Annual Report and Accounts’, based on returns from all academies in England. The reports are available for public scrutiny at GOV.UK. The most recent report covering 2015/16 is available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academies-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academies-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016</a>. We aim to publish the report for 2016/17 in October.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 11/10/2018 16:38:25 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

982528

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	Academies: Construction
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to monitor and evaluate the work done by contractors on academy schools for quality assurance purposes.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	176651
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/10/2018 answer text <p>For capital projects delivered by the Department for Education, there is a structured process, with proven integrity, for ensuring that projects are procured and designed in accordance with the user’s operational needs. Contractors are also obliged to demonstrate how their designs meet the prescribed Output Specification. Independent Technical Advisers further give assurance by certifying that milestones are completed prior to payments being made to the contractors. In addition there is an agreed strategy of Post Occupancy Evaluation, to check user satisfaction and build quality at new or refurbished schools, once they are in use. Every school completed by the department is also subject to a Building Performance Evaluation, which includes energy and operational effectiveness assessment. For works delivered by academy trusts or other responsible bodies outside of the department’s programmes the contracting party will be responsible for ensuring contractor performance.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 11/10/2018 16:40:23 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

982529

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	Academies: 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 BBC Panorama investigation entitled Profits before Pupils? broadcast on 13th September 2018, whether his Department plans to review financial governance in academies.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	176652
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>Academy trusts have primary responsibility for their own financial affairs and the department’s relationship with them is based on the principle of self-governance, founded on a clear framework communicated and regulated by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), through trusts’ funding agreement and the Academies Financial Handbook. If academy trusts are governed well and in accordance with the framework then the Secretary of State’s interaction with them will be limited. If not, then intervention may be required.</p><p> </p><p>Academy trusts must implement the right financial procedures including internal checks of compliance. They must have an audit committee, or equivalent, to manage their risks and oversee checks of systems of control. They must take ownership of balancing their budget and send a copy to the ESFA in advance of each year.</p><p> </p><p>These requirements are strengthened by external scrutiny – academy trusts’ annual accounts must be reviewed by an independent auditor. This makes oversight more independent and more transparent than for local authority schools who are not required to prepare individual statutory accounts – their financial performance is instead summarised within the authorities’ accounts.</p><p> </p><p>We are not, however, complacent and are continually looking to develop and strengthen our approach. The Academies Financial Handbook is strengthened annually to enhance the accountability and governance framework. The department published a new edition in June 2018 and the main changes were:</p><ul><li>Executive pay – even more focus on the board’s responsibility for ensuring decisions about senior leaders’ pay are proportionate, justifiable and clearly documented.</li><li>Related party transactions (RPTs) – embedding a new requirement for trusts to report all RPTs to the ESFA in advance and to seek approval for those over £20,000.</li><li>Management accounts – emphasising a rigorous approach to setting and monitoring financial plans, including board engagement.</li><li>Audit findings – being clear that trusts must respond in an appropriate and timely manner to advice from auditors, taking opportunities to strengthen their systems.</li></ul> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 16/10/2018 09:28:57 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

982581

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	Pupils: Hearing Impairment
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 11 September 2018 to Question 169059 on Pupils: Hearing Impairment, what proportion of that funding has been made available to the recruitment and retention of Teachers of the Deaf.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	175975
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>The funding made available through the new Department for Education contracts covers a wide range of activity designed to support the education workforce, support families, and support local authorities and their partners. Within this, £3.4 million has been provided for the special educational needs and disability (SEND) Schools’ Workforce contract, a strand of which is a study to understand the supply, demand and drivers for SEND continuing professional development (CPD). Also included is an exercise to map access to CPD and an analysis of the gaps in training and resources available to schools. The aim of the contract is to ensure that all teachers are equipped to respond to the needs of their pupils, including those with hearing impairment.</p><p> </p><p>Supporting teachers of pupils with sensory impairment is part of the contract, but direct funding for Teachers of the Deaf is not included in this activity and the department does not fund the training of Teachers of the Deaf. It is up to local authorities to work with the schools in their area to identify the nature of specialist support services they commission according to the needs of schools in their authority. The SEND Code of Practice makes clear that all local authorities are required to publish a local offer, which sets out information about provision they expect to be available for children and young people with SEND in their area. The local offer must include relevant regional and national specialist provision, such as provision for children and young people with low-incidence and more complex special educational needs (SEN).</p><p> </p><p>Under the SEND Schools’ Workforce contract, eight regional hubs will be created, consisting of a Regional and Deputy Regional SEND Leader in each region. Their role is to identify and bring together local SEND networks and to support school improvement, including condition specific networks. As part of that work, they will make links with the SEND leads in local authorities and will use those discussions to identify weaknesses and priorities for school improvement in the area.</p><p> </p><p>Our work with the whole school SEND programme will help us understand the gaps in training and resources available to schools to support pupils with SEND, including the needs of mainstream schools to support pupils with hearing impairments. As we review the conclusions of that analysis, we will also consider the information received from the National Deaf Children’s Society on trends in the recruitment of Teachers of the Deaf.</p><p> </p><p>The department is reviewing recruitment and retention data to understand whether special schools and alternative providers are facing teacher shortages and how this compares to mainstream teaching as part of a wider focus on teacher recruitment and retention.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 175976 175977 question first answered 16/10/2018 10:45:10 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

982582

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	Special Educational Needs: Hearing Impairment
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 11 September 2018 to Question 169059 on Pupils: Hearing Impairment, whether the new SEND regional leads have been tasked with engaging with local authority specialist education services for deaf children.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	175976
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>The funding made available through the new Department for Education contracts covers a wide range of activity designed to support the education workforce, support families, and support local authorities and their partners. Within this, £3.4 million has been provided for the special educational needs and disability (SEND) Schools’ Workforce contract, a strand of which is a study to understand the supply, demand and drivers for SEND continuing professional development (CPD). Also included is an exercise to map access to CPD and an analysis of the gaps in training and resources available to schools. The aim of the contract is to ensure that all teachers are equipped to respond to the needs of their pupils, including those with hearing impairment.</p><p> </p><p>Supporting teachers of pupils with sensory impairment is part of the contract, but direct funding for Teachers of the Deaf is not included in this activity and the department does not fund the training of Teachers of the Deaf. It is up to local authorities to work with the schools in their area to identify the nature of specialist support services they commission according to the needs of schools in their authority. The SEND Code of Practice makes clear that all local authorities are required to publish a local offer, which sets out information about provision they expect to be available for children and young people with SEND in their area. The local offer must include relevant regional and national specialist provision, such as provision for children and young people with low-incidence and more complex special educational needs (SEN).</p><p> </p><p>Under the SEND Schools’ Workforce contract, eight regional hubs will be created, consisting of a Regional and Deputy Regional SEND Leader in each region. Their role is to identify and bring together local SEND networks and to support school improvement, including condition specific networks. As part of that work, they will make links with the SEND leads in local authorities and will use those discussions to identify weaknesses and priorities for school improvement in the area.</p><p> </p><p>Our work with the whole school SEND programme will help us understand the gaps in training and resources available to schools to support pupils with SEND, including the needs of mainstream schools to support pupils with hearing impairments. As we review the conclusions of that analysis, we will also consider the information received from the National Deaf Children’s Society on trends in the recruitment of Teachers of the Deaf.</p><p> </p><p>The department is reviewing recruitment and retention data to understand whether special schools and alternative providers are facing teacher shortages and how this compares to mainstream teaching as part of a wider focus on teacher recruitment and retention.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 175975 175977 question first answered 16/10/2018 10:45:10 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

982583

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	Pupils: Hearing Impairment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the adequacy of the number of Teachers of the Deaf.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	175977
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/10/2018 answer text <p>The funding made available through the new Department for Education contracts covers a wide range of activity designed to support the education workforce, support families, and support local authorities and their partners. Within this, £3.4 million has been provided for the special educational needs and disability (SEND) Schools’ Workforce contract, a strand of which is a study to understand the supply, demand and drivers for SEND continuing professional development (CPD). Also included is an exercise to map access to CPD and an analysis of the gaps in training and resources available to schools. The aim of the contract is to ensure that all teachers are equipped to respond to the needs of their pupils, including those with hearing impairment.</p><p> </p><p>Supporting teachers of pupils with sensory impairment is part of the contract, but direct funding for Teachers of the Deaf is not included in this activity and the department does not fund the training of Teachers of the Deaf. It is up to local authorities to work with the schools in their area to identify the nature of specialist support services they commission according to the needs of schools in their authority. The SEND Code of Practice makes clear that all local authorities are required to publish a local offer, which sets out information about provision they expect to be available for children and young people with SEND in their area. The local offer must include relevant regional and national specialist provision, such as provision for children and young people with low-incidence and more complex special educational needs (SEN).</p><p> </p><p>Under the SEND Schools’ Workforce contract, eight regional hubs will be created, consisting of a Regional and Deputy Regional SEND Leader in each region. Their role is to identify and bring together local SEND networks and to support school improvement, including condition specific networks. As part of that work, they will make links with the SEND leads in local authorities and will use those discussions to identify weaknesses and priorities for school improvement in the area.</p><p> </p><p>Our work with the whole school SEND programme will help us understand the gaps in training and resources available to schools to support pupils with SEND, including the needs of mainstream schools to support pupils with hearing impairments. As we review the conclusions of that analysis, we will also consider the information received from the National Deaf Children’s Society on trends in the recruitment of Teachers of the Deaf.</p><p> </p><p>The department is reviewing recruitment and retention data to understand whether special schools and alternative providers are facing teacher shortages and how this compares to mainstream teaching as part of a wider focus on teacher recruitment and retention.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 175975 175976 question first answered 16/10/2018 10:45:10 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead