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1715615

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Care Homes: Lancashire
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for trends in the number of new children’s residential homes that have been established in Lancashire.
tabling member constituency	Fylde
tabling member printed	Mark Menzies
uin	24651
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>It is the decision of children’s homes providers to decide on the location and type of building that they wish to use to accommodate children in care. As part of Ofsted’s registration process, children’s homes providers are required to undertake a location assessment, which must show the steps that have been taken to ensure the location is safe and promotes positive opportunities for children. The department recognises the need to ensure there are the right children’s homes in the right places.</p><p> </p><p>As announced in the Spring Budget 2023, the department is continuing to invest in the children’s homes market to provide high quality, safe homes for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in all nine regions of England.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to taking forward the recommendations made by the Care Review and the Competition and Markets Authority, the department is also developing proposals on what more can be done to combat profiteering, bring down costs and create a more sustainable market for residential placements.</p><p> </p><p>The department is developing options regarding the planning of children’s homes and thanks Fylde Council colleagues for their continued engagement in this process.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 09/05/2024 16:44:20 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	3998 label Biography information for Mark Menzies

1715710

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Sure Start Programme
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 29 April (HL3846), what plans they have to (1) roll out Family Hubs to the remaining 242 local authorities, and (2) sustain the funding for the Family Hubs programme beyond 2025.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Leicester
uin	HL4339
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2024 answer text <p>The department is currently investing around £300 million in 75 local authorities, half of all upper tier local authorities in England, to transform to a Family Hub model. Funding has been targeted to the most deprived local authorities, ensuring families get the support they need.</p><p>The department has also invested in a £12 million transformation fund to open Family Hubs in 13 additional local authorities in England.</p><p>All 88 local authorities now have opened at least one Family Hub, with over 400 government-funded Family Hub sites now open across the country.</p><p> </p><p>Further funding for the current programmes is dependent on future fiscal events. It was confirmed at Spring Budget that the next spending review will come after a General Election, the timing of which is still to be determined.</p><p>The government would like to see Family Hubs across the country, but it is crucial that the department now focuses on delivering well in these local authorities and building the evidence base.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 17/05/2024 13:57:10 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	4947 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Leicester

1715743

registered interest
date	02/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make provision in England which is similar to the Childcare Offer for Wales, and whether they have had discussions with the Welsh Government in that regard.
tabling member printed	Baroness Smith of Llanfaes
uin	HL4361
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2024 answer text <p>Through the English government’s transformative childcare reforms, the department will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.  The childcare expansion is being rolled out in phases, with over 210,000 children now benefitting since the launch of the first phase in April. The next stage in September 2024 will extend this to children aged from 9 months. By September 2025, eligible working parents will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare from the term after their child turns 9-months-old to when they start school.</p><p> </p><p>As such, there are currently no plans to introduce the Welsh style childcare provision in England. Education and the entitlement to free childcare for pre-school children in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Assembly. We engage routinely with the Welsh government and other devolved administrations at ministerial and official levels to learn from each other to improve early years outcomes across the UK.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 17/05/2024 13:56:46 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	5023 label Biography information for Baroness Smith of Llanfaes

1715172

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support young people with autism spectrum conditions who have education otherwise than at school plans.
tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
tabling member printed	Darren Jones
uin	24512
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>Local authorities provide support to certain children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) through Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. A local authority may choose, where statutory criteria are met, to make an ‘Education Otherwise than in School’ arrangement, whereby the child or young person with the EHC plan receives special educational support outside of a school or college.</p><p> </p><p>The department are taking steps to improve the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. There are measures in place for the department to support and challenge local authorities to improve their practice. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission commenced a strengthened local inspection framework in January 2023. Where local authorities are failing, the department works with them, using a range of improvement programmes and SEND specialist advisers to address weaknesses. Inspections under this new framework will place greater emphasis on the outcomes that are being achieved for children and young people with SEND, including those who are autistic.</p><p> </p><p>More generally, as part of the department’s support for autistic young people, the department worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care to develop a refreshed cross-government Autism Strategy. This was published in July 2021 and includes children and young people. The strategy recognised the progress that has been made, as well as the challenges and priorities for reducing inequalities, and enabling autistic people of all ages to have the same opportunities as everyone else to lead healthy, happy and fulfilling lives. The national strategy sets out the department’s vision to make life fundamentally better for autistic people, their families and carers by 2026.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 10/05/2024 16:42:07 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1715442

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Artificial Intelligence: Languages
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the impact of emerging artificial intelligence capacities on the necessity for foreign language learning.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
uin	HL4303
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>Studying a language can be extremely rewarding and exciting for children and young people. It can provide insight into other cultures and open the door to travel and employment opportunities. Whilst Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be useful in enhancing the experience of learning a language, and this should be explored further, it should not be seen as a replacement.</p><p> </p><p>The department wants to capitalise on the opportunities technology like AI presents for education, as well as addressing its risks and challenges. Responses to the call for evidence on generative AI in education highlighted the potential for this technology in generating language exercises and conversational prompts, for example. Language learning was one of the use cases tested as part of the department's Generative AI Hackathon project. The report of this project is due to be published shortly. The most important thing for a high-quality education is having a human expert teacher in the classroom. The emergence of this technology does not change that.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 09/05/2024 15:58:56 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans

1714769

registered interest
date	29/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Social Services: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of specialist (a) training and (b) accreditation on (i) alcohol and (ii) other drugs for social workers.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	24039
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>The regulator for the social work profession, Social Work England, sets professional standards. These are standards all social workers must meet. The professional standards include that social workers must be able to address social care needs arising from substance misuse. Social workers complete initial education and training and then they are supported by an Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE). For child and family social workers the ASYE is due to be replaced by an Early Career Framework. Post-qualification training of social workers is the responsibility of employers such as local authorities and the NHS.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 02/05/2024 16:56:02 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1714100

registered interest
date	26/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: ICT and Mobile Phones
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has put provisions in place to accommodate the needs of students with special educational needs and disabilities who rely on (a) mobile phones and (b) other technology for learning.
tabling member constituency	West Suffolk
tabling member printed	Matt Hancock
uin	23854
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2024 answer text <p>All schools should have a behaviour policy which is aligned with the school’s legal duties and standards relating to the welfare of children. As part of this policy, schools should develop a mobile phone policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones.</p><p>Exemptions may be required for children with specific special educational needs or disabilities, including users of assistive technology. Schools have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to take such steps as is reasonable to avoid substantial disadvantage to a disabled pupil caused by the school’s policies or practices. Allowing a disabled pupil access to their mobile phone during the school day, where it is necessary due to the nature of their disability, may be considered a reasonable adjustment and a failure to do so may be a breach of the school’s duty.</p><p> </p><p>Headteachers remain responsible for deciding how to implement a mobile phone policy, taking into account the unique context of each school and its pupils. Headteachers should assess each case for adjustments and adaptations on its own merits.</p><p> </p><p>The ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance contains practical advice for schools, including case studies, which consider how to ensure that the needs of all children are met while continuing to remove distractions in lessons and create an environment where children can focus on learning and building friendships.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 23853 23855 23856 question first answered 03/05/2024 11:34:42 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock

1714101

registered interest
date	26/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: ICT and Mobile Phones
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken with schools to ensure that they differentiate their approach to mobile phone restrictions for students with special educational needs and disabilities who rely on (a) mobile phones and (b) other technology for (i) communication and (ii) learning support.
tabling member constituency	West Suffolk
tabling member printed	Matt Hancock
uin	23855
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2024 answer text <p>All schools should have a behaviour policy which is aligned with the school’s legal duties and standards relating to the welfare of children. As part of this policy, schools should develop a mobile phone policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones.</p><p>Exemptions may be required for children with specific special educational needs or disabilities, including users of assistive technology. Schools have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to take such steps as is reasonable to avoid substantial disadvantage to a disabled pupil caused by the school’s policies or practices. Allowing a disabled pupil access to their mobile phone during the school day, where it is necessary due to the nature of their disability, may be considered a reasonable adjustment and a failure to do so may be a breach of the school’s duty.</p><p> </p><p>Headteachers remain responsible for deciding how to implement a mobile phone policy, taking into account the unique context of each school and its pupils. Headteachers should assess each case for adjustments and adaptations on its own merits.</p><p> </p><p>The ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance contains practical advice for schools, including case studies, which consider how to ensure that the needs of all children are met while continuing to remove distractions in lessons and create an environment where children can focus on learning and building friendships.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 23853 23854 23856 question first answered 03/05/2024 11:34:42 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock

1714102

registered interest
date	26/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Mobile Phones
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to introduce mechanisms for students with special educational needs and disabilities to request exemptions from mobile phone bans based on their educational needs.
tabling member constituency	West Suffolk
tabling member printed	Matt Hancock
uin	23856
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/05/2024 answer text <p>All schools should have a behaviour policy which is aligned with the school’s legal duties and standards relating to the welfare of children. As part of this policy, schools should develop a mobile phone policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones.</p><p>Exemptions may be required for children with specific special educational needs or disabilities, including users of assistive technology. Schools have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to take such steps as is reasonable to avoid substantial disadvantage to a disabled pupil caused by the school’s policies or practices. Allowing a disabled pupil access to their mobile phone during the school day, where it is necessary due to the nature of their disability, may be considered a reasonable adjustment and a failure to do so may be a breach of the school’s duty.</p><p> </p><p>Headteachers remain responsible for deciding how to implement a mobile phone policy, taking into account the unique context of each school and its pupils. Headteachers should assess each case for adjustments and adaptations on its own merits.</p><p> </p><p>The ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance contains practical advice for schools, including case studies, which consider how to ensure that the needs of all children are met while continuing to remove distractions in lessons and create an environment where children can focus on learning and building friendships.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 23853 23854 23855 question first answered 03/05/2024 11:34:42 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4070 label Biography information for Matt Hancock

1713474

registered interest
date	24/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to increase the number of places for (a) children with autism and (b) children with special needs in schools.
tabling member constituency	Preston
tabling member printed	Sir Mark Hendrick
uin	23389
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2024 answer text <p>In March 2024, the department announced trusts to run 30 new special free schools, which included 17 designated to cater for pupils with autism. The Spring Budget announced funding for 15 special free schools. The department will announce the location of these new schools in May.</p><p>In March the department also published just under £850 million of High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years. This funding forms part of our transformational investment of £2.6 billion in new high needs provision between 2022 and 2025. Local authorities can use the funding to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 02/05/2024 16:56:54 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick