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1696673

registered interest
date	18/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Internet: Young People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to help (a) educate young people about the dangers of internet use and (b) prevent engagement in harmful online activities by young people.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	19141
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2024 answer text <p>As part of the statutory relationships and health education in primary schools and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in secondary schools, pupils are taught about online safety and harms. This includes being taught about what positive, healthy and respectful online relationships look like, the effects of their online actions on others, how to recognise and display respectful behaviour online, and where to get help and support for issues that occur online. The government’s guidance for primary and secondary school teaching on relationships, sex and health education can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-education-primary" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-education-primary</a> and: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-and-sex-education-rse-secondary" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-and-sex-education-rse-secondary</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The department has updated the Teaching Online Safety in Schools non-statutory guidance (2023), on how to teach about all aspects of internet safety in a coordinated and coherent way across their curriculum. Teaching about online safety also complements the computing curriculum, which covers the principles of online safety at all key stages, with progression in the content to reflect the different and escalating risks that pupils face. The computing curriculum can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ guidance, which all schools and colleges must have regard to when drawing up and implementing their own safeguarding policies, has been strengthened with regards to online safety in recent years. Governing bodies and proprietors should ensure online safety is a running and interrelated theme whilst devising and implementing their whole school or college approach to safeguarding and related policies and procedures. This includes doing all that they reasonably can to limit children’s exposure to the harmful online content on the school’s or college’s IT system.</p><p> </p><p>The department has brought forward the review of the RSHE curriculum and statutory guidance. Stakeholders will have the opportunity to feed into the process through a thorough consultation. Following the consultation, the department will make a decision about any new content to be included in the RSHE curriculum. The department expects to publish the revised guidance soon after.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 25/03/2024 17:37:51 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1696691

registered interest
date	18/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Further Education and Higher Education: Young People
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 in receipt of Carer's Allowance in (a) further and (b) higher education.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	19149
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>The department is determined that all young carers and young adult carers get the support they need to succeed in all stages of education.</p><p> </p><p>The department provides a range of financial support for students who need it to enable them to participate in further education. This includes free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of education, such as travel, books, equipment, and trips, plus support for childcare and residential costs where required.</p><p> </p><p>Disadvantaged English domiciled 18-year-olds are now 74% more likely to enter higher education than they were in 2010.</p><p> </p><p>In the 2023/24 academic year, over £160 million of bursary funding has been allocated to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds meet costs, which is nearly 12% higher than published allocations for last year. Institutions decide which young people receive bursaries and determine the level of financial support they receive. They can develop their own eligibility criteria for access to the discretionary bursary fund, including setting a household income threshold appropriate to their area and must publish information on this for students.</p><p> </p><p>In November 2021, the department asked the Office for Students (OfS) to refocus the access and participation regime in higher education to create a system that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds throughout their education. This regime should include support for disadvantaged students before entry to higher education (HE) and be set out in new access and participation plans. Providers should be working meaningfully with schools to ensure that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, including young carers, are encouraged and supported to achieve the highest possible grades and move up the ladder of opportunity whether that be an apprenticeship or higher technical qualification, or a course at university.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, in March 2023, the OfS launched an Equality of Opportunity Risk Register, which can be found here: <a href="https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/promoting-equal-opportunities/equality-of-opportunity-risk-register/" target="_blank">https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/promoting-equal-opportunities/equality-of-opportunity-risk-register/</a>. It focusses on students least likely to experience equal opportunity in HE with references to young carers in six of the key sector risks set out in the register.</p><p> </p><p>HE providers are expected to refer to the register when writing access and participation plans.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 26/03/2024 12:52:20 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1696839

registered interest
date	18/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Governing Bodies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures available to school governing bodies to investigate complaints.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	19168
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2024 answer text <p>In academy trusts, trust boards must ensure there is a procedure to deal with complaints from parents and carers and other individuals to meet their legal duties. In maintained schools, governing bodies must establish procedures to deal with all complaints about the school and any community facilities or services it provides, unless alternate statutory procedures apply as outlined in Section 29(1) of the Education Act 2002.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 25/03/2024 17:41:31 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1696378

registered interest
date	15/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Arts: Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with schools to (a) promote creativity and (b) make pupils aware of career opportunities in the arts and creative industries.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	18926
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2024 answer text <p>The department is clear that all pupils should be taught a broad and balanced curriculum, and all state-funded schools are required to promote pupils' cultural development. The best schools combine creative subjects with core subjects, and the department is committed to ensuring that all pupils have access to both.</p><p> </p><p>Cultural education is integral to a high-quality education. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum, and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music, art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich national curriculum.</p><p> </p><p>The department has committed over £714 million of funding from 2016/22 into a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes to ensure all children, whatever their background, have access to a high-quality education in music and arts. Over and above core school funding, the department will continue to invest around £115 million per year in cultural education up to 2025.</p><p> </p><p>The department funds The Careers &amp; Enterprise Company (CEC) to support schools and colleges to deliver high-quality careers programmes that help make young people aware of a range of career opportunities, including in the arts and creative industries.</p><p> </p><p>CEC has supported the Discover Creative Careers programme from its inception in 2019. Over 1,000 creative sector employers have engaged with the programme, leading to 92,000 student interactions with the industry. Supported by funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Discover Creative Careers Programme will continue to run until March 2025. Discover Creative Careers Week 2023 saw nearly 5,000 in-person industry encounters and over 9,000 virtual encounters for young people.</p><p> </p><p>CEC connects business and sector bodies with schools and colleges through a national network of Careers Hubs, Enterprise Advisors and Cornerstone Employers, including Creative UK, Pinewood Studios and Creative Assembly. The Berkshire Careers Hub works closely with Resource Productions. A recent example of their work involved facilitating a networking event to support Enterprise Advisers (employer volunteers) to work with local schools and colleges throughout the area. Their website can be found here: <a href="https://www.resource-productions.co.uk/" target="_blank">https://www.resource-productions.co.uk/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Young people can access information on a range of digital tools and resources through the National Careers Service website. More than 800 profiles include jobs such as editorial assistant, music therapist and screenwriter within the creative and media sectors. The National Careers Service website can be found here: <a href="https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-careers" target="_blank">https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-careers</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 25/03/2024 15:34:09 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1696421

registered interest
date	15/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education: Autism
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 potential impact of average waiting times for autism assessments on educational attainment.
tabling member constituency	St Albans
tabling member printed	Daisy Cooper
uin	18946
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2024 answer text <p>The government recognises that there can be long waits for autism assessments. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is taking steps to improve access to assessments for autism. In 2023/24 DHSC allocated £4.2 million to improve services for autistic children and young people including assessments, pre-and post-diagnostic support, and the continuation of the Autism in Schools programme. Additionally, in April 2023, NHS England published a national framework to support the local NHS to commission and deliver autism assessment services for children, young people, and adults.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Education wants all children and young people to be able to reach their full potential and receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The SEND Code of Practice is clear that meeting the needs of a child with SEND does not require a diagnostic label or assessment. Instead, the department expects teachers to monitor the progress of all children and young people and put support in place where needed, including arranging diagnostic tests where appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>The 2023 SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan set out the department’s vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and practitioner standards will be developed to support frontline professionals, including one on autism.</p><p> </p><p>The department’s Universal Services contract brings together SEND-specific continuing professional development and support for the school and further education workforce to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those with autism, through one programme, which aims to reach 70% of schools and colleges in England per year.</p><p> </p><p>The contract offers autism awareness training and resources: over 135,000 professionals have undertaken autism awareness training provided by the Autism Education Trust through the programme's train the trainer model.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 25/03/2024 16:07:39 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper

1696427

registered interest
date	15/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Finance
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 potential merits of allocating a portion of the savings in direct schools grants from home education to local authorities to provide exam centres.
tabling member constituency	St Ives
tabling member printed	Derek Thomas
uin	18913
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2024 answer text <p>The department allocates school funding to local authorities through the dedicated schools grant, on the basis of pupil numbers in the preceding autumn census. That some children are home educated does not, therefore, lead to unallocated funding. The department does not have current plans to fund exam centres for children who are home educated, but all funding is kept under careful review. Local authorities do have some flexibility to support children and young people who are home educated.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 25/03/2024 15:54:31 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4532 label Biography information for Derek Thomas

1696472

registered interest
date	15/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Job Creation and Skilled Workers: South Holland and the Deepings
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what fiscal steps she is taking to support (a) training programmes, (b) apprenticeships and (c) other efforts to promote (i) job creation and (ii) skills development in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	18840
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2024 answer text <p>Funding allocations are not available broken down to the level of individual constituencies.</p><p> </p><p>The government is committed to creating a world-leading skills system that is employer-focused, high quality and fit for the future. The department’s reforms are strengthening higher and further education to help more people get good jobs and upskill and retrain throughout their lives; and to improve national productivity and economic growth. The department’s reforms are backed with an additional investment of £3.8 billion over the course of this parliament to strengthen higher and further education.</p><p> </p><p>In the 2023/24 academic year, the department is investing nearly £7 billion for education and training places for 16 to 19 year olds, and up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This funding is allocated to education providers to deliver study programmes and T Levels to young people.</p><p> </p><p>The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), which totalled £1.34 billion in the 2023/24 Funding Year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to Level 3, to support adults to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. This includes funding going to Boston College, which includes the Spalding Campus in the South Holland and the Deepings Constituency.</p><p> </p><p>The Free Courses for Jobs offer gives eligible adults the chance to access high value Level 3 qualification for free, which can support them to gain higher wages or a better job. Around 400 qualifications are available on the offer, chosen specifically as they offer good wage outcomes and address skills needs in the economy. There have been over 61,000 enrolments since April 2021.</p><p> </p><p>Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks in priority skills areas, with a guaranteed interview upon completion. The department is expanding Skills Bootcamps through increased national procurement and grant funding to 30 Mayoral Combined Authorities and local areas to meet national and local skills needs in the 2024/25 financial year. The department granted Great Lincolnshire LEP, in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, £2 million for Skills Bootcamps across Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland in 2023, and a further £3 million for courses starting after April 2024.</p><p> </p><p>The department is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to over £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year to support more high quality apprenticeship opportunities across the country, including in South Holland and the Deepings. There have been over 11,000 apprenticeship starts in South Holland and the Deepings since 2010.</p><p> </p><p>The department has introduced employer-designed T levels, which are equipping thousands of young people with the skills, knowledge, and experience to access employment or further study in some of the most in-demand skills areas. 18 T Levels are now available, being delivered through over 250 providers across all regions of the country. University Academy Holbeach in South Holland and the Deepings currently offers seven T Levels and is planning to offer three more from September 2024.</p><p> </p><p>Multiply is the government’s programme for improving adult numeracy. Multiply is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is the government’s flagship fund for supporting people and places across the UK. Up to £270 million is directly available for local areas in England to deliver innovative interventions to improve adult numeracy. Lincolnshire County Council has been allocated £4.02 million of Multiply funding from the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years to improve adult numeracy in their area.</p> answering member constituency Harlow answering member printed Robert Halfon question first answered 25/03/2024 16:55:19 answering member 3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1696476

registered interest
date	15/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for Education, Health and Care Plans.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	18900
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2024 answer text <p>In 2024/25, high needs funding for children and young people with complex needs is increasing by £440 million, compared to this financial year 2023/24. This will bring total high needs funding to over £10.5 billion next year, an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 allocations. Of that total, City of York Council is due to receive a high needs allocation of £28.5 million through their 2024/25 dedicated schools grant, which is a cumulative increase of 27% per head over the three years from 2021/22.</p><p>The significant increases to high needs funding over recent years have helped to support local authorities and schools with the costs of supporting children and young people with an Education, Health and Care plan.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 20/03/2024 16:03:17 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1696477

registered interest
date	15/03/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that there are sufficient qualified staff to deal with Education, Health and Care Plans.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	18901
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2024 answer text <p>As part of the reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, the department is currently testing measures to deliver a nationally consistent Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan system and improve the quality and speed with which support is put in place. The department is taking steps to increase the capacity of the workforce supporting children and young people with SEND, but it is the responsibility of individual employers, including local authorities, schools and healthcare settings, to plan their staffing levels in line with their local service priorities.</p><p>Educational psychologists have a critical role, providing statutory input into EHC plan assessments and advising the school workforce on how to support children and young people with SEND. The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024.</p><p>Since 2020, the department has increased the number of educational psychologist trainees that we fund to over 200, from 160 per year. As these larger cohorts complete their studies, they will join the workforce to support local authority educational psychology services, including contributing to EHC plan assessments.</p><p>Local authority caseworkers play a vital role in supporting families to navigate the system and ensuring they have good experiences, including through the EHC plan process. To build capacity, the department is providing legal training for local authority caseworkers this year and will consider new guidance to deliver a responsive and supportive casework service.</p><p>The department is committed to a joint Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care approach to SEND workforce planning. The departments aim to complete this by 2025. This will build on the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan published in June 2023 which sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years.</p><p>To support the supply of more speech and language therapists and occupational therapists to the NHS, since September 2020 all eligible undergraduate and postgraduate degree students have been able to apply for a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year, with further financial support available for childcare, accommodation, and travel costs.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 20/03/2024 16:11:27 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1696478

registered interest
date	15/03/2024
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 steps her Department is taking to help support children with additional needs.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	18902
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2024 answer text <p>In the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, the department set out plans to build a consistent national SEND and AP system which parents and carers can trust, easily navigate, and have confidence in, wherever they live in the country.</p><p> </p><p>The foundation for the new nationally consistent SEND and AP system will be new evidenced based National Standards for early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will include clarifying the types of support that should be available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support.</p><p> </p><p>This will help families, practitioners and providers understand what support every child or young person should be receiving from early years through to further education, no matter where they live or what their needs are. By the end of 2025, the department will publish a significant proportion of the National Standards.</p><p> </p><p>New local SEND and AP partnerships will support this work by bringing together Education, Health and Care partners with local government to produce evidence-based Local Area Inclusion Plans setting out how to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND and in AP in the local area, in line with National Standards.</p><p> </p><p>The department is testing and refining reforms through our Change Programme to collect evidence about what works for children and young people with SEND and their families at a local level. The department is working with 32 local authorities and their local areas in each of the nine regions.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 20/03/2024 16:07:30 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell