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1712761

registered interest
date	22/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of parents (a) with two year olds who are eligible for 15 hours of childcare support and (b) who have had codes validated by providers and are receiving their entitlement in each local authority area.
tabling member constituency	Houghton and Sunderland South
tabling member printed	Bridget Phillipson
uin	22934
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>This government’s plan to support hard working families is working. The department are making the largest ever investment in childcare in England’s history. By September 2025, when the new entitlements are fully rolled out, working families will on average save £6,900 per year if they use the full 30 hours free childcare from when their child is 9 months old until they start school.</p><p> </p><p>Our roll-out has already been successful, with the government exceeding its target for the April roll out of the first 15 hours for two year olds.</p><p> </p><p>The department’s estimates focus on numbers of children, rather than parents. The department estimates that there are around 285,000 two year olds eligible for 15 hours of childcare support.</p><p> </p><p>As per my statement on 23 April, more than 200,000 are already benefitting from the first stage of the expansion. The department will be publishing data by local authorities in due course.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 25/04/2024 17:06:03 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4046 label Biography information for Bridget Phillipson

1702413

registered interest
date	19/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Discrimination
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 (a) monitor and (b) tackle potential discrimination in schools against students based on their religious practices.
tabling member constituency	Slough
tabling member printed	Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
uin	22797
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2024 answer text <p>There is currently no legal requirement for schools to allow their pupils time within the school day to pray upon request, nor are they required to provide any pupil with a physical space, such as a prayer room, to conduct their prayers. It is a matter for individual schools and headteachers to make a decision that is in the interest of their pupils. It is important when considering any requests relating to prayer that they do so in the context of the Equality Act 2010, and their public sector equality duty.</p><p> </p><p>Under the Equality Act 2010 schools must not discriminate against a pupil in a number of respects because of a characteristic protected by the Act, including religion or belief. State-funded schools are also subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). All children and young people must be treated fairly and supported to thrive and reach their potential within a respectful environment.</p><p> </p><p>The department has published guidance for schools on how to comply with their duties under the Equality Act 2010, which can be found online at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools</a>. This includes specific advice on religion or belief.</p><p> </p><p>The PSED was introduced in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 and places a legal obligation on public authorities to consider how their policy or service decisions impacts differently on individuals. The department as a public body is required to give due regard to PSED in its decision making. According to the PSED, a public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to:</p><ul><li>Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act.</li><li>Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.</li><li>Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Protected characteristics include religion or belief.</li></ul> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds grouped question UIN 22795 22796 22798 question first answered 29/04/2024 10:07:14 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4638 label Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

1702507

registered interest
date	19/04/2024
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, with reference to her Department's consultation outcome entitled Children's social care: stable homes, built on love, published on 21 September 2023, what steps she is taking to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of that consultation by local authorities.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	22762
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2024 answer text <p>The department is committed to laying the foundations for a comprehensive and long-term reform plan to children’s social care over the two years immediately following the publication of its implementation strategy ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. The department will be refreshing its strategy at the end of this point. The department is halfway through this first phase of reform, and has made significant progress on many of the commitments made in the strategy.</p><p> </p><p>In December 2023, the department published the first national kinship care strategy ‘Championing Kinship Care’, a ‘Children’s Social Care National Framework’, a revised statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and a data strategy.</p><p> </p><p>Through these publications, the department is monitoring the implementation of its reform programme and has set out how local authorities’ and partners’ roles and responsibilities will change through new national expectations, and further explained their role in delivering ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’.</p><p> </p><p>The ‘test and learn’ approach the department is taking through its pathfinder pilots will ensure that the department will find the most efficient models of delivery, providing the best possible outcomes for children and families. When the department comes to expand and roll out programmes across more local authorities’ areas, it wants to ensure reform delivery is supported by the evidence that it works.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 22763 question first answered 29/04/2024 10:17:06 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1702149

registered interest
date	18/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Warwick and Leamington
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers there were in Warwick and Leamington constituency in (a) 2019 and (b) 2024.
tabling member constituency	Warwick and Leamington
tabling member printed	Matt Western
uin	22604
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2024 answer text <p>Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers in each school is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england</a>.</p><p>As of November 2022, which is the latest data available, there were over 468,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.</p><p>As of November 2019, there were 609.9 FTE teachers in state-funded schools in Warwick and Leamington constituency.</p><p>School workforce figures for 2024 have not been collected yet. In November 2022 there were 651.2 FTE teachers in state-funded schools in Warwick and Leamington constituency. Figures for November 2023 will be published in June 2024.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 26/04/2024 11:53:42 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4617 label Biography information for Matt Western

1701732

registered interest
date	17/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Childcare: Subsidies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of Government subsidies for childcare on the cost of childcare for people who are not eligible for subsidies.
tabling member constituency	North East Hampshire
tabling member printed	Mr Ranil Jayawardena
uin	22345
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>For families with younger children, childcare costs are often a significant part of their household expenditure, which is why improving the cost, choice and availability of childcare for working parents is important to the government.</p><p> </p><p>From April 2024, working parents of 2 year olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks of the year. This transformative roll out will benefit the parents of up to 246,000 children who have been issued 2 year old funding codes, of which 195,000 have been validated to date.</p><p> </p><p>From September 2024, this will be extended to working parents of children from nine months to 2 year olds. From September 2025, all working parents of children aged nine months up to 3 years will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week. The expansion of this entitlement will save eligible parents up to £6,900 per year per child helping even more working parents with the cost of childcare and making a real difference to the lives of those families.</p><p> </p><p>The income eligibility criteria are applied on a per parent basis. To be eligible, parents will need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum or Living Wage, which is £183 per week or £9,518 per year in 2024-2025, and less than £100,000 adjusted net income.</p><p> </p><p>For families with two parents, both must be working to meet the criteria, unless one is receiving certain benefits. In a single-parent household, the single parent must meet the threshold. The £100,000 level was chosen to correspond with income tax thresholds and to be easily understandable for parents. Only a very small proportion of parents, 3.1% in 2023, earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold.</p><p> </p><p>The eligibility criteria apply to the existing entitlements and were debated in, and agreed by, Parliament. The maximum income limit applies to both Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare, which allows parents to apply for both schemes through the same online application (Childcare Service).</p><p> </p><p>However, the universal 15 hours of free childcare offer remains in place for all parents of 3 and 4 year olds, regardless of parental circumstances, including those who earn over £100,000.</p><p> </p><p>Working families can also access support with the childcare costs through Tax Free Childcare worth up to £2,000 per year for children aged up to 11, or £4,000 per year for children aged up to 17 with disabilities. For every £8 paid into a Tax-Free Childcare account, the government tops it up with another £2.</p><p> </p><p>There is a comprehensive evaluation programme underpinning the expansion of childcare entitlements. This includes a process evaluation which will explore how families not eligible for the new entitlements experience finding and accessing childcare, including the associated costs. Further, the impact evaluation will assess how the expansion has impacted upon the quality of childcare provision and children’s development, for all children, and wider family outcomes. As per Government Social Research guidelines, evaluation findings will be available within 12 weeks of the projects being finalised. The department expects the first to be available from spring 2026.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 25/04/2024 12:43:06 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4498 label Biography information for Mr Ranil Jayawardena

1701933

registered interest
date	17/04/2024
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, with reference to the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan published in March 2023, what steps she is taking to ensure families have confidence in the mediation process set out in that plan.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield, Hallam
tabling member printed	Olivia Blake
uin	22429
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/04/2024 answer text <p>The reforms set out in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision Improvement Plan are geared towards making families’ overall experience of the SEND system more positive through more collaborative, consistent and transparent decision-making, thereby increasing parental confidence and leading to a less adversarial system.</p><p> </p><p>The department wants to rebalance the SEND system through earlier identification of need and through support provided, where possible, in mainstream settings. The department is currently testing a range of measures through the Change Programme. The department believes the Change Programme will make the biggest improvements to the quality of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, and the experience of getting them. These measures include multi-agency panels to improve the quality of decision making and parental confidence in the EHC needs assessment process, a single national EHC plan template and guidance, advisory tailored lists and measures to resolve disagreements more quickly through the use of strengthened mediation procedures.</p><p> </p><p>Strengthening mediation is key part of the departments proposals. This is because where effective mediation takes place, disputes can be resolved earlier, without the need to appeal to the Tribunal. The department is working closely with the Council for disabled children to develop bespoke mediation guidance for families so that they understand the process, their rights and the benefits of mediation.</p><p> </p><p>Recognising the importance of families receiving high-quality mediation, the department is working with the Civil Mediation Council and the College of Mediators to review and build on their existing professional standards for SEND mediators, first published in 2018, which apply to their joint register of accredited mediators. The department has engaged parents/carers, children and young people in the drafting and testing of the guidance and standards.</p><p> </p><p>The department are also developing and testing a good practice delivery model for SEND mediation to help improve the quality and consistency of mediation provision, as well as gathering more data on the impact and outcomes of mediation.</p><p> </p><p>All of these things taken together should help improve family confidence in the overall SEND system, as well as in the mediation process.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 22/04/2024 12:30:36 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4864 label Biography information for Olivia Blake

1701343

registered interest
date	16/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Training
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of secondary school trainee teachers of (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) foreign languages, (d) religious education, (e) mathematics and (f) computing have been recruited to begin training in Autumn 2024.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	22000
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2024 answer text <p>Departmental targets for 2024/25 postgraduate initial teacher training (PGITT) were calculated by the Teacher Workforce Model (TWM) and include recruitment to High Potential ITT (HPITT) which is a two year employment-based ITT programme attracting high performing graduates and career changers who are unlikely to have otherwise joined the profession. The targets are calculated to replace all teachers expected to leave the workforce in 2025/26, and the working hours lost from teachers that will reduce their teaching hours between years. PGITT is only one of many routes into the teacher workforce, all of which are considered when calculating targets. Other routes include undergraduate university courses, Assessment Only (AO), the upcoming teacher degree apprenticeship, returners, new to the state-funded sector entrants, and newly qualified entrants that defer entry into the profession (deferrers).</p><p>Further information may be found in the following publication: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets</a>.</p><p>Departmental targets are for 23,955 secondary teacher trainees to start their initial teacher training (ITT) in autumn 2024, including HPITT trainees. As of last month, there have been 7,618 acceptances to postgraduate secondary courses in England (excluding HPITT acceptances).</p><p>​Acceptance figures exclude HPITT acceptances as this data is not published. It is expected that more candidates will be recruited in the final four months of the cycle. Therefore, although acceptance figures provide a better indication of the number of teacher trainees starting training in Autumn 2024, they are not directly comparable to TWM trainee targets.</p><p>​The physics TWM trainee target is 2,250 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 554 acceptances (excl. HPITT).</p><p>​The chemistry TWM trainee target is 1,220 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 314 acceptances (excl. HPITT).</p><p>​The modern foreign languages TWM trainee target is 2,540 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 622 acceptances (excl. HPITT).</p><p>The religious education TWM trainee target is 580 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 198 acceptances (excl. HPITT).</p><p>The mathematics TWM trainee target is 3,065 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 1,001 acceptances (excl. HPITT).</p><p>The computing TWM trainee target is 1,330 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 202 acceptances (excl. HPITT).</p><p>​One of the department’s top priorities is to ensure that it continues to attract and retain high-quality teachers. The department is investing in attracting the best teachers where they are needed the most, through its teaching marketing campaign, support services for prospective trainees, and financial incentives package including bursaries worth up to £28,000 and scholarships worth up to £30,000. The department’s in-house teacher recruitment journey and associated digital services are generating new real-time data and insight to drive innovation. For example, the department has now rolled out an ITT course specifically designed to support more engineers to teach physics.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 26/04/2024 17:09:25 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1701581

registered interest
date	16/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Grants
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing non-repayable maintenance grants for higher education students from the least advantaged backgrounds.
tabling member constituency	Canterbury
tabling member printed	Rosie Duffield
uin	22095
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/04/2024 answer text <p>The government believes that income contingent student loans are a fair and sensible way of financing higher education (HE). It is only right that those who benefit from the system should make a fair contribution to its costs. The government have continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for undergraduate and postgraduate students each year, with a 2.8% increase for the 2023/24 academic year and a further 2.5% increase announced for 2024/25.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the government have frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven successive years. The department believe that the current fee freeze achieves the best balance between ensuring that the system remains financially sustainable, offering good value for the taxpayer, and reducing debt levels for students in real terms.</p><p> </p><p>The government understands the pressures people have been facing with the cost of living and has taken action to help. The government have already made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students including disadvantaged students.</p><p> </p><p>The government have also made a further £10 million of support available to help student mental health and hardship funding for the 2023/24 academic year. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes. For the 2024/25 financial year, the government have increased the Student Premium (full-time, part-time, and disabled premium) by £5 million to reflect high demand for hardship support. Further details of this allocation for the academic year 2024/25 will be announced by the Office for Students in the summer.</p><p> </p><p>Overall, support to households to help with the high cost of living is worth £108 billion over 2022/23 to 2024/25, which is an average of £3,800 per UK household. The government believes this will have eased the pressure on family budgets, which will in turn enable many families to provide additional support to their children in HE to help them meet increased living costs.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 19/04/2024 10:24:10 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4616 label Biography information for Rosie Duffield

1701033

registered interest
date	15/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Grants
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 potential merits of introducing non-repayable maintenance grants for higher education students from the least advantaged backgrounds.
tabling member constituency	Warrington North
tabling member printed	Charlotte Nichols
uin	21857
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>The government believes that income-contingent student loans are a fair and sensible way of financing higher education. It is only right that those who benefit from the system should make a fair contribution to its costs. The department has continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for undergraduate and postgraduate students each year with a 2.8% increase for the current 2023/24 academic year and a further 2.5% increase announced for the 2024/25 academic year.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven successive years. The department believes that the current fee freeze achieves the best balance between ensuring that the system remains financially sustainable, offering good value for the taxpayer and reducing debt levels for students in real terms.</p><p> </p><p>The government understands the pressures people have been facing with the cost of living and has taken action to help. The department has already made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students, including disadvantaged students. The department has also made a further £10 million of one-off support available to help student mental health and hardship funding for the 2023/24 academic year. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes. For the 2024/25 financial year the department has increased the Student Premium, including the full-time, part-time and disabled premium, by £5 million to reflect high demand for hardship support. Further details of this allocation for the 2024/25 academic year will be announced by the Office for Students (OfS) in the summer.</p><p> </p><p>Overall, support to households to help with the high cost of living is worth £108 billion over 2022/23 to 2024/25, which is an average of £3,800 per UK household. The department believes this will have eased the pressure on family budgets and so will in turn enable many families to provide additional support to their children in higher education to help them meet increased living costs.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall grouped question UIN 21854 question first answered 23/04/2024 11:14:59 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4799 label Biography information for Charlotte Nichols

1699988

registered interest
date	12/04/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care and Foster Care
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 13 March 2024 to Questions 15600 and 15601 on Children in Care and Foster Care, if she will publish the number of children looked after who were cared for in a (a) relative and (b) friend foster placement by (i) age, (ii) gender, (iii) ethnicity and (iv) local authority level as of 31 March 2023.
tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
uin	20934
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/04/2024 answer text <p>The latest figures on children looked after who were cared for in a relative or friend foster placement by age, gender and ethnicity and at local authority level are shown in the attached tables. The department does not hold the data broken down separately into relative foster placements and friend foster placements. Therefore, the combined totals have been provided. Data has been provided for children looked after on 31 March 2023.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 22/04/2024 16:59:28 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston attachment 1 file name 20934 Table Attachment.xlsx title 20934_Table_attachment
tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne