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1603997

	registered interest
	date	14/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Multi-academy Trusts
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department issues guidance to multi-academy trusts recommending targets for the number of (a) pupils served and (b) schools run by such trusts.
	tabling member constituency	Southport
	tabling member printed	Damien Moore
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	165433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The Department is focused on continuing to improve standards in schools, providing the best education for children, including for those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs. The best way for this to happen is for all schools to be in strong families of schools, benefitting from the support of the best in the group, and the resilience that comes from being part of a larger group of schools. That is why, over time, the Department would like all schools to be in a strong multi-academy trust (MAT), due to the positive impact it can have on children’s lives. If we get this right then we will see the vast majority of schools in trusts before 2030. The Department is exploring how to further support the growth of strong multi-academy trusts through the Regulation and Commissioning Review.</p><p>The current national academisation rate is 47.4%, which includes 10,254 academies and free schools out of a total of 21,630 state funded schools. This has increased from 45.7% in March 2022 when the Schools White Paper was published. Of those, 9,173 are in a MAT.</p><p>There are 94 MATs that serve at least 7,500 pupils. These represent 6.9% of the total of 1,345 MATs, and are comprised of 2,341 Academies (22.8% of the total number) and just over 1.24 million pupils (26.2% of the total).</p><p>There are 266 MATs serving 10 or more schools, which is 19.7% of the total. These are comprised of 4,872 Academies (47.5%) and 1.94 million pupils (40.8%).</p><p>The Department does not issue guidance specifically on the size of MATs.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 165431 165432 question first answered 28/03/2023 17:26:53 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore

1603996

	registered interest
	date	14/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Multi-academy Trusts
	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 multi-academy trusts (a) serve a minimum of 7,500 pupils and (b) run at least 10 schools.
	tabling member constituency	Southport
	tabling member printed	Damien Moore
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	165432
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The Department is focused on continuing to improve standards in schools, providing the best education for children, including for those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs. The best way for this to happen is for all schools to be in strong families of schools, benefitting from the support of the best in the group, and the resilience that comes from being part of a larger group of schools. That is why, over time, the Department would like all schools to be in a strong multi-academy trust (MAT), due to the positive impact it can have on children’s lives. If we get this right then we will see the vast majority of schools in trusts before 2030. The Department is exploring how to further support the growth of strong multi-academy trusts through the Regulation and Commissioning Review.</p><p>The current national academisation rate is 47.4%, which includes 10,254 academies and free schools out of a total of 21,630 state funded schools. This has increased from 45.7% in March 2022 when the Schools White Paper was published. Of those, 9,173 are in a MAT.</p><p>There are 94 MATs that serve at least 7,500 pupils. These represent 6.9% of the total of 1,345 MATs, and are comprised of 2,341 Academies (22.8% of the total number) and just over 1.24 million pupils (26.2% of the total).</p><p>There are 266 MATs serving 10 or more schools, which is 19.7% of the total. These are comprised of 4,872 Academies (47.5%) and 1.94 million pupils (40.8%).</p><p>The Department does not issue guidance specifically on the size of MATs.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 165431 165433 question first answered 28/03/2023 17:26:53 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore

1603994

	registered interest
	date	14/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Academies
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on ensuring that schools run by local authorities (a) become an academy and (b) join a multi-academy trust.
	tabling member constituency	Southport
	tabling member printed	Damien Moore
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	165431
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The Department is focused on continuing to improve standards in schools, providing the best education for children, including for those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs. The best way for this to happen is for all schools to be in strong families of schools, benefitting from the support of the best in the group, and the resilience that comes from being part of a larger group of schools. That is why, over time, the Department would like all schools to be in a strong multi-academy trust (MAT), due to the positive impact it can have on children’s lives. If we get this right then we will see the vast majority of schools in trusts before 2030. The Department is exploring how to further support the growth of strong multi-academy trusts through the Regulation and Commissioning Review.</p><p>The current national academisation rate is 47.4%, which includes 10,254 academies and free schools out of a total of 21,630 state funded schools. This has increased from 45.7% in March 2022 when the Schools White Paper was published. Of those, 9,173 are in a MAT.</p><p>There are 94 MATs that serve at least 7,500 pupils. These represent 6.9% of the total of 1,345 MATs, and are comprised of 2,341 Academies (22.8% of the total number) and just over 1.24 million pupils (26.2% of the total).</p><p>There are 266 MATs serving 10 or more schools, which is 19.7% of the total. These are comprised of 4,872 Academies (47.5%) and 1.94 million pupils (40.8%).</p><p>The Department does not issue guidance specifically on the size of MATs.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 165432 165433 question first answered 28/03/2023 17:26:53 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4669 label Biography information for Damien Moore

1602813

	registered interest
	date	09/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare: Portsmouth South
	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 deliver more affordable childcare for parents and carers of children in Portsmouth South constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
	tabling member printed	Stephen Morgan
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	162277
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The department recognises that families and early years providers across the country are facing financial pressures. That is why we have spent more than £20 billion over the past five years to support families with the cost of childcare. Families across the country, including parents and carers in Portsmouth South constituency, are entitled to government support to help families with the cost of childcare.</p><p>The government has doubled the entitlement for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours and introduced 15 free hours a week for disadvantaged 2 year olds.</p><p>Working parents on Universal Credit may be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs through Universal Credit to support with the costs of childcare.</p><p>In July 2022, the department announced a package of measures to increase the choice and availability of childcare. This included taking action to open up the childminder market to support childminders and halt the decline in numbers, giving more parents access to affordable, flexible childcare. We also launched our Childcare Choices communications campaign to ensure every parent knows about the government funded support they are eligible for.</p><p>In the 2021 Spending Review, we announced additional funding for the early years entitlements of £160 million in 2022/23, £180 million in 2023/24 and £170 million in 2024/25, compared to the 2021/22 financial year. Improving the cost, choice and availability of childcare for working parents is important for this government.</p><p>For 2023/24, we will invest an additional £20 million into early years funding, on top of the additional £180 million for 2023/24. Taken together, this will help support providers at a national level with the additional National Living Wage costs associated with delivering the free childcare entitlements next year.</p><p>The 2023 Spring Budget announced that we are closing the gap between parental leave ending and the current childcare offer for working parents, and ensuring all parents of primary-aged children can access wraparound childcare in school.</p><p>This represents the largest ever investment in childcare in England and will be transformative for parents, children and the economy.</p><p>By 2027/28, the department will provide over £4.1 billion to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week, covering 38 weeks per year, for working parents which children aged nine months to three years old in England.</p><p>The department will invest £204 million in 2023/24 to uplift the rates for existing entitlements, rising to £288 million in 2024/25, with further uplifts beyond this so that providers have the funding they need to deliver childcare entitlements.</p><p>We are removing one of the largest barriers to working parents by increasing the amount of free childcare available. Childcare is a vital enabler for parents to work, which is why we are bringing forward a number of measures to support parents to return and stay in work. This new funding will empower parents, allowing them to progress in their careers and supporting their families.</p><p>We believe all parents should have access to childcare before and after the school day to help them work. That is why we are also launching a new national wraparound childcare pilot scheme.</p><p>We will provide a total of £289 million in start-up funding to enable schools and local areas to test flexible ways of providing childcare.</p><p>By 2027/28, this government expects to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping families with young children with their childcare costs.</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 28/03/2023 17:08:43 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
	tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1601574

	registered interest
	date	06/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Air Quality Grant Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) Greater Manchester Combined Authority or (b) any other councils within that Combined Authority (i) applied for and (ii) secured funding through the Air Quality Grant scheme 2022-23.
	tabling member constituency	Bury North
	tabling member printed	James Daly
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	159097
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>Defra did not receive or accept any applications from Greater Manchester Combined Authority or any councils within the combined authority as part of the Air Quality Grant scheme 2022-23.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>79 applications were received from councils for this year’s scheme. 44 applicants were provided with funding totalling £10.7 million, which is helping them to develop and implement measures to benefit schools, businesses and communities and reduce the impact of air pollution on people’s health. Examples include supporting programmes that will educate doctors, nurses and social care workers about air quality; support for an e-cargo bike library helping local businesses in Norfolk to cut operating costs while lowering their emissions; and data collection to develop and deliver a traffic management plan that will reduce congestion and improve traffic flow across Derbyshire.</p><p> </p><p>The air quality grant scheme sits alongside a further£883 million made available as part of the government’s NO2 Plan to support local authorities in cleaning up transport and cutting levels of nitrogen dioxide down to legal levels in the shortest possible time.</p><p> </p><p>Under the 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Concentrations, Greater Manchester authorities are required to take urgent action to address NO2 pollution and develop plans to bring levels to within legal limits in the shortest possible time.</p><p> </p><p>Greater Manchester’s review in July 2022 identified they would not be fully compliant with legal limits before 2027 without action, with 79 points of exceedance predicted in 2023. We have reviewed Greater Manchester’s proposals and identified a number of gaps in the evidence, meaning it is not yet possible to understand how the proposed approach will achieve compliance with NO2 limits in the shortest possible time. We have requested further evidence from the Greater Manchester authorities to enable us to consider the plans further.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 28/03/2023 17:00:18 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
	tabling member	4854 label Biography information for James Daly

1606728

	registered interest
	date	23/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Members: Correspondence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to correspondence of 20 March 2023 from the hon. Member for Sefton Central on the repair of school buildings in Sefton Central constituency.
	tabling member constituency	Sefton Central
	tabling member printed	Bill Esterson
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	172387
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>A response to the hon. Member for Sefton Central’s correspondence will be sent shortly.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 28/03/2023 16:58:57 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4061 label Biography information for Bill Esterson

1606708

	registered interest
	date	23/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Adoption and Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government takes to help ensure that families are kept together throughout the fostering and adoption process.
	tabling member constituency	Wakefield
	tabling member printed	Simon Lightwood
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	172550
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>Before the decision is made to remove a child, local authorities, where possible, offer early help and support in order to keep the families together. In ‘Children's Social Care: Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the government has outlined plans to build on the strengths of current early help services, through the creation of Family Help. The aim is to provide effective, joined up support to help families overcome multiple and complex problems before they escalate. Further details are available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/childrens-social-care-stable-homes-built-on-love" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/childrens-social-care-stable-homes-built-on-love</a>.</p><p>The department recognises the value of family arrangements, including Kinship Care. We have made a commitment to implement or explore each of the recommendations on Kinship Care from the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, including a commitment to invest £9 million to establish a new kinship carer training offer in this Spending Review period and over £45 million to begin implementing family network support packages through the Families First for Children pathfinder. As part of this, the department will also invest in pilots that solely focus on Family Network Support Packages, in seven local areas. These pilots will allow us to test and evaluate the impact of these packages on keeping families together and keeping children out of care, and build on the investment we have already made to establish a network of up to 100 peer support groups for kinship carers across England.</p><p>When it is not possible for a child to live with their parent, a person with parental responsibility, or someone named in a child arrangements order, section 22C of the Children Act 1989 states that the local authority must:</p><ul><li>Give preference to a placement with an individual who is a relative, friend or other person connected with the child.</li><li>Be satisfied that placement with foster carers is, in their opinion the most appropriate placement available.</li><li>Ensure as far as reasonably practicable that the placement allows the child to live near their home and does not disrupt their education.</li></ul><p>The Children Act 1989 makes clear that when determining the most appropriate placement for a looked after child who has a sibling, the local authority must also, as far as reasonably practicable, ensure the placement is such that the child can live with their sibling if that sibling is also looked after.</p><p>Where a child is placed in foster care, the local authority has a duty to promote contact between the child and their friends, relatives and others connected to the child or with parental responsibility, unless this is not reasonably practical or consistent with the child’s welfare. Details for promoting and maintaining contact must be included in the child’s care plan.</p><p>Where the court decides the best decision for the child is adoption, it is important that siblings are placed together. The adoption statutory guidance says that siblings should be adopted by the same prospective adopter, unless there is good reason why they should not be. Where an agency is making a placement decision on two or more children from the same family, it should be based on a comprehensive assessment of the quality of the children’s relationship, their individual needs and the likely capacity of the prospective adopter to meet the needs of all the siblings being placed together. Where it is not possible for the siblings to be placed together, the agency should carefully consider the need for the children to remain in contact with each other and the need for adoption support.</p><p>Where safe and appropriate, maintaining relationships with birth family members is important to wellbeing of the child. The government committed to improving contact practice in the National Adoption Strategy. Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) leaders are trialling what good contact practice looks like, with a view to setting national standards in this area. RAAs are also currently trialling a programme called ‘Letterswap,’ a new digital platform to improve the current ‘Letterbox’ system.</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 28/03/2023 16:58:50 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
	tabling member	4943 label Biography information for Simon Lightwood

1606814

	registered interest
	date	23/03/2023
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	UK Border Force: Patrol Craft
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with UK industry on the procurement of replacement Border Force vessels.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	172352
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>Formal discussions on the procurement of replacement Border Force Vessels have not yet taken place.</p><p>No final decision has been taken on market engagement plans.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick grouped question UIN 172353 question first answered 28/03/2023 16:57:22 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1606817

	registered interest
	date	23/03/2023
	answering body	Home Office
	answering dept id	1
	answering dept short name	Home Office
	answering dept sort name	Home Office
	hansard heading	UK Border Force: Patrol Craft
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 97480 on UK Border Force: Patrol Craft, when the formal launch of market engagement for the procurement of replacement Border Force vessels will take place.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	172353
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>Formal discussions on the procurement of replacement Border Force Vessels have not yet taken place.</p><p>No final decision has been taken on market engagement plans.</p> answering member constituency Newark answering member printed Robert Jenrick grouped question UIN 172352 question first answered 28/03/2023 16:57:22 answering member 4320 label Biography information for Robert Jenrick
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1605509

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2023
	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 information her Department holds on (a) the number of requests for new needs assessments for education, health and care plans from upper-tier local authorities and (b) the number of such requests that have been open for more than 20 weeks.
	tabling member constituency	St Albans
	tabling member printed	Daisy Cooper
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	uin	169465
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2023 answer text <p>The requested information is available in the National Statistics publication on education, health and care (EHC) plans, which can be found here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans</a>.</p><p>The latest available data shows that 93,300 initial requests were made for an assessment for an EHC plan during 2021. Of requests which led to a new EHC plan made during 2021, 34,249 (59.9%) were issued within 20 weeks.</p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 28/03/2023 16:56:25 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
	tabling member	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper