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  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to expedite the process for fostering a child.

    Edward Timpson

    As this is a devolved matter we can only provide information for England.

    Between 2013 and 2015, the government invested £900,000 to support local authorities and their partners in recruiting and retaining the foster carers they need to ensure that there is a range of placement options available to meet the needs of local looked-after children. In 2013, the government streamlined and strengthened the assessment and approval process for foster carers in England. The government introduced a two-stage process to ensure efficiency and transparency. The expected timeframe for approving a person wishing to become a foster carer is eight months but this can vary depending on individual circumstances.

    Information on the average duration of foster placements that ceased in England in the year ending 31 March 2014 is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption–2 .

    Information on the average duration of foster placements that ceased in England in the year ending 31 March 2013 is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption

    Information on the average duration of foster placements that ceased in England in the year ending 31 March 2012 is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-by-local-authorities-in-england-including-adoption.

    Analysis of the average duration of foster placements has not been undertaken below national level.

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  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average length of time was for the process of fostering a child in each constituent part and county of the UK in each of the last three years.

    Edward Timpson

    As this is a devolved matter we can only provide information for England.

    Between 2013 and 2015, the government invested £900,000 to support local authorities and their partners in recruiting and retaining the foster carers they need to ensure that there is a range of placement options available to meet the needs of local looked-after children. In 2013, the government streamlined and strengthened the assessment and approval process for foster carers in England. The government introduced a two-stage process to ensure efficiency and transparency. The expected timeframe for approving a person wishing to become a foster carer is eight months but this can vary depending on individual circumstances.

    Information on the average duration of foster placements that ceased in England in the year ending 31 March 2014 is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption–2 .

    Information on the average duration of foster placements that ceased in England in the year ending 31 March 2013 is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption

    Information on the average duration of foster placements that ceased in England in the year ending 31 March 2012 is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-by-local-authorities-in-england-including-adoption.

    Analysis of the average duration of foster placements has not been undertaken below national level.

    “

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the ease of access of play opportunities for children with disabilities and complex needs.

    Edward Timpson

    Play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning. The importance of play is recognised in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework[1], which states: “Each area of learning and development must be implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity. Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults.”

    Early Years educators and Early Years teachers are required to have an understanding of different pedagogical approaches, including the role of play in supporting early learning and development. It is for individual schools and settings to provide opportunities for play for their children and pupils, including those with disabilities and complex educational needs.

    In addition, the Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination against disabled children in their access to goods, facilities and services, which could include ‘play’. For example it would be unlawful to refuse or inhibit a disabled child’s access to a local playground; their enrolment at a local nursery or playgroup; or their taking part in any other play activities such as local sports. Where applicable, the Act requires service providers to make both requested and anticipatory ‘reasonable adjustments’ that will facilitate the participation of disabled children in all forms of ‘play’.

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework–2

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  • Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Lisa Cameron – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lisa Cameron on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of resources available to (a) primary and (b) secondary school children requiring educational psychology services in each of the next five years; and how much such support will be made available during each of the next five years.

    Edward Timpson

    The responsibility for educational psychology training and services is devolved. This response relates to the current position in England.

    Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there is a sufficient supply of educational psychologists to deliver their statutory responsibilities. This includes the local authorities’ statutory duties in primary and secondary schools for assessing, monitoring and reviewing children with special educational needs.

    The Department works in partnership with local educational psychology services in the private and public sector to ensure a steady flow of educational psychologists to the workforce. As part of our assessment of the implications of the Children and Families Act 2014, the government has increased the number of funded educational psychology training places by 25% in response to the needs of educational psychology services. The cost of this training is shared with local educational psychology services. The Department contribution comes to £20,188,857 over the next five years.

  • Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Tim Loughton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what involvement her Department has had in the grant originally made available to the Pioneer Communities Project that was administered through her Department.

    Edward Timpson

    No grant funding was made available by the Department for Education to support the Pioneer Communities Project.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gloria De Piero – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents in Ashfield have been fined for a child’s unauthorised absence from school in each of the last three years.

    Nick Gibb

    We do not collect data on the number of penalty notices (fines) issued to parents for offences relating to Section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996 by constituency. The numbers of penalty notices issued to parents by Nottinghamshire County Council can be found online here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/parental-responsibility-measures-academic-year-2012-to-2013

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  • Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide more funding to special educational needs schools in (a) Greater London and (b) Enfield.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    We recognise that the distribution of high needs funding needs reform. There are currently wide variations in the funding provided for children with similar needs in different areas. Our aim is to make that distribution fairer. To help achieve this, we commissioned the Isos Partnership to undertake some research so that we could see where changes to the future funding of special educational needs might be needed.

    The research report, which we published in July 2015, contains a large number of proposals which we are considering and is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-for-young-people-with-special-educational-needs

    “

  • Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received from heads of special educational needs schools on the increase in costs from national insurance and pension scheme contributions.

    Mr Sam Gyimah

    The Department has received a large number of letters from headteachers about the increase in national insurance and pension scheme contributions, some of which have been from special schools.

    We are committed to protecting schools funding, as we pledged in our manifesto. Throughout this Parliament, as pupil numbers increase so too will the amount of money for our schools.

  • Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a national pay scale for teaching assistants.

    Nick Gibb

    The government believes that decisions on the use, deployment, and pay of teaching assistants are best made in a way that reflects local needs.

    Support staff rates of pay are determined by employers: in maintained schools, these will be set by the local authority; in Academies and Free Schools, these will be set by school or the Trust.

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the expected cost of HMS Artful was when it was commissioned.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The first three Astute class submarines were ordered as a single batch. Separate construction costs for Artful are, therefore, not held by the department. As such, it is not possible to determine how much the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has spent on HMS Artful individually; nor what the MOD expected the specific cost of HMS Artful to be, when commissioned.