Blog

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the quality of early years education support for children diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Under the Children and Families Act 2014, health bodies identifying a 0-5 year old child with special educational needs (SEN) or a disability must discuss this with the parent and bring the child to the attention of the local authority so they can consider whether an education, health and care plan is needed. The Department for Education is working with the Department of Health and NHS England to support health commissioners and clinicians to play their part in the SEN reforms.

    In early years settings practitioners must consider the individual needs, interests, and stage of development of each child in their care and whether a child may have SEN or a disability requiring specialist support. Providers must review children’s progress between the ages of two and three. Where SEN or disability is identified, practitioners should develop a targeted plan to support the child’s future learning and development involving other professionals as appropriate.

    We provide funding to Early Support to support the implementation of the SEN reforms. As part of this, Early Support worked with Scope to produce guidance to parents and others on cerebral palsy, which was published in 2012. This guidance is published online at: http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/923252/earlysupportcerebral_palsy_final.pdf

    “

  • Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Kate Green – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Department of Health on joint working to produce best practice guidance for education and health professionals to ensure that children with cerebral palsy have their needs identified and supported.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    Under the Children and Families Act 2014, health bodies identifying a 0-5 year old child with special educational needs (SEN) or a disability must discuss this with the parent and bring the child to the attention of the local authority so they can consider whether an education, health and care plan is needed. The Department for Education is working with the Department of Health and NHS England to support health commissioners and clinicians to play their part in the SEN reforms.

    In early years settings practitioners must consider the individual needs, interests, and stage of development of each child in their care and whether a child may have SEN or a disability requiring specialist support. Providers must review children’s progress between the ages of two and three. Where SEN or disability is identified, practitioners should develop a targeted plan to support the child’s future learning and development involving other professionals as appropriate.

    We provide funding to Early Support to support the implementation of the SEN reforms. As part of this, Early Support worked with Scope to produce guidance to parents and others on cerebral palsy, which was published in 2012. This guidance is published online at: http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/923252/earlysupportcerebral_palsy_final.pdf

    “

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2014, Official Report, columns 787-8W, on pupil exclusions: autism, how much funding is allocated specifically to exclusion advisers.

    Elizabeth Truss

    Funding is given to the National Autistic Society under the Department’s National Prospectus Grants Programme covering April 2013 to March 2015. Of the £440,000 under this grant, the Society estimates that some £80,000 over the two years will have been spent on the exclusions work. This will cover the salary of the exclusion adviser, related costs such as pension and National Insurance contributions, recruitment costs, overheads, the production of resources, along with a report and its dissemination.

  • Nic Dakin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nic Dakin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 633W, on university technical colleges, if he will publish the information he plans to publish in June 2014 immediately.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    The information previously requested will be published in the statistical first release ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2014′, in June 2014.

    This is in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

  • Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Steve McCabe – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2014, Official Report, column 556W, on children in care, if he will publish the list of local authorities which provided information on virtual school head teachers.

    Mr Edward Timpson

    All 152 local authorities in England have provided information about officers in the authority who are carrying out the virtual school head role.

  • Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Gibb on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria Ofsted uses when inspecting academies that do not follow the National Curriculum in Key Stage 3 and do not use National Curriculum levels; and how Ofsted judges pupil progress in these circumstances.

    Mr David Laws

    This question is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.

  • Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Nick Gibb – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Gibb on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Ofsted’s interpretation of closing the attainment gap between pupils eligible and not eligible for free school meals relates to the gap in attainment nationally or in the school being inspected.

    Mr David Laws

    This question is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timetable is for renewing the 1958 Agreement between the UK and US for Co-operation in the Uses of Atomic Energy for Mutual Defence Purposes; whether he will lay the draft renewed agreement before Parliament; and what role the British Embassy in Washington DC will play in the renewal.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    We are continuing to work with the US and satisfactory progress is being made. Parliament will be informed of the amending text at the appropriate time. The British Embassy in Washington DC will facilitate discussions between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the US Department of State.

  • Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Paul Flynn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff from (a) his Department and (b) the Atomic Weapons Establishment are on secondment to an institution in the United States involved in nuclear weapons development or nuclear warhead stockpile, stewardship, stability and safety research.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    There are no Ministry of Defence staff and fifteen Atomic Weapons Establishment staff employed by AWE plc on secondment to these institutions in the United States.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department first became aware that they had been wrongly allowing armed forces personnel to be subjected to a double punishment under (a) AGA167 and (b) summary hearings; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    The Department first recognised the implications of changes to rehabilitation legislation relating to police cautions in September 2011, since when no administrative action has been taken against Service personnel who receive a police caution. Officials brought the issue to the attention of Ministers in early December 2011 and have provided further advice at intervals since then.

    It would be inappropriate to disclose the options that officials have presented for consideration. This is a complex matter, and I will update the House when I have reached a judgement.