Tag: Department for Education

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 28 March 2023.

Major government investment to improve school and college buildings and support more school places from 2026.

Millions of young people across the country are set to benefit from a significant £2.5 billion boost so they can learn in high quality buildings and facilities that are fit for the future.

Schools and colleges will receive investment to upgrade classrooms and refurbish buildings that will provide high quality learning environments – benefitting communities for years to come.

Since 2010, one million school places have been created, the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations. Thanks to this new tranche of funding, thousands of additional primary and secondary school places will be created in good or outstanding schools for September 2026.

This comes on top of the School Rebuilding Programme which will transform buildings at 500 schools across the country over the next decade – prioritising those in poor condition. The government has already invested over £13 billion in school capital funding to improve the condition of school buildings since 2015.

Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon said:

This significant investment will transform school and college buildings across the country so that they are fit for the future and can provide the best education for students, no matter where they live.

We want every young person to have access to high-quality facilities and learning environments, to gain the skills they need to climb the ladder of opportunity into further study and work, whilst supporting efforts to grow the economy.

The funding announced today includes:

• A £1.8 billion investment for the 2023-24 financial year to improve the condition of the school estate across England. This builds on over £13 billion to upgrade school buildings since 2015.
• A further £487 million will be invested to support councils to provide additional school places needed for September 2026.
• Alongside this, 146 colleges will benefit from the final phase of the £1.5 billion Further Education Capital Transformation Programme, to upgrade buildings and transform campuses.

The FE Capital Transformation Programme is just one part of a wider programme of government investment to transform post-16 education and training, ensuring that every student can gain the skills they need to progress and secure a good job.

This includes massive investment to support the roll out of new T Levels, boost capacity so there is a place for every 16 to 19-year-old and a £300 million investment to establish a network of Institutes of Technology.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 28 March 2023.

Local Needs Funding to be allocated to 24 education cold spots around the country to help disadvantaged pupils.

Children in disadvantaged areas will benefit from stronger schools and increased local investment, as the Government steps up delivery of the commitments made in last year’s Schools White Paper.

Up to £42m will be allocated to Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) – 24 areas of the country with high levels of disadvantaged pupils and low educational attainment, including Nottingham, Liverpool and Portsmouth. The Local Needs Fund will be used to fund schools to access evidenced based programmes that will help boost pupils’ literacy, numeracy, and attendance.

The Priority Education Investment Areas boosts education in cold spots round the country through a package of measures including retaining good teachers in the areas, tackling attendance and moving struggling schools into strong multi-academy trusts.

Today’s announcement builds on the successes of the last decade with 88% of schools now good or outstanding compared to 68% in 2010. Academies are at the heart of these reforms and the best academy trusts transform outcomes for pupils, particularly in disadvantaged areas, where poor performance has become entrenched.

The Government is also publishing the Academies Regulatory and Commissioning Review, which sets out a framework for growing the impact of the academies system, so parents and carers can be confident that their child will receive a high-quality education wherever they live.

The Review proposes cutting down on administrative bureaucracy, enabling trusts to focus on quality, greater public transparency around the process by which schools are placed with academy trusts, and support for the sector to spread expertise and increase overall capacity to keep improving schools.

A year ago, the Government set out its ambitions in the White Paper to drive up educational standards by ensuring all schools can benefit from the support of a high-quality multi academy trust (MAT).

Schools Systems Minister Baroness Barran is due to be in Nottingham today (28 March), one of the PEIAs which is set to benefit from additional funding and support.

Minister Baroness Barran said:

We know the best multi academy trusts deliver a great education and results for pupils, particularly the most disadvantaged and those with Special Education Needs or Disabilities.

They help teachers manage workload and create career opportunities by working as a family of schools. They spread their impact beyond their schools to the wider education system through initiatives like teaching school hubs, sharing a curriculum, and optimising the use of resources so that they can reinvest in their pupils.

We are delighted with this package which will scale up the impact of high-quality multi academy trusts and support the most disadvantaged pupils in the country, levelling up opportunities for all.

We are grateful for the vital engagement of our External Advisory Group (EAG) and wider stakeholder network for helping to shape this report. We hope to work with them closely on implementation.

To all the pupils I have met in the past 18 months, who have shared with me their hopes and aspirations for the future – we have written this, and will deliver it, with you in mind.

Leora Cruddas CBE, chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts and member of the regulatory and commissioning review external advisory group said:

We welcome the focus in the Regulatory and Commissioning Review report on simple, proportionate risk-based regulation, making better and more transparent commissioning decisions, and support which spreads sector expertise and increases overall capacity to keep improving schools. It is right that the report focuses on near-. term and medium-term actions to improve regulation and commissioning activity.

It is important that the government recognises there is no one size fits all model, and that there is a stated commitment to foster a diversity of models and scales of trust, including those with faith schools, special schools and alternative provision. We believe it is essential that the government protects the freedoms that have enabled the success of our trust system, avoiding changes that would prescribe specific, rigid behaviour and inhibit effective leadership. System diversity and freedoms must be protected through these reforms.

The Review rightly recognises that implementing these changes well is not straightforward, particularly as many trusts and their communities face ongoing challenges from cost-of-living pressures and the lasting impacts of the Covid pandemic.

We are particularly pleased to see the report welcome the Confederation of School Trust’s inquiry into effective improvement practice.

In relation to inspection, it is important that we work together to consider the impacts of the accountability system and move towards a system that if focused on building relational trust – one which can respond to context and navigate uncertainty. We will continue to work with Ofsted and government to build intelligent systems of accountability.

Sir Martyn Oliver, Chief Executive of Outwood Grange Academies Trust and EAG member, said:

This is a timely and welcome Review of the maturing trust-led system. The DfE has listened and responded to challenges every step of the way providing much-needed clarity to trust regulation and commissioning.

Steve Bell, Chief Executive of The Painsley Catholic Academy and EAG member, said:

As a multi academy leader, I feel confident that the Review will result in a simpler, more proportionate regulatory system; a more transparent commissioning process and clarity over trust strength whilst retaining and celebrating the freedoms that academies enjoy.

Mark Vickers MBE, Chief Executive of Olive Academies and EAG member, said:

I fully support the Review’s commitment to maximising the difference that academy trusts are able to make and agree that a focus on even better support for all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), is necessary for individuals to achieve their potential.

A series of Trust Development Statements (TDS) have also been published for the first time. These statements set out the priorities in each Education Investment Area for developing a trust landscape led by high-quality trusts to transform standards locally and turn around underperforming schools.

This is backed by Trust Capacity Funding, a multi-year fund worth £86 million in 2022-2025 announced in the Schools White Paper that supports trusts to increase their capacity. The next round of funding will be open to new applications from 3 April. It is also supported by Trust Establishment and Growth Fund (TEG), which provides start-up funding for projects in their initial stages.

To develop the pipeline of outstanding leaders and increase the capacity of MAT leaders capable of leading sustainable growth at scale, the Government has also published the content that will underpin a MAT CEO development programme.

The content framework sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to lead a large trust effectively, to ensure that every pupil is receiving an excellent education.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 23 March 2023.

All supported accommodation providers for looked after 16- and 17-year-olds will be required to register with Ofsted and meet standards from October 2023.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 8 March 2023.

New standard for school sports will see girls and boys offered the same sports.

On International Women’s Day (Wednesday 8 March) the Government is setting out new standards for equal access to sports, making it clear that girls and boys should be offered the same sports during PE and extracurricular time in schools.

Today’s package will help to boost equal opportunities in school sport both inside and outside the classroom, delivering on promises made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan to the Women’s Euro 22 winners the Lionesses.

This follows on from the success of the Football Association’s (FA) #LetGirlsPlay campaign which is working to change perceptions and make sure girls get the chance to play football within the school curriculum, as well as at breaktime, after school and at local clubs.

The campaign was launched by the Lionesses squad and the FA after the England Women’s team’s success at the Euro 22 tournament last year.

Schools that successfully deliver equal opportunities for girls and boys will be rewarded through the School Games Mark, which will assess parity of provision in PE and extracurricular sport.

Schools are also being asked to offer a minimum of two hours curriculum PE time and Government will provide support to schools on how to do this through the upcoming refresh of the School Sport Action Plan.

Alongside this work, Ofsted will be publishing a report into PE in the coming months, which will inform future inspections and set out what they believe is possible in terms of offering high quality PE and equal access to sports.

This is backed by a package of cross-government funding to help boost sport and activities both inside and outside school hours including the confirmation of over £600 million in funding over the next two academic years for the PE and Sport Premium and £22 million for the School Games Organisers (SGO) network.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

Last year the Lionesses’ victory changed the game. Young girls know when they take to the pitch that football is for them and, thanks to the Lionesses, they too could be a part of the next generation to bring it home for their country.

We want schools to build on this legacy and give every girl the opportunity to do the same sports as boys, as well as provide a minimum of two hours of PE. This means every child can benefit from regular exercise and we are proud to provide them with the support needed to do so.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said:

As someone who grew up in Liverpool, a city dominated by its love for football, I know first-hand the power of sport in bringing people together – whether on or off the pitch.

Every child – girl or boy – should have access to high quality sport and activities. Not only are these opportunities great for both physical and mental health – but also for all those other skills young people will need throughout their life like teamwork and communication.

Today, on International Women’s Day, we are breaking down the barriers some children face to access sport and building on the Lionesses’ legacy to ensure girls have the same access to all their favourite sports as boys.

England women’s captain, Leah Williamson, said:

The success of the summer has inspired so many young girls to pursue their passion for football.

We see it as our responsibility to open the doors for them to do so and this announcement makes that possible.

This is the legacy that we want to live much longer than us as a team. On behalf of all the Lionesses players, we’d like to thank our teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy as a driving force behind this transformational change.

We couldn’t be prouder to stand alongside her and we all look forward to seeing the impact this legacy creates.

The FA’s Chief Executive, Mark Bullingham, said:

The magic of last summer’s Euros victory can now live on with a legacy that has the ability to change the future of women’s football and positively impact society.

Equal access for girls is one of The FA’s strategic ambitions and for such progress to be made is a very proud day. We’re all extremely grateful to the players for using their voice to deliver change and would like to place on record our thanks to Government for the positive measures announced today.

Andy Taylor, Chief Executive for Active Partnerships National Team said:

We are delighted that schools across England will receive a share of this new three-year investment to help them open up their sporting facilities outside of the normal school day.

Working with our consortia partners StreetGames, ukactive and the Youth Sport Trust, our network of 43 Active Partnerships will support schools to develop and deliver their plans, working together to identify those local communities facing the greatest inequalities and help give them access to more varied opportunities to be physically active.

We aim to engage with 1,350 schools throughout the funding programme.

The full package being announced today includes:

• equal access to sports in school – setting out that offering girls and boys the same sports, where it is wanted is the new standard.
• delivering a minimum 2 hours of curriculum PE –with more support being offered through a refreshed School Sport Action Plan.
• expansion of the Schools Games Mark – to reward parity of provision for girls – this kitemark scheme, delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, recognises schools that create positive sporting experiences across all sports for young people, supporting them to be active for 60 minutes a day.
• over £600 million across the next two years for the PE and Sport Premium – a funding commitment to improve the quality of PE and sports in primary schools to help children benefit from regular activity.
• a new digital tool for PE and Sport Premium – to support schools in using the funding to the best advantage of their pupils.
• £22 million for two years of further funding for the School Games Organiser network (SGO) – Annually the 450 strong SGO workforce supports 2.2m participation opportunities for children including 28,000 competitive school sport events.
• up to £57 million funding for the opening school facilities programme – to open up more school sport facilities outside of school hours especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs.

Being active in childhood is vital to long-term wellbeing and physical and mental health. This major investment will help more children to keep fit, have a healthy start to life and will help save the NHS money in the years ahead.

Up to £57 million in funding will be used to allow selected schools around England to keep their sport facilities open for longer for after-school activities, especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged children and those with special educational needs.

This work will be led by Active Partnerships who are leading a consortium, which includes Youth Sport Trust, ukactive and StreetGames, and will benefit up to 1,350 schools across.

The PE and Sport Premium is designed to help children get an active start in life by improving the quality of PE and sports in primary schools. Headteachers can choose how best to spend this funding including on teacher training, offering more opportunities for pupils to take part in competition and widening the range of sports for both boys and girls including football, tennis, cricket and hockey.

Schools will receive updated guidance this summer setting out how to use the funding to the best advantage of their pupils. A new digital tool will be introduced for schools to report on their spending of the PE and Sport Premium and allow the Government to understand where further guidance is needed.

The Government is also providing security for the School Games Organisers (SGO) network, with the commitment of funding until the end of the summer term 2025. The programme delivers on the Government’s ambition to ensure that all children and young people, no matter their background, can be active.

This is part of the Government’s commitment to improve access to sport for everyone. £300 million is being used to build or improve thousands of grassroots football and multi-sport facilities across the UK by 2025.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:

I will do all I can to help address inequality in sport and today’s announcement is a huge boost that will help give girls greater opportunities in schools across England. The Lionesses have undoubtedly inspired the next generation and it is vital that we make sure we have the structures in place at schools and the grassroots to capitalise on that and drive up participation for all the positive life benefits it brings.

Having made £1 billion available to ensure the survival of the sport and leisure sector during the pandemic, we are now setting a new standard for ensuring children and young people have the opportunity to enjoy healthy and active lives both inside and outside of school.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

Funding PE in schools can help inspire the next generation to build on the international sporting successes of the Lionesses at the Euros, the Red Roses and the England Women’s Cricket Team.

This International Women’s Day, we’re supporting schools to improve the quality of their PE provision including equal access to sports. This will help to level up opportunities for girls across the country so they can play sports such as football and cricket, alongside after school activities targeted at girls and other disadvantaged children.

We want young people to develop healthy habits whilst having fun at the same time, regardless of gender or background.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 3 March 2023.

New flagship language programme launched, designed to boost the quality of language lessons in primary and secondary schools.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 14 February 2023.

Schools, colleges and universities can now apply for the third year of the Turing Scheme to fund international study and work opportunities.

Thousands of young people across the UK will be able to go on international study and work placements next year, as schools, colleges and universities are encouraged to apply to the government’s world-wide scheme.

Applications for the third year of the flagship government programme, the Turing Scheme, are open with placements available across the globe starting from September 2023.

This year over 38,000 young people had a chance to develop new skills and gain international experience in over 160 destinations across continents, from Australia to Zimbabwe.

More than half of these placements are for young people from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds, helping to drive social mobility in parts of the UK where historically there have been fewer opportunities to work and study abroad.

Widening access to international opportunities in education and training is an essential component of the Turing Scheme with 33,000 participants from England, over 3,300 participants from Scotland, over 1,000 participants from Wales and over 860 from Northern Ireland.

Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon said:

I am thrilled to offer schools, colleges and universities the chance to take part in the third year of this fantastic scheme, helping extend the ladder of opportunity and giving more young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, the chance to experience other cultures and learn vital skills for life and work.

Young people taking part will benefit from studying and working abroad, building the confidence they need for the world of work, whilst increasing growth opportunities for Global Britain.

The scheme is open to young people at school, college, or university. A group of year 10 pupils from a school in Blackburn were offered the valuable opportunity to spend two weeks in Eswatini or Morocco in May 2022. Pupils from the Hyndburn Academy spent time in lessons with their counterparts as well as undertaking work in the local community, working with the charity All Out Africa to install drainage pipework at a care centre for local pre-school children.

Teacher Rebecca Barker-Rourke said of the experience:

The experience has developed confidence in many of the students and will give them loads of rich examples to discuss in future applications for college, university, apprenticeships and employment.

We are in an area that is economically deprived, and the Turing Scheme funding means we can offer this opportunity to students that would otherwise never get the chance for a trip like this.”

Applications are open for schools, colleges and universities to apply for the third year of the Turing Scheme for global placements commencing from September 2023. Placements are funded from September 1 to August 31 each year and the scheme is managed by Capita plc on behalf of the Department for Education, with the assessment of applications provided by an independent panel of sector experts.

Cindy Rampersaud, managing director, Capita Education and Learning, said:

We are incredibly proud to support the DfE in delivering the Turing Scheme.

The funding offers fantastic opportunities for thousands of learners – including some of the UK’s most disadvantaged students – to travel, expand their horizons, and reach their full potential.

Information about funding opportunities, eligibility criteria and a range of guidance and support materials for prospective applicants can be found on the Turing Scheme website.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 9 February 2023.

Family Hubs offer early support to families and young children to help them overcome difficulties and build strong relationships.

• Services include help with infant feeding and perinatal mental health support as well as make it easier to access wider services such as smoking cessation and job advice
• This announcement builds on Prime Minister’s ambition to put strong families at the heart of communities, in recognition of how important they are for people’s life chances

Thousands of families across England will be offered help and support with issues such as infant feeding, mental health and relationship building thanks to Family Hubs being rolled out in local communities.

75 areas will benefit from the £300 million investment up to 2025, with the new hubs offering support from conception through to age 19, or up to 25 for children with special education needs and disabilities.

Strong, supportive families make for more stable communities and happier individuals. Investing in families and making sure they get the support they need from birth through to adulthood helps with children’s educational attainment, wellbeing and life chances, while also improving wider outcomes such as poor mental health and unemployment.

Previously these services could be disjointed and hard to navigate but family hubs will act as a ‘one stop shop’ to offer guidance and advice on a range of circumstances including, infant feeding, mental health support, health visits and parenting classes.

Hubs will also bring together wider wraparound services that can make a huge difference to people who need extra support – such as advice on getting into work, relationship building and stop smoking services.

To fast-track delivery of these services, 14 local authority areas will become trailblazers and receive extra funding. These trailblazers will lead the way and support other local authorities to improve services that are offered to families, so that these can be rolled out more widely across the country.

Today’s announcement builds on the Prime Minister’s ambition to put families at the centre of communities and delivers on the 2019 manifesto commitment to champion Family Hubs.

Children, Families and Wellbeing Minister, Claire Coutinho said:

Having children can be really tough as well as bringing so much joy. All families, from time to time, will need a helping hand.

Family hubs bring services together helping parents, carers, children and young people to access the support they need more easily.

Parenting advice ranges from support with breast feeding and mental health to guidance on how to give children a head start on their learning.

Separately, Government is also confirming the final five areas to receive investment from the Family Hubs Transformation Fund, which will transition services which used to operate under the Sure Start banner over to the Family Hub model. This will enable a further 12 local authorities across England to open family hubs by March 2024.*

This funding will provide thousands of families with access to support when they need it, including helping to give babies the best start in life, as set out in ‘Best Start for Life: a vision for the critical 1,001 days’ led by Dame Andrea Leadsom, which sets out six action areas to improve support for families between pregnancy and age two. And, as part of her success as the government’s Early Years Healthy Development Adviser, Dame Leadsom’s role will be extended until the end of parliament.

Dame Andrea Leadsom said:

Support for the earliest years is being transformed our ‘Start for Life’ offer will point families-to-be in the direction of their Family Hub, and the help they can get there will include a warm welcome, parenting advice, antenatal help, health visiting, mental health and infant feeding support and even advice on relationship building or how to get into work. There will be a strong focus on dads and co-parents who have for far too long been left out.

We all agree that universal education and universal healthcare are the right of every citizen. Surely, however, the best start for life is the most fundamental right of all. It is in the period from conception to the age of two that the building blocks for good lifelong physical and emotional health are laid down. There is quite literally no better place to invest, either for human happiness or value for taxpayers’ money!

A progress report will be published today outlining the progress the government has made against these commitments to date. It also sets out the government’s priorities for further work.

Parents will also be able to access a range of support through the hubs from midwifery to mental health support, health visiting to infant feeding advice. Hubs will also provide early language and communication development for young children to set the foundations for lifelong learning and prepare them for school at age five.

Minister Neil O’Brien said:

Every child should have the support to be able to reach their full potential.

There is robust evidence that the 1,001 critical days from pregnancy to the age of two are vital for development and impact a child’s physical and emotional health for the rest of their life.

Better access to family hubs and additional funding for critical Start for Life services will provide more families with the right support for their baby to get the best start in life – including support for mental health, building strong and healthy relationships and infant feeding.

Peter Fonagy, Chief Executive of the Anna Freud Centre, said:

Family Hubs make a positive difference to parents, carers and children by providing a single access point to services that can help them during challenging periods. We know how important early intervention is in improving physical, mental and emotional health outcomes for young people, and in helping to build a strong foundation for them to prosper in later life.

We are proud to lead the National Centre for Family Hubs, which provides a national platform for the implementation of family hubs in local areas, and to be able to extend support to more areas across the country.

Our work champions, develops and disseminates evidence and best practice across communities to help local authorities to build family hubs that are accessible and inclusive to all, particularly those families who are living in poverty, experiencing discrimination and exclusion, and those who have children with special educational needs or disabilities.

The early years are vital for children’s development and early language and communication skills. Start for Life services will help parents to form those secure lifelong bonds with their babies and children; and family hubs will provide advice and support to parents to encourage them to chat, play and read with their children to support  early development.

Notes to Editors

To view the 75 local authorities to receive a share of the funding from the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, click here.

The 14 trailblazer areas include:

• Torbay
• Sheffield
• County Durham
• Cornwall
• Salford
• Kent
• Sunderland
• Manchester
• Northumberland
• Hull
• Coventry
• Blackpool
• East Sussex
• Isle of Wight

*The 12 local authorities to receive a share of the Family Hubs Transformation Fund are:

• Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
• Brighton and Hove
• Cheshire East
• Cumbria
• Dorset
• Hammersmith and Fulham
• Leicestershire
• Merton
• Solihull
• Stockport
• Wirral
• York

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 8 February 2023.

The Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that the maximum Plan 2 and the Postgraduate loan interest rate will be 6.9% between 1 March 2023 and 31 May 2023.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 2 February 2023.

Government to transform children’s social care, with ambitious plans that put families at the heart of reform .

Vulnerable children will be better supported to stay with their families in safe and loving homes, as part of an overhaul of children’s social care.

Backed by £200 million over the next two years, a new, ambitious and wide-ranging Children’s Social Care Implementation Strategy will transform the current care system to focus on more early support for families, reducing the need for crisis response at a later stage.

The plan responds to recommendations made by three independent reviews by Josh MacAlister, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel into the tragic murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The findings revealed the current care system is often fragmented, siloed, and struggling to meet the needs of children and families across England.

Families will receive local early help and intervention with challenges such as addiction, domestic abuse or mental health, to help families to stay together where possible and overcome adversity. This will start in 12 local authorities and is backed by £45m to embed a best practice model that will then be shared more widely.

Children who grow up in loving, stable homes tend to have better outcomes, which is why the proposals put relationships at the heart of the care system and prioritise family-like placements where a child can no longer live with their parents. Kinship care, where a child is placed with a relative or close family friend, will be prioritised by simplifying the process and providing more support to extended families, such as grandparents, aunties, uncles and others. Recognising the transition within a family can be challenging for all involved, the government will also provide training and support to kinship carers.

Foster carers will also see an above-inflation increase in their allowance to help cover the increasing costs of caring for a child in their home, in recognition of the brilliant care they provide to children. This is alongside £25 million over the next two years on a recruitment and retention programme, which is the largest investment in recent history, helping to attract more people to offer a loving home for children in need. Depending on local need, foster care recruitment will focus on areas where there is a particular shortage of placements for children such as sibling groups, teenagers, unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC), those that have suffered complex trauma or parent and child foster homes.

Today’s announcement echoes the Prime Minister’s intention to better support all families, as evidence shows that strong, supportive families make for more stable communities and happier individuals.

Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Claire Coutinho said:

Children in care deserve the same love and stability as everyone else. Yet we’ve seen from the two tragic murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson that more needs to be done to protect our most vulnerable children.

Our wide-ranging reforms will put strong relationships at the heart of the care system. From supporting our brilliant foster carers, kinship carers and social workers to getting early help to families and improving children’s homes, we want every child to get the support and protection they need.

Measures announced today in the strategy, Stable Homes, Built on Love, include:

Introducing more effective, joined-up family help for those that are struggling.

Up to 12 local areas will get over £45m to test a new approach to Family Help to provide increased, evidence-based support for families to overcome issues to prevent problems from escalating. In a welcoming and non-judgemental way, the new service will help families with issues such as domestic abuse or poor mental health, giving them access to local support with the focus on the help they need rather than bureaucratic boundaries and assessments between services and professionals.

Where a child is at risk of harm, experts will intervene swiftly and decisively to protect them.

A new Child Protection Lead Practitioner role will have advanced, specialist training, and will work in a fully joined up way with other services such as the police, to better identify and respond to significant harm. The change will mean services work more effectively to protect children from harms that happen outside of the home, such as criminal exploitation and serious violence.

Harnessing the value of family networks by supporting the kinship care system.

There will be a focus on improved support and reducing barriers to kinship care, including investing £9 million in a kinship care training and support offer for all kinship carers. The government will explore the case for a new financial allowance, possible additional workplace entitlements and options for an extension of legal aid for kinship carers who become Special Guardians or who hold Child Arrangement Orders.

Transforming the experiences of children in care and care leavers, by prioritising children in care living in homes close to their family, friends, communities and schools.

In addition to the recruitment programme and the above inflation increase to allowances, the government is investing £30m in family finding, befriending and mentoring programmes to support children in care and care leavers to find and maintain loving relationships.  The government will also increase the leaving care allowance from £2,000 to £3,000 from April this year, an above inflation increase to help them set up home independently. For care leavers undertaking apprenticeships, there will be an increase to the bursary available from £1000 to £3,000.

Expanding and strengthening the children’s social care workforce.

Local authorities will be supported to recruit up to 500 new child and family social worker apprentices and there will be consultation on proposals to reduce over-reliance on agency social workers. The government will also introduce a new Early Career Framework for social workers that will make sure that social workers have the knowledge and skills they need to support and protect children.

Setting clearer direction for everyone who works in the system, through a new Children’s Social Care National Framework and Dashboard.

The National Framework, published today for consultation, sets out clear outcomes that should be achieved across all local authorities to improve the lives of children and families, raising the quality of practice across the country.

The government has now reached its target to reduce the number of children’s social care services judged to be ‘Inadequate’ to 10% or lower. This collective effort from government and the Children’s Social Care sector, has halved failure rates across the country within five years, bringing improved standards for thousands of children and families across the country. The strategy builds on this work, to support more children within the care system.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 20 January 2023.

Deliveries of defibrillators begin today (20 January) to all state-funded schools in England that don’t currently have a life-saving device.

Last year, the government committed to supplying state-funded schools across England with defibrillators to make sure there is a device in every school.

It follows campaigning from the Oliver King Foundation and its founder Mark King, who has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the need for defibrillators since he tragically lost his son at the age of 12 to cardiac arrest while swimming at school.

The deliveries of the first defibrillators mark the start of a roll out of over 20,000 defibrillators to almost 18,000 state-funded schools by the end of the academic year.

The government is also supporting schools in making defibrillators available to the community, with external heated defibrillator cabinets being provided to primary and special schools in areas where provision is lower.

An internal cabinet is being provided to secondary schools that are receiving two or more defibrillators, so one can be placed at the school’s sports facility, where a cardiac arrest is more likely to happen.

The Oliver King Foundation and other leading charities, including the British Heart Foundation, Resuscitation Council UK and St John Ambulance, have supported the creation of updated guidance which will give schools the tools and knowledge they need to use their new defibrillators.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

Today we’re celebrating a huge milestone as we start deliveries of defibrillators to schools, working towards every school having one by the end of the academic year.

None of this would have come about without the relentless and brave campaigning of Mark King and the Oliver King Foundation, and we are extremely grateful to him and other leading charities for the ongoing support they will doubtless provide schools from lesson plans to staff training.

Founder of the Oliver King Foundation Mark King said:

This is a landmark moment and will be welcomed by pupils, parents and teachers up and down the country.

It is a proud day for us because we’ve campaigned for schools to have access to defibrillators for over a decade. It is a major victory for the Oliver King Foundation.

Defibrillators save lives and I have no doubt that lives will now be saved so that families do not have to suffer the heartbreak of unnecessarily losing a child. This is for our Ollie.

This is the largest defibrillator programme in England to date and will ensure that pupils and staff have access to this lifesaving first aid equipment.

The new guidance provides advice for schools on how to make their defibrillator available to the community. The government is also encouraging schools to sign up to The Circuit, the national defibrillator network.

As part of the rollout, awareness videos are being provided to show how simple defibrillators are to use, and schools are being encouraged to share these videos in staff meetings and assemblies.

This follows the announcement last month of a new £1 million fund to increase the number of defibrillators in communities most in need – providing an estimated 1,000 new defibrillators in community spaces across England.