Written questions by Naish.

What steps she is taking to (a) help clarify the duty of care owed by higher education providers to their students and (b) to ensure such standards are met.

The department is determined that children and young people receive the mental health care they deserve. This government is breaking down barriers to opportunity by providing young people with the mental health support they deserve. To support this, this government has committed to recruiting 8,500 additional staff across children and adult NHS mental health services.The department continues to work closely with students, parents, mental health experts and the higher education (HE) sector to drive meaningful change in mental health practice through the HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce. The Taskforce recently published its second stage report, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/higher-education-mental-health-implementation-taskforce.The department’s position is that a duty of care in HE may arise in certain circumstances. Such circumstances would be a matter for the courts to decide, based on the specific facts and context of the case being considered, and will be dependent on the application by a court of accepted common law principles.My noble Friend, the Minister for Skills, welcomes the opportunity to meet with members of ForThe100 regarding these issues.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the fees charged by (a) not-for-profit children's home providers and (b) independent fostering agencies; and whether the proposed financial transparency measures set out in the Department's policy paper entitled Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive, published on 18 November 2024, will apply to charitable organisations operating in the children's social care sector.

Every child in care should have a safe, loving home which is also value for money for the taxpayer.However, some local authorities are on the brink of bankruptcy, in part due to the rising costs of spending on children in care which has increased significantly from £3.1 billion in 2009/10 to £8.1 billion in 2023/24. This is all while some providers are making excessive profits despite sometimes providing subpar care for our most vulnerable children.In their 2022 report, the Competition and Markets Authority examined prices and profits across the children’s social care market and estimated operating profit margins for the 15 largest providers between 2016 and 2020 were 22.6% for children’s homes, 19.4% for independent fostering agencies and 35.5% for supported accommodation.The department is clear that profiteering from vulnerable children in care is absolutely unacceptable and this is why the department is taking forward a package of measures to rebalance the children’s social care placement market and stamp out profiteering.The financial oversight measures set out in ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’ will increase financial and corporate transparency among the most difficult to replace providers and their corporate owners.The scheme will apply to private, voluntary and charity providers of children’s homes and independent fostering agencies operating in England.

Whether her Department plans to take steps to (a) understand more about the relationship between smartphone use and young people’s mental health, (b) reduce any negative impact of those devices on young people’s mental health and (c) bring forward legislative proposals on the use of smartphones in schools.

Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including what items are banned from school premises. Additionally, the government’s non-statutory guidance supports schools on how to develop, implement and maintain a policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones throughout the school day. Headteachers are responsible for implementation of guidance within their schools. Research suggests excessive screentime can be detrimental to children’s wellbeing. The Online Safety Act aims to protects children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and to ensure that technology companies take more responsibility for the safety of their users, particularly children.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of SEND childcare requirements on parents in full employment; and what steps she plans to take to help support these parents.

Every child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) should be able to access high quality early years provision, with a workforce who can nurture a child’s needs, recognise their strengths and build effective working relationships with parents to ensure all children are safe, cared for and able to learn.All three and four year olds are entitled to 15 hours per week of funded childcare and early education for 38 weeks of the year, regardless of the income or working status of their parent or carer. This is termed the ‘universal entitlement’.Two year olds can get free childcare if they have an education, health and care plan, or are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).The duty on local authorities to secure sufficient childcare extends to children with SEND. The SEND Code of Practice and Equality Act 2010 place certain requirements on providers, holding both local authorities and providers to account.Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006 sets out the responsibilities for local authorities to ensure that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.The local authority statutory guidance on Early Education and Childcare sets out a clear requirement that local authorities must report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, including for children with SEND and make this report available and accessible to parents.Departmental officials have regular meetings with each local authority in England about the sufficiency of their early education and childcare offer and any issues they are facing. This includes one-to-one support through our childcare delivery support contractor, Childcare Works, where appropriate. Childcare Works, is contracted to help local authorities and providers scale up delivery of the expanded early education entitlements and to meet their childcare sufficiency duty. Their activity includes support for local authorities to deliver for children with SEND, for example via national or regional events and supportive materials for use by both local authorities and providers.

If she will make it her policy to extend free school transport in rural areas to include schools other than the nearest suitable school.

The department’s home to school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home to school travel for children of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. There are extended rights to free home to school travel for children who are eligible for free school meals or whose parents claim the maximum amount of Working Tax Credit. These are intended to support school choice for families where the cost of travel may otherwise be a barrier. For children up until age 11, the walking distance remains set at 2 miles. Children aged 11 to 16 are eligible for free travel to one of their three nearest schools, provided it is between 2 and 6 miles from their home, or to a school that is between 2 and 16 miles from their home that their parents have chosen on the grounds of their religion or belief and there is no suitable school, having regard to that religion or belief, nearer to their home. Local authorities have the discretion to arrange travel for other children but are not required to do so. I am keen to understand how well home-to-school transport supports children to access educational opportunity and will be working with departmental officials on this. In addition, this government has set out an action plan to deliver better bus services and drive opportunity to under-served regions. The government will introduce the Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services in the hands of local leaders to ensure networks can meet the needs of the communities who rely on them.

What steps she is taking to ensure that further education providers proactively adjust their admissions (a) criteria and (b) numbers to ensure that local demand is met for students that choose to stay in full-time education beyond the age of 16.

Young people are required to continue in education or training until they turn 18. They can do this through full-time education, a job or volunteering combined with part-time study, or by undertaking an apprenticeship or supported internship.Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Education and Skills Act 2008 to identify and support 16 and 17 year olds who are not in education or training.Furthermore, under the September Guarantee, all 16 and 17 year olds are entitled to an offer of a suitable place in education or training. This aims to ensure that all young people, regardless of what they achieved in school, understand that there are opportunities that will help them to progress, and to ensure that they get the advice and support they need to find a suitable place.Over £7 billion of 16 to 19 programme funding will be invested during the 2024/2025 academic year to pay for education for any 16, 17 or 18 year olds in post-16 education. The bulk of the money is committed through lagged funding allocations, based on student numbers taking part in education at each college, school or other institution in the year before. However, the department recognises that, for those institutions that recruit significantly more students than they are funded for in their lagged funding allocation, there are additional costs and the department provides in year growth funding to help with these.For the 2024/25 academic year, the department took the exceptional step of publishing the policy on in year growth on 21 August 2024, which was before GCSE results day and the start of the academic year, to support providers’ planning decisions. This should support providers to offer places to all young people who want one. This policy is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-funding-in-year-growth-for-2024-to-2025.The post-16 capacity fund provides funding to schools and colleges to ensure they have enough capital capacity to accommodate the demographic increases in 16 to 19 learners. It has made available £238 million in capital funding since 2021.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that there are a sufficient number of local places for students that choose to stay in full-time education beyond the age of 16.

Young people are required to continue in education or training until they turn 18. They can do this through full-time education, a job or volunteering combined with part-time study, or by undertaking an apprenticeship or supported internship.Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Education and Skills Act 2008 to identify and support 16 and 17 year olds who are not in education or training.Furthermore, under the September Guarantee, all 16 and 17 year olds are entitled to an offer of a suitable place in education or training. This aims to ensure that all young people, regardless of what they achieved in school, understand that there are opportunities that will help them to progress, and to ensure that they get the advice and support they need to find a suitable place.Over £7 billion of 16 to 19 programme funding will be invested during the 2024/2025 academic year to pay for education for any 16, 17 or 18 year olds in post-16 education. The bulk of the money is committed through lagged funding allocations, based on student numbers taking part in education at each college, school or other institution in the year before. However, the department recognises that, for those institutions that recruit significantly more students than they are funded for in their lagged funding allocation, there are additional costs and the department provides in year growth funding to help with these.For the 2024/25 academic year, the department took the exceptional step of publishing the policy on in year growth on 21 August 2024, which was before GCSE results day and the start of the academic year, to support providers’ planning decisions. This should support providers to offer places to all young people who want one. This policy is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-funding-in-year-growth-for-2024-to-2025.The post-16 capacity fund provides funding to schools and colleges to ensure they have enough capital capacity to accommodate the demographic increases in 16 to 19 learners. It has made available £238 million in capital funding since 2021.

If she will take steps to regulate (a) service standards and (b) access requirements specifically for SEND provision by breakfast club providers.

The government’s National Wraparound Childcare Programme Handbook makes clear that providers are expected to ensure their provision is inclusive and has considered the needs of all children including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This guidance also sets out the expectation that local authorities publish the local offer for children with SEND. The government is committed to ensuring delivery of breakfast clubs in every primary school, and will work with schools, providers and local authorities to ensure they can meet the needs of children with SEND as part of this programme. Providing a supportive start to the day ensures that every child, no matter their circumstances, is set up for the day and ready to learn.