Live Education Questions

:00:00. > :00:10.Hello and welcome to BBC Parliament live coverage from Westminster. And

:00:11. > :00:12.welcome to BBC Parliament live coverage from Westminster. Into our

:00:13. > :00:18.there are two urgent questions in the House of Commons, the first is

:00:19. > :00:25.from Haiti in Hamilton, one of the three protesters of the Chinese

:00:26. > :00:35.presidents visit. And on the breach of personal data. Up to 3 million

:00:36. > :00:43.coverage of TalkTalk customers could have lost their data. After the

:00:44. > :00:47.votes, we will return to the House of Commons around 6pm where the main

:00:48. > :00:50.business in the chamber for the evening will be the final

:00:51. > :00:55.consideration of the finance Bill, you can watch live coverage of both

:00:56. > :01:01.the Commons and Lords at our website. And of course remember to

:01:02. > :01:06.join me for a round-up of the day at both houses of parliament at 11pm.

:01:07. > :01:08.First there are questions to the education secretary and her team of

:01:09. > :01:29.ministers. Order! Order! Questions to the

:01:30. > :01:36.Secretary of State for education, Mr Mark Spencer. Number one. Thank you

:01:37. > :01:41.very much Mr Speaker and can I begin by welcoming the new shadow front

:01:42. > :01:48.bench to their respective roles and in particular at the lady from

:01:49. > :01:52.Washington and I look forward to working with her as I have in the

:01:53. > :01:58.past I'm sure with she and the rest of the House will agree that kinship

:01:59. > :02:07.care is vital for children cannot live at their parent. Which is

:02:08. > :02:16.white... Which every counsel showed published a family and friends care

:02:17. > :02:20.policy. 83% of Labour 30s now have a published policy compared to 42% in

:02:21. > :02:26.2012 and I intend to write against councils on this issue. I am

:02:27. > :02:29.grateful for that response and will the Minister recognised the

:02:30. > :02:34.importance of kinship carers are taking in many of whom are

:02:35. > :02:38.grandparents for those who do have responsibility for. Up their

:02:39. > :02:42.responsibilities prevent them from working full-time and I wonder what

:02:43. > :02:47.assessments you can give for damn parents who are kinship care for

:02:48. > :02:55.their duties? He is right to raise the crucial role that working

:02:56. > :02:57.grandparents play for childcare and supporting working families and

:02:58. > :03:03.there is a carb gram and we recognise that fact and we announce

:03:04. > :03:08.plans to extend the current system to also cover working grandparents

:03:09. > :03:13.by providing much greater choice for families trying to balance childcare

:03:14. > :03:20.and work. We will bring forward that legislation to enable this change

:03:21. > :03:24.and implementing it by 2018. Carers save the taxpayer a great deal of

:03:25. > :03:29.money as well as being the best option for the children they are

:03:30. > :03:33.looking after, so as well as the publication by the authorities of

:03:34. > :03:38.their practice, will he ensure those local authorities have the resources

:03:39. > :03:44.they need to support kinship carers of say that taxpayer money, and do

:03:45. > :03:48.what is right for the carers and the children, short-term and longer-term

:03:49. > :03:51.as well. The reason why we take such a strong interest in this issue is

:03:52. > :03:54.for all the reason is that the honourable gentleman just said, they

:03:55. > :03:59.are performing a role that would otherwise have to be performed by

:04:00. > :04:02.the state, that is why whether it through discretionary housing fund

:04:03. > :04:06.or the work that we are doing with family rights group and other family

:04:07. > :04:10.group conference is to help those families where it is at all possible

:04:11. > :04:16.help children keep living with them and will help save taxpayer money

:04:17. > :04:20.and the children's futures. Given the significant financial pressure

:04:21. > :04:25.on the former fostering system of placement breakdown, will be

:04:26. > :04:31.ministers support with the adoption form grant where that has

:04:32. > :04:35.significant impact and... Where we are matching the money with the

:04:36. > :04:40.intent to support kinship care. My Honorable friend will be aware of

:04:41. > :04:43.the already impressive impact the adoption support fund already had on

:04:44. > :04:48.helping those families care for is some of the most notable children in

:04:49. > :04:51.our society and it is clearly having a positive approach like that across

:04:52. > :04:55.the board that will help many of those other families struggling in

:04:56. > :04:58.similar circumstances to bring about those outcomes happy to do the

:04:59. > :05:05.special guardianship review which is under way, they will all help to

:05:06. > :05:11.deliver what will be better support for pre-and post placement for all

:05:12. > :05:16.those children who need it. At my last surgery I had to families who

:05:17. > :05:20.are taking on kinship responsibilities and they have less

:05:21. > :05:23.support and ongoing support than adoptive parents, can the government

:05:24. > :05:29.ensure that they equal support as adoptive parents? I think I have

:05:30. > :05:33.just touched on the previous answer about the support that we have

:05:34. > :05:38.offered on adoption, others support is available to kinship carers and

:05:39. > :05:42.their own local authority area, and that is why Allstate inspections of

:05:43. > :05:49.local authorities including the family imprint statutory guidance,

:05:50. > :05:53.we majored is greater emphasis on... In that share parental leave

:05:54. > :05:58.will help many families to have a grandparent who works to hold the

:05:59. > :06:01.childcare to provide flexible to bribed a better balance between

:06:02. > :06:06.having a family in good childcare and play. I was privileged to meet

:06:07. > :06:09.with a group of kinship carers and a family rights group in Parliament a

:06:10. > :06:15.couple weeks ago and they told me that the government's changes to

:06:16. > :06:20.welfare might an intended consequence and deterring people

:06:21. > :06:25.from taking up kinship care because many look after more than three

:06:26. > :06:29.children. What assessment has the Minister made of the likely impact

:06:30. > :06:35.changes to tax credits on this group of people who are doing such a

:06:36. > :06:38.fantastic work? The honourable gentleman is right to highlight the

:06:39. > :06:42.importance of making sure we have the right support in place for

:06:43. > :06:44.kinship carers and any changes that are made are thought through

:06:45. > :06:49.carefully and that is what we have done. You also know, that the two

:06:50. > :06:54.child policy that is being brought in is not until April 2017, so any

:06:55. > :06:58.extra support kinship carers give from their local authority is

:06:59. > :07:02.disregarded when it comes to an introduction of a benefit cap and

:07:03. > :07:07.there is other support in exceptional circumstances that are

:07:08. > :07:13.affected by the changes from April 2017, and we are happy to think

:07:14. > :07:22.about them in the future. Question to Sir. I will answer this question

:07:23. > :07:26.with cat question number 12. We are protecting schools budget with

:07:27. > :07:31.arises pupil numbers and make significant progress toward fairer

:07:32. > :07:35.funding for school. Which we have now confirmed we included in budgets

:07:36. > :07:40.for next year as well. My right honourable friend will know that

:07:41. > :07:45.schools and Savage are received about ?320 less per pupil than the

:07:46. > :07:52.English average. At the reach risk of boring you Mr Speaker, in 1992I

:07:53. > :07:55.raise this. I raised it in Prime Minister questions with Tony Blair

:07:56. > :07:58.witch was sympathetic but did nothing as well and in the last

:07:59. > :08:05.parliament I it was told we give leave rules who... We are in

:08:06. > :08:13.government now so what are we going to do and when will it happen?

:08:14. > :08:19.Considered exotic but he is never considered boring, not by the chair

:08:20. > :08:24.anyway. I agree with you on those remarks, my honourable friend under

:08:25. > :08:29.Parliamentary Secretary of state met with colleagues since Aperture two

:08:30. > :08:33.discuss funding and I think he was not there but he was there in

:08:34. > :08:37.spirit. You protect the funding and staff a jurist of people with...

:08:38. > :08:42.Schools would continue to receive the pounds but I am determined to

:08:43. > :08:50.make further progress on this. Thank you Mr Speaker. Undercurrent of

:08:51. > :08:58.funding arrangements, funding and Worcestershire is ?4231 and in

:08:59. > :09:03.others it is ?5,218, when she visits and iMac will she be able to deliver

:09:04. > :09:08.good news to my constituents that will narrow this gap. I think my

:09:09. > :09:12.honourable friend, I am looking forward to my visit to

:09:13. > :09:19.Worcestershire, I cannot say what I am saying at that point. But I know

:09:20. > :09:21.other members up Westchester, haven't absolutely tirelessly

:09:22. > :09:26.campaigning for fairer school funding for some time and I know

:09:27. > :09:34.they will be welcoming nearly ?7 million extra for schools there and

:09:35. > :09:38.I will look further into this. Could she also look at where that

:09:39. > :09:45.equitable funding ends up in terms of where students and up? Students

:09:46. > :09:49.who end up in further education or at home colleges or studio schools,

:09:50. > :09:57.the factory matters so many kids in our country are not getting their

:09:58. > :10:03.fair share. I think the honourable gentleman -- I think Mack the

:10:04. > :10:06.honourable gentleman. We are looking at all elements of funding for the

:10:07. > :10:11.forthcoming spending review, but we have made it very clear that we want

:10:12. > :10:17.to protect and we are protecting funding and that means the amount of

:10:18. > :10:27.funding to schools goes up as the amount of pupils go up. Funding

:10:28. > :10:32.request sits happily with pupil premium policy, has the Minister any

:10:33. > :10:39.thoughts on either revising or reviewing? I think we can all agree

:10:40. > :10:43.that pupil premium funding has been hugely successful, that over two and

:10:44. > :10:46.a half billion pounds have been given to schools for additional

:10:47. > :10:50.funding to help those who are disadvantaged and schools are

:10:51. > :10:54.offending it... Spending it by and large effectively. At the school

:10:55. > :10:59.funding formula should reflect deprecation funding, but we

:11:00. > :11:02.absolutely want to make sure that the pupils with the same needs

:11:03. > :11:08.attract the same funding. But I think it is successful. Given the

:11:09. > :11:12.complexity of this issue does the Secretary of State agree with me

:11:13. > :11:16.that we he proposals relatively soon so the education select committee

:11:17. > :11:19.for one can examine these proposals, so we can be satisfied that they are

:11:20. > :11:25.a long-term solution to a significant problem. I think the

:11:26. > :11:29.chairman of the select committee, any solution must be long-term and I

:11:30. > :11:34.can assure them that if there is any changes there will be extensive

:11:35. > :11:41.consultation and members of the select committee and members of

:11:42. > :11:47.schools be involved. Like many other parts of London have an acute

:11:48. > :11:50.shortage of primary and secondary provision over the course of this

:11:51. > :11:56.Parliament, will the Secretary of State agree to lead with me and

:11:57. > :12:00.discuss this, and will she allow local authorities with a good track

:12:01. > :12:07.record of authority maintained schools not just expand local

:12:08. > :12:10.schools but build new ones. I think the honourable gentleman for his

:12:11. > :12:13.question and I am sure I or one of the ministers will be happy to meet

:12:14. > :12:20.him, but the last Parliament put ?5 billion extra to... And ?7 billion

:12:21. > :12:27.for new places across the system and his own party took out funding for

:12:28. > :12:35.pupil growth. Thank you Mr Speaker. In a similar vein, peoples in my

:12:36. > :12:39.constituency to see the last per pupil and I have the backing of

:12:40. > :12:42.thousands of teachers and parents on petition for our fairer funding

:12:43. > :12:47.campaign, can I give them any indication that the Minister, they

:12:48. > :12:57.will be missed to listen to. I think my honourable then. -- I think Mack

:12:58. > :13:01.my honourable friend. Their funding is a huge issue but what I can sure

:13:02. > :13:07.her is that I am aware of these issues as our ministers across

:13:08. > :13:11.government. Thank you Mr Speaker that Institute of fiscal study shows

:13:12. > :13:18.that for the first time since the mid-90s, school spending for pupils

:13:19. > :13:21.has fallen, they have fared huge cuts, can the Secretary of State

:13:22. > :13:25.ushered the stuff that any increases in funding in one area of her budget

:13:26. > :13:32.will not be at the further expense of others? The honourable gentleman

:13:33. > :13:35.will know that I cannot give any predictions of the fourth spending

:13:36. > :13:39.review until all of those negotiations and discussions with

:13:40. > :13:42.the Treasury are concluded. Of course fairer funding and the issues

:13:43. > :13:47.we have been discussing are very important part in to the pressures

:13:48. > :13:56.on school's budgets across the country. Thank you, number three Mr

:13:57. > :14:01.Speaker. I will ask this question with questions number four, 11, and

:14:02. > :14:06.13. We have high aspirations for all children and want them to be able to

:14:07. > :14:10.fill that potential academically and mentally. It is best supported if

:14:11. > :14:16.they have good mental health, character and resilience. I am

:14:17. > :14:20.pleased of a new initiative has been established between our local mental

:14:21. > :14:28.health service providers in rural pressure ships trust and local

:14:29. > :14:31.community groups. Will my right honourable friend agree that local

:14:32. > :14:38.issues like this have a important role to play and improving mental

:14:39. > :14:43.health in our communities? I absolutely do recognise it being to

:14:44. > :14:47.get mental help support to children quickly and I welcome the

:14:48. > :14:52.initiatives that have been established. We believe that this

:14:53. > :14:55.investment of ?1.4 billion were mental health services which this

:14:56. > :14:59.government has announced will make a real difference. I am delighted to

:15:00. > :15:03.see there are so many questions on children's mental health in the

:15:04. > :15:10.session today. Thank you Mr Speaker. A parent of a young girl

:15:11. > :15:13.and... Wrote to me and she is suffering from eating disorders and

:15:14. > :15:17.had a harrowing account of getting support for her daughter, and one of

:15:18. > :15:21.the things you suggested would make a difference is to have a presence

:15:22. > :15:24.directly in school so they could intervene earlier. My colleague on

:15:25. > :15:27.the front bench pointed out that we know from the ISS that real-time

:15:28. > :15:32.funding to schools is going to be cut for the first time since 1990,

:15:33. > :15:36.so what can the Secretary of State say directly to my constituent to

:15:37. > :15:40.reassure her that every young person will have access to mental health

:15:41. > :15:45.services directly in their schools so resort... These sorts of

:15:46. > :15:52.situations can be avoided in the future. All and he's here these

:15:53. > :15:56.height... Heart rending stories and I've had these types of cases

:15:57. > :16:01.brought to my attention by constituent parents. A significant

:16:02. > :16:05.sum of that is going to be spent on supporting young people with eating

:16:06. > :16:09.disorders but also contributing one and a half million to a partner in

:16:10. > :16:14.NHS England to treat single points of contact and special mental health

:16:15. > :16:19.services to work together so schools that don't have mental health

:16:20. > :16:24.experts know exactly who to go to and how to get help for their pupil.

:16:25. > :16:34.The Secretary of State may be quite that... Part of this stems from poor

:16:35. > :16:38.health, what can the government do to make sure that each pupil has a

:16:39. > :16:43.single point of contact, and not just in one school but for other

:16:44. > :16:51.education from age four they leave to be able to tackle this particular

:16:52. > :17:00.problem? Can think my honourable -- can I thank my honourable friend. I

:17:01. > :17:06.should also mention that for the first time this year the Department

:17:07. > :17:10.of Education included just under ?5 million for organizations such as

:17:11. > :17:15.mined and placed it be and put new resources for parents on the

:17:16. > :17:20.website. Thank you Mr Speaker, as someone who has been a council lead

:17:21. > :17:25.member for children and education in the past I know how important a

:17:26. > :17:29.mental health service is but also the educational psychology service

:17:30. > :17:33.to ensure that teachers and other school staff are able to keep

:17:34. > :17:40.children with challenges in school and learning effectively. To mental

:17:41. > :17:43.health foundation, Mr Speaker, said one in ten children have mental

:17:44. > :17:49.health problems at some point in their school career. 81% of

:17:50. > :17:52.educational psychologist and increasing the band for their

:17:53. > :17:58.services in the last 12 months and there is a shortage of their

:17:59. > :18:01.services and also the dead sites are leading the... Leaving their

:18:02. > :18:06.profession in large numbers, probably due to the pressure of the

:18:07. > :18:11.workload. How are they in ensuring there are adequate professional

:18:12. > :18:17.psychologist working in the schools. We got the rest of it and

:18:18. > :18:27.we are deeply obliged, but a degree of truncation would be helpful. I

:18:28. > :18:31.thank the honourable lady speaks and great passion about it, and will

:18:32. > :18:34.commission a more with the psychologist more than we did last

:18:35. > :18:38.year and she is right to say that a lot of this is about making sure

:18:39. > :18:45.that people stay in education and there are not barriers, I will write

:18:46. > :18:48.to her with more details. Thank you Mr Speaker colleagues have pointed

:18:49. > :18:52.rightly to the impact of mental health on the children themselves.

:18:53. > :18:56.Mental health problems with the children also impact the whole of

:18:57. > :19:01.the family. Which you like to say what we are doing in that respect?

:19:02. > :19:05.The honourable gentleman as aptly right. When someone in a family,

:19:06. > :19:09.particularly a young person is struck with a mental ill health, it

:19:10. > :19:17.affects the whole family. That is why funding through things like...

:19:18. > :19:22.The programme I mentioned, as well as the mind as website which are up

:19:23. > :19:26.provides resources for parents, and I strongly encourage any parents who

:19:27. > :19:28.are worried about mental health of their children have the early

:19:29. > :19:37.conversations with people in their schools and head teachers and

:19:38. > :19:42.teachers to... Thank you Mr Speaker, since 2013-20 of 14

:19:43. > :19:46.institutions have received a national funding rate which we have

:19:47. > :19:51.held steady in 15-16 but we understand the financial challenges

:19:52. > :19:56.in the sector and have announced reviews to make sure we have

:19:57. > :20:03.sustainable institutions giving high-quality education. They can

:20:04. > :20:07.guarantee funding for anyone age group, but the Minister knows that

:20:08. > :20:13.their sector has suffered a disproportionate cut in funding over

:20:14. > :20:19.many years and it does not even include six form in schools, not

:20:20. > :20:24.included in the review, what are we going to be doing to protect 16

:20:25. > :20:32.through 19? The regional school parent... Commissioner who is to

:20:33. > :20:36.commission schools in their area is always going to be part of these

:20:37. > :20:40.reviews. They can bring in the perspective of all six forms in

:20:41. > :20:45.schools, but I do not think he would believe it was practical to include

:20:46. > :20:51.every single school with a 6 form in this result and we are determined to

:20:52. > :20:56.review Bell have a result in a short space of time so we will have

:20:57. > :21:03.specialised institution... Edged... Institutions providing education.

:21:04. > :21:06.With my right honourable friend congratulate this move to

:21:07. > :21:12.consolidate efforts and provide better provision for young people

:21:13. > :21:18.going to education when he goes and visited the college with me. I would

:21:19. > :21:21.love to come because it is an example where model for what the

:21:22. > :21:24.sector should be doing. It is important for Honorable members to

:21:25. > :21:29.remember that the sector is independent, government cannot force

:21:30. > :21:33.people or institutions to emerge, but we can encourage them and we can

:21:34. > :21:42.show the great examples, such as he has. Colleges are concerned that in

:21:43. > :21:48.Manchester review starts with a strong presumption that merger of

:21:49. > :21:54.colleges is the only way forward, the other ways to achieve financial

:21:55. > :21:58.stability spurt colleges is given serious consideration if they

:21:59. > :22:03.present a strong case for the. We are certainly open to a whole range

:22:04. > :22:07.of options, ultimately it is the colleges themselves to determine

:22:08. > :22:11.what will work pays... Best, but I would not agree with her that anyone

:22:12. > :22:15.should of a merger, a merger can mean that you save on a whole lot of

:22:16. > :22:18.administrative and management costs up the city can put forward more

:22:19. > :22:25.money in paying for teachers doing the job that we all want them to do.

:22:26. > :22:31.Thank you Mr Speaker, in the last Parliament government cut funding

:22:32. > :22:35.for 16 to 19-year-olds on education spending and today we learn funding

:22:36. > :22:45.allocations for colleges and schools for 16 to 19 are down over a

:22:46. > :22:49.hundred... ... Jeopardizing colleges and their students, so with this

:22:50. > :22:55.record has the Minister got any guarantees for this spending review

:22:56. > :23:00.to secure viability for the 16 through 19 sector. We might want to

:23:01. > :23:03.look over the channel over the education sector where we do not

:23:04. > :23:10.have a government getting a grip on spending in ensuring a spall... Said

:23:11. > :23:16.he economy, your portable word teachers are laid off, and where

:23:17. > :23:21.their teachers have a 30% cut in their salary. We have a education

:23:22. > :23:29.system that can educate students for a lack of work. Number six Mr

:23:30. > :23:36.Speaker. Mr Speaker it is crucial that we evaluate impact children's

:23:37. > :23:42.centres... Three interim reports were published in June 2015, and I

:23:43. > :23:45.expect the full impact report to be published later this year and a

:23:46. > :23:47.consultation to follow on how children's injuries can have the

:23:48. > :01:31.greatest impact on local communities going forward top yellow can I