All schools are bound by requirements of the Equalities Act 2010. The Act makes it unlawful for the responsible body of a school to discriminate against, harass or victimise a pupil or potential pupil:

• in relation to admissions,
• in the way it provides education for pupils,
• in the way it provides pupils access to any benefit, facility or service, or
• by excluding a pupil or subjecting them to any other detriment.

Further information on schools’ responsibilities under the Equalities Act is attached.

The school an individual child attends will hold information about that child which will be used by the school to help ensure the child receives the best possible education. Every term the school is required, by law, to send some of this data to the Department for Education (DfE) via the school census. This process has been in place for more than 10 years and the information is used to provide a clear picture of how the school system is working, at local and national level. It helps us to make sure we are allocating funds where they are needed and that no groups of children are missing out on the education they deserve.

This year we also asked schools for additional information on pupil nationality and country of birth as well as data on proficiency in English. The return of nationality and country of birth data is completely optional and parents are under no obligation to provide it if they don’t want to. These new data items on nationality, country of birth, and English proficiency will not be passed to the Home Office, or anyone else. They are solely for the Department for Education to use for research.

Separately, where the police or Home Office have clear evidence that a child may be at risk or there is evidence of criminal activity, including illegal immigration, limited data including a pupil’s address and school details may be requested from the Department for Education. It is right that we share this data if it helps to keep a child safe from harm or to prevent a crime. This does not include nationality and country of birth information recently introduced into school census. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the DfE and the Home Office, which is available in the house library, sets out how this process works and the data which is shared.

The data in the National Pupil Database helps give us a clear picture of how the school system is working. We take privacy extremely seriously and access to sensitive data is strictly controlled. Allowing vetted researchers and academics access to excerpts of this data under strictly controlled conditions, can help the development and improvement of our education system for the benefit of all.

As has always been the case, where the police or Home Office have clear evidence that a child may be at risk or there is evidence of criminal activity, including illegal immigration, limited data including a pupil’s address and school details may be requested from the National Pupil Database. It is right that we share this data if it helps to keep a child safe from harm or to prevent a crime. This does not include nationality and country of birth information recently introduced into school census, which is not placed into the National Pupil Database.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the DfE and the Home Office sets out how this process works and the data which is shared. A copy of the MoU between the Home Office and the DfE, which covers the sharing of limited information between those parties, is available in the house library.

As at 31 March 2015, there were 4,390 looked after children in privately operated children’s home provision[1] of which 60 were looked after under a youth justice legal status[2]. A further 2,180 children were looked after in children’s homes not run by private sector providers (e.g. local authority or voluntary sector provision) of which 20 were looked after under a youth justice legal status.

The Government has asked Sir Martin Narey to undertake an independent review of children’s homes. As part of his review, Sir Martin will consider how to reduce any inappropriate criminalisation of children in children’s homes.

[1] Includes children in secure, regulated and unregulated children’s homes.

[2] Includes children remanded to local authority accommodation or to youth detention accommodation; children placed in local authority accommodation under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act; and those sentenced to a Youth Rehabilitation Order (Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, as amended by Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, with residence or intensive fostering requirement).

The Government remains committed to ensuring that children in care avoid criminality. As of 31 March 2015, there were 69,540 looked after children. Of the 31,820 10-17 year olds who had been in care for a year or more, 5% had been convicted of an offence or were subject to a final warning or reprimand (Department for Education Statistical First Release - 34/2015).

To improve residential care, Sir Martin Narey has been asked to undertake an independent review of children’s homes. As part of this, Sir Martin will consider how to reduce any inappropriate criminalisation of children in children’s homes. As part of his review of the youth justice system, Charlie Taylor has consulted a wide range of organisations, including about children in care who offend. He will report this summer with recommendations on how to improve the treatment of young people in the youth justice system. The National Offender Management Service has also established a National Care Leavers’ Forum which brings together stakeholders from a range of internal and external bodies, including the Care Leavers’ Association.

The Department for Education recognises that play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning.

Play is integral in the early years and is covered in the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage framework which states: “Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others.”

The Government’s forthcoming Life Chances Strategy will set out a comprehensive plan to fight disadvantage and extend opportunity. Within this, we are considering how we can support early years and parenting to give children the best start in life.

We are currently consulting on arrangements for new national formulae for schools and high needs funding (funding to provide high cost support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities). Both funding streams, along with early years funding, make up the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which is ring-fenced so that local authorities can only spend it on specified elements of education. The DSG will continue to be ring-fenced when the national funding formulae are in place. We have also protected the schools and high needs budgets in this Parliament. This year we are adding £92.5 million to local authorities’ 2016-17 high needs allocations.

At the Budget we also announced that we will provide £500 million over the Spending Review period, on top of per pupil protection, to speed up implementation of the national funding formula for schools and get extra funding quicker to those schools that need it most.

The Government recognises that play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning and a child’s experiences in their first five years have a major impact on their future life chances. This is covered in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework for children from birth to five years of age.

The commissioning of support services for disabled children, such as Portage, is a decision for local authorities. Each local authority should consider the needs of its population, in collaboration with parent carers and early years providers, to ensure that support services in the area reflect local circumstances and need. The Children and Families Act requires all local authorities to publish a ‘local offer’, setting out in one place information about provision they expect to be available in their area across education, health and social care for children in their area who are disabled or have SEN, including those who do not have EHC plans. This should include details of any Portage services that are available for children aged 0 to 5 years.

The Department recognises the importance of Portage and has provided £150,000 to the National Portage Association through the voluntary and community sector (VCS) grants for 2015-16. The National Portage Association has been using their funding to build on existing grant-funded work to support and develop Portage services.

The Early Intervention Grant (EIG)—along with a number of other central government grants—from 2013-14 became part of the new local government funding scheme (the Business Rates Retention scheme). The Early Intervention Funding allocation for local authorities is visible within Business Rates Retention funding in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

The overall allocations for early intervention including funding for early education for two year olds from lower income households are increasing, from £2.2 billion in 2011-12 to £2.5 billion in 2014-15.

Funding within the Business Rates Retention scheme is not “ring-fenced”. This means that local authorities can spend it on any service. It is therefore up to local authorities to determine the overall amount of funding spent on early intervention compared to other local priorities.