Children’s centres can play an important role in supporting families, and local councils decide how to organise and provide services for families in their areas to meet local needs – whether this is through children’s centre buildings or delivering services in different ways, and we continuously reflect on what works best.
Parents and children with disabilities deserve the best support we can provide and the government has made £410 million available to local authorities this year specifically for adult and children social care, with £46.4 billion available this year for local services, including children’s services.
Teaching in further education is an incredibly rewarding career. We are reforming technical education in this country with the introduction of new T Levels and we want more staff with industry skills to pass on their expertise and inspire the next generation.
As the Prime Minister said at the launch event for the panel’s report this morning, this government is dedicated to making higher education accessible to everyone and we have welcomed the work of the panel.
The opportunity to study at university should be open to anyone with the talent and potential to benefit from higher education. With students and taxpayers sharing the cost of higher education it’s right that we challenge those institutions which could appear to be more focused on ‘getting bums on seats’ than getting students into high quality courses worth paying for.
The curriculum also includes the knowledge pupils need to help address climate change in the future. For example, in design and technology pupils are taught to consider the impact of the products they design on individuals, society and the environment. Schools have the autonomy to go into as much depth on these subjects as they see fit.
It is unacceptable that children at Anderton Park are missing out on education because of the threat of protests. There is no place for protests outside school gates. They can frighten children, intimidate staff and parents and in the worst cases be hijacked by individuals with a vested interest and no links to the schools. It is time for these protests to stop.
Teaching remains a popular career, but we want to make sure that we can continue to attract and keep the brightest and best graduates, particularly in subjects where specialist knowledge and expertise are vital to the future success of the economy.
We have been clear that there is more money going into our schools than ever before, and since 2017, we have given every local authority more money for every 5 to 16 year old in every school and made funding fairer across the country.
We have made great progress in ensuring universities are open to all, with record rates of disadvantaged 18-year-olds in higher education. But much more needs to be done and we expect the sector to make significant progress in the coming years.