Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to (a) improve cross-Departmental working and (b) provide funding for multi-agency teams to help support (i) early interventions and (ii) other programmes for young people at risk of homelessness, abuse and exploitation.

The government is committed to tackling abuse, exploitation, and homelessness through cross-departmental working. The Department for Education, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Home Office, and the Department of Health and Social Care have a shared commitment through the opportunity mission to improve outcomes for children. From April, over £500 million will be made available to local authorities for Family Help, multi-agency child protection, and Family Network reforms, doubling investment in preventative services by 2025/26. Additionally, £15 million from the Shared Outcomes Fund will support multi-disciplinary teams providing holistic support to children at risk of violence and exploitation through the Support, Attain, Fulfil, Exceed (SAFE) and Alternative Provision taskforces.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, aims to improve information sharing across agencies and strengthen the role of education in safeguarding. The Bill mandates the establishment of multi-agency child protection teams in every local area and includes measures for better planning and support for care leavers. Regulations will be amended to ensure care leavers cannot be found intentionally homeless. On 16 January, my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary also made a statement that before Easter, the government will announce a timetable for implementing recommendations from the final Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and their standalone report on grooming gangs, with updates to key departmental guidance on child sexual exploitation.