Will the Cabinet Secretary outline what the money allocated under the tackling disaffection budget expenditure line is being used for?
The tackling disaffection budget expenditure line contains £3.672m of funding that is used to fund a range of activities aimed at increasing engagement and attendance. This includes the work of the National Attendance Taskforce; the development of resources to strengthen practice in dealing with poor and disruptive behaviour; safeguarding in education; and speech and language support. It is also used to fund research and evaluation to further develop and refine policy in areas such as attendance, behaviour, elective home education and education other than at school as well as engagement with the independent school sector.
The budget also funds programmes to support our focus on tackling the impact of poverty on attainment through our partnership with the Education Endowment Foundation which provides access to international evidence and best practice with our Attainment Champions pilot programme which promotes peer to peer support for school leaders.
Communication and other programme activities for these policy areas are also included within this budget.