Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools to recruit qualified physics teachers in the West Midlands.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s Plan for Change commits us to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools and our colleges over the course of this Parliament.
In 2023/24, just 17% of the postgraduate initial teacher training target for physics trainees was met. In 2025/26, this increased to 78%, with 1,095 new entrants, reaching the highest number for physics since comparable statistics began in 2014/2015.
Additionally, full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in the West Midlands increased by 353 to 52,658 per the latest census, and across the country the workforce has grown by 2,346 FTE in secondary and special schools, which are the schools where they are needed most.
We are continuing to support physics teacher recruitment with bursaries worth £29,000 and tax free scholarships worth £31,000. We are also supporting retention alongside increased recruitment, with a targeted retention incentive, worth up to £6,000 after tax, for teachers in years 1-5 of their career who choose to work in the most disadvantaged schools.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many whistleblowing complaints relating to (a) free speech, (b) academic freedom and (c) political discrimination have been reported to her Department since 2020.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom. Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, the department is not the prescribed person for whistleblowing concerns in higher education (HE) and does not receive whistleblowing complaints related to HE.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to improve the quality and accessibility of social care services for children across the UK.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Children’s social care is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department is taking forward a comprehensive programme of major reforms, including a focus on early help, family support and stronger safeguarding, as set out in the ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’ statement and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Our measures will strengthen multi‑agency child protection, expand kinship and foster care support, and enhance Ofsted’s powers to tackle unregistered or substandard provision.
The department is also delivering the Families First Partnership programme to keep families together and reduce reliance on high-cost residential placements. Placement quality, financial transparency and workforce capacity are being improved through significant investment and new oversight measures.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much in total was paid to the Teachers' Pension Scheme by (1) teachers, and (2) employers, in (a) 2021, (b) 2022, and (c) 2023; and how much was paid to retired teachers in pension payments in each of those years.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the 2020/21 financial year, a total of £2.48 billion was paid by members into the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), and £6.15 billion was paid by employers over the same period. £9.41 billion was paid to retired members of the TPS within this financial year.
In the 2021/22 financial year, a total of £2.57 billion was paid by members into the TPS, and £6.357 billion was paid by employers over the same period. £9.563 billion was paid to retired members of the TPS within this financial year.
In the 2022/23 financial year, a total of £2.65 billion was paid by members into the TPS, and £6.58 billion was paid by employers over the same period. £9.93 billion was paid to retired members of the TPS within this financial year.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of the childcare sector to deliver Government-funded childcare places; and what their current estimate is of any shortfall or surplus of places.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through the Best Start in Life strategy, the department is focused on reforming the childcare system and delivering on our Plan for Change. This government continues to prioritise and protect investment in the early years, which is why we are investing over £1 billion more in early years entitlements next year compared to 2025/26. The school-based nursery programme is a £400 million capital investment to deliver the government’s manifesto commitment to create or expand thousands of additional school-based nurseries across England, increasing access to childcare for families.
The department is providing £82 million of capital funding to over 600 primary and maintained nursery schools across phases 1 and 2 which will create over 11,000 new nursery places by September 2027, of which over 5,000 places were available from September 2025.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. There are currently no sufficiency challenges reported.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support further education colleges that have unresolved industrial disputes.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating terms and conditions and managing their industrial relations.
Based on engagement with the sector, we know colleges affected by recent strikes have generally implemented measures to ensure the impact on learners is minimised as far as possible. This has included rearranging classes, providing online learning where possible, and keeping libraries and learning centres open to allow the opportunity for independent study.
We encourage colleges to continue to adopt these and other appropriate mitigations where that is necessary. We encourage colleges and unions to remain engaged in open and constructive dialogue for the best interests of staff and students.
We all have a shared goal in ensuring our young people gain the best education during this critical transition period, advancing their opportunities and supporting economic growth.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the cost to the public purse of industrial disputes in further education colleges.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating terms and conditions and managing their industrial relations.
Based on engagement with the sector, we know colleges affected by recent strikes have generally implemented measures to ensure the impact on learners is minimised as far as possible. This has included rearranging classes, providing online learning where possible, and keeping libraries and learning centres open to allow the opportunity for independent study.
We encourage colleges to continue to adopt these and other appropriate mitigations where that is necessary. We encourage colleges and unions to remain engaged in open and constructive dialogue for the best interests of staff and students.
We all have a shared goal in ensuring our young people gain the best education during this critical transition period, advancing their opportunities and supporting economic growth.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the levels of the risk of insolvency among universities in England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We are aware that some higher education (HE) providers are making difficult decisions about course consolidation and closures. As autonomous institutions, HE providers are responsible for managing their own finances. It is therefore right that they focus on ensuring their courses are financially sustainable.
The Office for Students (OfS) is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the HE sector’s financial sustainability. The department works closely with the OfS to understand the sector’s changing financial landscape and level of risk.
The government recognises that the sector's financial environment is challenging. This is why tuition fee caps were uplifted in line with forecast inflation for 2025/26, with further uplifts planned for 2026/27 and 2027/28. We will then legislate to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future academic years. The department has also appointed Professor Edward Peck as OfS Chair, where he will play a key role in strengthening its commitment to financial sustainability.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the number of course closures announced in higher education over the past year.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We are aware that some higher education (HE) providers are making difficult decisions about course consolidation and closures. As autonomous institutions, HE providers are responsible for managing their own finances. It is therefore right that they focus on ensuring their courses are financially sustainable.
The Office for Students (OfS) is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the HE sector’s financial sustainability. The department works closely with the OfS to understand the sector’s changing financial landscape and level of risk.
The government recognises that the sector's financial environment is challenging. This is why tuition fee caps were uplifted in line with forecast inflation for 2025/26, with further uplifts planned for 2026/27 and 2027/28. We will then legislate to increase tuition fee caps automatically for future academic years. The department has also appointed Professor Edward Peck as OfS Chair, where he will play a key role in strengthening its commitment to financial sustainability.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have for protections for teachers and staff at schools, colleges and universities who do not use pronouns of one gender for students of the opposite biological sex.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Schools, further education colleges and higher education institutions are responsible for their own decisions on employment issues. The department expects schools, colleges and universities, like all employers, to follow all relevant employment law, statutory guidance and abide by their obligations under the Equality Act.
Guidance for schools and colleges on gender-questioning children can be found in ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The guidance is clear that a school or college must also be conscious of the rights of pupils and staff in relation to their religion or belief as protected characteristics. Alongside this, the guidance also states that schools or colleges will appropriately sanction any cases of bullying or harassment and take a strong stand against bullying.