Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on supply teacher recruitment and retention of not requiring agencies operating under the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework to pay in accordance with the national teacher pay scale.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework will remove excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.
It will not affect pay for supply teachers employed through agencies. This will continue to be set by agencies in the first 12 weeks of an assignment, and supply teachers are free to register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances. The Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments exceeding 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12th week.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she made an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework to require supply teachers to be paid in line with the national teacher pay scale.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework will remove excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.
It will not affect pay for supply teachers employed through agencies. This will continue to be set by agencies in the first 12 weeks of an assignment, and supply teachers are free to register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances. The Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments exceeding 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12th week.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how frequently academy trusts will be inspected; and whether inspection frequency will vary according to previous performance.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government has tabled an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill to bring in multi-academy trust inspections. Multi-academy trust inspections will raise standards and enable sharing of best trust-level practice, as well as incentivising and supporting improvement efforts across the sector.
The government intends to specify the intervals for routine trust inspections in secondary legislation, after working closely with Ofsted and the sector to determine what an appropriate period of time would be.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the national curriculum in teaching British values.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
All schools are expected to actively promote fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs.
Schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas, and materials in their curriculum, including through citizenship content.
Following the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government will make citizenship statutory at key stages 1 and 2. Content at primary and secondary will include media literacy, law and rights, democracy and government, to enable children to be informed and active participants in society. Covering these issues in citizenship will ensure we continue to focus on schools’ role in developing fundamental British values, including mutual tolerance and respect.
Proposals will be consulted on from 2026 and we are working towards a first teaching of the new curriculum from September 2028.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure that any proposed reforms to the SEND system will be subject to (a) parliamentary and (b) public scrutiny prior to the introduction of legislation.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to ensuring parents play a central role in helping shape the future special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. We have launched a National Conversation on SEND, gathering the views of parents, young people, educators, and experts through a range of online and in-person events as well as inviting online contributions.
Our SEND regional engagement events bring together diverse stakeholder groups for meaningful dialogue. In addition, we have organised online sessions with my hon. Friend, the Minister for School Standards and expert panels to discuss the department’s five principles of reform.
This is not a formal consultation but an expansion of ongoing engagement to ensure parents’ voices are heard. The Schools White Paper, due early next year, will outline our proposed SEND reforms and will be followed by a formal consultation and further engagement.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of guidance on political neutrality in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
School leaders and staff have a responsibility to ensure that they act in accordance with their duties on political impartiality. When political issues are discussed, schools must offer pupils a balanced presentation of opposing views and should not present materials in a politically biased or one-sided way.
The department has published clear and comprehensive guidance to help those working with and in schools to understand their legal duties on political impartiality and how to meet them, both in teaching about political issues and beyond the classroom. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance includes advice on how schools can deal with complaints about political impartiality through appropriate local processes. Where parents and carers remain dissatisfied, they can raise a formal complaint in line with school complaints procedures.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to monitor schools to ensure they are remaining politically neutral.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
School leaders and staff have a responsibility to ensure that they act in accordance with their duties on political impartiality. When political issues are discussed, schools must offer pupils a balanced presentation of opposing views and should not present materials in a politically biased or one-sided way.
The department has published clear and comprehensive guidance to help those working with and in schools to understand their legal duties on political impartiality and how to meet them, both in teaching about political issues and beyond the classroom. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance includes advice on how schools can deal with complaints about political impartiality through appropriate local processes. Where parents and carers remain dissatisfied, they can raise a formal complaint in line with school complaints procedures.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for the Music and Dance Scheme; and whether she plans to announce a multiple-year settlement.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for North Cornwall to the answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 78608.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that any reforms to SEND will not change the provision for existing enforceable rights under the Children and Families Act 2014.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to restoring confidence in the system of support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) so that they all get the opportunities they need to achieve and thrive in their education. There will always be a legal right to additional support for children and young people with SEND. Any statutory framework is for Parliament to decide on, and any legislative changes will be considered if necessary.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of Plan 2 student loan borrowers who will repay at the higher interest threshold as a result of the freeze to the Plan 2 repayment threshold.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Freezing the Plan 2 repayment and interest rate thresholds for English borrowers means the upper threshold, used for calculating the variable portion of Plan 2 interest rates, will be lower than previously projected. This means more borrowers will be charged the highest rate of interest but only where their income increases.
The department does not break down estimates of loan borrower numbers by the rate of interest paid.