Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the level of funding for standalone Level 3 BTEC Forensic and Criminal Investigation on (a) progression and (b) employer outcomes in forensic roles.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 20 October 2025, alongside the publication of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, the department published a consultation on Post-16 level 3 and below pathways, which closed on 12 January. As part of our consultation, we have been engaging with the sector on transition arrangements. We will set out our response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many child sexual exploitation cases were closed with no action in children's services in (a) Birmingham and (b) the west midlands in the last five years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold the information centrally. Birmingham Children’s Trust and other councils and Children’s Trusts in the West Midlands region may hold this information for their areas.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the National Year of Reading leads to improvements in reading enjoyment beyond the campaign period.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department, in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, is leading the National Year of Reading 2026 to tackle declining reading enjoyment. This UK-wide campaign combines a marketing initiative with events in schools, libraries and communities, prioritising boys aged 10 to 16, early years children and families from disadvantaged communities.
Grounded in evidence, the campaign uses the “Go All In” branding to help make reading appealing and relevant, particularly for the priority audiences. The campaign’s message, “If you’re into it, read into it”, encourages individuals to explore reading through their passions, whether music, sport, baking, family time, films, sci-fi, or anything else.
Activities will take place across the year and includes national events, alongside resources for schools and early years, and library engagement through initiatives such as the Summer Reading Challenge. The campaign aims for lasting impact by engaging new audiences, making reading relevant, transforming practice, and building infrastructure. An independent evaluation in 2027 will assess its impact and sustainability beyond the campaign year and will assess its influence on reading behaviours and wider impact on the literacy sector.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with (a) libraries, (b) charities and (c) the wider literacy sector to deliver the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department, in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, is leading the National Year of Reading 2026 to tackle declining reading enjoyment. This UK-wide campaign combines a marketing initiative with events in schools, libraries and communities, prioritising boys aged 10 to 16, early years children and families from disadvantaged communities.
Grounded in evidence, the campaign uses the “Go All In” branding to help make reading appealing and relevant, particularly for the priority audiences. The campaign’s message, “If you’re into it, read into it”, encourages individuals to explore reading through their passions, whether music, sport, baking, family time, films, sci-fi, or anything else.
Activities will take place across the year and includes national events, alongside resources for schools and early years, and library engagement through initiatives such as the Summer Reading Challenge. The campaign aims for lasting impact by engaging new audiences, making reading relevant, transforming practice, and building infrastructure. An independent evaluation in 2027 will assess its impact and sustainability beyond the campaign year and will assess its influence on reading behaviours and wider impact on the literacy sector.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tailor the National Year of Reading to engage with (a) teenage boys, (b) early years children and (c) families from disadvantaged communities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department, in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, is leading the National Year of Reading 2026 to tackle declining reading enjoyment. This UK-wide campaign combines a marketing initiative with events in schools, libraries and communities, prioritising boys aged 10 to 16, early years children and families from disadvantaged communities.
Grounded in evidence, the campaign uses the “Go All In” branding to help make reading appealing and relevant, particularly for the priority audiences. The campaign’s message, “If you’re into it, read into it”, encourages individuals to explore reading through their passions, whether music, sport, baking, family time, films, sci-fi, or anything else.
Activities will take place across the year and includes national events, alongside resources for schools and early years, and library engagement through initiatives such as the Summer Reading Challenge. The campaign aims for lasting impact by engaging new audiences, making reading relevant, transforming practice, and building infrastructure. An independent evaluation in 2027 will assess its impact and sustainability beyond the campaign year and will assess its influence on reading behaviours and wider impact on the literacy sector.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure continuity of local provision and specialist staffing be during transition, in the context of the number of colleges providing the Level 3 BTEC Forensic and Criminal Investigation.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 20 October 2025, alongside the publication of the Post-16 Education and Skills white paper, the department published a consultation on Post-16 level 3 and below pathways, which closed on the 12 January. As part of our consultation, we have been engaging with the sector on transition arrangements. We will set out our response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to protect learners (a) in and (b) planning to enter the BTEC pipeline before first teaching in September 2025.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 20 October 2025, alongside the publication of the Post-16 Education and Skills white paper, the department published a consultation on Post-16 level 3 and below pathways, which closed on the 12 January. As part of our consultation, we have been engaging with the sector on transition arrangements. We will set out our response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support families of disadvantaged pupils with the cost of school trips.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
It is for schools to decide whether to offer school trips to their pupils. Schools receive pupil premium funding to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, which may be used to support extracurricular activities, including school trips.
Schools must comply with the law on charging for school activities, which prohibits charging for education provided during school hours. This means they may not make compulsory charges for a trip which takes place during school hours but they may ask parents for voluntary contributions towards the cost of the trip.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to written question 93138, what her planned timetable is for publication of the (a) terms of reference and (b) membership of the regional improvement for standards and excellence Operations Working Group.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department will publish the terms of reference, membership details and minutes of the first meeting of the Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence Operations Working Group by the end of January 2026. Minutes for future meetings with be published following each meeting.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase teacher retention.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
A strong retention strategy is at the heart of the government’s pledge for 6,500 more expert teachers, as part of its Plan for Change. The department has already implemented a near 10% pay award over two years and we are offering the Targeted Retention Incentive, worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers of key subjects in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools.
Last year we accepted in full the School Teacher Review Body’s recommendations on Teaching and Learning Responsibility payments. From September 2026, these additional payments will be paid to teachers based on the proportion of responsibility they carry out, rather than their contracted hours. This change follows calls from the sector and will improve equality of opportunity for part-time workers, better enabling them to move into leadership roles.
In addition to financial incentives, our ’Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service provides a range of resources for schools to review and reduce workload and improve staff wellbeing. This service can be accessed here: https://improve-workload-and-wellbeing-for-school-staff.education.gov.uk/.
We are seeing signs of improvement: the latest School Workforce Census reported one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector than the year before, and more teachers are returning to state schools after having previously left than at any point in the last ten years, with 17,274 teachers returning to the classroom.