Asked by: Natalie Fleet (Labour - Bolsover)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to question 98962, what discussions he has had with Derbyshire County Council in the time taken to issue education, health and care plans, since an improvement notice for its SEND services was issued in January 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Since issuing the improvement notice to Derbyshire County Council in January 2025, the department is regularly and closely monitoring and tracking outcomes against Derbyshire’s local area partnership’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) improvement plan, including the time taken to issue high quality education, health and care plans in line with statutory expectations, so that children and young people can access the support they need in a timely manner.
The department has commissioned a SEND adviser to identify barriers, challenge, support and monitor progress against the partnership’s plan. Departmental officials scrutinise reports through a series of formal stocktakes and meetings with local leaders and attend the partnership’s SEND Improvement and Advisory Board which meets monthly and is overseen by an independently appointed chair.
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 assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of nursery places in Essex.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department continually monitors the sufficiency of childcare in Essex.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ‘Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.
This government is boosting availability and access through the School-based Nursery programme, supporting school-led provision and private, voluntary and independent providers and childminders operating from school sites. Phase 1 is already delivering results, with £37 million awarded to 300 primary-phase schools, including 13 in Essex, creating up to 6,000 new childcare places in total.
The department is due to announce successful Phase 2 projects in spring 2026.
Where Essex reports any sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
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 assessment she has made of the adequacy of staffing capacity in early years settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The early years workforce is at the heart of our mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver the Plan for Change. The department has seen strong growth in the workforce so far, with early years provision delivered by an estimated 353,700 paid staff in 2025, compared to 353,100 in 2024. We know more growth will be needed as children age into the 30 hours offer from September 2025 onwards, so we continue working closely with providers and local authorities.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. No local authority is reporting sufficiency issues.
We continue to support the sector to attract talented staff and childminders by creating conditions for improved recruitment alongside programmes to better utilise the existing workforce. Recruitment and retention are being boosted through national recruitment campaigns, financial incentives, new teacher training and apprenticeships routes.
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 modern languages teachers in the West Midlands.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
High quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child’s outcomes. This is why the government’s Plan for Change is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools, and our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.
The department is offering £20,000 tax-free bursaries for modern foreign language (MFL) trainees, including international as well as domestic trainees. In addition, we are continuing to offer a prestigious scholarship worth £22,000 tax-free for French, German and Spanish trainees.
Our future school teacher pipeline is growing. Although this government inherited a system with critical shortages of MFL teachers, with the department achieving only 32% of its postgraduate initial teacher training target in 2023/24, this year we have achieved 94% of the target with 1,378 new trainees beginning their postgraduate training in MFL.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to support schools in introducing digital literacy programmes for pupils aged 11 to 16.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and this response relates to state-funded schools in England only.
On 5 November 2025, the government issued the response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, setting out the changes that will be made to the national curriculum, as well as reforms to qualifications. To ensure students develop the essential digital literacy skills needed for future life and work, the refreshed curriculum, due for first teaching in September 2028, will provide greater clarity on what should be taught at each key stage.
The department continues to invest in the National Centre for Computing Education, supporting teachers to confidently teach topics such as digital literacy through the provision of free online courses and resources. This includes a free online course supporting secondary subject leaders to understand what digital literacy is and to integrate it across subjects.
The core schools budget is also increasing by £1.7 billion in 2026/27, which includes funding for special educational needs and disabilities reforms announced within the Schools White Paper.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department are taking to improve teacher retention; and whether her Department plans to publish a teacher retention strategy.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Better retention of teachers and leaders keeps the skills and expertise they have developed in classrooms, underpinning high quality education for every child.
In our ’6,500 additional teachers’ delivery plan, the department set out it’s focus for delivery across three key themes: attracting, retaining and developing teachers.
The department is increasing access and awareness of flexible working, promoting best practice in workload and wellbeing management, and supporting teachers and leaders to harness the benefits of technology.
We are offering targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers in the first five years of their career, who teach key science, technology, engineering and maths subjects in the most disadvantaged schools. We have also made above inflation pay increases of almost 10% for teachers and leaders over the last two pay rounds, accepting the School Teachers' Review Body recommendations in full.
Our interventions are starting to deliver. The last school workforce census reported 1,700 fewer leavers than the previous year and a leaver rate of 9%, one of the lowest since 2010.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 replacing a proposed cap on the number of branded school uniform items with a monetary cap set by regulations.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the hon. Member for Newbury to the answer of 9 March 2026 to Question 114997.
Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to shorten the time taken to issue Remediable Service Statements to members of the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is working closely with the scheme administrator to process Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) as quickly and efficiently as possible. Several factors have affected the original delivery timeline, including technical dependencies, regulatory requirements, coordination with external partners and preparation for a transition of contractor.
The department continues to monitor progress and is working closely with the scheme administrator to streamline processes and introduce automation where possible. Any pension adjustments arising from members’ choices will be backdated with interest to ensure members are not financially disadvantaged.
The administrator will keep affected members informed of revised timelines through established channels, including My Pension Online and its website. The latest update is available at: https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/news/public-news/2025/11/timeline-for-sending-out-remediable-service-statements-rss.aspx.
As responsibility for this work transitions to the new administrator of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in summer 2026, the department is working with the new administrator to finalise the timeline for issuing all RSSs. Once the timeline is confirmed, it will be communicated to relevant members.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of trends in the prevalence of child morning hunger in (a) early years, (b) primary and (c) secondary school settings in England on school (i) readiness and (ii) attendance.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department appreciates the publication of the report and look forward to giving it our full consideration. This government is committed to tackling child poverty and delivering meaningful action to support children and families. The removal of the two child limit on Universal Credit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures set out in our Child Poverty Strategy, such as the expansion of free school meals. These interventions will lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.
We recognise the importance of a healthy breakfast at the start of the day for pupils and the impact this can have on attendance and readiness to learn. This is why we are rolling out free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England, so that all children can have the best start in life. Since April 2025, the programme has delivered seven million meals to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. We are investing a further £80 million to fund approximately 2,000 additional schools between April 2026 and March 2027.
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 is she taking to address waiting lists and delayed start dates for nursery placements.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department continually monitors the sufficiency of childcare in Essex. The number of places on Ofsted’s Early Years Register in Essex rose by 4% (or 1,500) from 37,400 as at 31 December 2024 to 38,900 as at 31 December 2025.
The department has regular contact with all local authorities in England about childcare sufficiency and any issues they are facing, including disclosing any waiting lists or delayed start times.
The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is adequate to meet the requirements of parents and children.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ‘Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.
Where the local authority reports any sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.