Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance her Department will offer to parents at independent schools that are closing to help them take over the running of the school.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is for private schools, as private businesses, to manage their operations and take decisions on closure. All children of compulsory school age are entitled to a state-funded school place, should they need one. The department continues to support local authorities to ensure sufficient places for pupils.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made on delivering specialist mental health provision in every school in Gloucester by 2029.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As of April 2025, 88% of pupils and learners and 76% of schools and colleges in Gloucester constituency were covered by a Mental Health Support Team (MHST), compared to 52% of pupils and learners and 41% of schools and colleges nationally. Further data for 2024/25 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision. This has been available since 16 May 2025 at national, regional and local authority level and since 10 July 2025 at constituency level.
Around six in ten pupils nationally are expected to have access to an MHST by April 2026. Data on MHST coverage is collected annually.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of whether the approval process for parenting interventions outside the Best Start Family Hubs approved menu enables local authorities to commission programmes delivered by voluntary, faith-based and community organisations; and what steps her Department is taking to support a wider range of parenting interventions reflecting local community needs.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is clear that local authorities should commission parenting programmes with a strong and credible evidence base, ensuring families receive support that improves outcomes and increases the proportion of children achieving a good level of development nationally. To support this, the Best Start in Life programme provides an approved menu of evidence‑based parenting interventions, giving local areas confidence that commissioned programmes are effective and represent value for money.
The department has also ensured appropriate flexibility, so that where a local authority can demonstrate that a programme outside the approved menu has a robust evidence base and meets local need, it has been considered.
Evidence‑based parenting programmes are one part of a wider offer of high-quality support to families. Also included are stay‑and‑play opportunities, low‑intensity parenting, peer‑support activities, and strong outreach. The department encourages local authorities to work with voluntary, community and faith organisations, while ensuring that any programmes they deliver, meet clear evidence standards.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of whether evidentiary requirements attached to parenting interventions in the Best Start Family Hubs programme affect the ability of local authorities to commission parenting programmes that are not included in the approved menu of interventions.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is clear that local authorities should commission parenting programmes with a strong and credible evidence base, ensuring families receive support that improves outcomes and increases the proportion of children achieving a good level of development nationally. To support this, the Best Start in Life programme provides an approved menu of evidence‑based parenting interventions, giving local areas confidence that commissioned programmes are effective and represent value for money.
The department has also ensured appropriate flexibility, so that where a local authority can demonstrate that a programme outside the approved menu has a robust evidence base and meets local need, it has been considered.
Evidence‑based parenting programmes are one part of a wider offer of high-quality support to families. Also included are stay‑and‑play opportunities, low‑intensity parenting, peer‑support activities, and strong outreach. The department encourages local authorities to work with voluntary, community and faith organisations, while ensuring that any programmes they deliver, meet clear evidence standards.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the increase in the number of children classified as children missing education (CME) in Lancashire over the last decade; and what assessment she has made of the potential implications of this for her policies.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Children Missing Education data was first collected on a voluntary basis in Autumn 2022. Lancashire reported 4,690 Children Missing Education at any point in the 2024/25 academic year. This is a decrease from 4,820 in 2023/24, and an increase from 2,280 when collection began in 2021/22.
The government is committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity for our young people, and education is key in providing the strong foundations to better life chances.
Local authorities already have a duty to locate and support children back into education where necessary, and we have published statutory guidance on ‘Children Missing Education’, and ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ that reinforces the roles and responsibilities of schools and local authorities to work together in this area. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will go further, requiring councils to maintain registers of children not in school, ensuring fewer young people slip under the radar.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with schools on the effectiveness of the three-item cap on branded uniform.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Whilst many schools are taking action to reduce costs, too many families still tell us that the cost of school uniform remains a financial burden. This is why we have introduced legislation to limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require.
When determining the level at which to set the limit, we considered the available evidence and engaged with a range of stakeholders, including schools, to ensure we struck the right balance between reducing costs for parents and recognising the benefits that some branded items can bring to school life.
The majority of primary schools, and nearly a third of secondary schools, already successfully operate within the proposed limit. It is therefore right that schools currently asking for large numbers of compulsory branded items are required to remove them.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has reviewed the potential effects of digital device use, including tablets, amongst young children on school attendance.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department recognises that while technology can support learning and development, we are aware of concerns regarding its impact on wellbeing and the potential for this to affect attendance. In response to these concerns, the government has recently launched a consultation, inviting views from parents, educators and experts to help shape guidance on the use of technology by children. This consultation aims to ensure that our approach is evidence-based and reflects the needs and experiences of those directly affected.
As part of our commitment to understanding the impact of digital device use, we are also funding EdTech (education technology) testbeds to evaluate the impact of digital tools on issues such as workload, wellbeing and inclusion.
We continue to review emerging research and collaborate with experts to understand the broader effects of technology on children’s wellbeing.
Our priority remains supporting regular attendance and the best outcomes for all pupils.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities experiencing increases in children missing education, including Lancashire County Council.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Children Missing Education data was first collected on a voluntary basis in Autumn 2022. Lancashire reported 4,690 Children Missing Education at any point in the 2024/25 academic year. This is a decrease from 4,820 in 2023/24, and an increase from 2,280 when collection began in 2021/22.
The government is committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity for our young people, and education is key in providing the strong foundations to better life chances.
Local authorities already have a duty to locate and support children back into education where necessary, and we have published statutory guidance on ‘Children Missing Education’, and ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ that reinforces the roles and responsibilities of schools and local authorities to work together in this area. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will go further, requiring councils to maintain registers of children not in school, ensuring fewer young people slip under the radar.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to introduce additional statutory duties or guidance for local authorities to track and support children missing education.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Children Missing Education data was first collected on a voluntary basis in Autumn 2022. Lancashire reported 4,690 Children Missing Education at any point in the 2024/25 academic year. This is a decrease from 4,820 in 2023/24, and an increase from 2,280 when collection began in 2021/22.
The government is committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity for our young people, and education is key in providing the strong foundations to better life chances.
Local authorities already have a duty to locate and support children back into education where necessary, and we have published statutory guidance on ‘Children Missing Education’, and ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ that reinforces the roles and responsibilities of schools and local authorities to work together in this area. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will go further, requiring councils to maintain registers of children not in school, ensuring fewer young people slip under the radar.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government has considered piloting or introducing an exemption to childcare funding rules where a relative is a registered childminder meeting all regulatory requirements.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Parents are free to choose the childcare that is right for them and their children, and childminders are not prevented from caring for related children.
However, the restriction on funding relatives is set out in the Childcare Act 2006. Section 18(4) of this Act specifically excludes care provided for a child by a parent or other relative.
Allowing childminders to receive funding for looking after related children would not be an effective use of public money and may have a negative impact on the viability of existing childcare businesses.
A local authority can choose to fund a childminder providing childcare for a related child, but this would have to be from local authority funds independent of the dedicated schools grant.
Although childminders cannot receive entitlements funding for related children, flexibilities within staff to child ratios can be used to enable childminders who are caring for related children to avoid limiting the income they can earn.