Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps they are taking to increase the amount of UK made steel used in procurement contracts overseen by their Department.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department strongly supports the UK’s Industrial Strategy, fostering a resilient economy that supports British businesses and creates good jobs in communities across the country. UK-produced steel has a significant role to play in construction and education projects. Our procurements are undertaken in accordance with Procurement Policy Note 022 “Procuring Steel in Government contracts”.
From this financial year, contractors on the department’s construction frameworks will be required to report whether they have consulted the UK Steel’s Steel Catalogue. Contractors will need to confirm whether they are using UK steel and if not, explain why not.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of children’s physical safety in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Nothing is more important than the safety of children. It is the responsibility of those running our schools (academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies) to ensure their school buildings are safe, well-maintained, and compliant with relevant regulations. The School Premises (England) Regulations 2012 specify minimum standards for the premises of all local-authority maintained schools in England, with the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 fulfilling the same function for voluntary aided, foundation and academy trust schools.
The department provides guidance, tools and support to help schools and responsible bodies effectively manage their school buildings.
The department has published the statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ alongside a range of other guidance, which sets out clear expectations in relation to training staff and putting effective systems in place to ensure the physical safety of children whilst in school. Schools are expected to have policies in place on security measures and to conduct risk assessments and develop plans, covering everything from deterring attacks and keeping learners safe, to developing lockdown procedures.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will include Previously Looked After Children in the definition of disadvantaged children, in regard to the core eligibility criteria for the Holiday Activity and Food programme.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme provides free nutritious meals, enriching activities, and safe environments to eligible children during the school holidays, benefiting their health, wellbeing and readiness to learn. The core purpose of the programme is to support children and young people who are eligible for free school meals (FSM) given that children from low-income households are more likely to experience food insecurity, reduced physical activity, and fewer opportunities for enriching experiences during the school holidays.
Local authorities have discretion to allocate 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for school-age children who do not meet the eligibility criteria but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the last 12 months.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department recognises the opportunities for productivity and efficiency enabled by effective deployment of artificial intelligence (AI). Any use of AI is undertaken in line with relevant government guidance on security and transparency, and under appropriate oversight. The department has made proportionate use of AI‑enabled tools to support tasks such as information retrieval and summarisation. These tools are used to assist officials and do not replace decision making or professional expertise
The drafting of primary and secondary legislation is often the responsibility of a large number of officials across government departments. A range of tools are used to assist with this drafting, including AI which is most commonly used to check, critique, and otherwise interrogate drafts.
While AI can be used to assist with the drafting of legislation, the production of the draft remains the responsibility of a lead human drafter to meet the high standards expected of government legislation.
All secondary legislation is subject to established governance arrangements and are drafted and finalised under the responsibility of qualified lawyers.
It is Parliament's responsibility to scrutinise and amend legislation as it sees necessary.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the funding model for early years settings resulting in operating losses for those settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
In 2026/27 the department expects to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, including an increase of 15% in Early Years Pupil Premium, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24. To calculate rate uplifts, we use an analytical model which considers data from the Early Years Census and the survey of childcare and early years providers, various government forecasts such as AEG and CPI, and the national living wage to determine cost pressures for the Early Years Sector. We have regular contact with each local authority in England about childcare delivery issues they may be facing.
The hourly funding rate for entitlement hours is intended to cover the core costs of providing 15 or 30 hours of childcare to parents. This includes costs associated with staffing such as salaries as well as non-staff costs such as rent, business rates and utilities costs associated with delivering the government funded hours.
The department will consult on changes to how early years funding is distributed later this year.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Law Commission's findings regarding regional variations in support for disabled children; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure consistent entitlements for such children across all local authorities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Law Commission published its final report on 16 September 2025 following a review commissioned by the department in April 2023 of the legal framework for disabled children’s social care.
The report sets out 40 recommendations, which we are now considering, aimed at improving how the law operates, with a focus on simplifying and strengthening the system to better support disabled children and their families.
In line with the protocol agreed between the Lord Chancellor and the Law Commission, the department provided an initial response to these recommendations on 16 March 2026 and is expected to provide a full response within one year, setting out which recommendations will be accepted, rejected or modified, and any implementation timeline. Policy development is ongoing and the department continues to engage with key stakeholders. It would therefore not be appropriate to comment on specific recommendations ahead of publication of the full response.
Alongside this, we believe the rollout of Family Help as part of the Families First Partnership programme, backed by £2.4 billion of funding over three years, is already beginning to deliver many of the intended outcomes of the report. Our wider reforms are designed to make a real and tangible difference to children and families, including disabled children.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of early years funding rates for two and three year olds for meeting staffing costs, including required non contact time for preparation, setup, and safeguarding obligations.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
In 2026/27, the department expects to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, including an increase of 15% in Early Years Pupil Premium, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24. Staff costs make up the most significant proportion of provider costs. Therefore, due to tighter staffing ratios, the cost of delivery is highest for younger children, which is reflected in the differing hourly funding rates.
To calculate rate uplifts, the department uses an analytical model which considers data from the Early Years Census and the survey of childcare and early years providers, various government forecasts such as average earnings growth and the consumer price index, and the national living wage to determine cost pressures for the early years Sector.
All early years providers are legally required to keep children safe and promote their welfare, and all practitioners must undergo safe training as set out on the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework. To further support settings with safeguarding training requirements, the department is developing a free online safeguarding training package for early years settings which will be available later this spring.
We will consult on changes to how early years funding is distributed later this year.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department collects data from local authorities on the reasons why Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 is applied.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department collects data from local authorities on placement reasons for pupils educated under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 for those in local authority funded placements.
This information is published annually in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ accredited official statistics: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of school workload on student mental health.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity, and helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.
The government is providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. By April 2026, we estimate that 60% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England will be covered by an MHST, up from 52% in April 2025.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contingency plans are in place in the event that early years settings (a) reduce places and (b) close due to staffing levels.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring adequacy of children provision in their area. 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. No local authorities have reported to us that they do not have sufficient childcare places. According to the most recent Official Statistics from Ofsted and the department, childcare places increased by around 17,400 over the last year, equivalent to a 1% rise, between 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025.
The government is investing in training, qualifications and career pathways to professionalise and strengthen the early years workforce. To help providers with costs, including staffing, funding rates are being significantly uplifted by over £8 billion in 2025/26 and over £9.5 billion in 2026/27, as well as a £75 million grant to grow places and staff.