Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that disabled children have access to social care support following the Law Commission's report on social care law; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing legal reform to achieve that objective.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Law Commission published its final report on 16 September 2025 following a department-commissioned review 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, therefore it would 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: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing national eligibility criteria for disabled children's social care in England; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Law Commission published its final report on 16 September 2025 following a department-commissioned review 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, therefore it would 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: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of adequacy of the Law Commission's findings regarding regional variations in support for disabled children; and what steps her Department is taking to help 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 department-commissioned review 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, therefore it would 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: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to consider the recommendations in the Law Commission's 2025 report on disabled children's social care; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of legislative reform alongside the rollout of the Family Help programme.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Law Commission published its final report on 16 September 2025 following a department-commissioned review 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, therefore it would 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: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve training for primary school teachers on how to deliver high quality PE and school sport.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity so every child can access high‑quality PE and school sport.
As announced by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, the government will establish a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network to ensure all children and young people have access to high-quality PE and extracurricular sport. We expect the partnerships to improve school-to-school collaboration, increase opportunities for high-quality PE, encourage children to move more, make best use of facilities and provide teacher CPD and training.
In addition, we have provided a grant of up to £300,000 a year to a consortium led by the Youth Sport Trust to deliver Inclusion 2028, providing advice, guidance and training to upskill teachers and school workforce to deliver high-quality, inclusive PE.
Further details on the PE and School Sports Partnerships will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department or the Student Loans Company have entered into (a) contracts, (b) memoranda of understanding and (c) advisory agreements with Islamic finance advisory organisations regarding the Alternative Student Finance model.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Details of the department's previous engagements may be accessed on GOV.UK’s ‘Contracts Finder’ tool, which is available at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Details of any future commercial engagements, including contracts, will be published on GOV.UK in line with standard arrangements.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contracts, memoranda of understanding, or advisory agreements her Department or the Student Loans Company have entered into with Islamic finance advisory organisations in relation to the Alternative Student Finance model; and what the total projected cost of those agreements is over the next five years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Details of the department's previous engagements may be accessed on GOV.UK’s ‘Contracts Finder’ tool, which is available at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Details of any future commercial engagements, including contracts, will be published on GOV.UK in line with standard arrangements.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department intends to maintain ongoing engagement with Islamic finance advisory bodies to review the continued Sharia compliance of the Alternative Student Finance model; what form that engagement will take; and whether the cost of such engagement will be met from the public purse.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Details of the department's previous engagements may be accessed on GOV.UK’s ‘Contracts Finder’ tool, which is available at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Details of any future commercial engagements, including contracts, will be published on GOV.UK in line with standard arrangements.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to maintain ongoing engagement with Islamic finance advisory bodies to review the continued sharia compliance of the Alternative Student Finance model.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Details of the department's previous engagements may be accessed on GOV.UK’s ‘Contracts Finder’ tool, which is available at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Details of any future commercial engagements, including contracts, will be published on GOV.UK in line with standard arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote reading and the use of libraries to improve reading rates among children.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
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. Activities will take place across the year and will include national events, alongside resources for schools and early years, and library engagement through initiatives such as the Summer Reading Challenge. The campaign aims to address long-term declines in reading enjoyment through engaging new audiences, reshaping public attitudes and building the systems needed to embed lasting, meaningful change. As part of this, we are providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading for pleasure. The government has also committed £12.5 million in funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this parliament, which will be delivered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The government has also committed £28.3 million this financial year to support and drive high and rising standards in reading. This includes supporting the teaching of reading across all primary stages and key stage 3 in secondary via the English Hubs programme.