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: 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: 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.
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 Department plans to review the eligibility criteria for government-funded childcare for children cared for by qualified and Ofsted-registered relatives.
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.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish her Department's (a) business case, (b) workforce plan, (c) equality impact assessment and (d) redundancy mitigation measures for the plans to close six offices.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education does not plan to publish the business case, workforce plan, equality impact assessment or redundancy mitigation measures for the department’s plans to close six offices. This is an internal business decision and does not impact the department’s remit, strategy or delivery plans, nor have any direct impact on the sector. As such, it is not appropriate for the department to comment on the plans externally.
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: 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: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current staff turnover rate for qualified early years educators in England; and what steps they plan to take to address the disparity between median early years sector wages and the average starting salary for a primary school teaching assistant with equivalent qualifications.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The ‘Childcare and early years providers survey: 2025’ shows turnover rate for all early years educators in private group-based providers is 16% and 7% in school-based providers. Estimated turnover rates have fallen for both provider types. Fieldwork for the survey was carried out between May and July 2025.
In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion, more than doubling the government’s commitment to funded childcare and reflects above inflation increases to both funding rates and National Living Wage.
Early education is delivered by a mixed market, the majority of which are private, voluntary and independent provision who set their own rates of pay. Hourly pay increased by 8.2% at school-based providers and by 6.3% at group-based providers against a backdrop of a 6.7% increase in the national living wage between 2024 and 2025.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what process her Department has in place to help ensure that Plan 2 student loan borrowers are informed of any changes made to their repayment terms.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Student Loans Company (SLC) publishes confirmation of the interest rates and repayment threshold to apply in the upcoming financial year annually on GOV.UK. Furthermore, SLC have extensive guidance on the operation of the student loan repayments system available on GOV.UK.