Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that AI features embedded in platforms such as Google Workspace for Education are (a) disclosed and (b) consented to by (i) schools and (ii) parents before being made available to primary-aged pupils.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department is clear that safety is the top priority when making decisions around artificial intelligence (AI) in education, and any use of AI by pupils should be carefully considered and assessed, evaluating the benefits and risks.
The department’s ‘Generative AI: Product Safety Standards’ updated in January 2026, set out the expectations that AI products should meet to be considered safe for use in education, including safeguarding requirements during set-up of any AI services.
The department continues to encourage industry to ensure their products are compliant with the standards and is considering consulting on a certification scheme for generative AI products in education.
The department has developed ‘Data protection in schools’ guidance which provides sector specific guidance for schools on compliance with data protection legislation and lawful basis for processing personal data. This includes AI, and signposts to tools, policy and standards. If a school relies on consent as the lawful basis to process personal data, guidance states that they must make sure that consent is properly given. This includes getting permission from parents or carers when required.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the level of financial support for foster carers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Foster carers do not foster for financial reward, but need adequate support to ensure that they, and the children in their care, can achieve and thrive.
The department has set the National Minimum Allowance to cover the cost of looking after a child. The amount depends on the age and location of the child, but ranges from £176 to £309 per week, and increases annually along with tax relief and in line with inflation to reflect the cost of living.
The department recognises that wider support, such as fees and expenses, remain inconsistent. To better understand this variation and the impact this has on recruitment and retention, we have committed to an in-depth study of fostering finances. Alongside this, we will work closely with local authorities to understand and promote the full range of incentives they offer to carers, such as council tax discounts or exemptions and reduced rate local authority parking.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to prevent childcare providers from asking parents of children who are receiving publicly-funded care to pay extra charges.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is important that government childcare entitlements are accessible and affordable for families. Government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high-quality, flexible childcare. The 15 or 30 hours must be able to be accessed free of charge to parents. There must not be any mandatory charges for parents in relation to the entitlement hours. The statutory guidance makes clear that government funding for the entitlements does not cover consumables like meals, nappies or sun cream or additional activities, such as trips. Providers are able to offer and ask parents to pay for these things, provided they are not mandatory or a condition of accessing an entitlements place.
We advise parents to discuss with their childcare provider in the first instance if they have any queries around their childcare costs. They should then contact their local council if they remain concerned with how they are receiving their entitlement offer or if they need help finding an entitlements place.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve data sharing between schools, local authorities and safeguarding agencies to support the identification of children at risk of going missing.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government takes the issue of any child going missing, from home or care, extremely seriously and has provided clear guidance about responsibilities for all children who go missing. When a child is found, they must be offered an independent Return Home Interview and local authorities, police and voluntary services should also work together to understand why the child went missing and what support they may need, including with their mental health, in the future to prevent them from going missing again.
The department has announced a £7 million funding boost to early support hubs across England providing drop-in mental health support for young people aged 11 to 25. Alongside this, we are investing an extra £688 million in mental health services this year and are recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers across children’s and adult services.
Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme, supported by £2.4 billion, updates to the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance, and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the underlying drivers.
Measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aim to put an end to misconceptions about legal barriers to sharing information, through introducing an Information Sharing Duty and making provision for a Single Unique Identifier to improve information sharing between agencies.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of embedding a cross-governmental approach to young people who go missing.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government takes the issue of any child going missing, from home or care, extremely seriously and has provided clear guidance about responsibilities for all children who go missing. When a child is found, they must be offered an independent Return Home Interview and local authorities, police and voluntary services should also work together to understand why the child went missing and what support they may need, including with their mental health, in the future to prevent them from going missing again.
The department has announced a £7 million funding boost to early support hubs across England providing drop-in mental health support for young people aged 11 to 25. Alongside this, we are investing an extra £688 million in mental health services this year and are recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers across children’s and adult services.
Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme, supported by £2.4 billion, updates to the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance, and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the underlying drivers.
Measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aim to put an end to misconceptions about legal barriers to sharing information, through introducing an Information Sharing Duty and making provision for a Single Unique Identifier to improve information sharing between agencies.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of mental health support available to children who are at risk of going missing.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government takes the issue of any child going missing, from home or care, extremely seriously and has provided clear guidance about responsibilities for all children who go missing. When a child is found, they must be offered an independent Return Home Interview and local authorities, police and voluntary services should also work together to understand why the child went missing and what support they may need, including with their mental health, in the future to prevent them from going missing again.
The department has announced a £7 million funding boost to early support hubs across England providing drop-in mental health support for young people aged 11 to 25. Alongside this, we are investing an extra £688 million in mental health services this year and are recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers across children’s and adult services.
Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme, supported by £2.4 billion, updates to the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance, and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the underlying drivers.
Measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aim to put an end to misconceptions about legal barriers to sharing information, through introducing an Information Sharing Duty and making provision for a Single Unique Identifier to improve information sharing between agencies.
Asked by: Chris Curtis (Labour - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the factors affecting pupils’ readiness to learn and recurring barriers to early-morning preparedness in primary schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Schools white paper makes clear our commitment to ensure every child can achieve and thrive by getting the most from the school day.
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, regardless of background, can have the best start in life and begin the school day ready to learn. Since April 2025, we have funded 750 schools to offer a free breakfast club as early adopters, delivering 8.5 million meals so far. Following the success of the early adopters, we have rolled out clubs in an additional 500 schools opening their doors this week. Backed by an investment of £80 million, we will fund breakfast clubs in around 2,000 schools between April 2026 and March 2027, benefitting around half a million more children.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many additional childcare places have been created due to funding from her Department's National Wraparound Childcare Programme in (a) Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Following the launch of the national wraparound childcare programme in September 2024, over 105,000 places were made available by November 2025, supporting more families to access the childcare they need. The department does not hold delivery data broken down to constituency level.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has considered the potential merits of requiring all staff working in schools to be trained in mental health first aid principles.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
To support education staff, the department provides a range of guidance and practical resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. For example, a resource hub for mental health leads, and a targeted support guide and hub to help choose evidence-based targeted support for pupils.
The government has also committed to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding mental health support teams, so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.
Beyond this, schools have the flexibility to decide what pastoral support and training they provide to best meet the individual needs of their pupils.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues is taking to improve outcomes for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who go missing from care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government takes the issue of any child going missing, either from home or from local authority care, extremely seriously. An unaccompanied child is entitled to the same support as any other looked after child, regardless of their immigration status.
We expect local authorities and their safeguarding partners to work together to reduce the chances of children going missing, to respond effectively when they do, and understand why. We have provided clear guidance about responsibilities towards all children who go missing. This includes the appropriate response from the relevant police force and expectations for the settings where children live, to ensure children have access to the services they need.
Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme (supported by £2.4 billion), updates to the ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ statutory guidance and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the problems children and their families face.