Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that updated school food standards are implemented before the planned expansion of free breakfast clubs in April and free school meals in September.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department is revising the School Food Standards and is engaging with stakeholders to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.
We want to gather a broad spectrum of perspectives and to achieve this, we intend to consult on these revisions. As we prepare to consult, we are continuing to gather insights from our wider engagement, including a pilot
Further details on timelines for the revisions and the consultation will be available in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on updating school food standards; and when they expect the revised standards to be published.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department is revising the School Food Standards and is engaging with stakeholders to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.
We want to gather a broad spectrum of perspectives and to achieve this, we intend to consult on these revisions. As we prepare to consult, we are continuing to gather insights from our wider engagement, including a pilot
Further details on timelines for the revisions and the consultation will be available in due course.
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what targets they have set for raising literacy levels for year 7 students entering secondary education during the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The ‘Go All In’ campaign aims to increase reading engagement across all ages and encourage young people to see reading as enjoyable and rewarding, prioritising certain groups, such as boys aged 10 to 16, with a focus on key stage 2 to key stage 3 transition.
To strengthen literacy at the start of secondary school, the department is introducing a mandatory statutory reading assessment for all year 8 pupils, designed to identify gaps in reading fluency and comprehension early, ensuring schools can provide the right support. This academic year we have also launched a secondary pilot of the English Hubs programme, investing £2.3 million to support reading, alongside a national continuing professional development programme, Unlocking Reading, delivered by the Fischer Family Foundation to improve support for struggling readers. These measures collectively aim to strengthen reading engagement and improve literacy outcomes throughout key stage 3.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial stability of the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust, including debt levels; and what assessment they have made of whether the (1) budget, (2) contents, or (3) availability, of free school meals has been reduced at schools in that trust.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department continues to work with the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust. Where financial non-compliance or governance concerns are identified, the department will intervene in a way that is proportionate to the risk and preserves education and free school meal provision.
The Education Act 1996 as amended places a duty upon academies to provide free school meals to pupils of all ages that meet the criteria.
The government is delivering on its manifesto commitment by legislating to introduce Ofsted inspection of academy trusts and related intervention powers for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. Trust inspection will help drive better outcomes for children and provide greater confidence for parents.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment has she made of the adequacy of financial support available to university students.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government needs to ensure that the student funding system is financially sustainable, and funding arrangements are reviewed each year.
We are increasing loans for living costs each year in line with forecast inflation with students from the lowest income families receiving the largest year-on-year cash increases in support. Maximum loans for living costs will increase by 2.71% for the 2026/27 academic year.
We are also reintroducing maintenance grants of up to £1,000 per year for full-time students from low-income households studying courses aligned with the government’s missions and Industrial Strategy from the 2028/29 academic year.
The department will also provide extra support for care leavers, some of the most vulnerable in our society, who will automatically become eligible to receive the maximum rates of loans for living costs from the 2026/27 academic year.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of SEND transport contracts on local authority spending; and whether she plans to introduce annual cost caps.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We know challenges in the SEND system are creating pressures on home-to-school travel. We will reform the SEND system to enable more children to thrive in local mainstream settings. This will mean fewer children need to travel long distances to access education, reducing the burden on local authorities. The reforms will be set out in the Schools White Paper.
Local councils decide how to arrange travel for eligible children. They use a mix of in-house services, public transport passes and contracts with private operators. Contracts are a matter for the council and operator. We encourage councils to have robust arrangements. Many are reviewing and improving their procurement practices.
We are supporting councils through a new home-to-school travel data collection to support benchmarking, publishing guidance to support joined-up decision-making, and creating a bespoke home-to-school travel funding formula within the local government finance settlement. We have no current plans to introduce a price cap.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the comment of the universities Minister, Baroness Smith of Malvern, that UK education has become "a prime target for foreign states", whether they will publish the details of the threats posed by foreign states to UK universities, and how individual universities have responded to those threats.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is the long-standing policy of successive UK governments not to comment either on individual cases or operational intelligence.
The world-class reputation of our universities makes them a prime target for foreign states and hostile actors, who seek to erode that reputation by promoting, shaping or censoring what universities can offer.
We are working together across government and with universities themselves to defend the UK’s thriving academic environment. By working together and sharing information, we will foster the confidence needed to stand strong in the face of foreign pressure.
To tackle this enduring threat, MI5 and cyber security services delivered a rare briefing to over 70 Vice Chancellors. The government is also investing £3 million to bolster existing support and access to expert advice on national security risk management, including a new Academic Interference Reporting Route and new guidance.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they received a warning from MI5 of a threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party to British universities; and what action they have taken in response to that warning.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is the long-standing policy of successive UK governments not to comment either on individual cases or operational intelligence.
The world-class reputation of our universities makes them a prime target for foreign states and hostile actors, who seek to erode that reputation by promoting, shaping or censoring what universities can offer.
We are working together across government and with universities themselves to defend the UK’s thriving academic environment. By working together and sharing information, we will foster the confidence needed to stand strong in the face of foreign pressure.
To tackle this enduring threat, MI5 and cyber security services delivered a rare briefing to over 70 Vice Chancellors. The government is also investing £3 million to bolster existing support and access to expert advice on national security risk management, including a new Academic Interference Reporting Route and new guidance.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of the funding for the SEND teacher training programme announced on 16 January 2026 will be allocated to training on speech, language and communication needs.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) teacher training offer comprises an investment of over £200 million over the course of this Parliament. This significant investment forms a central pillar of the government’s SEND reform plans, helping to secure a fairer system where effective support is available for every child with SEND from early years to the age of 25.
This training offer will be freely available to all leaders, teachers and teaching assistants working in schools, colleges and nurseries across England.
We are currently in the design stage for the new programme and plan to develop it in collaboration with sector experts and early years professionals.
This free accessible training will focus on inclusive pedagogy, child development, and practical strategies for supporting children with SEND including those with speech, language and communication needs.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what hardship protections are available to student loan borrowers experiencing financial pressure, and what assessment the Department has made of the potential impact of the absence of interest freezes or repayment relief during such periods.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The student finance system is designed to function differently to a commercial loan. Borrowers are protected if they see a reduction in their income for any reason. Weekly or monthly student loan repayment amounts are based on a borrower’s monthly or weekly income, not the interest rate or amount borrowed, and no repayments are made for earnings below the relevant student loan repayment threshold. Any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower. No commercial loans offer this level of protection.