Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve recruitment and retention in the early years’ workforce; and what assessment they have made of any contribution that stable staffing makes to reliable and consistent childcare for single parents.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Best Start in Life Strategy lays the foundation for long-term improvements to recruitment and retention in the early years sector. Initiatives to improve recruitment and retention include the ‘Do something BIG’ recruitment campaign, financial incentives, a new Early Years teacher degree apprenticeship, an assessment-only route for experienced staff to achieve a Level 3 qualification, and operational flexibilities for childminders, including a grant to help with start-up costs.
The department does not hold data on the impact of stable staffing on reliable and consistent childcare for single parents. However, we want all children, regardless of background, to be able to access high quality early education and childcare. The workforce has grown by 18,200 staff to deliver the expanded childcare entitlement and we are committed to increasing the take up of the 15 hour entitlements to ensure that disadvantaged children are benefitting from early education and improved outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold any evidence on the reasons why eligible single parents may find it hard to access funded childcare entitlements; if so, whether they will publish it; and what steps they are taking to reduce barriers to such access.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department does not hold evidence on the reasons why eligible single parents may find it hard to access funded childcare entitlements. However, take-up of entitlements continues to be monitored.
We continue to look across the early education and childcare support provided by different parts of government to identify ways to make it simpler for providers and parents, improve access and increase the overall impact of government spending on children and families.
Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare, particularly for low-income families and those with additional needs. Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2026 to Question 101957 on Erasmus+ Programme, whether the National Agency will be an arms’ length body.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has commenced discussions with the British Council with a view to appointing them as the National Agency. The British Council is an arm’s-length body of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
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 the sale of the qualifications arm of City & Guilds on qualification fees, provision, workforce employment and other aspects of the further education sector.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Following the sale of City and Guilds Ltd, we understand that organisation will continue to deliver qualifications within the further education sector and work constructively with providers as usual. As the regulator of qualifications, Ofqual has responsibility for ensuring that recognised awarding organisations meet their obligations on qualifications quality and public confidence. We understand that Ofqual also monitors qualifications prices and publishes this data annually.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when amendments to the Children Act 1989 to strengthen protections for children in local authority care will be brought forward, in the context of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Our ‘Tackling child sexual abuse: progress update’, published in April 2025, set out the government’s work to respond to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s recommendation to amend the Children Act 1989. The update is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-abuse-progress-update.
The department will publish new national standards and statutory guidance for advocacy for children and young people and has committed to establishing a Child Protection Authority. In December 2025, we published the consultation on the authority’s scope, functions and powers, with the aim of making the system clearer, more unified and ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support for practitioners.
Further, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill marks the biggest overhaul of children’s social care in a generation with a sharp focus on protecting children. This includes measures to establish multi-agency child protection teams in every local authority area, improve information sharing between agencies, and automatically include education and childcare settings in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of financial literacy and basic life skills education in secondary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to strengthening pupils’ foundational understanding of financial education in mathematics and citizenship following publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review final report in November 2025. The department will engage with sector experts and young people in how best to reflect this, and life skills content, in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on updated curriculum programmes of study in 2026, seeking views on the content before they are finalised.
Oak National Academy, an independent arm’s length body, provides high quality curriculum materials to support financial literacy.
The government is determined that every child has access to enriching activities that develop their essential skills. We have set out an enrichment offer schools and colleges should aim to provide for all children, including civic engagement; arts and culture; nature, outdoor and adventure; sport and physical activities; and developing wider life skills.
Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the eligibility criteria for pupil premium funding so that all children from families receiving Universal Credit are entitled to support.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity so that all our children have the freedom to achieve and thrive in education.
We are providing over £3 billion of pupil premium funding in financial year 2025/26 to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.
Pupil premium is allocated on the basis of economic disadvantage, using free school meals claims, and to support children looked after or previously looked after by their local authority
Pupil premium will continue to be allocated using the current free school meals threshold of £7,400 for financial year 2026/27.
Over the longer term, we are reviewing how we allocate pupil premium and related funding to schools and local authorities to ensure it is targeted to those who need it most, while maintaining the overall amount we spend on these funding streams.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2025 to Question 84161 on Teachers Pensions, what her updated planned timetable is for issuing cash equivalent transfer value details from Teachers’ Pensions.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As of the end of December 2025, 402 cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) cases were outstanding. There will always be a number of CETV cases in progress at any given time, as new CETV applications are made.
Capita, the scheme administrator, is continuing to work through the most complex cases for members who have retired. Due to the level of complexity, 329 of these cases can only be processed clerically and the estimated average calculation times are between 20 and 30 hours per processed case.
The scheme administrator is working as quickly as possible to complete all outstanding cases. This issue remains a top priority for the department and the scheme administrator.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to help reduce levels of school exclusion related to (a) drugs and (b) alcohol in West Berkshire.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department publishes detailed exclusion data at a regional and local authority level and regularly monitors trends in school exclusion rates for pupil groups.
The department is delivering a comprehensive programme of behaviour support for schools, including Attendance and Behaviour Hubs which are targeting schools with the highest need and providing wider national support
The Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance states that schools, local authorities, and partners should work together to understand local trends. Local leaders should also use this to plan and implement targeted action suitable to local context. The guidance can be read in full here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion.
Furthermore, the statutory relationships, sex and health education guidance includes curriculum content on drugs, alcohol, tobacco and vaping to ensure that pupils can understand the risks and implications of misuse. This guidance can be read in full here:
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to address levels of school exclusion in West Berkshire.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department publishes detailed exclusion data at a regional and local authority level and regularly monitors trends in school exclusion rates for pupil groups.
The department is delivering a comprehensive programme of behaviour support for schools, including Attendance and Behaviour Hubs which are targeting schools with the highest need and providing wider national support
The Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance states that schools, local authorities, and partners should work together to understand local trends. Local leaders should also use this to plan and implement targeted action suitable to local context. The guidance can be read in full here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion.
Furthermore, the statutory relationships, sex and health education guidance includes curriculum content on drugs, alcohol, tobacco and vaping to ensure that pupils can understand the risks and implications of misuse. This guidance can be read in full here: