Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that reintroduced maintenance grants reach students who need them most; what proportion of the student population will be eligible for support; and what steps she is taking to ensure take-up rates among students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to attend higher education. This is why we are reintroducing maintenance grants for students from low-income households studying courses aligned with the government’s Missions and the Industrial Strategy. Maintenance grants will be available to new and continuing full-time students from the 2028/29 academic year. Students who have a household residual income of £25,000 or less will receive the maximum grant of £1,000 per year.
The proportion of students that receive maintenance grants will depend on the list of eligible subjects, and it is vital that this is informed by the best and most up-to-date evidence on future employment and skills priorities. The full list of eligible subjects will be confirmed in advance of maintenance grant introduction, helping raise awareness amongst prospective students.
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much their department spent on X and xAI since July 2024.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the hon. Member for Bromley and Biggin Hill to the answer of date, month, year to Question 106861, an identical question asked by his colleague, the hon. Member for Windsor, on 19 January 2026.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding was originally made available for the provision of the planned 92 new special and AP free schools that were commissioned by the previous Government and were subject to a value for money review by this Government.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
For the 18 schools where no trust had been appointed and which were in the earliest stages of development local authorities will receive funding for 2487 school places in Summer 2026, equivalent to places the school would have provided.
For local authorities with the choice between accepting the alternative funding offer or continuing with the free school, the deadline to confirm their choice is 27 February 2026. After this date, we will know how many local authorities have accepted the alternative funding offer and the total funding amount.
Funding for delivery of free school projects are provided at different stages of a project’s development, in line with key delivery milestones. Most of the projects in scope of the alternative funding offer are at the earliest stages of development and therefore have not received any funding. Where sites have been secured for these schools, details and costs of acquisitions will have been set out on the Land Registry website. Additionally, the department will have published contract details and costs for all free school construction contracts on Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much alternative funding has been provided to the local authorities who have decided to not proceed with the building of the proposed special and AP free schools, following the review of planned special and AP free schools.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
For the 18 schools where no trust had been appointed and which were in the earliest stages of development local authorities will receive funding for 2487 school places in Summer 2026, equivalent to places the school would have provided.
For local authorities with the choice between accepting the alternative funding offer or continuing with the free school, the deadline to confirm their choice is 27 February 2026. After this date, we will know how many local authorities have accepted the alternative funding offer and the total funding amount.
Funding for delivery of free school projects are provided at different stages of a project’s development, in line with key delivery milestones. Most of the projects in scope of the alternative funding offer are at the earliest stages of development and therefore have not received any funding. Where sites have been secured for these schools, details and costs of acquisitions will have been set out on the Land Registry website. Additionally, the department will have published contract details and costs for all free school construction contracts on Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much alternative funding has been provided to the local authorities of the 18 cancelled special and AP free schools, to create specialist spaces in mainstream schools.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
For the 18 schools where no trust had been appointed and which were in the earliest stages of development local authorities will receive funding for 2487 school places in Summer 2026, equivalent to places the school would have provided.
For local authorities with the choice between accepting the alternative funding offer or continuing with the free school, the deadline to confirm their choice is 27 February 2026. After this date, we will know how many local authorities have accepted the alternative funding offer and the total funding amount.
Funding for delivery of free school projects are provided at different stages of a project’s development, in line with key delivery milestones. Most of the projects in scope of the alternative funding offer are at the earliest stages of development and therefore have not received any funding. Where sites have been secured for these schools, details and costs of acquisitions will have been set out on the Land Registry website. Additionally, the department will have published contract details and costs for all free school construction contracts on Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) revenue from the international student levy on higher education providers’ income from international students and (b) cost of introducing maintenance grants for the most disadvantaged students.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The International Student Levy (ISL) will require higher education providers to pay a flat fee of £925 per international student per year. An impact analysis of the ISL published in November 2025 estimated that the levy would raise £445 million in the 2028/29 financial year, rising to £480 million in 2030/31. The full impact analysis is available here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/international-student-levy-unit/international-student-levy/supporting_documents/international-student-levy-impact-analysispdf.
Proceeds from the ISL will be fully reinvested into higher education and skills, to support the reintroduction of targeted maintenance grants, progression through the post-16 system, and for wider skills. This will make sure that revenue from international students directly benefits domestic students from low-income households.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of designating Portage services as a targeted early years and SEND support offer across all local authorities; what steps she is taking to address regional variation in access to Portage provision; and what consideration she has given to providing (a) sustainable and predictable funding, (b) national training standards and (c) further research and evaluation to support the consistent delivery of evidence-based early intervention services.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Help for families of children with additional needs is central to the Best Start in Life Strategy, which spotlights high-quality, inclusive and joined-up services.
The department is considering delivery expectations for how Best Start Family Hubs (BSFHs) can deliver special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support, alongside flexibility to meet community needs.
From April, BSFHs will receive funding to recruit a dedicated SEND practitioner for every hub to support parents, identify emerging needs sooner and coordinate services. Evaluation of BSFHs will build the evidence base to inform future reform.
We will fund partnerships between early years settings and schools to test and implement different approaches to improving transitions to reception, including for children with SEND. These will allow staff to spend time to share expertise, help parents and children build relationships with schools and help teachers spot issues early.
Plans for reform will be in the upcoming Schools White Paper.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Commissioner for Public Appointment annual report 2024-25, published in December 2025, Appendix: direct appointments, what the business case was for appointing a non-executive director for three years; and whether she has had correspondence with the Commissioner.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The departmental board provides important strategic oversight and challenge. We had an existing non-executive director vacancy and made this appointment to bring in highly valuable delivery expertise. The direct appointment process was followed in full in line with the guidance, including consultation via correspondence with the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce child bed poverty and it's potential impact on education.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government’s Child Poverty Strategy, ‘Our Children, Our Future: Tackling Child Poverty’, was published on 5 December 2025. It sets out the steps this government will take to reduce child poverty in the short term, as well as putting in place the building blocks we need to create long-term change. The measures set out in the strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty, the largest expected reduction in child poverty over any parliamentary session since comparable records began.
The government is investing in the future of our children and putting money into families' pockets, enabling them to afford the essentials that are necessary to give children what they need to learn and grow by introducing key measures such as removing the two-child limit in Universal Credit.
Furthermore, government is helping families who need support to access essential household items through the Crisis and Resilience Fund, a £1 billion fund to ensure families have a safety net when they need it, and Pride in Place Programme, which will deliver up to £5 billion in funding to 244 in-need neighbourhoods across the country. This will give communities the option to invest in measures that support families with the cost of living, which could include establishing new community shops with access to discounted food and school uniforms or directly supporting families with essential household items, such as beds and white goods.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a reduction in the number of experienced childminders on the availability of early years and out-of-school childcare places in the context of the expansion of funded childcare hours.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This department is taking a range of measures to support the financial sustainability of childminding businesses and other early years providers. From April 2026, local authorities will be required to pass at least 97% of their funding directly to providers (an increase from 96%). We are also working with local authorities and others to ensure that childminders and other early years providers can be paid monthly for the funded hours they provide, making their income more stable. Furthermore, from 1 November 2024, the government introduced new flexibilities to help childminders join and stay in the profession, supporting the government’s commitment to roll out expanded childcare entitlements and give children the best start in life.
In addition, the expansion of the early years entitlements could benefit childminders in different ways. For example, the national average three and four year-old hourly funding rate of local authorities is increasing by 4.1%, the two year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.3%, and the nine months to two year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.4%. Childminders may also benefit from an expected increase in demand for places.