Department for Education

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Staffordshire County Council reported that 13 maintained schools were subject to a notice of financial concern during the 2023/24 financial year.

The department does not hold details of which schools these were, nor does it hold details at a level lower than County Council.

Education is a devolved matter, and as such the response below outlines the information for schools in England only.

As of November 2023, the latest date for which data is available, there was a headcount of 395,585 teaching assistants (282,925 full-time equivalent) employed by state-funded schools with a contract of 28 days or longer. Of these, 22,224, equivalent to 5.6%, (14,277, 5.0%, full-time equivalent) were reported to be employed on a temporary contract.

In addition, support staff who are not directly employed by the school or local authority and who are in school on census day (early November each year) with a contract or service agreement lasting fewer than 28 days are recorded as ‘third-party support staff’. As of November 2023, the latest date for which data is available, schools reported there was a headcount of 14,908 third-party support staff with a post of teaching assistant (full-time equivalent is not collected).

​Information on the school workforce, including the number of teaching assistants, is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

I refer the hon. Member for Newton Abbot to the answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 35870.

I refer the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire to the answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40829.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

I refer the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire to the answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40829.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

As set out in the Children and Social Work Act 2017, Social Work England (SWE) is responsible for setting the level of the registration fee for social workers. Before determining the level of any fee, including any change, SWE must both consult publicly and gain the approval of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. Further information is available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/16/part/2/enacted#section-36-4.

SWE’s public consultation runs until 13 May 2025 and is available at: https://www.socialworkengland.org.uk/news/public-consultation-on-changes-to-our-fees-is-now-open/.

The department is taking a number of steps to ensure that children in kinship care get the support that they need to thrive. This includes promoting their educational and mental health needs and supporting the people who care for them.

From September 2024, the department expanded the role of virtual school heads on a non-statutory basis to include championing the education, attendance and attainment of children in kinship care, ensuring that more children in kinship care receive the help they need to thrive at school. The department is now mandating this through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

In addition, the department is providing over £3 billion of pupil premium funding to improve the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils in England, including looked after and previously looked after children. Schools can direct pupil premium spending where the need is greatest, including to pupils with other identified needs, such as children in kinship care. Schools can also use pupil premium on whole class approaches that will benefit all pupils, such as on high quality teaching.

Some children in kinship care will be able to access the adoption and special guardianship support fund, which helps adoptive and special guardianship order children and their families access therapeutic interventions related to trauma and attachment.

Children in kinship care will also benefit from this government’s commitment to improving mental health support for all children and young people. The government will deliver on this commitment through providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. We will also recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults, and open new Young Futures hubs with access to mental health support workers.

The steps the government is taking to improve support for kinship carers will also improve the support children living in kinship care receive. In October, the department announced £40 million to trial a new kinship allowance in up to ten local authorities. This pilot will test whether paying an allowance will help support more children to live and thrive with a kinship carer.

In addition, the government has provided over 140 peer support groups and a package of training and support for all kinship carers to access across England. The increased financial support, emotional support and training kinship carers receive should help them in their role as carers and enhance the support they give the children in their care.

On 1 April, it was announced that the adoption and special guardianship support fund would continue into 2025/26, with a budget of £50 million. A further announcement about arrangements for applications will be made as soon as possible. All applications will continue to be assessed on an individual basis in line with published criteria.

On 1 April, it was announced that the adoption and special guardianship support fund would continue into 2025/26, with a budget of £50 million. A further announcement about arrangements for applications will be made as soon as possible. All applications will continue to be assessed on an individual basis in line with published criteria.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.  No local authorities are reporting that they are unable to meet their sufficiency duty. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ’Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. The full guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare.

Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

This £80 million partnership programme between the department and Great British Energy is targeting 200 schools and colleges in the 2025/26 academic year.

There will be a cluster of around 45 schools in each of the North West, North East and West Midlands, selected based on deprivation levels and other factors such as roof capacity. Each cluster will also include a further education college which will work with the contractors appointed to promote careers in renewables to support growth in the construction and renewables workforce. There will also be a minimum of ten schools in each of the government office regions to ensure some regional spread.

This is just one element of the department’s strategy to ensure that the school estate is sustainable. We are providing support for all schools and colleges to get started on their journey towards net zero via our new online ‘Sustainability Support for Education’ platform and our climate ambassador programme.

The Government Social Research release ‘Parent, pupil and learner panel: 22/23 March/April wave’ found that as of March 2023, 36% of parents with primary aged children reported that they had used some kind of wraparound childcare for their primary aged children since the start of term, equating to around 1.6 million children. The full release is attached and can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1170040/Parent__pupil_and_learner_panel_-_2022_to_2023_-_March_and_April_wave.pdf.

Findings from the ‘School and college voice: February 2024’ report show that 72% of primary school leaders (excluding special schools) said their school offers childcare both before and after school, but this includes paid for childcare and clubs with only limited spaces available.

The government’s impact note on the removal of eligibility of private schools for business rates charitable relief estimates an extremely limited impact from the business rates policy taking effect, with any movement estimated to represent 0.03% of the total state school pupil population in England. This impact note is attached and can be found here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0129/ImpactNote.pdf.

Removing the eligibility for business rates charitable relief from private schools will raise approximately £140 million per year. Based on average per-pupil spending in England for the 2024/25 financial year, the government expects the revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector as a result of the business rates measure in England to steadily increase to a peak of around £20 million per annum after several years.

The department’s building projects are currently delivered through our £7 billion construction framework 2021 (CF21) which was published under the previous government. The specification for that framework requires buildings to be net zero carbon in operation. Signed contract values are published on GOV.UK, normally within 30 days of the contract being signed, and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.

On 2 April, the department confirmed funding of £8.8 million for Adoption England to improve the recruitment of adopters, matching of children, and family support during the 2025/26 financial year.

This includes funding to develop more Centres of Excellence as multidisciplinary teams across the country to provide specialist and therapeutic support to families and the development of national standards for adoption support. It also includes a new framework for an early support core offer, ‘Becoming a Family’, for the first twelve to eighteen months of placement and an Adoption Support Plan to guide assessments of a family’s support needs. All are designed to improve support and reduce the risk of an adoption breakdown.

Adoption England are also planning work to develop a national protocol on how children’s services, front door services and adoption support teams work together to better support families at risk of adoption disruption.

Adoption England and regional adoption agencies work closely with adopters to improve adoption support services. This includes considering the latest evidence of why adoption disruptions have occurred in their agencies and across the country.

Since its inception in 2015, the department has provided over £400 million through the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) to provide therapeutic interventions for around 52,700 children who have left care under an adoption, special guardianship or child arrangements order. The interventions are designed to help children and their families to deal with their trauma and attachment difficulties and have been independently assessed to have helped prevent adoption breakdowns.

On 1 April, it was announced that the ASGSF would continue into 2025/26, with a budget of £50 million. A further announcement about arrangements for applications will be made as soon as possible. We remain committed to supporting families, who play an essential role in providing stable and loving homes for children in need.

The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates funding for mainstream schools. The funding levels vary between local authority areas, and the funding that mainstream schools receive is determined by the local authority that they are in, rather than where their pupils live. In any given year, mainstream schools are allocated funding based on pupil numbers and characteristics at the time of the previous October census. This means that for the 2025/26 financial year, schools are allocated funding based on the pupils they had at the time of the October 2024 census.

Children with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are mainly funded by the local authority in whose area they reside. Local authorities are allocated high needs funding for this purpose and their allocations are calculated through a high needs NFF which uses data relating to the children resident in their area. The local authority allocates the majority of this high needs funding to mainstream and special schools, both those located in the authority’s area and those elsewhere, in respect of the children with SEND resident in their area for whom they have statutory responsibilities.

Depriving a child of their liberty must always be a last resort, but is sometimes necessary to keep that child, and others, safe. A small but growing number of children, often with complex behavioural needs, require a deprivation of liberty order for their own safety.

Data collected by Nuffield Family Justice Observatory shows that in the year leading up to July 2023, 1,389 applications were made to deprive a child of their liberty under a Deprivation of Liberty Order (DOLO) authorised under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court. Data collected in this period suggests that the number of applications has more than doubled since 2020/21. This data is attached and can be accessed at: https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CHILDR1.1.pdf.

His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service have been publishing data since December 2023, covering the period July to September 2023. Between Q3 2023 and Q2 2024, 1240 deprivation of liberty applications were made. There were 299 applications made between April and June 2024.

To understand the existing system and how we can achieve better outcomes for these children, the department has commissioned research consisting of a literature review, analysing children’s case files and undertaking case studies of three existing provisions developed in partnership with Integrated Care Boards. This research will provide insights into the characteristics of children who are, or have been, deprived of liberty and what has worked well for them. We aim to publish this research in summer 2025. We consistently seek insights from research and reports undertaken by different organisations, such as the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s report in December 2024 on Illegal Children’s Homes, to ensure we are utilising the information in these resources in our policy development.

The department continues to work extensively with stakeholders across local authorities, the healthcare sector, cross-government, third sector and in academia to draw on relevant expertise throughout our policy development, which allows us to gain valuable insights about the characteristics of these children and what works well to improve their experience and outcomes.

Children and young people can attend specialist provision in any local authority, not just the one in which they reside.

Children and young people will be placed in special schools through the statutory process which the Children and Families Act 2014 prescribes for an education, health and care plan. Where pupils require alternative provision because they do not have a school place, the local authority is responsible for arranging a placement.

As of January 2024, 8.9% of special school pupils were educated outside the local authority where they live. More information on school and pupil characteristics can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

Every year the department uses the schools national funding formula (NFF) to distribute core funding for 5- to 16-year-old pupils in mainstream state-funded schools in England. In the current NFF, the vast majority of funding is distributed on the basis of pupil numbers and characteristics.

The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that pupils with additional needs attract additional funding to help schools respond and meet their needs. In addition, schools in more expensive areas, like London, attract higher funding per pupil than other parts of the country to reflect the higher costs they face.

Through the dedicated schools grant, Bedford local authority is receiving over £179 million for mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year, which equates to £6,306 per pupil on average, excluding growth and falling rolls funding. Central Bedfordshire local authority is receiving almost £260 million, or £5,980 per pupil on average, for mainstream schools in the financial year 2025/26. Schools' final funding allocations are determined by local authority funding formulae and based on updated pupil numbers, so the final per pupil funding amounts for individual schools may differ.

Every year the department uses the schools national funding formula (NFF) to distribute core funding for 5- to 16-year-old pupils in mainstream state-funded schools in England. In the current NFF, the vast majority of funding is distributed on the basis of pupil numbers and characteristics.

The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that pupils with additional needs attract additional funding to help schools respond and meet their needs. In addition, schools in more expensive areas, like London, attract higher funding per pupil than other parts of the country to reflect the higher costs they face.

Through the dedicated schools grant, Bedford local authority is receiving over £179 million for mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year, which equates to £6,306 per pupil on average, excluding growth and falling rolls funding. Central Bedfordshire local authority is receiving almost £260 million, or £5,980 per pupil on average, for mainstream schools in the financial year 2025/26. Schools' final funding allocations are determined by local authority funding formulae and based on updated pupil numbers, so the final per pupil funding amounts for individual schools may differ.

The department has kept the Disclosure of Death Registration Information (DDRI) check under review with the scheme administrator to ensure that it continues to meet the objectives of both protecting members and the scheme.

The DDRI check was introduced as a proportionate means to ensure that recipients of pension payments from the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme continue to be eligible.

The process allows 28 days for a pensioner member to respond to an enquiry to certify their ongoing entitlement. Where a pension has been paused because confirmation has not been received within that timescale, it is normally reinstated within 10 working days with payment of any arrears. The scheme administrator is currently working on further enhancements, such as issuing additional notifications by alternative communication methods, including by email.

This approach avoids the need to require all recipients to confirm eligibility on an annual basis, and protects them, and taxpayers, from the consequences of any overpayments.

Ultimately, the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Pension Board provides oversight of the effectiveness of all elements of the administration of the scheme.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. Together with additional funding for schools’ increased National Insurance contributions costs announced recently, this brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Suffolk County Council is being allocated over £124 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £10.3 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 9% increase per head of their 2 to 18 year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.

In addition to the DSG, local authorities will also receive a separate core schools budget grant (CSBG) in the 2025/26 financial year. This CSBG continues the separate grants payable in 2024/25, which are to help special schools and alternative provision with the costs of teachers’ pay and pension increases and other staff pay increases, as well as the additional funding in respect of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions. The department plans to publish individual local authorities’ allocations of this funding for 2025/26 in May 2025.

Mainstream schools are funded through the formula set by their local authority. The funding formula is decided by each local authority in consultation with its schools and often uses factors such as low prior attainment and free school meals to give an estimate of the number of children with special educational needs (SEN) a school is likely to have. Local authorities are required to delegate funds to a level that enables schools to meet the additional cost of pupils with SEN up to £6,000 per annum.

When a school can demonstrate that the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEN exceed £6,000, the local authority should allocate additional funding to cover the excess costs. This may follow an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment and the creation of an EHC plan, though local authorities have discretion to provide top-up funding to pupils without an EHC plan.

If a local authority issues an EHC plan, it is statutorily required to secure the special educational provision specified in the plan. Disagreements over the provision required and the associated costs should not stand in the way of a child or young person’s education.

The department is clear that we expect commissioning local authorities and all types of schools/colleges to work together so that agreement can be reached on the level of top-up funding required to enable suitable provision to be made for individual pupils and students. More information is available in the GOV.UK guidance ‘High needs funding: 2024 to 2025 operational guide’, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2024-to-2025/high-needs-funding-2024-to-2025-operational-guide#top-up-funding.

As the statutory responsible body, the local authority is responsible for the final decision about the level of funding required to secure the necessary provision. In determining the funding level, the local authority should have consulted with the school or college and should ensure their decision is evidence-based and reasonable. However, even where provision is specified in an EHC plan, there is no statutory requirement that a local authority must pay top-up funding at a particular rate requested by a school or college.

These are matters for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

These are matters for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Where a local authority has issued an education, health and care (EHC) plan for a child or young person, they must consult a school or college before naming it in the plan and the school or college can express concerns about being named.

When responding to a local authority on a consultation about being named in an EHC plan, the school can make representations in relation to its total pupil population and its capacity, where it feels that admitting the pupil might have an impact on the efficient education of other pupils already in the school. This is a matter that the local authority would need to carefully consider in reaching its decision about whether to proceed to name the school. If the local authority goes ahead and names it in the plan, then the school or college is under a statutory duty to admit the child or young person.

A school can make a complaint to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education if it feels that a local authority has not carried out its statutory duties appropriately, such as where the school suspects the local authority did not follow due processes in reaching a decision to name it on an EHC plan. However, whilst that complaint is being resolved, because the school is named in the EHC plan, it must admit the child with immediate effect.

The department knows that many children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) struggle to find a suitable school placement that is close to their home and meets their needs. This government is committed to addressing this by improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

We work with the sector as valued partners to ensure that every child or young person with SEND can access a school placement that meets their needs, including in mainstream where appropriate. In doing so, we want to improve pupil outcomes and experiences and restore parents’ trust.

Education, health and care (EHC) plans should be used to monitor children and young people’s progress towards their outcomes and longer term aspirations. Local authorities have a statutory duty to review EHC plans every 12 months as a minimum.

The local authority should provide a list of children and young people who will require a review of their EHC plan that term to all headteachers and principals of schools, colleges and other institutions attended by children or young people with EHC plans, at least two weeks before the start of each term. This will enable professionals to plan attendance at review meetings and/or provide timely advice or information about the child or young person where necessary.

The department has issued guidance on EHC plan reviews in the special educational needs and disabilities Code of Practice which explains the roles and responsibilities of local authorities and schools in the review process, as well as other relevant professionals.

On 18 March 2025, the department announced its intention to launch a National Centre for Arts and Music Education to promote opportunities for children and young people to pursue their artistic and creative interests in school, including through the government’s network of Music Hubs. Our intention is to launch in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement. Further details will be released in due course, including on engagement with music education partners.

To support the delivery of music education, the government has committed £79 million per year for the Music Hubs programme, inclusive of the 2024/25 academic year. The 43 Music Hubs partnerships across England offer a range of services, including musical instrument tuition, instrument loaning and whole-class ensemble teaching. To widen access to musical instruments, the government is investing £25 million in capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year. This funding enables Music Hubs partnerships to better cater to the needs of the children and young people they work with.

The government is also investing £2 million to support the Music Opportunities Pilot over a four year period from the 2024/25 to 2027/28 academic years, backed by a further £3.85 million funding from Arts Council England and Youth Music. This pilot is delivered by Young Sounds UK in 12 areas of the country and aims to help disadvantaged children and young people, as well as those with special educational needs and disabilities, to learn how to play an instrument of their choice or learn to sing to a high standard.

The government believes creative subjects like music, art and drama are important elements of the rounded and enriching education every child deserves.

On 18 March 2025, the department announced its intention to launch a National Centre for Arts and Music Education to promote opportunities for children and young people to pursue their artistic and creative interests in school, including through the government’s network of Music Hubs. Our intention is to launch in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement. Further details will be released in due course, including on engagement with music education partners.

To support the delivery of music education, the government has committed £79 million per year for the Music Hubs programme, inclusive of the 2024/25 academic year. The 43 Music Hubs partnerships across England offer a range of services, including musical instrument tuition, instrument loaning and whole-class ensemble teaching. To widen access to musical instruments, the government is investing £25 million in capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year. This funding enables Music Hubs partnerships to better cater to the needs of the children and young people they work with.

The government is also investing £2 million to support the Music Opportunities Pilot over a four year period from the 2024/25 to 2027/28 academic years, backed by a further £3.85 million funding from Arts Council England and Youth Music. This pilot is delivered by Young Sounds UK in 12 areas of the country and aims to help disadvantaged children and young people, as well as those with special educational needs and disabilities, to learn how to play an instrument of their choice or learn to sing to a high standard.

The government believes creative subjects like music, art and drama are important elements of the rounded and enriching education every child deserves.

Schools are required to identify and address the special educational needs (SEN) of the pupils they support and, in the case of mainstream settings, to use their best endeavours to make sure that a child or young person who has SEN gets the support they need. This includes asking local authorities to carry out an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, if necessary.

All schools should apply the ‘graduated approach’ that is outlined in the SEND Code of Practice, which means identifying a child’s needs, planning appropriate support, implementing that support and reviewing it regularly to ensure it continues to meet the identified needs. Through this, schools should develop personalised approaches to supporting the unique needs of individual pupils. If necessary, the local authority can be asked to carry out an EHC needs assessment.

In addition, all mainstream schools and maintained academy schools, including free schools, must have a qualified teacher, or the headteacher, designated as the special educational needs coordinator (SENCO).

SENCOs have day-to-day responsibility for the operation of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) policy and co-ordination of specific provision made to support individual pupils with SEND, including those who have EHC plans.

Schools should ensure that the SENCO has sufficient time and resources to carry out these functions. This should include providing SENCOs with sufficient administrative support and time away from teaching to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities in a similar way to other important strategic roles within a school.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket to the answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 41687.

The government is fully committed to delivering the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) as set out in the Autumn Budget 2024. From the LLE’s launch in January 2027, the Office for Students (OfS) will regulate all providers offering LLE-funded provision.

The OfS has made clear that they expect to restart work on registrations, degree awarding powers and university title in August 2025, although the changes will remain under review until then. We understand that the OfS will keep providers updated throughout this period about their plans, including confirming application arrangements from August onwards. The government supports the reasons for the temporary pause in order for the OfS to refocus their efforts on provider financial sustainability. As the independent regulator, it is for the OfS to process registrations in the manner they deem most appropriate.

The government will continue to engage closely with the OfS and providers to support timely transition arrangements for the launch of the LLE. The government, together with the OfS, will provide further information on the regulation of providers under the LLE in spring 2025.

The government is fully committed to delivering the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) as set out in the Autumn Budget 2024. From the LLE’s launch in January 2027, the Office for Students (OfS) will regulate all providers offering LLE-funded provision.

The OfS has made clear that they expect to restart work on registrations, degree awarding powers and university title in August 2025, although the changes will remain under review until then. We understand that the OfS will keep providers updated throughout this period about their plans, including confirming application arrangements from August onwards. The government supports the reasons for the temporary pause in order for the OfS to refocus their efforts on provider financial sustainability. As the independent regulator, it is for the OfS to process registrations in the manner they deem most appropriate.

The government will continue to engage closely with the OfS and providers to support timely transition arrangements for the launch of the LLE. The government, together with the OfS, will provide further information on the regulation of providers under the LLE in spring 2025.

The UK supports all Cypriot students, including those in the North, to access UK higher education networks and institutes. In line with the rest of the international community with the sole exception of Turkey, the UK does not recognise the self-declared ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ as an independent state. Several UN Security Council Resolutions limit links between UK and the north of Cyprus.

The department aims to deliver high quality advice and support for every potential teacher, enabling them to successfully apply for initial teacher training (ITT) through our Get Into Teaching service and our modernised in-house digital recruitment services. The total running costs of these services for the 2024/25 financial year are £36.5 million. This includes a range of programmes such as the Get Into Teaching Information service, Apply for Teacher Training service and the Teaching Internships programme.

Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by the four independent awarding organisations, AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC, rather than by central government. Awarding organisations are free to produce a GCSE in any modern language, including Ukrainian. This decision would be informed by several factors, including the level of demand from schools and the proportion of the population in the UK speaking the language.

The government stands steadfast behind the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government. The department is proud to support children and families from Ukraine during their transition to a new life and to do our part to support the Ukrainian people. The department launched the UK-Ukraine School Partnerships Programme in January, which supports UK-based Ukrainian students’ cultural ties to Ukraine and builds cross-cultural understanding among our pupils.

The department does not collect information centrally on families that have experienced adoptions that break down.

The department publishes information on whether children starting to be looked after in any given year were known to have been previously adopted. The latest information available relates to the year ending 31 March 2024 and is in the table ‘CLA starting during the year by characteristics – National’ of the ‘Children looked after in England’ statistical release which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/92f77d0d-7e95-45a1-f1db-08dd5cc661f7. This includes information on any known previous permanence arrangement for a child starting to be looked after.

Information for the year ending 31 March 2025 will be published in autumn 2025.

Effective use of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) can power the future of learning by improving access to education and outcomes, reducing staff workload and running operations more efficiently.

Important developments in AI education policy in England include our updated policy paper on the use of generative AI in education, which sets out this government’s core messages on AI use in education. The paper reinforces key messages on safety and provides updated information on intellectual property and data protection considerations as well as regulator approaches.

In January 2025, to ensure the safety of our children, the department announced that leading global tech firms had jointly committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Amazon Web Services are amongst the firms who have helped develop a set of expectations AI tools should meet to be considered safe for classroom use.

To support a clear ask from teachers and leaders, the department is developing online resources and guidance to help teachers and leaders use AI safely in their setting. This will be published in spring.

The department will also be appointing a task and finish group to advise on digital, AI and technology in order to increase the future pipeline of talent with digital and AI specific skills and prepare children and young people to be ready for an AI and tech-enabled world, as well as making the most of opportunities to use AI and educational technology (EdTech) to drive better teaching and learning.

In addition to this work with schools and colleges, the government is committed to ensuring that everyone has the skills, access, support and confidence to engage in our modern digital society and economy, whatever their circumstances. That is why we are working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), who recently published an action plan on digital inclusion. The full publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-inclusion-action-plan-first-steps/digital-inclusion-action-plan-first-steps.

This government is determined to tackle the generational challenge of school absence. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, which limits their opportunity to succeed. There is evidence that more students are attending school this year compared to last, thanks to the sector’s efforts, although 1.6 million children remain persistently absent, missing 10% or more of lessons.

The department has a national approach to supporting all schools to tackle absence, including those in the South Suffolk constituency. Central to this approach is stronger expectations of local authorities and schools, as set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance which was made statutory on 19 August 2024 and can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf. The guidance promotes a 'support first' approach, encouraging schools, trusts and local authorities to work with families in addressing attendance barriers.

Every state school in England should now be sharing their daily attendance register data with the department, local authorities and trusts. These bodies can access this data through a secure, interactive dashboard which is maintained by the department, allowing them to target attendance interventions more effectively.

The department recognises the importance of creating opportunities within the sector to share existing best practice on how to improve attendance. This is why the government set up a network of 31 attendance hubs, who have offered support to 2,000 schools and shared their strategies and resources for improving attendance.

In addition to this work, the department is improving the existing evidence on which interventions work to improve attendance. Over £17 million is being invested across two mentoring projects that will support at least 12,000 pupils in 15 areas. These programmes will be evaluated and the effective practice shared with schools and local authorities nationally.

The department recently announced that new regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams will support all state schools by facilitating networking, sharing best practice across areas, and empowering schools to better access support and learn from one another. Improving school attendance is one of four national priorities for RISE teams.

School attendance is also supported by broader investments, such as funded breakfast clubs across all primary schools to ensure children start their day ready to learn.

The department will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.

Schools can also allocate pupil premium funding, which has now increased to over £2.9 billion for the 2024/25 financial year, to support pupils with identified needs to attend school regularly.

​As part of my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Transformation Fund announced in the Spring Statement and building on the £15 million investment in the Autumn Budget 2024, the department will provide an additional £25 million over two years, beginning in the 2026/27 and 2027/28 financial years, for foster care as part of Children’s Social Care Reform. We expect this funding to help recruit an additional 400 fostering families, provide better peer to peer support for foster carers, and ensure more children in care have stability through ensuring a foster care placement is available to them when needed.

​Currently, there are ten fostering regional programmes active across England, collaborating with 64% of all local authorities to recruit, retain and support foster carers. The department plans to move towards full national roll-out in the next financial year. This supports retention and support for carers through the recruitment of short break foster carers, who provide high quality care for children while their usual foster carers take a break.

This programme also includes an expansion of ‘The Mockingbird Family Model’, an innovative evidence-based approach involving six to ten families grouped into a constellation around a hub home carer. Mockingbird includes peer support, respite and training. It was found to substantially improve retention by an independent evaluation, which showed that participating households were 82% less likely to deregister than households who did not participate.

The department also funds Fosterline, a free independent source of advice and support to current and prospective carers.

To improve retention, the department is also acting on areas that matter to foster carers. The allegations process is a key contributor to high levels of foster carer deregistration, and the department is committed to improving practice and guidance in this area. The department has also begun conversations with the sector about proposed changes to delegated authority, ensuring that all foster carers have delegated authority by default in relation to day-to-day parenting of the child in their care.

Financial support plays a role in retaining and supporting foster carers. The National Minimum Allowance (NMA) was introduced by the Labour government in 2007 and has kept pace with inflation over time. Current levels of the NMA have been uplifted by 3.55% for the 2025/2026 financial year and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/support-for-foster-parents/help-with-the-cost-of-fostering.

Finally, we encourage fostering services to adopt the Fostering Network’s ‘Foster Carer Charter’, which sets out clear principles of what support should be available to foster carers.

Regarding ‘unsuccessful’ placements, the department publishes statistics for children looked after in England only, not Wales. Statistics for other countries in the UK are the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

The department does not collect information on whether placements for children looked after were successful or not. These placements can end for a wide range of reasons and there is no specific category recorded as an ‘unsuccessful placement’.

The latest information on the main reason for placement changes during the 2023/24 reporting year is published in the ‘Children looked after in England’ statistical release at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c3ae926d-83e8-4ec9-3213-08dd6b9d125f.

​As part of my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Transformation Fund announced in the Spring Statement and building on the £15 million investment in the Autumn Budget 2024, the department will provide an additional £25 million over two years, beginning in the 2026/27 and 2027/28 financial years, for foster care as part of Children’s Social Care Reform. We expect this funding to help recruit an additional 400 fostering families, provide better peer to peer support for foster carers, and ensure more children in care have stability through ensuring a foster care placement is available to them when needed.

​Currently, there are ten fostering regional programmes active across England, collaborating with 64% of all local authorities to recruit, retain and support foster carers. The department plans to move towards full national roll-out in the next financial year. This supports retention and support for carers through the recruitment of short break foster carers, who provide high quality care for children while their usual foster carers take a break.

This programme also includes an expansion of ‘The Mockingbird Family Model’, an innovative evidence-based approach involving six to ten families grouped into a constellation around a hub home carer. Mockingbird includes peer support, respite and training. It was found to substantially improve retention by an independent evaluation, which showed that participating households were 82% less likely to deregister than households who did not participate.

The department also funds Fosterline, a free independent source of advice and support to current and prospective carers.

To improve retention, the department is also acting on areas that matter to foster carers. The allegations process is a key contributor to high levels of foster carer deregistration, and the department is committed to improving practice and guidance in this area. The department has also begun conversations with the sector about proposed changes to delegated authority, ensuring that all foster carers have delegated authority by default in relation to day-to-day parenting of the child in their care.

Financial support plays a role in retaining and supporting foster carers. The National Minimum Allowance (NMA) was introduced by the Labour government in 2007 and has kept pace with inflation over time. Current levels of the NMA have been uplifted by 3.55% for the 2025/2026 financial year and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/support-for-foster-parents/help-with-the-cost-of-fostering.

Finally, we encourage fostering services to adopt the Fostering Network’s ‘Foster Carer Charter’, which sets out clear principles of what support should be available to foster carers.

Regarding ‘unsuccessful’ placements, the department publishes statistics for children looked after in England only, not Wales. Statistics for other countries in the UK are the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

The department does not collect information on whether placements for children looked after were successful or not. These placements can end for a wide range of reasons and there is no specific category recorded as an ‘unsuccessful placement’.

The latest information on the main reason for placement changes during the 2023/24 reporting year is published in the ‘Children looked after in England’ statistical release at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c3ae926d-83e8-4ec9-3213-08dd6b9d125f.

​As part of my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Transformation Fund announced in the Spring Statement and building on the £15 million investment in the Autumn Budget 2024, the department will provide an additional £25 million over two years, beginning in the 2026/27 and 2027/28 financial years, for foster care as part of Children’s Social Care Reform. We expect this funding to help recruit an additional 400 fostering families, provide better peer to peer support for foster carers, and ensure more children in care have stability through ensuring a foster care placement is available to them when needed.

​Currently, there are ten fostering regional programmes active across England, collaborating with 64% of all local authorities to recruit, retain and support foster carers. The department plans to move towards full national roll-out in the next financial year. This supports retention and support for carers through the recruitment of short break foster carers, who provide high quality care for children while their usual foster carers take a break.

This programme also includes an expansion of ‘The Mockingbird Family Model’, an innovative evidence-based approach involving six to ten families grouped into a constellation around a hub home carer. Mockingbird includes peer support, respite and training. It was found to substantially improve retention by an independent evaluation, which showed that participating households were 82% less likely to deregister than households who did not participate.

The department also funds Fosterline, a free independent source of advice and support to current and prospective carers.

To improve retention, the department is also acting on areas that matter to foster carers. The allegations process is a key contributor to high levels of foster carer deregistration, and the department is committed to improving practice and guidance in this area. The department has also begun conversations with the sector about proposed changes to delegated authority, ensuring that all foster carers have delegated authority by default in relation to day-to-day parenting of the child in their care.

Financial support plays a role in retaining and supporting foster carers. The National Minimum Allowance (NMA) was introduced by the Labour government in 2007 and has kept pace with inflation over time. Current levels of the NMA have been uplifted by 3.55% for the 2025/2026 financial year and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/support-for-foster-parents/help-with-the-cost-of-fostering.

Finally, we encourage fostering services to adopt the Fostering Network’s ‘Foster Carer Charter’, which sets out clear principles of what support should be available to foster carers.

Regarding ‘unsuccessful’ placements, the department publishes statistics for children looked after in England only, not Wales. Statistics for other countries in the UK are the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

The department does not collect information on whether placements for children looked after were successful or not. These placements can end for a wide range of reasons and there is no specific category recorded as an ‘unsuccessful placement’.

The latest information on the main reason for placement changes during the 2023/24 reporting year is published in the ‘Children looked after in England’ statistical release at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c3ae926d-83e8-4ec9-3213-08dd6b9d125f.

The total cost incurred by the department in providing translation services for the period 01/04/2024 to 25/03/2025 is £25,286.79. This is split between £24,820.60 for British sign language and braille support and £318.57 for other translation services.