Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to section 23 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, whether the proposed limit of three branded items refers to the (a) overall number of items or (b) the individual types of items.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The proposed limit of three branded items relates to the individual types of items. For example, a school can include a branded blazer, jumper and book bag within its policy.

Schools will only be able to require pupils to have up to three types of compulsory branded uniform items for use during the year. Secondary schools and middle schools will have the option of requiring an additional compulsory branded item if it is a branded tie.

The limit will apply to any compulsory branded items in the school’s uniform policy, including PE kit. This includes any bags, such as book bags or rucksacks, and any items only suitable for particular times of year, such as summer dresses. It will be for individual parents to decide how many of each type of branded item they may wish to buy, but the limit on branded items will allow parents to purchase more uniform items from various retailers, including high street stores, helping them manage uniform costs more effectively.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to support school uniform providers in complying with the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department knows that school uniform providers play an important role for parents and communities by providing year-round guaranteed supply, a diversity of sizes and specialist advice to schools and parents.

We intend for the limit to come into effect in September 2026. This grace period will give suppliers enough time to renegotiate their existing contracts with schools in order to align with the new legislative requirements and wind down stock levels as appropriate.

Parents should have choice over where they shop, rather than having to buy expensive branded uniform items. Departmental research shows that the average cost of uniform is significantly lower when parents are allowed to buy items from a range of outlets.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to meet the demand for specialist SEND school places in Lincolnshire.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision sits with local authorities.

This government knows that many children and young people with SEND struggle to find a suitable school placement that is close to their home and meets their needs. We are committed to addressing this by improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools to support a range of needs, reducing the need for pupils to travel a long way to access a specialist placement, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. Many mainstream settings are already going above and beyond to deliver specialist provision locally, including through resourced provision and special educational needs units.

The department has now published allocations for £740 million in high needs provision capital allocations for the 2025/26 financial year, to support local authorities to deliver new specialist places.

Lincolnshire Council has been allocated £10.3 million for 2025/26, and it is up to the local authority to make decisions about the places they create and to prioritise this funding to meet local needs.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to apply a grace period for school uniform suppliers before fully implementing the provisions of the proposed Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department knows that school uniform providers play an important role for parents and communities by providing year-round guaranteed supply, a diversity of sizes and specialist advice to schools and parents.

We intend for the limit to come into effect in September 2026. This grace period will give suppliers enough time to renegotiate their existing contracts with schools in order to align with the new legislative requirements and wind down stock levels as appropriate.

Parents should have choice over where they shop, rather than having to buy expensive branded uniform items. Departmental research shows that the average cost of uniform is significantly lower when parents are allowed to buy items from a range of outlets.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish the guidance on gender-questioning children for schools.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. Member for Sevenoaks to the answer of 28 February 2025 to Question 31690.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill on faith communities.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department has published its Equalities Impact Assessment for all measures of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, setting out impacts across protected characteristics including religion or belief. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of the new school-based nurseries will be in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Under the school-based nurseries capital grant for 2024 to 2025, schools could apply to create or expand school-based nursery provision. This first phase funded 300 projects to make high-quality childcare more available and accessible for families, delivering on our Plan for Change to ensure a record proportion of children start school ready to learn. Seven schools received funding in the Lincolnshire local authority. Four schools will be opening new, school-run nurseries. There will be two in South Holland and The Deepings, one in Sleaford and North Hykeham, and one in Lincoln. The remaining funded projects are for expansions of existing nurseries. One in Boston and Skegness, one in Rutland and Stamford, and one in Gainsborough. The published list of successful projects is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-based-nursery-capital-grant-application-outcomes?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=fe34fce2-3673-4d46-9ff6-d06d1c0d1cf8&utm_content=immediately.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the long-term development of (a) speech, (b) language and (c) social skills for early years children.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Substantial work has been conducted on the impact of the pandemic on child development and the department recognises the impact of the pandemic on critical speech, language and social skills.

That is why, as part of the early years education recovery programme, the department provided funding of over £20 million to deliver Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), which is an evidence-based programme for children needing extra support with their speech and language development.

The department is also continuing to improve access to speech and language therapy by funding the Early Language and Support for Every Child pathfinder project, in partnership with NHS England. This programme aims to improve capacity and knowledge among the workforce who support children in early years and school settings with mild to moderate speech, language and communication needs, by utilising therapy support assistants.

In addition, the department has launched some online child development training, which includes modules dedicated to supporting children’s personal, social and emotional development and early language. More information on the training can be found here: https://child-development-training.education.gov.uk/.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications were made under match funding arrangements to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund for (a) specialist assessments and (b) therapeutic support in each financial year since 2015; and what the (i) total and (ii) average value was of those applications.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The attached table provides the information requested.

Please note that the fair access limit (FAL) and match funding arrangements were introduced in October 2016. The separate FAL for specialist assessments was introduced in April 2017. However, match funding records were not captured by the department’s systems until July 2018. Because of this, prior data on match funding has been excluded.

Applications may cover funding for more than one child. Hence, average values may not align with the FAL for individual children. In addition, some applications which include match funding also fund continuation of therapy where a previous application has been submitted at below the FAL level, but then a small amount is required to top-up the therapy provided. These small top-up applications are match funded, but small in value, and therefore fall below the £5,000 average. This will also affect the average costs.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications were made under the fair access limit to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund in each financial year since 2015; and what the (a) total and (b) average value was of those applications.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The attached table provides the information requested.

Please note that the fair access limit (FAL) and match funding arrangements were introduced in October 2016. The separate FAL for specialist assessments was introduced in April 2017. However, match funding records were not captured by the department’s systems until July 2018. Because of this, prior data on match funding has been excluded.

Applications may cover funding for more than one child. Hence, average values may not align with the FAL for individual children. In addition, some applications which include match funding also fund continuation of therapy where a previous application has been submitted at below the FAL level, but then a small amount is required to top-up the therapy provided. These small top-up applications are match funded, but small in value, and therefore fall below the £5,000 average. This will also affect the average costs.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department plans to provide for (a) dance, (b) drama, (c) music and (d) musical theatre higher education courses in each of the next three years.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is determined that the higher education (HE) funding system should deliver for our economy, for universities and for students. The HE sector needs a secure financial footing, which is why, after seven years of frozen fee caps under the previous government, we took last year the difficult decision to increase maximum tuition fee limits for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, in line with the forecast rate of inflation.

In return for the increased investment we are asking students to make we expect the sector to deliver the very best outcomes, both for those students and for the country.

Additionally, the government provides annual funding to the HE sector through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG), which supports teaching of expensive-to-deliver subjects, access and participation and world-leading specialist providers.

My right hon. Friend, The Secretary of State for Education will shortly issue guidance to the Office for Students, setting out SPG funding for the 2025/26 academic year and her priorities for it. Funding for subsequent years will be agreed following the government’s spending review.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she conducted an impact assessment on restrictions to support through the adoption and special guardianship support fund.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The new criteria for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund will enable as many children and families as possible to access the available funding. The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. This includes reviewing the equalities impact assessment, which will be made available in the House Libraries in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on its contract with Mott Macdonald to administer the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund in each year since 2018.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The table below shows the requested information on spending each year on Mott MacDonald for their administration of the adoption and special guardianship support fund.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing the Holiday Activities and Food programme on a permanent basis.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme and the impact it has on children, young people and families. We are very pleased that the overall funding for the HAF programme in 2025/26 is again more than £200 million, with delivery across England taking place at Easter, summer and Christmas.

Funding beyond March 2026 is subject to the multi-year Spending Review and any decisions will be made as part of the Review taking place later this year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average cost per pupil was to construct a special educational needs school in the last five years.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

New school buildings are delivered by the department, local authorities, and other bodies.

The average cost of building a special educational needs school can be found on pages 25-29 in the national cost benchmarking study published at: https://documents.hants.gov.uk/property-services/NationalSchoolDeliveryBenchmarkingreport.pdf.

This report contains cost information on local authority delivered schools and department-delivered schools, the data has been collected since 2012.

Standards for new school buildings change over time, for example to increase sustainability requirements, so care should be taken in comparing costs directly year to year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average cost of building a special educational needs school was in the last five years.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

New school buildings are delivered by the department, local authorities, and other bodies.

The average cost of building a special educational needs school can be found on pages 25-29 in the national cost benchmarking study published at: https://documents.hants.gov.uk/property-services/NationalSchoolDeliveryBenchmarkingreport.pdf.

This report contains cost information on local authority delivered schools and department-delivered schools, the data has been collected since 2012.

Standards for new school buildings change over time, for example to increase sustainability requirements, so care should be taken in comparing costs directly year to year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support schools to meet the change in the level of demand for SEND provision in Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

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.

The department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, following the Autumn Budget 2024. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Central Bedfordshire Council is being allocated over £49 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £4 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.

Local authorities allocate their high needs funding to support schools in making suitable provision for the increasing number of pupils identified as having more complex SEND.

The department has also announced High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for financial year 2025/26, totalling £740 million, of which Central Bedfordshire has been allocated £4.4 million. The department is encouraging local authorities to use this funding to adapt mainstream schools for pupils with SEND, creating new special units or resourced provision, as well as to create new places in special schools.

The department wants more children to receive the support they need to thrive in their local mainstream school and we want to restore parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need without having to travel a long way to access a specialist placement.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to extend PE and Sport Premium Funding beyond 2024-25.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. Member for South Devon to the answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 36699.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of differences in funding per child between SEN children educated in state schools and those educated in privately owned institutions.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

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.

From the 2018/19 financial year to 2023/24, the most recent year for which information is available, the average per-pupil expenditure on pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan in maintained special schools and special academies on the one hand, and non-maintained and independent special schools on the other, are set out in the tables below:

To note:

1. Per-pupil expenditure is the average calculated from the national expenditure on place and top-up funding for the school types, per pupil with an EHC plan.

2. For maintained special schools and special academies the calculation uses the place funding rate of £10,000 per place plus the average top-up funding expenditure. by local authorities on those schools as recorded in their section 251 outturn data, per pupil as recorded in the January schools census.

3. For non-maintained and independent special schools the department has calculated the total expenditure from the £10,000 per-place funding allocated to non-maintained special schools and the total top-up funding expenditure by local authorities on those schools as recorded in their section 251 outturn data, per pupil with an EHC plan as recorded in our SEN2 data collection.

4. From 2023, the data collection for SEN2 changed from aggregated figures at local authority level, to a person-level collection. This has been a major change in approach and care should be taken with comparisons across this period because expenditure per pupil changes between 2021/22 and 2022/23 may include an effect from the EHC plan data collection methodology change.

The per-pupil expenditure amounts for children with EHC plans as set out in the table above are averages of a wide range of per-pupil funding levels that are different depending on the needs of the child and school they attend. It is the relevant local authority’s responsibility to decide how to allocate that funding and how much to allocate to each school.

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. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Dudley Council is being allocated over £62 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £5.4 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the merits of increasing the funding per-pupil for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

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.

From the 2018/19 financial year to 2023/24, the most recent year for which information is available, the average per-pupil expenditure on pupils with an education, health and care (EHC) plan in maintained special schools and special academies on the one hand, and non-maintained and independent special schools on the other, are set out in the tables below:

To note:

1. Per-pupil expenditure is the average calculated from the national expenditure on place and top-up funding for the school types, per pupil with an EHC plan.

2. For maintained special schools and special academies the calculation uses the place funding rate of £10,000 per place plus the average top-up funding expenditure. by local authorities on those schools as recorded in their section 251 outturn data, per pupil as recorded in the January schools census.

3. For non-maintained and independent special schools the department has calculated the total expenditure from the £10,000 per-place funding allocated to non-maintained special schools and the total top-up funding expenditure by local authorities on those schools as recorded in their section 251 outturn data, per pupil with an EHC plan as recorded in our SEN2 data collection.

4. From 2023, the data collection for SEN2 changed from aggregated figures at local authority level, to a person-level collection. This has been a major change in approach and care should be taken with comparisons across this period because expenditure per pupil changes between 2021/22 and 2022/23 may include an effect from the EHC plan data collection methodology change.

The per-pupil expenditure amounts for children with EHC plans as set out in the table above are averages of a wide range of per-pupil funding levels that are different depending on the needs of the child and school they attend. It is the relevant local authority’s responsibility to decide how to allocate that funding and how much to allocate to each school.

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. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Dudley Council is being allocated over £62 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £5.4 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to special educational needs assessments in Lincolnshire.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve and thrive in mainstream settings through early identification, effective support, high-quality teaching and effective allocation of resources.

Through a graduated approach, teachers are responsible for monitoring the progress of all pupils and putting support in place where needed. Where a child who has special educational needs (SEN) needs more support than their school can usually provide, schools, parents or carers can ask the local authority to carry out an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment.

Local authorities must conduct EHC needs assessment if a child or young person has or may have SEN and it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made in accordance with an EHC plan.

The department recognises the critical role of educational psychologists within the SEND system, including their statutory contribution to EHC assessments. The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024, building on the £10 million currently being invested in a cohort of over 200 trainees who began their training in 2023. Trainees will join the workforce to support the capacity of local authority educational psychology services, including in delivering assessments.

A joint local area SEND inspection of Lincolnshire Local Area Partnership (LAP) was undertaken by Ofsted/CQC in February 2025, and the report is expected to be published imminently. Following publication, the LAP will be required to update their strategic plan, and the department’s regional team will put in place systems to track outcomes against any areas for improvement identified by inspectors, and the progress made by children and young people with SEND.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to help support schools to teach children about animal care.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

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

The national curriculum in England provides a broad framework within which schools have the flexibility to develop the content of their own curricula. Animal care can be taught within both the science and the relationships, sex and health curricula.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are on the SEND waiting list in Dewsbury and Batley constituency.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department collects information from local authorities on the number of requests for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, the number of EHC needs assessments carried out and the number of EHC plans issued on a calendar year basis. The latest figures we hold relate to the 2023 calendar year. Information for the 2024 calendar year will be published on 26 June.

The number of requests for an EHC needs assessment, the number of EHC needs assessments and the number of EHC plans issued within the statutory timeframe of 20 weeks from the date of the request for EHC needs assessment is given for Kirklees local authority in the table available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/2a676326-624e-4d03-96c7-08dd85738b16.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to ensure that high-quality education provision is available for children who are unable to attend (a) mainstream education and (b) special unit add-ons.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to thrive in their education and make a successful transition into adulthood, including those who are unable to attend inclusive mainstream schools and instead access specialist or alternative provision (AP). We therefore recognise the vital role of high-quality specialist provision, particularly for children with more complex needs.

It is for local authorities, under section 19 of the Children's Act 1996, to arrange suitable and (normally) full-time education for children of compulsory school age who, because of exclusion, illness or other reasons, would not receive suitable education.

Ofsted hold local authorities to account for the sufficiency and commissioning of AP as part of their area SEND inspections.

The department issues guidance on the planning and commissioning of AP that focuses on the principles of delivering education that is appropriate, effective, safe and of good quality. The guidance was last updated in January 2025 and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-provision.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to lower waiting times for speech therapy for children.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department continues to improve access to speech and language therapy by including the ‘Early Language and Support for Every Child’ (ELSEC) pathfinder project, in partnership with NHS England and within the department’s existing Change Programme. This is delivered across nine pathfinder sites, with one in each English region.

The interim programme evaluation allows the department to explore insights into the effectiveness of ELSEC delivery at a local level. Highlight reporting data shows that therapy support teams have helped around 20,000 children so far and just over 3000 setting staff have been upskilled in delivering interventions. A final evaluation will take place following the end of the summer term 2025.

The department is continuing funding support for the 11,100 schools registered for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme. As of March 2025, as part of NELI, 47,982 pupils undertook an initial Language Screen assessment in the 2024/25 academic year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 4 April (HL5949), and in the light of the launch of the voluntary local authority data collection on home-to-school transport on 3 February, (1) what number of pupils receive publicly funded home-to-school transport in each local authority; (2) what proportion of home-to-school transport spending is attributable to taxi or private hire vehicle usage; and (3) which local authorities offer parental mileage allowances or direct payment schemes in place of council-arranged transport.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The voluntary local authority data collection exercise closed in mid-March. The department is currently analysing the data and plans to share findings with local authorities later in the year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will require campaign organisations that provide teaching materials to disclose data on (a) reach, (b) school uptake and (c) expenditure on education initiatives.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under section 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues. In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools#using-external-agencies.

This includes sections on choosing resources and working with external organisations.

The department does not approve or monitor externally produced resources or track their distribution. We have also not met or corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and do not fund them.

If a parent is concerned about a school using politically partial, inaccurate or inappropriate resources, they should raise the matter with the school immediately and, if necessary, escalate it through the school’s publish complaints process: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of material produced by PETA on the school curriculum.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under section 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues. In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools#using-external-agencies.

This includes sections on choosing resources and working with external organisations.

The department does not approve or monitor externally produced resources or track their distribution. We have also not met or corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and do not fund them.

If a parent is concerned about a school using politically partial, inaccurate or inappropriate resources, they should raise the matter with the school immediately and, if necessary, escalate it through the school’s publish complaints process: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department monitors the (a) distribution and (b) use of educational materials from (a) PETA and (b) other organisations in English schools.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under section 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues. In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools#using-external-agencies.

This includes sections on choosing resources and working with external organisations.

The department does not approve or monitor externally produced resources or track their distribution. We have also not met or corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and do not fund them.

If a parent is concerned about a school using politically partial, inaccurate or inappropriate resources, they should raise the matter with the school immediately and, if necessary, escalate it through the school’s publish complaints process: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that materials used in schools do not contain scientifically inaccurate or misleading claims.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under section 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues. In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools#using-external-agencies.

This includes sections on choosing resources and working with external organisations.

The department does not approve or monitor externally produced resources or track their distribution. We have also not met or corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and do not fund them.

If a parent is concerned about a school using politically partial, inaccurate or inappropriate resources, they should raise the matter with the school immediately and, if necessary, escalate it through the school’s publish complaints process: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

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 emotionally distressing (a) imagery and (b) language used in classroom materials provided by animal rights campaigners on children.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under section 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues. In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools#using-external-agencies.

This includes sections on choosing resources and working with external organisations.

The department does not approve or monitor externally produced resources or track their distribution. We have also not met or corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and do not fund them.

If a parent is concerned about a school using politically partial, inaccurate or inappropriate resources, they should raise the matter with the school immediately and, if necessary, escalate it through the school’s publish complaints process: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have (i) met and (ii) corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on animal welfare policy in the last five years.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under section 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues. In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools#using-external-agencies.

This includes sections on choosing resources and working with external organisations.

The department does not approve or monitor externally produced resources or track their distribution. We have also not met or corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and do not fund them.

If a parent is concerned about a school using politically partial, inaccurate or inappropriate resources, they should raise the matter with the school immediately and, if necessary, escalate it through the school’s publish complaints process: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has provided funding to support the educational activities of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in schools.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under section 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues. In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools#using-external-agencies.

This includes sections on choosing resources and working with external organisations.

The department does not approve or monitor externally produced resources or track their distribution. We have also not met or corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and do not fund them.

If a parent is concerned about a school using politically partial, inaccurate or inappropriate resources, they should raise the matter with the school immediately and, if necessary, escalate it through the school’s publish complaints process: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that educational materials used in primary schools are (a) age-appropriate and (b) free from (i) extremist and (ii) emotionally manipulative content.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under section 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues. In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools#using-external-agencies.

This includes sections on choosing resources and working with external organisations.

The department does not approve or monitor externally produced resources or track their distribution. We have also not met or corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and do not fund them.

If a parent is concerned about a school using politically partial, inaccurate or inappropriate resources, they should raise the matter with the school immediately and, if necessary, escalate it through the school’s publish complaints process: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to prohibit the use of educational materials produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in schools in England.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under section 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues. In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools#using-external-agencies.

This includes sections on choosing resources and working with external organisations.

The department does not approve or monitor externally produced resources or track their distribution. We have also not met or corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and do not fund them.

If a parent is concerned about a school using politically partial, inaccurate or inappropriate resources, they should raise the matter with the school immediately and, if necessary, escalate it through the school’s publish complaints process: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues to schools on the use of educational materials produced by (a) PETA and (b) other political and campaign organisations.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under section 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues. In 2022 the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools#using-external-agencies.

This includes sections on choosing resources and working with external organisations.

The department does not approve or monitor externally produced resources or track their distribution. We have also not met or corresponded with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and do not fund them.

If a parent is concerned about a school using politically partial, inaccurate or inappropriate resources, they should raise the matter with the school immediately and, if necessary, escalate it through the school’s publish complaints process: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the National Funding Formula on (a) rural areas and (b) Devon.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The purpose of the national funding formula (NFF) is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that schools with more pupils with additional needs, such as those indicated by measures of deprivation, receive extra funding to help them meet the needs of all their pupils.

Through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), Devon local authority is receiving over £560.1 million for mainstream schools in financial year 2025/26, or £6,195 per pupil on average (excluding growth and falling rolls funding). This represents a 2.4% increase in per pupil funding compared to the 2024/25 financial year, excluding growth and falling rolls funding.

The NFF accounts for the particular challenges faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum and sparsity factor. All schools attract a lump sum of £145,100 which provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to pupil-led factors. Additionally, eligible primary schools attract up to £57,400, and all other schools up to £83,400, in sparsity funding in financial year 2025/26. Through the 2025/26 NFF, 148 schools in Devon attract sparsity funding.

We will review the schools NFF for 2026/27 and beyond to ensure that we get any changes right, recognising the importance of a fair funding system that directs funding where it is needed.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to increase per-pupil funding in Devon to the national average.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The purpose of the national funding formula (NFF) is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that schools with more pupils with additional needs, such as those indicated by measures of deprivation, receive extra funding to help them meet the needs of all their pupils.

Through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), Devon local authority is receiving over £560.1 million for mainstream schools in financial year 2025/26, or £6,195 per pupil on average (excluding growth and falling rolls funding). This represents a 2.4% increase in per pupil funding compared to the 2024/25 financial year, excluding growth and falling rolls funding.

The NFF accounts for the particular challenges faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum and sparsity factor. All schools attract a lump sum of £145,100 which provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to pupil-led factors. Additionally, eligible primary schools attract up to £57,400, and all other schools up to £83,400, in sparsity funding in financial year 2025/26. Through the 2025/26 NFF, 148 schools in Devon attract sparsity funding.

We will review the schools NFF for 2026/27 and beyond to ensure that we get any changes right, recognising the importance of a fair funding system that directs funding where it is needed.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of PE provision in the national curriculum.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Barking, to the answer of 28 March to Question 40068.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times Cambridgeshire County Council exceeded the statutory 20 week timeframe to provide a final EHCP in each of the last five academic years.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans for each Cambridgeshire local authority, issued within the statutory timeframe of 20 weeks from the date of the request for EHC needs assessment and for each of the last 5 years, is accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/55f72795-1ec2-487f-1f6a-08dd8e2f6934.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how is the value of funding from the SEN Inclusion Fund for each child calculated.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

All local authorities are required to have a special educational need inclusion fund (SENIF) for all eligible children for the entitlements and who have special educational needs (SEN).

Local authorities should establish their SENIFs using funding from the early years block and/or the high needs block of their dedicated schools grant, considering pressures on high needs and early years budgets locally.

The department gives local authorities the autonomy to set SENIF budgets and decide on eligibility criteria locally, as they are best placed to meet local need.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on improving integration between health services and local authority provision in the development of education, health and care plans.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Statutory duties are clear that health and local authorities must ensure the integration of educational and training provision with health and social care provision. They must also make joint commissioning arrangements with other local partners about the education, health and care provision to be secured for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission provide an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnerships’ commissioning arrangements with an emphasis on the outcomes being achieved for children and young people with SEND. Where appropriate, they recommend what the local area partnership should do to improve the arrangements.

Where partners do not meet their duties, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement. We work to monitor, support and challenge local authorities, working closely with NHS England to tackle weaknesses that sit with health partners.

The government is urgently looking at the SEND system and how it needs to be reformed. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care met with Cabinet colleagues earlier this month to discuss SEND system improvements.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many education, health and care plans were completed within the statutory timeframe in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Information on the number of requests for an education, health and care (EHC) plan issued within the statutory timeframe of 20 weeks, for each of the last 5 years, is shown in the table linked here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1e7dc959-f459-4ef6-ba17-08dd866b22bc.

The latest available figures cover the 2023 calendar year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timeline is for reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) is being established in primary legislation through the Employment Rights Bill, which was introduced in Parliament within the first 100 days of government on 10 October 2024. The Bill is currently at committee stage in the House of Lords. Due to the uncertainties of Parliamentary business and scheduling, we cannot confirm at this stage when the Bill will receive Royal Assent. After Royal Assent, secondary legislation will be required to constitute the body.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to enable Get Information About Schools to recent census data.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Get Information About Schools (GIAS) is the department’s register for several organisation types, including schools and academies. GIAS is used by the department and key partners to contact establishments, update systems, perform analysis and inform policy decisions, some of which carry funding implications.

Information on pupils in the GIAS service is based on data provided by schools in the January school census and is updated each summer following the publication of the Schools, pupils and their characteristics accredited official statistics release, which is available at the following address: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2023-24. This time point is used because it is the spring collection when the department receives information for all establishment types (such as General Hospital Schools, Alternative Provision and independent schools) and across all data items (such as free school meal eligibility). This allows for one consistent time point to be used in this public resource.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with local authorities in (a) rural areas and (b) Devon on (i) reducing the time taken for patients to be seen by and (ii) expanding SEND hubs.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department has worked closely with statutory partners in Devon since the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspection in May 2022, which found insufficient progress on four significant weaknesses identified in the previous inspection in 2018, including the timeliness and quality of education, health and care (EHC) plans. In response, an improvement notice was issued in September 2022, and an Accelerated Progress Plan was developed with Devon County Council and the integrated care board. The department and NHS England have deployed SEND advisers to support the local area.

Formal monitoring meetings are held with Devon County Council and partners, including on EHC plans and assessment timeliness. While recent monitoring meetings have shown some improvements, substantial progress is still needed to ensure all children and families receive the support they need and deserve.

Many children and young people with SEND continue to face challenges in accessing suitable school placements close to home.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital in the 2025/26 financial year to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision, with over £11 million high needs capital funding allocated to Devon County Council. This can be used to make classrooms more accessible and create specialist facilities in mainstream schools for intensive support, alongside continuing to provide places to support pupils in special schools with the most complex needs.

The department is working closely with Devon County Council to consider proposals for an increase resourced provision in Devon as part of the local authority’s approach to SEND sufficiency.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with local authorities on reducing the time taken to appeal an EHCP decision.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

Whilst most education, health and care plans and assessments are agreed without recourse to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Tribunal, some families struggle to get the support they need when they need it.

The department continues to work across government, with local authorities and the Tribunal to understand why appeals may take a long time to be resolved and what support we can give local authorities to improve decision-making. As an initial step, last year we jointly delivered eight training sessions on ‘SEND and the law’ for local authority SEND caseworkers to improve their knowledge of the law and help ensure that decisions are legally compliant.

The Tribunal is taking steps to reduce the time that families wait for a decision on their appeal. It has recruited and trained over 70 new judges who are now hearing appeals. It has also expanded the remit of Judicial Alternative Dispute Resolution (JDAR) to determine all ‘Section I (name of school)’ appeals and recently announced a rule change to allow for judicial discretion to determine whether more appeals can be heard on paper. The use of JDAR and paper hearings reduces the need for full oral hearings and therefore the time families wait for decisions.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have applied for SENIF funding in Cambridgeshire in each of the last five academic years, broken down by constituency.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

All local authorities are required to have a special educational need inclusion fund (SENIF) for all eligible children for the entitlements and who have special educational needs (SEN).

Local authorities should establish their SENIFs using funding from the early years block and/or the high needs block of their dedicated schools grant, considering pressures on high needs and early years budgets locally.

The department gives local authorities the autonomy to set SENIF budgets and decide on eligibility criteria locally, as they are best placed to meet local need.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed reforms in the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision improvement plan was published under the previous government which did not complete a full cost-benefit analysis.

The department continues to develop and test reform proposals, including building on those in the plan, to support this government’s ambition to ensure that all children and young people can access the support they need to achieve and thrive in education and as they transition to adult life.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the accountability of local authorities in delivering high-quality SEND provision under the Children and Families Act 2014.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to achieve and thrive including as they move into adult life. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with local area partnerships to improving support for all children and young people with SEND.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) introduced a strengthened area SEND inspection framework in January 2023, leading to a greater emphasis on the outcomes being achieved for children and young people. It is the primary tool to maintain a focus on high standards in the SEND system across all partners.​

The department works to monitor, support and challenge local authorities as needed, working closely with NHS England to tackle weaknesses that sit with health partners. Where a council does not meet its duties, we can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement. We offer a range of universal, targeted and intensive support through programmes such as our Sector Led Improvement Partners, which provides peer-to-peer tailored support.

The department will continue to work closely with Ofsted and CQC as they review the local area SEND inspection framework in response to feedback from the Big Listen exercise.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Dedicated Schools Grant funding formula.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The dedicated schools grant (DSG) is paid in support of local authorities’ schools budgets. It allocates funding through four separate blocks covering mainstream schools, high needs, early years and central school services. Each block is calculated using its own separate funding formula.

The total funding allocated through the DSG was £68.8 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, up from £62.5 billion in 2024/25. The table below sets out how this is split across the four blocks.

Please note that the 2025/26 and 2024/25 financial year figures are not directly comparable since some funding provided through separate grants in 2024/25 was rolled into the DSG in 2025/26.

Detailed information on the 2025/26 DSG funding allocations can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2025-to-2026.

Funding levels for 2026/27 and beyond are subject to the ongoing spending review.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she will take to ensure that the proposed pay award for teachers does not adversely impact (a) staffing levels and (b) educational provision.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning the CSB will total over £64.8 billion.

Final decisions on the teachers’ pay award for 2025 will be made following recommendations from the independent School Teacher Review Body (STRB). We have received the STRB’s report and will respond in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of additional funding required for SEND support in schools in Devon.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

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.

Overall schools funding is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year and will total over £64.8 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25. Within that total there is an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Devon County Council is being allocated over £125 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £8.9 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block.

Mainstream schools are expected to contribute from their budgets to the cost of supporting their pupils with SEND up to a cost threshold of £6,000 per pupil per annum. Local authorities support schools with SEND support costs in excess of that threshold, using funds from their high needs budgets. Nevertheless, the government recognises that the rising costs of SEND provision are putting a strain on local government and school finances. The government is considering, as part of the current spending review due to conclude in June, the funding and changes required in future years, to ensure that high-quality services for children and young people with SEND can be delivered in a financially sustainable way.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase SEND funding in Devon.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

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.

Overall schools funding is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year and will total over £64.8 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25. Within that total there is an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Devon County Council is being allocated over £125 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £8.9 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block.

Mainstream schools are expected to contribute from their budgets to the cost of supporting their pupils with SEND up to a cost threshold of £6,000 per pupil per annum. Local authorities support schools with SEND support costs in excess of that threshold, using funds from their high needs budgets. Nevertheless, the government recognises that the rising costs of SEND provision are putting a strain on local government and school finances. The government is considering, as part of the current spending review due to conclude in June, the funding and changes required in future years, to ensure that high-quality services for children and young people with SEND can be delivered in a financially sustainable way.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of education, health and care plans across different local authority areas.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

An education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment ensures that a child or young person’s needs are assessed in a joined-up way across education, health and social care services.

Under this assessment process, the local authority must seek information and advice from a range of partners. These include the child or young person and their parents; their school or college (if any); health and social care partners; an educational psychologist; and other relevant professionals.

If it is determined necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person, the local authority must prepare an EHC plan which will say clearly what the child or young person’s needs are and what help they will be entitled to.

If a child’s parent or a young person disagrees with a decision not to assess for a plan, the decision not to issue a plan, the description of needs in the plan, the educational provision set out or the educational institution named, they are able to appeal to the First-tier special educational needs and disabilities Tribunal.

Latest data held by the department shows that 1,887 appeals were heard by the First-tier Tribunal in the 2023 calendar year that were not regarding a decision not to assess or the decision not to issue a plan. This includes appeals heard regarding disagreements over the description of needs in a plan and the educational provision set out in a plan.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to to help improve access for students to courses at all levels in (a) history, (b) arts and (c) the humanities.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to supporting access to creative subjects, such as the arts, history and humanities, in higher education.

For the 2024/25 academic year, the department has allocated around £12.9 million in high-cost subject funding from the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) towards creative and performing arts courses to cover course costs.

The department has also maintained SPG funding for world-leading small and specialist providers at £58 million for the 2024/25 academic year. Of the 20 providers recognised in this way, 12 are creative and performing arts providers.

​​ ​

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which groups were consulted on the withdrawal of funding for non-specialist assistive software through the Disabled Students' Allowance.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department engaged with individual disability experts with relevant experience to gather feedback on the proposals. These experts were consulted in a personal capacity, and the department is therefore not able to provide their personal information.

This policy change relates to non-specialist spelling and grammar software only. The decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) funding was made on the grounds that there are now free to access versions available with the required functionality to meet students’ disability-related support needs, and it is therefore not an effective use of public money to continue to fund this type of software through DSA.

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 visa restrictions on revenue streams in the Higher Education sector.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

There are many factors that influence international students when they choose to study abroad. These include the range and quality of available courses, the visa rules that apply in countries they are considering, and the appeal of living and studying in those countries.

Several changes were made to the immigration system in 2024, restricting international students from bringing family members with them to the UK unless they are studying a PhD, doctorate or research-based higher degree. These restrictions will be continued, as confirmed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department in early February, in line with the government’s commitment to manage migration carefully. The Home Office has also published a full impact assessment of changes made to student and work visas in 2024, alongside their introduction.

Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows that international students contributed £12.1 billion in tuition fees to UK higher education (HE) providers in the 2022/23 academic year.

This government has made clear its approach to international students. We welcome international students who enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to ensure that young people in "staying put" arrangements are supported to continue to benefit from a family environment instead of being moved into residential care.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

Supporting care leavers to make a successful transition from care to independence is a priority for this government.

‘Staying Put’ arrangements ensure care leavers can continue to benefit from a stable and secure family setting and prepare for independence at a more gradual pace, rather than facing upheaval at age 18. It allows those who have been in foster care to remain with their carers until 21, where both the young person and the foster carer want it. The legislation requires local authorities to advise, assist and support both the young person and their former foster carers so that the arrangement can continue until the young person becomes 21. ‘Staying Put’ enables young people to build on and nurture their attachments to their foster carers, providing stability and support during their transition to adulthood, just as other young people can rely on their own families for such support.

The government is continuing to fund local authorities to deliver ‘Staying Put’ and project to provide £33.3 million for the programme in the 2025/26 financial year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in the time taken for education, health and care plan assessments; and what steps she is taking to ensure local authorities meet the statutory deadline.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department wants to ensure that, where required, education, health and care (EHC) plan assessments are progressed promptly and, if needed, plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they need.

Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to assess whether children and young people have special educational needs that require an EHC plan. Plans must be issued within twenty weeks of the needs assessment commencing so that children and young people can access the support they need.

The department knows that local authorities across different regions have seen an increase in the number of assessment requests and that more needs to be done to ensure that local areas deliver effective and timely services. This includes better communication with schools and families.

The department continues to monitor and work closely with local authorities that have issues with EHC plan timeliness. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we help them to identify the barriers and put in place an effective recovery plan. This includes, where needed, securing the support of a specialist special educational needs and disabilities adviser to help identify the barriers to EHC plan process timeliness and put in place practical plans for recovery.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available to schools in Devon with class sizes over 35 pupils.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

In Devon, the average infant class size is 24.9 pupils and the average primary class size is 25.5 pupils. These are both less than the national average of 26.6. The average secondary class size is 22.6 pupils, which is similar to the national average of 22.4.

Legislation limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per schoolteacher, with limited prescribed exceptions, including for looked after children and those from multiple births. In Devon, the average infant class size is well within the statutory limit and below the national average.

There is no statutory limit on the size of classes for older children (pupils aged 8 and over), and it is up to schools to decide how to organise classes based on local needs and circumstances, ensuring they are consistent with raising attainment and helping pupils to achieve and thrive.

Local authorities have responsibility to ensure there are sufficient school places in their area. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide additional school places where they are needed.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessments she had made of the potential merits of screening for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in primary schools in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The SEND code of practice is clear that meeting the needs of a child with special educational needs does not require a diagnostic label or test. Instead, the department expects schools to monitor the progress of pupils and put support in place where needed.

In 2024, the department brought together a group of leading neurodiversity experts to make recommendations to its Ministers on the best ways to support and meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people in mainstream education settings. The group includes the chair of the independent ADHD Taskforce, convened by NHS England, to ensure join up and support across the health and education systems.

The Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme is a national programme, backed by £13 million of investment.

PINS deploys specialists from health and education workforces to build teacher and staff capacity to identify and better meet the needs of neurodivergent children, in mainstream primary schools. In the 2024/25 financial year, PINS has been delivered to over 1650, around 10%, of all mainstream primary schools, including 38 schools within the Somerset local authority.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applicants for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support fund were unsuccessful in each year since 2015.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The table below shows the number of rejected applications for the adoption and special guardianship support fund by financial year:

The reduction in rejected applications is largely the result of improved systems, and of close working between local authorities, Regional Adoption Agencies and the department’s delivery partner to address queries and support re-work of applications. This means that, although some applications are withdrawn for a range of reasons, few are ultimately rejected.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of looked after children (a) were and (b) were not Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children in each year since 2005.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Information on the number of looked after children, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC), is submitted to the department on an annual basis and is published at local authority level in our statistical release at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

Figures on the number of UASC in each year since 2005 can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/32f71e7b-83b1-4494-96d7-08dd85738b16. This table also provides data on all children looked after at 31 March from which the number and proportion of non-UASC can be calculated. Similarly, the percentage of UASC can also be derived from this table.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ringfencing the skills levy for funding apprenticeships.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

I refer the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills to the answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 40142.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage SMEs to participate in the apprenticeships scheme.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

I refer the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills to the answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37179.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve access to independent special schools for children with complex needs in regions where maintained provision is (a) limited and (b) oversubscribed.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department recognises the vital role that special schools play in providing high-quality education and meeting the needs of children and young people. Independent special schools play their part in this, particularly in meeting low incidence needs. However, independent special schools typically have higher costs than their maintained equivalent, and we need to ensure that placements are used appropriately. Where a local authority has commissioned a place in an independent school, the local authority is responsible for all the funding for supporting that child or young person with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The department wants more children and young people to receive the support they need to thrive in their local mainstream school, reducing the need for pupils to travel a long way to access a specialist placement. Many mainstream settings are already committed to delivering specialist provision locally, including through resourced provision and special educational needs units.

The department has now published allocations for £740 million in high needs provision capital allocations for the 2025/26 financial year to support local authorities to deliver new places in mainstream and state-maintained special schools, reducing reliance on the independent sector to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve links between grassroots sports clubs and schools, in the context of efforts to (a) improve physical education and (b) support participation in sport.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The government-funded School Games Organisers (SGOs) play a vital role in ensuring all children have access to local and inclusive sport and physical activity. With over 450 SGOs nationwide, they support schools in providing physical activity both during and outside school hours, while fostering connections with clubs and community initiatives. These organisers also facilitate professional development for school staff, enhancing the quality of physical education lessons and extracurricular activities.

An ongoing review of the SGO network is currently assessing the impact and value for money of various school sport models. This review will also explore and evaluate different delivery models for a future school sport network.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has produced an impact assessment for the recently announced changes to grants available under the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The new criteria for the adoption and special guardianship support fund will enable as many children and families as possible to access the available funding. The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. This includes reviewing the equalities impact assessment.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her spokesperson's comments in the Birmingham Mail article entitled The reason staff at a Birmingham school decided a last resort strike, published on 7 March 2025, whether she plans to make an Academy Order for the George Dixon Primary School in Birmingham.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

High and rising standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity so every child can achieve and thrive.

An academy order for George Dixon Primary School in Birmingham was issued in June 2023 and remains in place. Departmental officials continue to work with the local authority on next steps. A request has been made by the school’s governing body to revoke the academy order, and a decision will be shared with them shortly.

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 governance arrangements of the National Foundation for Educational Research.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The National Foundation for Educational Research is a leading provider of research and assessments in the UK. The department has no formal oversight or management relationship with them, and as such, has not made an assessment of the adequacy of their governance arrangements.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have been granted (a) 25%, (b) 50%, (c) 75% and (d) 100% Special Educational Needs Inclusion Funding in each constituency in Cambridgeshire in each of the last five academic years.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

All local authorities are required to have a Special Educational Need Inclusion Fund (SENIF) for all eligible children for the entitlements and who have special educational needs.

Local authorities should establish their SENIFs using funding from the early years block and/or the high needs block of their Dedicated Schools Grant, considering pressures on high needs and early years budgets locally.

The department gives local authorities the autonomy to set SENIF budgets and to decide on eligibility criteria locally, as they are best placed to meet local need.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the availability of free and accessible educational materials suitable for KS3 and KS4, particularly for elective home education.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

Parents who choose to educate at home assume full responsibility for the education of their child, including financial responsibility, as a state school place (or state-funded place) is available.

Home educators are not required to follow the national curriculum but if they choose to, local authorities can be a source of information and advice for parents.

As part of the children not in school measures within the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department is introducing the first ever duty on local authorities to provide support for home educating families, in the form of advice and information. This will include signposting to high-quality, reputable educational materials, such as those offered by the Oak National Academy.

Government does not provide funding to local authorities for the specific purpose of assisting home educating families accessing examinations. Local authorities do have discretion to provide such financial assistance from within their existing budgets, and we are aware that some do so.

To sit an exam as a private candidate, students need to find an exam centre to enter them for all aspects of their chosen subject or subjects, including any assessments.

The department is committed to supporting home educated students to access exams and as such have worked with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) to better support home educating families. This includes a search function on JCQ’s website, which enables students to locate the nearest centre available to sit their GCSE, AS or A level exams.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to fund the free and subsidised milk schemes for schools through a multi-year guaranteed budget rather than through annual renewal.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

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

Milk must be provided free of charge to pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) who request it. Overall, the department spent over £1.5 billion on FSM and free milk in 2023/24.

To assist with the cost of providing milk, schools can take part in the voluntary National School Milk Subsidy Scheme run by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In 2023/24, over £2 million was paid out through the National School Milk Subsidy Scheme.

Schools can claim reimbursement from the Nursery Milk Scheme in respect of their pupils aged under five. In 2023/24, the total cost of reimbursements for all settings from the Nursery Milk Scheme was over £54 million.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total annual spend on free and subsidised milk schemes for schools.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

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

Milk must be provided free of charge to pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) who request it. Overall, the department spent over £1.5 billion on FSM and free milk in 2023/24.

To assist with the cost of providing milk, schools can take part in the voluntary National School Milk Subsidy Scheme run by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In 2023/24, over £2 million was paid out through the National School Milk Subsidy Scheme.

Schools can claim reimbursement from the Nursery Milk Scheme in respect of their pupils aged under five. In 2023/24, the total cost of reimbursements for all settings from the Nursery Milk Scheme was over £54 million.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what arrangements are in place to monitor schools to ensure that they provide free milk to pupils who receive free school meals.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

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

Section 512ZB(3) of the Education Act 1996 relates to the provision of free milk. Milk must be provided free of charge to pupils eligible for FSM who request it, we do not hold data on the number of children who make such requests. We expect schools to follow their statutory duty around the provision of free milk.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of pupils who receive free school meals receive free milk daily.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

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

Section 512ZB(3) of the Education Act 1996 relates to the provision of free milk. Milk must be provided free of charge to pupils eligible for FSM who request it, we do not hold data on the number of children who make such requests. We expect schools to follow their statutory duty around the provision of free milk.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether funds are allocated to local education authorities to ensure that elective home education students can access free testing for level 1, 2, 3, and 4 qualifications.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

Parents who choose to educate at home assume full responsibility for the education of their child, including financial responsibility, as a state school place (or state-funded place) is available.

Home educators are not required to follow the national curriculum but if they choose to, local authorities can be a source of information and advice for parents.

As part of the children not in school measures within the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department is introducing the first ever duty on local authorities to provide support for home educating families, in the form of advice and information. This will include signposting to high-quality, reputable educational materials, such as those offered by the Oak National Academy.

Government does not provide funding to local authorities for the specific purpose of assisting home educating families accessing examinations. Local authorities do have discretion to provide such financial assistance from within their existing budgets, and we are aware that some do so.

To sit an exam as a private candidate, students need to find an exam centre to enter them for all aspects of their chosen subject or subjects, including any assessments.

The department is committed to supporting home educated students to access exams and as such have worked with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) to better support home educating families. This includes a search function on JCQ’s website, which enables students to locate the nearest centre available to sit their GCSE, AS or A level exams.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how elective home education students can access exam centres as external candidates.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

Parents who choose to educate at home assume full responsibility for the education of their child, including financial responsibility, as a state school place (or state-funded place) is available.

Home educators are not required to follow the national curriculum but if they choose to, local authorities can be a source of information and advice for parents.

As part of the children not in school measures within the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department is introducing the first ever duty on local authorities to provide support for home educating families, in the form of advice and information. This will include signposting to high-quality, reputable educational materials, such as those offered by the Oak National Academy.

Government does not provide funding to local authorities for the specific purpose of assisting home educating families accessing examinations. Local authorities do have discretion to provide such financial assistance from within their existing budgets, and we are aware that some do so.

To sit an exam as a private candidate, students need to find an exam centre to enter them for all aspects of their chosen subject or subjects, including any assessments.

The department is committed to supporting home educated students to access exams and as such have worked with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) to better support home educating families. This includes a search function on JCQ’s website, which enables students to locate the nearest centre available to sit their GCSE, AS or A level exams.

Found: particular, there has been inadequate implementation of the five-point plan set out by the Department for Education

Found: The Department for Education has not addressed the co-option of school curricula by Palestine Solidarity

Found: Clean Energy Jobs, Skills England, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Education

Found:  We need better collaboration between industry, education, and the Department for Education, to make

Found: It also includes a £684m funding transfer from the Department for Education for Children’s Social Care

Found: The recommendation was rejected by the previous Government––see Department for Education, Education

Found: Other ministries such as the Department for Education, the Home Office, the Department of Health and

Found: strategy feels too much like DBT policy with limited levers from other Departments, including Treasury, DfE

Found: We were ranked as the leading social mobility university within research by the Department for Education

Found: This approach would supply evidence to the Treasury and the DfE on spending

Found: across government to meeting the labour market needs, aligning policy right across the Department for Education

Found: We therefore call for Skills England and the Department for Education to recognise and provide support

Found: Board (ECITB), a statutory skills body and non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Education

Found: use of the apprenticeship (soon to be Skills and Growth) levy – which analysis commissioned from 1 DfE

Found: Department for Education viii. Home Office Digital Inclusion 31.

Found: It also works with the UK national government departments, including the CBI, DSIT, DHLUC, DfE and the

Found: Addressing the skills shortage requires Government to work across multiple departments (DESNZ, Defra, DFE

Found: lack of joined-up policy making between key departments for our sector, including DfT, DESNZ, MHCLG, DfE

Found: visa scheme to include viticulture, and invest in new training schemes Remit: Home Office, Department for Education

Found: the Industrial Strategy must coordinate long-term skills and workforce planning with the Department for Education

Found: From skills bootcamps to free courses for jobs, the DfE offers a range of courses available to support

Found: is key to facilitating 3 Multiple interviewees with a skills specialism pointed to the Department for Education

Found: Skills pipelines (DfE), visa routes (Home Office), R&D funding (DSIT/UKRI), and procurement (e.g.

Found: Coordination must also be sought with the Department for Education to ensure that the UK develops the

Found: to increase the number of international students in the UK to 600,000 per year by 2030 (Department for Education

Found: Treasury, Ministry of Defence, Department for Business and Trade, Department for Transport, Department for Education

Found: Friend the Member for Twickenham pointed out that last year, the Department for Education spent £46.5

Found: commercial investor in high quality news and information, the FT would love to work with Ofcom and the DfE

Found: o Trainers and assessors – to pilot a dual professional model pathfinder in partnership with ECITB/DfE

Found: the Government intends to address this challenge cross-departmentally, with input from DSIT, DHSC, DfE

Found: Taggart et al., Effective pre-school, primary and secondary education project (EPPSE 3-16+), Department for Education

Found: Departments are also breaking down missions into more granular objectives – for example, the Department for Education

Found: .  Secondary ITT recruitment in 2024/25 reached 62% of what DfE estimated it needed to meet the demand

Found: Department for Education (DfE) (2019) Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy.

Found: new-polling-for-the-maths-horizons-project.html 3 Hodge, L, Little, A, Weldon, M (2021), Department for Education

Found: teaching journey. 3.4 Improve workforce data There are some significant gaps in how the Department for Education

Found: (DfE).  In Wales, we provide a School Wellbeing Advisory Service, which provides bespoke

Found: The DfE has recognised the crisis for many years now and is particularly aware of the impact this crisis

Found: We also suggest how the DfE can make progress in addressing these issues in a way that reduces the overall

Found: NAHT’s analysis of the latest available DfE workforce data demonstrates the system’s failure to offer

Found: Secondary ITT recruitment in 2024/25 reached 62 per cent of what the DfE estimated it needed to meet

Found: space for these approaches, a reduction in curriculum content should be considered, with the ongoing DfE

Found: , funded by UKRI, and the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE), funded by the Department for Education

Found: Teaching is a female-dominated profession with more than ¾ of teachers being women (DfE, 2024). 67%

Found: To address these issues, CITB is working with DfE on the Dual Professionals Pathfinder Pilots which

Found: Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education relating to the ESFA's policy on

Found: Questions 1-73 Witnesses I: Susan Acland-Hood, Permanent Secretary, Department for Education, Juliet

Found: The UK’s independent 1 Department for Education. (2025).

Found: recommends that a cross-departmental taskforce be coordinated on media literacy, with the Department for Education

Found: Government (in particular DSIT, DCMS, DfE given their roles in digital inclusion, media literacy, and

Found: introduced for media literacy in England: The Committee should support proposals for the Department for Education

Found: These projects should be delivered in partnership with the Department for Education (DfE), drawing on

Found: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Ministry for Communities and Local Government, Department for Education

Found: Freedom of Information requests to see what kinds of communication there had been between Ofcom and the DFE

Found: We suggest there could be further scope for the Department for Education to work in partnership with

Found: Policy decisions on skills and qualifications would be a matter for the Department for Education.

Found: For example, it is vital that DfE prioritises this issue and does more to educate children and young

Found: terms of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights”.16 If therefore 14 R v Department for Education

Found: As you know, when we were together at the Department for Education, we used the phrase “levelling up

Found: together DWP’s jobcentres and the National Careers Service, which is an initiative led by the Department for Education

Found: customers should be accessible by Work Coaches whilst the recent data sharing agreement between DWP and DfE

Found: that TFC account take-up amongst the eligible population will decrease as a result of the expanded DfE

Found: saw very recently that GB Energy announced a project with UK schools, bringing together DESNZ and DfE

Found: 64 These two issues are respectively discussed ibid at paras. 14-19 and paras. 20-25. 65 Department for Education

Found: Are there cross- departmental conversations with the Department for Education on that matter?

Found: This could include creating a framework, creating resources, working with DfE to generate a sector-wide

Found: Chris Bloore: It will be the Department for Education.

Found: The apprenticeship levy sits with DfE, so the decisions will be made there, but we have obviously had

Found: This is not my first time in the Department for Education. In fact, it is my third time.

Found: inquiry: Media literacy This submission is made by the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT), the DfE

Found: also a limit there because of the nature of its remit and because it is not part of the Department for Education

Found: entirely within our gift, so the issues around creative education and music in schools is of course a DfE

Found: Department for Education (2025a). Pupil attendance in schools.

Found: entirely within our gift, so the issues around creative education and music in schools is of course a DfE

Found: entirely within our gift, so the issues around creative education and music in schools is of course a DfE

Found: James Bowler: There are certainly examples of NISTA intervening with the relevant Department, the DfE

Found: James Bowler: There are certainly examples of NISTA intervening with the relevant Department, the DfE

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade what assessment he has made of the potential impact of artificial intelligence on availability of jobs in the (a) legal and (b) financial sectors; and what steps he is taking to support workers transitioning to new roles.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

In November 2023, the Department for Education published a report showing the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on areas within the UK labour market and education The impact of AI on UK jobs and training - GOV.UK. The report noted that professional occupations are more exposed to AI, particularly those associated with more clerical work and across finance, law and business management roles.

The government is committed to ensuring both learners and employers have access to crucial digital and artificial intelligence skills that have the potential to increase productivity and create new high value jobs in the UK economy. To achieve this, the government is reforming the skills system. The government has established Skills England to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs.

AI has the potential to bring significant benefits to legal professionals by automating routine work, allowing them to focus on matters of higher value and interest. AI and lawtech is also creating new jobs within the profession, such as legal technologists and tech developers.

Supporting the safe adoption of AI in legal services is essential to ensuring the sector remains world leading. The Ministry of Justice does this via LawtechUK, a grant funded industry led programme created to support the development of lawtech. Across the past year LawtechUK has hosted a series on Generative AI, brining experts in law, technology, and regulation to explore the benefits of AI and how to mitigate any risks.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the proportion of Universal Credit recipients that are not proficient in English; and what support in learning English is provided.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department does not hold information about the proportion of Universal Credit recipients that are not proficient in English.

Skills are essential to helping claimants get into and progress in work. Work Coaches offer all claimants a wide range of support, including referral to essential skills provision like English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). They engage in skills discussions with claimants to provide tailored, flexible advice and support.

DfE funds ESOL provision for adults 19+ through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF). Individuals aged 19 and over can be fully funded or co-funded to study ESOL depending on their employment status and salary, and provided they meet the residency criteria set out in the ASF Funding and Performance Management Rules.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase levels of access to (a) educational psychologists, (b) speech and language therapy and (c) child and adolescent mental health services in Devon.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We know that too many children and young people are not receiving the support they need, including in Devon, and that waits for accessing mental health services and community health services, such as speech and language therapy, are too long. We are determined to change that.

We are working closely with the Department for Education on reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities system to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school. As set out in the NHS Planning Operational Guidance for 2025/26, we are committed to increasing the number of children and young people accessing mental health services by 345,000 compared to 2019. We are also providing £7 million to extend support for 24 Early Support Hubs that have a track record of helping thousands of young people in their community. This includes two early support hubs in Devon.

In Devon, the NHS Devon Integrated Care Board, local authorities, and education and health care providers are working together to align speech and language therapists to schools alongside wider community offers, so that more children and young people can get the help they need sooner, and without long waits.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take legislative steps to extend the definition of domestic abuse to include abuse of kinship carers by people in the wider family of the child that they care for.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office does not currently have plans to extend the definition of domestic abuse.

The statutory definition of domestic abuse, contained within the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, captures a wide range of relationships and applies to kinship carers where they are related to a perpetrator.

The Department for Education published a new Kinship Care statutory guidance for local authorities in October 2024. This sets out the support and services local authorities should provide to children living in kinship care and to kinship carers. The guidance also includes a definition of "kinship carer" to create a common understanding of who they are.

The Government is delivering over 140 peer support groups across England, available for all kinship carers to access alongside a wider package of training and support.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of public libraries on adult education.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Public libraries are an important part of our local communities, providing people with knowledge to help with education, social skills, boosting employment and capturing the imagination of readers of all ages and backgrounds.

The DCMS Participation Survey 2023-24 found that 30% of adults had engaged with public libraries in England in the previous 12 months. This is a 6 percent point increase from the previous year.

Libraries are used as a venue for local authority adult learning provision funded through the Department for Education's Adult Skills Fund. Libraries enable providers to offer courses in local communities which are often targeted at learners with barriers to learning. The Department for Education does not collect data on the use of libraries or other venues for adult learning.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 7 April (HL6018), and to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office on 21 October 2019 (HC463), why it was possible, in the case of the latter, to provide a full list of Permanent Secretary-level appointments, but not in the case of the former; and whether they will now provide a corresponding list of current Permanent Secretary-level appointments, including whether each appointment is fixed-term and its expiry date.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Since 2014, permanent secretary appointments have been made on the basis of a five year fixed tenure; this is set out in contracts of employment. There is no automatic presumption in favour of renewal, but renewals are possible at the discretion of the Prime Minister.

The table below sets out the tenure end dates of the current permanent secretary group.

*Andrew Goodall is on secondment from NHS Wales

**Andy Start is on a Fixed Term contract

*** Tamara Finkelstein, Jenny Harries and Sarah Munby are leaving the Civil Service in Summer 2025, and therefore before their tenure end date

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how her Department holds records of children with a parent in prison; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of holding this information in (a) a single and (b) multiple databases.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Ministry of Justice does not hold records of children with a parent in prison. Where professionals are concerned about a child’s welfare, they consider whether a referral to local authority children’s social care is required and should always refer immediately if there is a concern that the child is suffering, or likely to, suffer significant harm (as outlined in the statutory safeguarding guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023)).

Recognising that having a parent in prison is considered an adverse childhood experience and can have a significant impact on a child’s life chances, the Government has committed to ensure children impacted by parental imprisonment are identified and offered the support they need.

We are currently working closely with the Department for Education who hold responsibility for children to determine how we effectively identify these children, where to hold this information, and the best way to provide support for both them and their parent in prison.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in her Department.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across all government departments to break down barriers to opportunity.

A new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, the ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA), will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026. The Department for Work and Pensions has been supporting Cabinet Office with the development of this new scheme, sharing learning from our own school leaver Social Mobility Apprenticeship pilot, which has run successfully for the last two years, with our first cohort of school leavers all securing permanent employment within the Department.

In addition, in the Department for Work and Pensions we are developing an internal apprenticeship strategy, which will utilise the flexibility provided by the new Growth and Skills Levy to develop skills and support the future needs of the Department. Expansion of opportunities to recruit new apprentices are being explored, including continued use of our Social Mobility Apprenticeship schemes and direct recruitment of apprentices into entry level roles. We have recently run a campaign for 50 new Level 3 apprentices in Counter Fraud and Compliance, with a further 40 roles due to go live next month.

We are committed to Getting Britain Working, driving growth through employment. Our plan includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work. The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England who have commenced phased delivery of the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers announced in the Get Britain Working white paper from May 2025. The Department is committed to offering high quality apprenticeships for all and working with professions to identify opportunities to fulfil business needs.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 48569 on Shipping: Training, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the (a) number and (b) type of maritime apprenticeships that maritime (i) colleges and (ii) training providers will offer in each year from 2025 to 2030.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Ratings Review Oversight Committee, made up of industry representatives and officials, is responsible for delivering the recommendations from the review. This will include engagement with the Department for Education.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 48569 on Shipping: Training, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the (a) number and (b) type of maritime apprentices that will be offered by maritime (i) colleges and (ii) training providers in England in each year from 2025-26 to 2029-30.

Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

There have been no discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the (a) number and (b) type of maritime apprentices that will be offered by maritime (i) colleges and (ii) training providers in England in each year from 2025-26 to 2029-30. The UK remains committed to growing the number of trainee seafarers, as demonstrated though the work of the Cadet Training and Modernisation Programme and the Ratings Review. Trained seafarers benefit both UK economic growth and support a maritime sector fit for future. DfT officials are engaging with the Department for Education on the establishment of Skills England and Ministers are kept updated as this work is progressed.

Found: force are published alongside this Order and copies can be obtained on request from the Department for Education

Found: Impacts of birthrate decline 13 POSTnote 745 - 20 May 2025 In 2024 the Department for Education projected

Found: Services (No. 2) Bill [HL] Report stage, Amendment number 39B, HL Deb 2 April 2025 c265 123 Department for Education

Found: their being charged by several government departments, currently the Home Office and the Department for Education

Found: The Department for Education (DfE) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are the lead policy departments

Found: The Department for Education (DfE) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are the lead policy departments

Found: The Department for Education (DfE) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are the lead policy departments

Found: training and skills, Local government, Local services and housing, Schools Departments: Department for Education

Found: from the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data set are published each year by the Department for Education

Found: entrants through apprenticeships and graduate programmes, whilst collaboration with the Department for Education

Found: Rule of Law Unit works with partners across government, including the Ministry of Justice, Department for Education

Found: Connected Nations 2024 xi Department for Education, 2025.

Found: Social Care: Ministers' Hospitality - February 2025 CSV, 670 Bytes View online Department for Education

Found: for the Integrated Security Fund -14.275 -14.275 (Section H) Transfer in funding to the Department for Education

Found: Individual Main Estimates 39 Department of Health and Social Care 41 Department for Education 57

Found: 2 because the Estimate and Table 2 include grants paid by DfE to Academies.

Found: PAC recommendation: Within the next six months, DfE should set out and publish: • its desired progress

Found: PAC recommendation: Within the next six months, DfE should set out and publish: • its desired progress

Found: from the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data set are published each year by the Department for Education

Found: OPRB analysis of Department for Education (2024) Initial Teacher Training Census Academic year 2024/

Found: From: School Teachers' Review Body, Office for the Pay Review Bodies and Department for Education Published

Found: Health Directorate, National Police Chief’s Council, Department for Business and Trade, Department for Education

Found: Health Directorate, National Police Chief’s Council, Department for Business and Trade, Department for Education

Found: Working Together (DfE, 2023: 4.1 Chapter 2). 3.32.

Found: Source: Office for National Statistics and Department for Education Local authority code Local authority

Found: comparing the Office for National Statistics (ONS) population census from March 2021 with the Department for Education

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Found: of the files to include information about new childcare flexibilities introduced by the Department for Education

Found: The Department for Education (DfE) introduced new flexibilities on 1 November 2024: A new category of

Found: eligibility is shared with UCAS in the rest of the UK where UCAS has a license from the Department for Education

Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports a UK-wide framework to safeguard universities against intellectual property and technology transfers to foreign military regimes.

Answered by Dey, Graeme - Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans

Scottish Government officials are engaging closely with UK Government, via the Department for Education, Department for Science Innovation and Technology, and the Home Office, on the development of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme due to come into force on 1 July.

Officials also continue to engage with the UK Government on UK-wide frameworks and guidance regarding the management of international partnerships.

Whilst national security is reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government expect universities, as autonomous bodies, to conduct due diligence on managing risks associated with international partnerships and comply with relevant legal requirements, including the National Security Act 2023, and National Security and Investment Act 2021.

The Scottish Government also expects that universities will carefully consider guidance published by Universities UK, and the UK Government’s Research Collaboration Advice Team, to support them in managing risks of international partnerships.

Found: Department for Education (2023). National Behaviour Survey Academic Year 2022 to 2023 Report.

Found: This related to a Department for Education construction skills package and funding for England local