Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with schools on the effectiveness of the three-item cap on branded uniform.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Whilst many schools are taking action to reduce costs, too many families still tell us that the cost of school uniform remains a financial burden. ​This is why we have introduced legislation to limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require.

When determining the level at which to set the limit, we considered the available evidence and engaged with a range of stakeholders, including schools, to ensure we struck the right balance between reducing costs for parents and recognising the benefits that some branded items can bring to school life.

The majority of primary schools, and nearly a third of secondary schools, already successfully operate within the proposed limit. It is therefore right that schools currently asking for large numbers of compulsory branded items are required to remove them.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of whether the approval process for parenting interventions outside the Best Start Family Hubs approved menu enables local authorities to commission programmes delivered by voluntary, faith-based and community organisations; and what steps her Department is taking to support a wider range of parenting interventions reflecting local community needs.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department is clear that local authorities should commission parenting programmes with a strong and credible evidence base, ensuring families receive support that improves outcomes and increases the proportion of children achieving a good level of development nationally. To support this, the Best Start in Life programme provides an approved menu of evidence‑based parenting interventions, giving local areas confidence that commissioned programmes are effective and represent value for money.

The department has also ensured appropriate flexibility, so that where a local authority can demonstrate that a programme outside the approved menu has a robust evidence base and meets local need, it has been considered.

Evidence‑based parenting programmes are one part of a wider offer of high-quality support to families. Also included are stay‑and‑play opportunities, low‑intensity parenting, peer‑support activities, and strong outreach. The department encourages local authorities to work with voluntary, community and faith organisations, while ensuring that any programmes they deliver, meet clear evidence standards.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of whether evidentiary requirements attached to parenting interventions in the Best Start Family Hubs programme affect the ability of local authorities to commission parenting programmes that are not included in the approved menu of interventions.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department is clear that local authorities should commission parenting programmes with a strong and credible evidence base, ensuring families receive support that improves outcomes and increases the proportion of children achieving a good level of development nationally. To support this, the Best Start in Life programme provides an approved menu of evidence‑based parenting interventions, giving local areas confidence that commissioned programmes are effective and represent value for money.

The department has also ensured appropriate flexibility, so that where a local authority can demonstrate that a programme outside the approved menu has a robust evidence base and meets local need, it has been considered.

Evidence‑based parenting programmes are one part of a wider offer of high-quality support to families. Also included are stay‑and‑play opportunities, low‑intensity parenting, peer‑support activities, and strong outreach. The department encourages local authorities to work with voluntary, community and faith organisations, while ensuring that any programmes they deliver, meet clear evidence standards.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the increase in the number of children classified as children missing education (CME) in Lancashire over the last decade; and what assessment she has made of the potential implications of this for her policies.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Children Missing Education data was first collected on a voluntary basis in Autumn 2022. Lancashire reported 4,690 Children Missing Education at any point in the 2024/25 academic year. This is a decrease from 4,820 in 2023/24, and an increase from 2,280 when collection began in 2021/22.

The government is committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity for our young people, and education is key in providing the strong foundations to better life chances.

Local authorities already have a duty to locate and support children back into education where necessary, and we have published statutory guidance on ‘Children Missing Education’, and ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ that reinforces the roles and responsibilities of schools and local authorities to work together in this area. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will go further, requiring councils to maintain registers of children not in school, ensuring fewer young people slip under the radar.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities experiencing increases in children missing education, including Lancashire County Council.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Children Missing Education data was first collected on a voluntary basis in Autumn 2022. Lancashire reported 4,690 Children Missing Education at any point in the 2024/25 academic year. This is a decrease from 4,820 in 2023/24, and an increase from 2,280 when collection began in 2021/22.

The government is committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity for our young people, and education is key in providing the strong foundations to better life chances.

Local authorities already have a duty to locate and support children back into education where necessary, and we have published statutory guidance on ‘Children Missing Education’, and ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ that reinforces the roles and responsibilities of schools and local authorities to work together in this area. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will go further, requiring councils to maintain registers of children not in school, ensuring fewer young people slip under the radar.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to introduce additional statutory duties or guidance for local authorities to track and support children missing education.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Children Missing Education data was first collected on a voluntary basis in Autumn 2022. Lancashire reported 4,690 Children Missing Education at any point in the 2024/25 academic year. This is a decrease from 4,820 in 2023/24, and an increase from 2,280 when collection began in 2021/22.

The government is committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity for our young people, and education is key in providing the strong foundations to better life chances.

Local authorities already have a duty to locate and support children back into education where necessary, and we have published statutory guidance on ‘Children Missing Education’, and ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ that reinforces the roles and responsibilities of schools and local authorities to work together in this area. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will go further, requiring councils to maintain registers of children not in school, ensuring fewer young people slip under the radar.

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 introducing a national rollout of parenting programmes, such as Triple P and Incredible Years, on levels of stigma associated with seeking parenting support.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The government is committed to expanding access to high-quality, evidence‑based parenting and home learning support as part of the Best Start in Life Strategy, delivered through the national rollout of Best Start Family Hubs.

Local authorities are expected to commission from departmental menus of programmes with the strongest evidence base, which include both in-person and digital options.

Delivering these programmes through open-access models within Best Start Family Hubs, aims to normalise parenting support by making it widely available and integrated within a broader system of help for families. This approach is intended to broaden access, ensure families can seek support in a non‑judgemental, accessible environment and reduce barriers, including stigma.

The department will continue to evaluate the impact of Best Start Family Hubs to ensure they are delivering positive outcomes for children and families and informing future policy development.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of improving access to the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department recognises the value of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset in supporting high‑quality research and evidence‑based policymaking. LEO already underpins a wide range of official statistics and analytical publications, and independent researchers can access the underlying data securely through the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service.

The department works with its partners to improve user experience, streamline access processes, and to expand support materials to assist third party use of LEO data.

A further five years of funding to develop LEO access has recently been confirmed for this purpose along with the largest ever increase of funding to the development of LEO.

Improvements must balance the potential merits with our obligations to safeguard personal data and the public’s trust. We keep arrangements for data access under regular review to ensure they remain proportionate, secure and in line with data protection requirements.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance her Department will offer to parents at independent schools that are closing to help them take over the running of the school.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

It is for private schools, as private businesses, to manage their operations and take decisions on closure. All children of compulsory school age are entitled to a state-funded school place, should they need one. The department continues to support local authorities to ensure sufficient places for pupils.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has reviewed the potential effects of digital device use, including tablets, amongst young children on school attendance.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department recognises that while technology can support learning and development, we are aware of concerns regarding its impact on wellbeing and the potential for this to affect attendance. In response to these concerns, the government has recently launched a consultation, inviting views from parents, educators and experts to help shape guidance on the use of technology by children. This consultation aims to ensure that our approach is evidence-based and reflects the needs and experiences of those directly affected.

As part of our commitment to understanding the impact of digital device use, we are also funding EdTech (education technology) testbeds to evaluate the impact of digital tools on issues such as workload, wellbeing and inclusion.

We continue to review emerging research and collaborate with experts to understand the broader effects of technology on children’s wellbeing.

Our priority remains supporting regular attendance and the best outcomes for all pupils.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made on delivering specialist mental health provision in every school in Gloucester by 2029.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

As of April 2025, 88% of pupils and learners and 76% of schools and colleges in Gloucester constituency were covered by a Mental Health Support Team (MHST), compared to 52% of pupils and learners and 41% of schools and colleges nationally. Further data for 2024/25 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision. This has been available since 16 May 2025 at national, regional and local authority level and since 10 July 2025 at constituency level.

Around six in ten pupils nationally are expected to have access to an MHST by April 2026. Data on MHST coverage is collected annually.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) total number, and (2) percentage, of parents eligible for 30 hours of free childcare who have not used those hours in the most recent period for which data is available; and what assessment they have made of the main reason for non-take up of the entitlement, including lack of local capacity or administrative complexity.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

As of January 2025, 1.7 million eligible children were registered for childcare entitlements. This includes the number of 3 and 4 year-olds registered for the universal entitlement, the number of children aged 9 months to 2 years registered for the working parent entitlement, and the number of 2 year-olds registered for early learning for two year-olds entitlement. Additional take up statistics for early years entitlements can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025.

Furthermore, the Childcare Experience Survey explores some of the reasons that parents do not take up entitlements, though this does not cover the latest expansion to 30 hours from 9 months.

The department remains committed to improving awareness of and access to the early years' entitlements.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to their response to Memorandum on child poverty in the UK, published by the Council of Europe Commission for Human Rights on 25 February, whether they will publish (1) a children's rights impact assessment, and (2) a child-friendly version of the child poverty strategy; and if so, when they plan to publish those documents.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We will publish a children’s rights impact assessment alongside a child‑friendly version of the strategy later this month.

Development of the UK Government’s Child Poverty Strategy was guided by a children’s rights approach throughout. This included actively engaging with children and young people, as well as organisations that represent them, ensuring their voices and lived experiences shaped policy development.

We are committed to continuing this approach as the strategy is implemented, by hearing directly from children and their families. This will ensure their experiences and feedback are considered when evaluating the strategy’s implementation and areas to improve delivery of the strategy are identified.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what process her Department has in place to help ensure that Plan 2 student loan borrowers are informed of any changes made to their repayment terms.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Student Loans Company (SLC) publishes confirmation of the interest rates and repayment threshold to apply in the upcoming financial year annually on GOV.UK. Furthermore, SLC have extensive guidance on the operation of the student loan repayments system available on GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current staff turnover rate for qualified early years educators in England; and what steps they plan to take to address the disparity between median early years sector wages and the average starting salary for a primary school teaching assistant with equivalent qualifications.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The ‘Childcare and early years providers survey: 2025’ shows turnover rate for all early years educators in private group-based providers is 16% and 7% in school-based providers. Estimated turnover rates have fallen for both provider types. Fieldwork for the survey was carried out between May and July 2025.

In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion, more than doubling the government’s commitment to funded childcare and reflects above inflation increases to both funding rates and National Living Wage.

Early education is delivered by a mixed market, the majority of which are private, voluntary and independent provision who set their own rates of pay. Hourly pay increased by 8.2% at school-based providers and by 6.3% at group-based providers against a backdrop of a 6.7% increase in the national living wage between 2024 and 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authority areas currently have a shortfall of funded places for 30 hours of free child care to meet local demand; what is the average reported waiting list time in months for a full-time funded place in the ten worst affected areas; and what target date has been set for ensuring enough funded places are available in all areas.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years' entitlements. This will more than double annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24, as we have successfully rolled out the expansion of government funded childcare for working parents.

We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life. The first phase of the programme is creating up to 6,000 new nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 have been made available from September 2025.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and. Where needed we will support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. The department does not hold data on waiting lists. No local authorities have reported to us that they do not have sufficient childcare places.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average hourly rate paid to early years providers for the 30 hours of free childcare entitlement in this financial year; and what detailed analysis they have carried out to compare that rate to the median hourly cost of childcare delivery for a child aged 3–4 years old in the private, voluntary and independent sector.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

In 2025/26, the average rate per hour that the department pays to local authorities is £11.54 for under 2s, £8.53 for 2-year olds, and £6.12 for 3-and-4-year olds although this will vary by local authorities to reflect how costs vary across the country. Local authorities then use local formulae to determine the rate they pay to providers and there is a statutory duty that at least 96% (rising to 97% in 2026/27) is passed onto providers.

To inform decisions on the rate at which early years providers are funded for delivering entitlements, the department uses an analytical model which uses data from the early years census and the survey of childcare and early years providers, a large-scale and robust survey on the childcare market in England, sampling over 9,000 providers. It also considers various government forecasts such as AEG and CPI and factors in the national living wage to determine cost pressures for the early years sector.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish her Department's (a) business case, (b) workforce plan, (c) equality impact assessment and (d) redundancy mitigation measures for the plans to close six offices.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education does not plan to publish the business case, workforce plan, equality impact assessment or redundancy mitigation measures for the department’s plans to close six offices. This is an internal business decision and does not impact the department’s remit, strategy or delivery plans, nor have any direct impact on the sector. As such, it is not appropriate for the department to comment on the plans externally.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government has considered piloting or introducing an exemption to childcare funding rules where a relative is a registered childminder meeting all regulatory requirements.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Parents are free to choose the childcare that is right for them and their children, and childminders are not prevented from caring for related children.

However, the restriction on funding relatives is set out in the Childcare Act 2006. Section 18(4) of this Act specifically excludes care provided for a child by a parent or other relative.

Allowing childminders to receive funding for looking after related children would not be an effective use of public money and may have a negative impact on the viability of existing childcare businesses.

A local authority can choose to fund a childminder providing childcare for a related child, but this would have to be from local authority funds independent of the dedicated schools grant.

Although childminders cannot receive entitlements funding for related children, flexibilities within staff to child ratios can be used to enable childminders who are caring for related children to avoid limiting the income they can earn.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Department plans to review the eligibility criteria for government-funded childcare for children cared for by qualified and Ofsted-registered relatives.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Parents are free to choose the childcare that is right for them and their children, and childminders are not prevented from caring for related children.

However, the restriction on funding relatives is set out in the Childcare Act 2006. Section 18(4) of this Act specifically excludes care provided for a child by a parent or other relative.

Allowing childminders to receive funding for looking after related children would not be an effective use of public money and may have a negative impact on the viability of existing childcare businesses.

A local authority can choose to fund a childminder providing childcare for a related child, but this would have to be from local authority funds independent of the dedicated schools grant.

Although childminders cannot receive entitlements funding for related children, flexibilities within staff to child ratios can be used to enable childminders who are caring for related children to avoid limiting the income they can earn.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2026 to Question 113311 Private Education: Single Sex Education, how the Department records and retains information on applications by independent schools for approval of material changes.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Information regarding applications for approval to make a material change is recorded and retained on the Independent Education and School Safeguarding Division's customer relationship management system, against the school’s individual record. Once a material change application is approved, the department's publicly available register of schools in England, the ‘Get Information About Schools’ service, is amended to reflect the change to the school's registered details.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of child morning hunger across early years, primary and secondary school settings in England and its impact on school readiness and attendance.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department appreciates the publication of the report and look forward to giving it our full consideration. We agree that a healthy breakfast at the start of the school day sets children up ready to learn. This is why the department is committed to delivering on the pledge to provide free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. Since April 2025, we have delivered over seven million breakfasts and offered places to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. We are investing a further £80 million to fund approximately 2,000 additional schools between April 2026 and March 2027.

Alongside the rollout of free breakfast clubs, we are going further in our mission to lift 100,000 children out of poverty by expanding free school meals to children in all households receiving Universal Credit from the 2026/27 school year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment the Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the findings of Magic Breakfast’s recent report entitled Root Causes of Child Morning Hunger.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department appreciates the publication of the report and look forward to giving it our full consideration. We agree that a healthy breakfast at the start of the school day sets children up ready to learn. This is why the department is committed to delivering on the pledge to provide free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. Since April 2025, we have delivered over seven million breakfasts and offered places to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. We are investing a further £80 million to fund approximately 2,000 additional schools between April 2026 and March 2027.

Alongside the rollout of free breakfast clubs, we are going further in our mission to lift 100,000 children out of poverty by expanding free school meals to children in all households receiving Universal Credit from the 2026/27 school year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on ensuring children have access to practical road safety and cycle training.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Officials in the department engaged with the Department for Transport when developing the updated Relationships Sex and Health Education guidance.

The updated guidance, published in July 2025 has a new section on personal safety which includes how to recognise risk and keep safe around roads. The Department for Transport has dedicated interactive websites for schools with materials that focus on their THINK! campaign.

Officials also engage on active travel for schools. Bikeability, the government owned cycle training programme, is funded by Active Travel England in schools across England. Up to £30 million was allocated to the programme for 2025/26 and funding for the forthcoming 3-year period is due to be announced shortly. Almost 6 million children have received Bikeability cycle training since 2007, with 500,000 children booking onto training in 2024/25.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to improve a) universal, b) targeted and c) specialist speech, language and communication support.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

On 23 February, we published the ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper, alongside a ‘SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First’ consultation. We announced an investment of over £40 million to increase support available from speech and language therapists and educational psychologists, including for those with speech, language and communication needs.

We are providing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and integrated care boards, to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer, designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to universal and targeted support from key services, including speech and language therapists.

The government is investing £200 million to give all staff in schools, colleges and nurseries the training needed to better support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream settings.

We are extending the Early Language and Support for Every Child programme, trialling new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings and primary schools.

We are continuing to invest in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, which significantly impacts oral language and early literacy, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.

​

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of proposed local government reorganisation in Cambridgeshire on her proposed plans to reform SEND provision in that area.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department is reviewing all local government reorganisation (LGR) proposals to consider the potential impact on education and children’s services, including plans to reform special educational needs and disabilities provision. Huntingdonshire is in tranche three of the LGR process and the statutory consultation on proposals will close on 26 March. I encourage all local areas to respond to the consultation.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out how much of the teacher training proposed in the Schools White Paper will be delivered in person.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Great teaching is the most important lever schools have for improving children’s attainment.

The department provides a range of funded offers to schools to help them access high-quality professional development, which includes the new courses on Reception and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as part of the teacher training entitlement referenced in the Schools White Paper.

When designing new training, the department is careful to consider how it will work with the schedules of teachers and schools, with many of them including a flexible, self-study element.

For example, we have confirmed that the SEND and inclusion courses for teachers and leaders in schools and colleges will include a mixture of online self-study sessions and live facilitated sessions.

We have also announced a package of materials for schools and colleges to support the development and delivery of in-house, in person training.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to embed CPR training in schools in a) Epping Forest constituency and b) England.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. Member for Epping Forest to the answer of 28 November 2025 to Question 92868.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure adequate numbers of qualified physics teachers in secondary schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government’s Plan for Change is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools and our colleges over the course of this Parliament.

In 2023/24, just 17% of the postgraduate initial teacher training target for physics trainees was met. In 2025/26, this increased to 78%, with 1,095 new entrants, reaching the highest number for physics since comparable statistics began in 2014/15.

We are continuing to support physics teacher recruitment with bursaries worth £29,000 and scholarships worth £31,000 tax free. We are also supporting retention alongside increased recruitment, with an offer of a targeted retention incentive, which has a value of up to £6,000 after tax for physics teachers in years 1-5 of their career who choose to work in the most disadvantaged schools. This comes on top of near 10% pay rises for all teachers and leaders in the last two years, and we continue to work with sector leaders to reduce workloads, improve wellbeing and increase flexible working.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Answer of 5th March 2026 to Question 115670, what proportion of the £28.3 million for reading and writing initiatives has been allocated to schools in Essex.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department’s £28.3 million funding will deliver a range of support for schools, including new training for primary schools, delivered through the English Hubs programme, to help children progress from the early stages of phonics through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school.

Since the launch of a new continuous professional development (CPD) programme ‘Unlocking Reading’ in January 2026, 59% of secondary schools in England have signed up to the in-person training. We do not currently have a breakdown of how many of these are in Essex, but would encourage all secondary schools to express their interest via the website:https://fft.org.uk/literacy/unlocking-reading/

The local English Hubs for schools in Essex are New Vision and Myland English Hubs. 29 schools in Essex are currently English Hub partner schools, receiving intensive support from literacy specialists with the teaching of early reading.

Over 300 schools in Essex have received some form of support from the English Hubs programme since its launch, and 100 schools in Essex are signed up to access CPD provided by the Hubs this academic year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of delaying decisions on school closures until after the 2026 local elections in relevant local authorities.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department has not made such an assessment.

However, in line with the Cabinet Office May 2026 elections guidance, during the three weeks preceding local authority elections the department takes special care in relation to announcements, including academy closures, and other public actions which could have a bearing on the elections.

Local authorities are the decision makers for proposals to close maintained schools. Local authorities are subject to their own restrictions when elections are taking place.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on Oak National Academy’s plans for spending unspent money from the £53 million grant it received from the Government in the last three years.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

For financial years 2022/23 to 2024/25, Oak National Academy (Oak) was allocated funding of £47 million. Any in-year underspend by Oak is returned to the department and reallocated to other education priorities, as with all other programmes.

The government has publicly announced Oak’s future scope, including its updating of materials to align with the refreshed national curriculum, its technical support for the department’s development of the digital curriculum, and Oak’s redevelopment of reception year resources. The precise level of funding for this work is being agreed through the department’s business planning process. Oak’s remit and funding for the coming year will be set out in a published letter to the Chair of the Oak Board.

In September 2025, we published the findings of an independent review and a market impact assessment of Oak which examined the effectiveness of the organisation and the extent to which it is meeting its strategic aims and delivering value for money. The reports have informed the government’s decisions about the future remit and funding of Oak and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-independent-review-and-market-impact-assessment. Oak has also published an independent evaluation at: https://www.thenational.academy/about-us/meet-the-team#documents.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government will maintain or reform the “safety valve” and “deliverability” programmes for local authorities following the centralisation of SEND funding; and how councils such as Walsall will be supported in the interim years until 2028-29.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government has announced plans to address deficits through making available the High Needs Stability Grant, which will cover 90% of all local authorities‘ high needs dedicated schools grant (DSG) deficits accumulated to the end of the 2025/26 financial year, subject to the authority submitting and securing the department approval for a local special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform plan.

Safety Valve agreements will come to an end and will be replaced by the new, wider approach to managing DSG deficits and delivering reform across all local areas.

For the 2025/26 financial year, total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £12 billion. Of that total, the West Midlands is being allocated over £1.2 billion through the high needs funding block of the DSG. Of that amount, Walsall Council is being allocated over £67 million.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional support, will be provided to West Midlands councils in 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 to manage growing SEND costs.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government has announced plans to address deficits through making available the High Needs Stability Grant, which will cover 90% of all local authorities‘ high needs dedicated schools grant (DSG) deficits accumulated to the end of the 2025/26 financial year, subject to the authority submitting and securing the department approval for a local special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform plan.

Safety Valve agreements will come to an end and will be replaced by the new, wider approach to managing DSG deficits and delivering reform across all local areas.

For the 2025/26 financial year, total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £12 billion. Of that total, the West Midlands is being allocated over £1.2 billion through the high needs funding block of the DSG. Of that amount, Walsall Council is being allocated over £67 million.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness and value for money of the £53 million spent on the Oak National Academy in the last three years, in the context of levels of financial pressures on schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

For financial years 2022/23 to 2024/25, Oak National Academy (Oak) was allocated funding of £47 million. Any in-year underspend by Oak is returned to the department and reallocated to other education priorities, as with all other programmes.

The government has publicly announced Oak’s future scope, including its updating of materials to align with the refreshed national curriculum, its technical support for the department’s development of the digital curriculum, and Oak’s redevelopment of reception year resources. The precise level of funding for this work is being agreed through the department’s business planning process. Oak’s remit and funding for the coming year will be set out in a published letter to the Chair of the Oak Board.

In September 2025, we published the findings of an independent review and a market impact assessment of Oak which examined the effectiveness of the organisation and the extent to which it is meeting its strategic aims and delivering value for money. The reports have informed the government’s decisions about the future remit and funding of Oak and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-independent-review-and-market-impact-assessment. Oak has also published an independent evaluation at: https://www.thenational.academy/about-us/meet-the-team#documents.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to increase levels of transparency on the Oak National Academy's future funding and scope, in the context of the absence of a public consultation.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

For financial years 2022/23 to 2024/25, Oak National Academy (Oak) was allocated funding of £47 million. Any in-year underspend by Oak is returned to the department and reallocated to other education priorities, as with all other programmes.

The government has publicly announced Oak’s future scope, including its updating of materials to align with the refreshed national curriculum, its technical support for the department’s development of the digital curriculum, and Oak’s redevelopment of reception year resources. The precise level of funding for this work is being agreed through the department’s business planning process. Oak’s remit and funding for the coming year will be set out in a published letter to the Chair of the Oak Board.

In September 2025, we published the findings of an independent review and a market impact assessment of Oak which examined the effectiveness of the organisation and the extent to which it is meeting its strategic aims and delivering value for money. The reports have informed the government’s decisions about the future remit and funding of Oak and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-independent-review-and-market-impact-assessment. Oak has also published an independent evaluation at: https://www.thenational.academy/about-us/meet-the-team#documents.

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 removal of the Religious Education Initial Teacher Training bursary on the quality of RE provision in secondary schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. As such, we review bursaries annually to take account of several factors, including recruitment to date, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. Between the 2023/24 and 2025/26 academic years, postgraduate ITT recruitment for religious education increased by 68%, one of the largest increases across all subjects.

New teachers benefit from three years of professional development through the initial teacher training and early career framework, which sets out the core knowledge, skills, and behaviours for great teaching, alongside expert mentoring and support. All trainee teachers must meet the Teachers’ Standards for qualified teacher status in full before they qualify, which requires that they ‘Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge’.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of secondary school pupils in England completing CPR training as required under the Health Education curriculum; and what steps the Department for Education is taking to support schools in ensuring consistent delivery of CPR training and to promote participation in national initiatives such as Restart a Heart month.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

All state funded schools are required to teach first aid as part of the statutory health education set out in the Relationships, Sex and Health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. Independent schools are required to cover health education as part of their responsibility to provide personal, social, health and economic education.

The RSHE guidance requires primary schools to teach basic first aid, such as dealing with common injuries. In secondary schools, pupils learn additional skills, including cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how and when to use a defibrillator.

Schools have flexibility in how they deliver this content, including which resources they choose to use and whether to participate in initiatives such as Restart a Heart month.

The department does not collect data on how many pupils have completed CPR training; schools are responsible for determining how best to meet curriculum requirements and ensure appropriate first aid education.

The government has commissioned Oak Academy to make lesson materials freely available.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what preparations her Department has made for a School Sports Strategy; and what recent steps she as taken towards the new approach announced in June 2025.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced on 19 June 2025 that the government will establish a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network to ensure all children and young people have access to high-quality PE and extracurricular sport, helping young people develop an interest in sport that continues beyond the school environment.

To deliver this, the department is preparing to procure a national partner to lead the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network. This partner will work with government, Sport England and national governing bodies to make links across provision for children and young people to strengthen support to schools and increase access to opportunities. We expect to have the national partner in place by autumn 2026.

In parallel, we are modernising the PE curriculum. The Association for Physical Education is leading a group of expert drafters to develop a new curriculum that develops children’s physical capability and supports lifelong participation in sport and physical activity.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 108602 on School Milk, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools and Local Authorities are aware of the expectation that they make reasonable adjustments for children who do not drink dairy milk.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day. They allow schools the freedom to provide plant-based drinks as needed, including plain soya, rice or oat drinks enriched with calcium, and combination and flavoured variations of these drinks.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies.

We are currently consulting on revised statutory guidance on ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’. The consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposal-on-support-for-pupils-with-medical-conditions-at-school’. This seeks views on proposals to strengthen how schools meet their duties, including improvements to allergy safety and broader medical condition management. Our aim is to ensure that every child can access education safely and confidently, regardless of their health needs or allergy.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any civil servants hired by her Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition.

Compliance with CRaGA is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission, which publishes recruitment principles setting out the detailed rules departments must follow.

For departments who use Civil Service Jobs to manage their recruitment, applicants are asked to provide diversity data on a voluntary basis only and no details are shared with hiring managers.

The positive action measures in the Equality Act 2010 allows employers to take proportionate action that aims to reduce disadvantage, meet different needs and increase participation.

Employers who choose to use positive action can help people who share a particular protected characteristic to overcome certain barriers under the measures. However, employers need to ensure they do this in a way which does not unfairly disadvantage other groups as this could amount to ‘positive discrimination’, which is unlawful.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools in improving pupil attendance in areas with high absence rates.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

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

Absence is a key barrier to opportunity. For children to achieve and thrive, they need to be in school. In the Schools White Paper, the department set a national commitment to improve the attendance rate to over 94% by 2028/29, equivalent to 100,000 pupils attending school full time and represent the fastest rate of improvement in over a decade.

Our statutory ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ guidance requires schools to appoint an attendance champion, have a published attendance policy, and work with local authorities.

The department provides real-time data tools and attendance toolkits, which help schools, trusts and local authorities identify the drivers of absence and adopt effective practice to improve attendance to pre‑pandemic attendance levels.

In January, we launched our new regional improvement for standards and excellence attendance and behaviour hubs, which can support over 3000 schools, including enhanced support for up to 500 schools, helping schools build strong relationships with parents and helping teachers form strong relationships of trust with students.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools have access to mental health support for pupils.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Warrington South to the answer of 9 March 2026 to Question 115995.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many independent schools closed in 2024 compared with 2025.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

There were 129 private school closures between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025. In 2024, there were 58 closures and in 2025 there were 71 closures.

The government does not collect pupil-level data from private schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils left independent schools in 2024 compared with 2025, and how this compares with the estimated figure of 3,000 pupils.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

There were 129 private school closures between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025. In 2024, there were 58 closures and in 2025 there were 71 closures.

The government does not collect pupil-level data from private schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2025 to Question 77413 on Teachers: Workplace Pensions, how many unresolved cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) cases are outstanding as of 10 March 2026; and of those resolved since 17 October 2025 what is the (a) shortest, (b) mean average and (c) longest time taken to process requests.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

As of 11 March 2026, 501 cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) cases were outstanding. There will always be a number of CETV cases in progress at any given time, as new CETV applications continue to be made.

Capita, the scheme administrator, is continuing to work through the most complex cases for members who have retired. 350 of the outstanding cases can only be processed clerically and the estimated average calculation times are between 20 and 30 hours per processed case.

Between 17 October 2025 and 11 March 2026, 1449 CETV cases were completed. Of these cases, in calendar days, the shortest processing length was zero days, applying to automated CETV cases completed on the day they were received. The longest processing length was 960 days, and the average time taken was 44 days.

The case that took 960 days to complete was subject to the government embargo on public pension schemes, as well as the Transitional Protection regulations coming into force on 1 October 2023, and the need to develop new guidance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the time taken to publish the Schools White Paper on (a) schools and (b) pupils in South Suffolk constituency.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper and the SEND Consultation Document set out our plans to build an education system that ensures children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) get the right support at every stage of their education.

We are consulting on the reforms in the publication. You can access the consultation here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/.

Mainstream school funding allocations through the national funding formula for 2026/27 were published in November 2025, and incorporated in the 2026/27 dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations to local authorities, published to the normal timescale in December 2025. This school funding is increasing by 2.6% per pupil in 2026/27 compared to 2025/26. High needs funding also allocated within local authorities’ DSG, which includes funding for special schools, was increased by over £1 billion, or 11%, in 2025/26. Funding will continue at this increased level in 2026/27.

On top of these allocations announced in 2025, we are investing £4 billion over three years to build an inclusive mainstream system. This includes £1.6 billion for a new Inclusive Mainstream Fund from 2026/27 for mainstream schools and other educational settings, with over £500 million per year over the next three years.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the time taken to publish the Schools White Paper on the implementation of planned SEND reforms.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper and the SEND Consultation Document set out our plans to build an education system that ensures children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) get the right support at every stage of their education.

We are consulting on the reforms in the publication. You can access the consultation here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/.

Mainstream school funding allocations through the national funding formula for 2026/27 were published in November 2025, and incorporated in the 2026/27 dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations to local authorities, published to the normal timescale in December 2025. This school funding is increasing by 2.6% per pupil in 2026/27 compared to 2025/26. High needs funding also allocated within local authorities’ DSG, which includes funding for special schools, was increased by over £1 billion, or 11%, in 2025/26. Funding will continue at this increased level in 2026/27.

On top of these allocations announced in 2025, we are investing £4 billion over three years to build an inclusive mainstream system. This includes £1.6 billion for a new Inclusive Mainstream Fund from 2026/27 for mainstream schools and other educational settings, with over £500 million per year over the next three years.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the time taken to publish the Schools White Paper on SEND reform on school funding allocations for the 2026-27 academic year.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper and the SEND Consultation Document set out our plans to build an education system that ensures children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) get the right support at every stage of their education.

We are consulting on the reforms in the publication. You can access the consultation here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/.

Mainstream school funding allocations through the national funding formula for 2026/27 were published in November 2025, and incorporated in the 2026/27 dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations to local authorities, published to the normal timescale in December 2025. This school funding is increasing by 2.6% per pupil in 2026/27 compared to 2025/26. High needs funding also allocated within local authorities’ DSG, which includes funding for special schools, was increased by over £1 billion, or 11%, in 2025/26. Funding will continue at this increased level in 2026/27.

On top of these allocations announced in 2025, we are investing £4 billion over three years to build an inclusive mainstream system. This includes £1.6 billion for a new Inclusive Mainstream Fund from 2026/27 for mainstream schools and other educational settings, with over £500 million per year over the next three years.

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 availability of Communication Support Workers for deaf (a) school, (b) college and (c) university students.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department does not hold information or data on the availability of Communication Support Workers, or their qualification levels in British Sign Language.

However, all education and training providers, as well as other related service providers, have duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards individual disabled children and young people. They must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children, to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the qualification levels in British Sign Language of Communication Support Workers working with deaf (a) school, (b) college and (c) university students.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department does not hold information or data on the availability of Communication Support Workers, or their qualification levels in British Sign Language.

However, all education and training providers, as well as other related service providers, have duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards individual disabled children and young people. They must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children, to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review how teacher suspensions are used in disciplinary investigations.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

By law, all maintained schools are required to have a capabilities policy, which sets out disciplinary and grievance procedures in the workplace. As employers, all schools and trusts must follow all aspects of employment law and equalities legislation in employment decisions. They should ensure that members of their workforce are fully aware of the process by which they can seek redress as a result of any grievance relating to their work at the school.

Guidance for schools on disciplinary and grievance matters is provided by ACAS in its Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance, which makes clear that an employer has a legal 'duty of care' to support an employee during suspension and to look out for their wellbeing.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what oversight exists to ensure schools comply with national procedures when suspending teachers.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

By law, all maintained schools are required to have a capabilities policy, which sets out disciplinary and grievance procedures in the workplace. As employers, all schools and trusts must follow all aspects of employment law and equalities legislation in employment decisions. They should ensure that members of their workforce are fully aware of the process by which they can seek redress as a result of any grievance relating to their work at the school.

Guidance for schools on disciplinary and grievance matters is provided by ACAS in its Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance, which makes clear that an employer has a legal 'duty of care' to support an employee during suspension and to look out for their wellbeing.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanisms are in place to monitor the welfare of teachers while they are suspended.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

By law, all maintained schools are required to have a capabilities policy, which sets out disciplinary and grievance procedures in the workplace. As employers, all schools and trusts must follow all aspects of employment law and equalities legislation in employment decisions. They should ensure that members of their workforce are fully aware of the process by which they can seek redress as a result of any grievance relating to their work at the school.

Guidance for schools on disciplinary and grievance matters is provided by ACAS in its Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance, which makes clear that an employer has a legal 'duty of care' to support an employee during suspension and to look out for their wellbeing.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the experiences of children and young people with dyslexia are captured when measuring attainment at the end of secondary school.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department is committed to ensuring the exam system is equitable for all students and that students with disabilities, including dyslexia, can access exams and assessments without disadvantage.

Ofqual, the independent regulator of exams and assessments in England, has a statutory duty to ensure that assessments are a fair representation of a student’s knowledge and requires awarding organisations to put processes in place to ensure that all students can access assessments appropriately.

The Equality Act 2010 also requires awarding organisations to make reasonable adjustments where assessment arrangements could place a student who is disabled within the meaning of the Act at a substantial disadvantage in comparison to someone who is not disabled.

These adjustments can include, but are not limited to, extra time to complete assessments or assistance via a reader or a scribe, depending on the individual needs of the student.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme who retired since 2020 have not yet received the full rectified pension payment owed to them following the McCloud remedy.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Recalculating retired members’ benefits is a complex process. For members retiring, these cases are relatively straightforward as no benefits are already in payment. For retired members, additional complications around tax, interest rules and system functionality required extensive consultation.

Capita, the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme administrator, are processing Remediable Service Statement (RSS) choices, aiming to complete payments as quickly as possible.

Of the members who have retired since 2020 who have received and returned their RSS, 4,176 are awaiting payment as of 17 March 2026.

The issuing and payment of members’ RSS choices is a high priority. The department is continually exploring ways to improve payment times with Capita, which includes recruiting additional staff and automating functions wherever possible. Members’ original pension benefits will continue to be paid until their choice has been implemented.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to regulate how multi-academy trusts address concerns raised by parents of children whose school is joining a multi-academy trust.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Section 5 of the Academies Act 2010 requires maintained schools to consult appropriate persons on whether the school should convert to academy status before the conversion goes ahead. This does not apply to schools that are eligible for intervention.

In the ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper, the department committed to consult on requiring school trusts to have local governance structures that together include all their schools, hold annual parental forums, and ensure boards hear directly from parents and school communities. The consultation will draw on the strongest sector practice in engaging parents and communities, to ensure that trust boards benefit from clear, consistent insight into the needs and priorities of the families they serve.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to support schools in introducing digital literacy programmes for pupils aged 11 to 16.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Education is a devolved matter, and this response relates to state-funded schools in England only.

On 5 November 2025, the government issued the response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, setting out the changes that will be made to the national curriculum, as well as reforms to qualifications. To ensure students develop the essential digital literacy skills needed for future life and work, the refreshed curriculum, due for first teaching in September 2028, will provide greater clarity on what should be taught at each key stage.

The department continues to invest in the National Centre for Computing Education, supporting teachers to confidently teach topics such as digital literacy through the provision of free online courses and resources. This includes a free online course supporting secondary subject leaders to understand what digital literacy is and to integrate it across subjects.

The core schools budget is also increasing by £1.7 billion in 2026/27, which includes funding for special educational needs and disabilities reforms announced within the Schools White Paper.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of levels of teacher recruitment in STEM subjects in the last academic year.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

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

The department is seeing real progress. On top of an increase of 2,346 teachers (full-time equivalent) in secondary and special schools between 2023/24 and 2024/25, the future pipeline is also looking positive. New entrants to training in physics are up 37% this year, computing up 46%, and maths up by 18%. In total, the data shows an increase of 22% in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, exceeding the STEM target for the first time since it was introduced in 2019.

The department set out plans for an additional 6,500 teachers in our delivery plan, published last month alongside the Schools White Paper, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6995de6aa58a315dbe72bf7c/6500_additional_teachers_delivery_plan_print_ready_version.pdf.

We are continuing to offer bursaries worth £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £31,000 tax-free to encourage more talented people to train to teach key STEM subjects. We are also offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers of the same STEM subjects in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to question 98962, what discussions he has had with Derbyshire County Council in the time taken to issue education, health and care plans, since an improvement notice for its SEND services was issued in January 2025.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Since issuing the improvement notice to Derbyshire County Council in January 2025, the department is regularly and closely monitoring and tracking outcomes against Derbyshire’s local area partnership’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) improvement plan, including the time taken to issue high quality education, health and care plans in line with statutory expectations, so that children and young people can access the support they need in a timely manner.

The department has commissioned a SEND adviser to identify barriers, challenge, support and monitor progress against the partnership’s plan. Departmental officials scrutinise reports through a series of formal stocktakes and meetings with local leaders and attend the partnership’s SEND Improvement and Advisory Board which meets monthly and is overseen by an independently appointed chair.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to shorten the time taken to issue Remediable Service Statements to members of the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department is working closely with the scheme administrator to process Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) as quickly and efficiently as possible. Several factors have affected the original delivery timeline, including technical dependencies, regulatory requirements, coordination with external partners and preparation for a transition of contractor.

The department continues to monitor progress and is working closely with the scheme administrator to streamline processes and introduce automation where possible. Any pension adjustments arising from members’ choices will be backdated with interest to ensure members are not financially disadvantaged.

The administrator will keep affected members informed of revised timelines through established channels, including My Pension Online and its website. The latest update is available at: https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/news/public-news/2025/11/timeline-for-sending-out-remediable-service-statements-rss.aspx.

As responsibility for this work transitions to the new administrator of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in summer 2026, the department is working with the new administrator to finalise the timeline for issuing all RSSs. Once the timeline is confirmed, it will be communicated to relevant members.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department are taking to improve teacher retention; and whether her Department plans to publish a teacher retention strategy.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Better retention of teachers and leaders keeps the skills and expertise they have developed in classrooms, underpinning high quality education for every child.

In our ’6,500 additional teachers’ delivery plan, the department set out it’s focus for delivery across three key themes: attracting, retaining and developing teachers.

The department is increasing access and awareness of flexible working, promoting best practice in workload and wellbeing management, and supporting teachers and leaders to harness the benefits of technology.

We are offering targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers in the first five years of their career, who teach key science, technology, engineering and maths subjects in the most disadvantaged schools. We have also made above inflation pay increases of almost 10% for teachers and leaders over the last two pay rounds, accepting the School Teachers' Review Body recommendations in full.

Our interventions are starting to deliver. The last school workforce census reported 1,700 fewer leavers than the previous year and a leaver rate of 9%, one of the lowest since 2010.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department monitors the impact of budget pressures on SEND outcomes.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department’s assessment of the impact of pressures on the outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is available in our consultation document ‘SEND Reform: putting children and young people first’, published 23 February.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for School Standards during the oral question on EHCP Backlog: Cambridgeshire of 2 March 2026, Official Report, column 565, how much Cambridgeshire County Council has been allocated of the £200 million funding directly provided to support councils' capacity to deliver EHCPs.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

To ensure all local authorities have the capacity to undertake meaningful transformation planning and delivery over this spending review period while maintaining current special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services, we will provide £200 million in support for the transformation of local authority SEND services. This funding will be provided to local authorities in a single payment alongside funding for Experts at Hand, with a proportion allocated to transformation which includes a focus on strategic planning in local SEND reform plans, commissioning, leadership capacity and engaging with the education sector. We will publish methodology documents to explain how the funding will be distributed, and indicative allocations for local authorities, including those for Cambridgeshire County Council, for 2026/27 in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department will publish the guidance issued to local authorities in the 1990s on the inclusion of part‑time teachers in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme following maternity leave.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. Member for North East Hampshire to the answer of 21 January 2026 to Question 103065.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria will be used to evaluate the success of the Government’s SEND reforms.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Every child deserves an education that meets their needs, one that is academically stretching, where every child feels like they belong, and that sets them up for life and work.

Driving inclusion in schools will improve outcomes for all children. Our reforms will restore parents’ trust in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. We will be investing £4 billion more over three years to support implementation, including £1.8 billion so every community has experts on hand, with £1.6 billion going directly to schools for early intervention and over £200 million to train every teacher.

The department regularly publishes statistics on pupils with special educational needs, including information on educational attainment, destinations, absence, exclusions and characteristics.

We are consulting on proposals to reform the SEND system, and will set out in more detail how we will evaluate policy after the consultation closes. We will set clear expectations of our public services and hold them to account for delivering.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to consult on the revised citizenship programmes of study.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

We are revising the national curriculum following the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review. We will make citizenship compulsory in key stages 1 and 2 so that primary aged children are introduced to key content on media literacy, financial literacy, law and rights, democracy and government, and climate education. We will publicly consult on all national curriculum programmes of study from summer 2026 and fully implement the new full national curriculum for first teaching from September 2028.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the retention of Special educational needs co-ordinator's (SENCO) in schools in Yeovil constituency.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department knows the important role that special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs) play in driving inclusive practice across settings and building a culture where every child can achieve and the thrive. However, we recognise the challenges that the SENCO role currently involves, including excessive bureaucracy and administrative burdens.

Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) should be the responsibility of all staff. That is why in the ‘SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First’ document, we have committed to working with the sector to redefine roles and responsibilities across the system. This will drive inclusive practice and enable SENCOs to have a greater focus on strategic leadership and supporting the development of high quality practice. The government has announced a new training package, backed by £200 million of new funding, to ensure that every teacher, educator, teaching assistant and leader across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with SEND.

Alongside this, the mandatory SENCO national professional qualification continues to ensure that SENCOs receive high quality, evidence-based training and equips them with the knowledge and skills to work with other leaders to create an inclusive environment.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she intends to publish an answer to Question 105314, tabled on 13 January 2026.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The response to Written Parliamentary Question 105314 was published on 20 March 2026.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of nursery places in Essex.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department continually monitors the sufficiency of childcare in Essex.

Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ‘Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.

This government is boosting availability and access through the School-based Nursery programme, supporting school-led provision and private, voluntary and independent providers and childminders operating from school sites. Phase 1 is already delivering results, with £37 million awarded to 300 primary-phase schools, including 13 in Essex, creating up to 6,000 new childcare places in total.

The department is due to announce successful Phase 2 projects in spring 2026.

Where Essex reports any sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools to recruit qualified modern languages teachers in the West Midlands.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

High quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child’s outcomes. This is why the government’s Plan for Change is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools, and our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.

The department is offering £20,000 tax-free bursaries for modern foreign language (MFL) trainees, including international as well as domestic trainees. In addition, we are continuing to offer a prestigious scholarship worth £22,000 tax-free for French, German and Spanish trainees.

Our future school teacher pipeline is growing. Although this government inherited a system with critical shortages of MFL teachers, with the department achieving only 32% of its postgraduate initial teacher training target in 2023/24, this year we have achieved 94% of the target with 1,378 new trainees beginning their postgraduate training in MFL.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to address waiting lists and delayed start dates for nursery placements.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department continually monitors the sufficiency of childcare in Essex. The number of places on Ofsted’s Early Years Register in Essex rose by 4% (or 1,500) from 37,400 as at 31 December 2024 to 38,900 as at 31 December 2025.

The department has regular contact with all local authorities in England about childcare sufficiency and any issues they are facing, including disclosing any waiting lists or delayed start times.

The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is adequate to meet the requirements of parents and children.

Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ‘Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.

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

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 replacing a proposed cap on the number of branded school uniform items with a monetary cap set by regulations.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

I refer the hon. Member for Newbury to the answer of 9 March 2026 to Question 114997.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of trends in the prevalence of child morning hunger in (a) early years, (b) primary and (c) secondary school settings in England on school (i) readiness and (ii) attendance.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department appreciates the publication of the report and look forward to giving it our full consideration. This government is committed to tackling child poverty and delivering meaningful action to support children and families. The removal of the two child limit on Universal Credit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures set out in our Child Poverty Strategy, such as the expansion of free school meals. These interventions will lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.

We recognise the importance of a healthy breakfast at the start of the day for pupils and the impact this can have on attendance and readiness to learn. This is why we are rolling out free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England, so that all children can have the best start in life. Since April 2025, the programme has delivered seven million meals to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. We are investing a further £80 million to fund approximately 2,000 additional schools between April 2026 and March 2027.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of staffing capacity in early years settings.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The early years workforce is at the heart of our mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver the Plan for Change. The department has seen strong growth in the workforce so far, with early years provision delivered by an estimated 353,700 paid staff in 2025, compared to 353,100 in 2024. We know more growth will be needed as children age into the 30 hours offer from September 2025 onwards, so we continue working closely with providers and local authorities.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. No local authority is reporting sufficiency issues.

We continue to support the sector to attract talented staff and childminders by creating conditions for improved recruitment alongside programmes to better utilise the existing workforce. Recruitment and retention are being boosted through national recruitment campaigns, financial incentives, new teacher training and apprenticeships routes.

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Found: Department for Education data shows that in the 2023/24 academic year, 31% of autistic pupils were persistently

Found: Dudley Council are also currently developing a scalable pro-active enrolment model with DWP and DfE

Found: Where there are insufficient numbers of places, councils work with FE partners to apply to DfE to create

Found: childhood.23 Our Conditions of Childhood Index, which aggregates parental income, education, and 13 DfE

Found: the system fails at transition points, what support is most effective, and what DWP (working with DfE

Found: life chances, prevent long-term economic inactivity, and reduce health inequalities. i Department for Education

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Found: Student Choice, 2023) 43 Review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 in England: impact assessment (DfE

Found:  A cross-departmental Young Futures Plan bringing together DWP, DfE, DHSC and DCMS to align policy

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Found: Figure 4 in the Report deals with DWP, the Department for Education and HMRC.

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Found: Most notably, DfE should continue its work in reducing costs associated with education, as this remains

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Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the impact of business rates on early years education settings.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Business rates are a broad-based tax on the value of non-domestic properties, including early years education settings. At the Budget, the Government announced a £4.3 billion support package to support ratepayers across all sectors seeing bill increases. As a result of the Budget package, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases. This also means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, in 2026-27, DfE expect to provide over £9.5 billion for childcare entitlements for children aged from 9 months to 4 years. This is over £1 billion more compared to 2025-26, as it delivers a full year of the expanded 30 hours entitlements for working parents and an above inflation increase to funding rates.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to take steps to lower business rates on early years education settings.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Business rates are a broad-based tax on the value of non-domestic properties, including early years education settings. At the Budget, the Government announced a £4.3 billion support package to support ratepayers across all sectors seeing bill increases. As a result of the Budget package, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases. This also means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, in 2026-27, DfE expect to provide over £9.5 billion for childcare entitlements for children aged from 9 months to 4 years. This is over £1 billion more compared to 2025-26, as it delivers a full year of the expanded 30 hours entitlements for working parents and an above inflation increase to funding rates.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of improvements in physics education on the development of new technologies and economic growth.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Physics education is the responsibility of the Department for Education.

The government recognises the importance of research, including physics, to economic growth and its contribution to the UK’s innovation capacity and industrial strategy.

This academic year, two thirds of the £1.3bn Strategic Priorities Grant to HE is to support the provision of high-cost subjects, including physics. From this, the Office for Students allocates £1,737 per student FTE to providers for physics students.

42% of UK Research and Innovation funded PhDs in 2024/25 were through the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. UKRI will invest over £2bn in doctoral training this spending review period.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he intends to announce the five technical excellence colleges linked to defence skills competition being run by his Department and the Department for Education.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As part of the Defence Industrial Strategy skills package, we announced the establishment of five Defence Technical Excellence Colleges in England. The competition to select these has now closed, and applications will now be assessed, with successful colleges announced thereafter.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure a) parents and b) carers are aware that they can request to view DBS certificates when recruiting individuals to work with i) children and ii) vulnerable adults.

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

In January the following news story Self-employed workers and personal employees can now apply for Enhanced DBS checks - GOV.UK announced the legislative changes which now allow self‑employed individuals, as well as personal employees who are hired directly by an individual or family, to obtain enhanced criminal record checks with barred list information issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), when they work closely with children or vulnerable adults. The article explained that parents and carers who employ a self‑employed worker or personal employee in an eligible role can ask to see that individual’s enhanced DBS certificate, including barred list information; it also included links to further guidance.

Alongside this, DBS has updated its published guidance on GOV.UK to reflect the change:

• DBS checks for self-employed people and personal employees - GOV.UK
• Private individuals employing self-employed workers or personal employees - GOV.UK
• DBS application form: guide for counter signatories - GOV.UK

The Department for Education (DfE) has published guidance for parents and carers to help them make informed decisions on Out-of-School settings for their children. This highlights information on the safeguarding measures providers should have in place and questions to ask, including on staff/volunteer DBS checks.

Similarly, the DfE has provided explanatory posters for providers to put up in their setting. These include a safeguarding checklist and prompts parents to ask about appropriate staff/volunteer checks, including DBS checks.

The DfE also held a Call for Evidence in 2025, considering how to further improve safeguarding standards in Out-of-School settings, including questions on the issue of how providers communicate their safeguarding practices with parents. DfE will respond in due course.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working with Skills for Care to update guidance for people who employ personal assistants in line with the recent changes in access to enhanced DBS checks. The current guidance is published in the Employing PAs Toolkit in Skills for Care’s website, and further updates are due imminently.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress has been made to update the National Information Centre on Children of Offenders online information resource.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The National Information Centre on Children of Offenders (NICCO) website was created in 2016 as a partnership between Barnardo’s and HMPPS. It was constructed to replace an earlier site called iHOP which Barnardo’s had developed jointly with the Department for Education as an information centre for professionals working with the children of prisoners.

As well as being an updated information hub, NICCO also became the repository of the family strategy documents created by all prisons.

Discussions are currently underway to review how best to retain and update the information held on the NICCO site.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has reviewed the effects of device use, including tablets, amongst young children on speech and language development.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education are working jointly to produce and publish new advice for parents and carers on the impacts of screen use on the health and development of children aged zero to five years old, including speech and language development. An expert group of child health and development specialists has been convened to review the evidence and produce a report for the Government. The Government’s advice for parents and carers will be informed by this report, our Call for Evidence, and direct engagement with parents and carers. The advice will be published by 1 April 2026.

There is an emerging evidence base focusing on device use amongst children. However, many factors influence children’s development and there is limited evidence on the causal relationship between screen use and children’s health and development. We continue to learn from ongoing studies collecting data about young children, including the Department for Education’s Children of the 2020s longitudinal study, with further information available at the following link:

https://children2020s.ipsos.com/

This study found that higher screentime at two years old was independently associated with lower vocabulary development, and higher emotional and behaviour problems. However, other important factors such as economic circumstances and the child’s wider home learning environment also impact these outcomes and may influence why a family uses devices more.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) travel expenses and (b) other financial support are available to nursing students.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department for Education provides the primary funding support package for English domiciled students in higher education through the student loans system.

We want to remove the barriers to training in clinical roles like nursing, which is why in addition to student loans, the Department of Health and Social Care provides supplementary non-repayable grants via the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF). Eligible nursing students receive a minimum of £5,000 in each academic year, with an additional £1,000 per academic year available for priority areas such as mental health nursing or learning disabilities nursing. Further financial support is also available for childcare, dual accommodation costs, and travel.

These funding arrangements are reviewed annually ahead of the start of each academic year.

The 10-Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, set out that we will help students overcome financial obstacles to learning. We are working with the NHS Business Services Authority to reform and modernise the process of supporting students with their placement expenses, including reducing delays to reimbursement of their placement travel and accommodation costs.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the [i] FA and [ii] other football bodies the use of [a] schools and [b] multi-use sports facilities by local youth football clubs for training and playing matches.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including children and young people, have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

In 2026/27, we will invest £85m across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities (MSGF) Programme, building on the £98m being invested through the programme in 2025/26. This supports communities, including children and young people, to get active through funding artificial grass pitches, floodlights, changing pavilions and other facility improvements.

Last year, the Government announced a new PE and School Sport Partnerships model and a new Enrichment Framework for schools to ensure all young people have equal access to high-quality sport and extracurricular activity. A national network will be developed to build strong partnerships between schools, local clubs and National Governing Bodies to identify and break down barriers to sport for children who are less active. I recently met with colleagues in the Department for Education and the Department for Health and Social Care to discuss this, as we move towards introducing this new approach.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he is taking to make accessing and understanding support for unpaid carers clear and transparent a) nationally and b) locally.

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

The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need. I chair a cross-Government ministerial group that meets regularly, made up of ministers from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education, to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.

Work is underway to introduce a MyCarer section to the NHS App, allowing people to book appointments and communicate more easily with relevant clinical team members on behalf of those for whom they care. This will allow carers to seek guidance directly from health professionals, improving people’s experience, outcomes, and saving admin time for the health professionals and the carer.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities must provide a range of high-quality services for unpaid carers. The Better Care Fund supports initiatives such as short breaks and respite care, with local areas deciding how to use funding based on local need.

We have raised the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit from £151 to £196 per week, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage and representing the largest cash increase ever.

Nationally, the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside NHS England and local authorities, continue to strengthen guidance to the care sector, and online resources to make support clear and accessible through its work. This includes information on financial help, health and wellbeing services, and respite care.

Locally, integrated care systems and local authorities continue to work towards improving their services. All these steps aim to help ensure unpaid carers can access the services they need efficiently, supporting both their wellbeing and essential caring role.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he is taking to support unpaid carers a) generally and b) specifically to remove barriers to accessing respite.

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

The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need. I chair a cross-Government ministerial group that meets regularly, made up of ministers from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education, to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.

Work is underway to introduce a MyCarer section to the NHS App, allowing people to book appointments and communicate more easily with relevant clinical team members on behalf of those for whom they care. This will allow carers to seek guidance directly from health professionals, improving people’s experience, outcomes, and saving admin time for the health professionals and the carer.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities must provide a range of high-quality services for unpaid carers. The Better Care Fund supports initiatives such as short breaks and respite care, with local areas deciding how to use funding based on local need.

We have raised the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit from £151 to £196 per week, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage and representing the largest cash increase ever.

Nationally, the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside NHS England and local authorities, continue to strengthen guidance to the care sector, and online resources to make support clear and accessible through its work. This includes information on financial help, health and wellbeing services, and respite care.

Locally, integrated care systems and local authorities continue to work towards improving their services. All these steps aim to help ensure unpaid carers can access the services they need efficiently, supporting both their wellbeing and essential caring role.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 8 September 2025, to Question 71459, on Counter-terrorism: Finance, if she will list the individual quantitative and qualitative elements and metrics used by the Homeland Security Analysis and Insight team to determine the funding to individual councils.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Each year the Home Office conducts an annual prioritisation exercise to understand which Local Authorities (LAs) are facing the highest threat from radicalisation to terrorism. The process incorporates both quantitative and qualitative elements.

The quantitative element of the model draws on counter-terrorism investigations data and arrests data for terrorism and terrorism-related offences; the number of cases that have been discussed at a Channel multi-agency panel or are being managed separately under the police-led process; community tension reports; hate crime data; Indices of Multiple Deprivation; and annual employment statistics. It is regularly reviewed and adapted to ensure that it provides a sound basis to make effective evidence-based decisions.

As part of the qualitative element, we hold a series of regional roundtables with key Prevent delivery partners, which allows us to sense check the preliminary rankings and make adjustments by drawing on the knowledge and experience of front-line Prevent practitioners from across a range of sectors, including CT Policing; Department for Education; Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government; Health; and HM Prisons and Probation.

Funding for posts and dedicated projects is allocated as part of an annual bidding process, with funding allocations informed by factors including the amount of funding available, the level of threat, the level of funding provided for Prevent posts in the previous financial year, and inflation-related increases.

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