Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to review further the apprenticeship levy arrangements, particularly the requirement that funds can be split equally between (1) apprenticeships, and (2) other, flexible training opportunities.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
This government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, which will deliver greater flexibility to employers and learners in England and support the industrial strategy.
At this stage, the government has not put targets or limits on the level of flexibility in the growth and skills offer. This will be informed by the result of Skills England’s analysis and engagement, including on where flexibilities will be most helpful for employers.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to revise Ofsted guidance that reportedly states that children with autism are at increased risk of being susceptible to extremism.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the noble Lord directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compatibility of the immigration, asylum and nationality function exemption from corporate parenting responsibilities at clauses 21 and 22 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill with the removal of the UK’s immigration reservation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government is committed to supporting all looked-after children and care leavers. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill introduces corporate parenting responsibilities for government departments and public bodies. This includes a new duty on corporate parents to be alert to matters which could adversely affect the wellbeing of these children and young people, when exercising their functions.
The impacts of the policy on child’s rights and equalities have been assessed. The exemption of functions relating to immigration, asylum, nationality and customs only applies to the specific functions, not to young people themselves, so all looked-after children and care leavers, regardless of immigration status, will be in scope of support provided by corporate parents. Secretaries of State, including my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, will be required to consider the wellbeing of all looked-after children and care leavers when exercising functions other than those relating to asylum, immigration, nationality or customs.
The UK gives effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in immigration matters that affect children through Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009. This requires my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to make arrangements for ensuring that immigration, asylum and nationality functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether welfare benefits or tax credits, including disability benefits that a kinship carer receives for themselves or the child, will be impacted if they receive financial support through the Kinship Allowance Pilot.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The kinship allowance pilot will provide financial support to eligible kinship carers with a Special Guardianship Order or a ‘lives with’ Child Arrangement Order where the child would have otherwise been in care. These carers will receive a weekly non-means tested allowance paid at the same rate as the national minimum fostering allowance, if they reside in the pilot local authorities.
The requirements under chapter 2 of the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005 (2005 Regulations) will not apply to the arrangements made under this pilot. Special Guardians receiving financial support under 2005 Regulations are barred from receiving this pilot's allowance to avoid the risk of double public-funding. We believe this will have minimal effect on financial support arrangements under the Special Guardianship Regulations because this pilot is only being run in a select few local authorities and for a specific period of time, so some Special Guardians will continue to prefer receiving financial support under the 2005 Regulations.
Further details of the pilot, including how payments made through the pilot will interact with social security benefits, will be made available when the pilot goes live.
The pilot will be independently evaluated to find out how best to deliver consistent financial support for kinship families. Decisions about future national rollout will be informed by the findings of the evaluation.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to improve consistency, fairness and transparency in the provision of special guardianship allowances concurrently with the Kinship Allowance Pilot.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The kinship allowance pilot will provide financial support to eligible kinship carers with a Special Guardianship Order or a ‘lives with’ Child Arrangement Order where the child would have otherwise been in care. These carers will receive a weekly non-means tested allowance paid at the same rate as the national minimum fostering allowance, if they reside in the pilot local authorities.
The requirements under chapter 2 of the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005 (2005 Regulations) will not apply to the arrangements made under this pilot. Special Guardians receiving financial support under 2005 Regulations are barred from receiving this pilot's allowance to avoid the risk of double public-funding. We believe this will have minimal effect on financial support arrangements under the Special Guardianship Regulations because this pilot is only being run in a select few local authorities and for a specific period of time, so some Special Guardians will continue to prefer receiving financial support under the 2005 Regulations.
Further details of the pilot, including how payments made through the pilot will interact with social security benefits, will be made available when the pilot goes live.
The pilot will be independently evaluated to find out how best to deliver consistent financial support for kinship families. Decisions about future national rollout will be informed by the findings of the evaluation.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Chapter Two of the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005, and the provisions of the Special Guardianship statutory guidance, will apply to local authorities participating in the Kinship Allowance Pilot; and, if so how.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The kinship allowance pilot will provide financial support to eligible kinship carers with a Special Guardianship Order or a ‘lives with’ Child Arrangement Order where the child would have otherwise been in care. These carers will receive a weekly non-means tested allowance paid at the same rate as the national minimum fostering allowance, if they reside in the pilot local authorities.
The requirements under chapter 2 of the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005 (2005 Regulations) will not apply to the arrangements made under this pilot. Special Guardians receiving financial support under 2005 Regulations are barred from receiving this pilot's allowance to avoid the risk of double public-funding. We believe this will have minimal effect on financial support arrangements under the Special Guardianship Regulations because this pilot is only being run in a select few local authorities and for a specific period of time, so some Special Guardians will continue to prefer receiving financial support under the 2005 Regulations.
Further details of the pilot, including how payments made through the pilot will interact with social security benefits, will be made available when the pilot goes live.
The pilot will be independently evaluated to find out how best to deliver consistent financial support for kinship families. Decisions about future national rollout will be informed by the findings of the evaluation.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding she has allocated to expand (a) vocational and (b) technical training routes in the West Midlands.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is making a substantial investment in skills, with £3 billion of additional funding across the Spending Review period, including an additional £1.2 billion a year by 2028/29.
This includes continuing to invest in apprenticeships and the growth and skills offer to meet priority skills gaps identified by Skills England and the needs of business.
This builds on previous rounds of 16-19 funding agreed for 2025/26 of over £400 million extra funding and making available additional funding of over £190 million in the 2025/26 financial year for the 2025/26 academic year.
The department will spend over £1.4 billion through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year. West Midlands Combined Authority’s devolved ASF budget for the 2024/25 academic year was £133.7 million.
We have also made £155 million available to support schools, colleges and local authorities with increased National Insurance contributions.
The recent Infrastructure Strategy confirmed almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26, to improve the condition of the school and college estate.
This increased funding and investment for skills in England will help to boost the provision of vocational and technical education and training in all areas of the country, including the West Midlands.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the financial support paid under the Kinship Allowance Pilot will be means tested.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The kinship allowance pilot will provide financial support to eligible kinship carers with a Special Guardianship Order or a ‘lives with’ Child Arrangement Order where the child would have otherwise been in care. These carers will receive a weekly non-means tested allowance paid at the same rate as the national minimum fostering allowance, if they reside in the pilot local authorities.
The requirements under chapter 2 of the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005 (2005 Regulations) will not apply to the arrangements made under this pilot. Special Guardians receiving financial support under 2005 Regulations are barred from receiving this pilot's allowance to avoid the risk of double public-funding. We believe this will have minimal effect on financial support arrangements under the Special Guardianship Regulations because this pilot is only being run in a select few local authorities and for a specific period of time, so some Special Guardians will continue to prefer receiving financial support under the 2005 Regulations.
Further details of the pilot, including how payments made through the pilot will interact with social security benefits, will be made available when the pilot goes live.
The pilot will be independently evaluated to find out how best to deliver consistent financial support for kinship families. Decisions about future national rollout will be informed by the findings of the evaluation.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to evaluate the effectiveness of relationships and sex education and health education teaching on gambling-related harms, and how they will measure the impact of that teaching on student understanding and wellbeing.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
As with all curriculum subjects, schools are responsible for ensuring the quality of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) they provide. This includes ensuring their staff are properly trained and equipped to teach these subjects accurately and confidently.
However, the department is keen to support schools to implement the updated RSHE curriculum, which will come into effect from 01 September 2026, and plan to pilot a new RSHE training grant, starting from 2026. This will also give us the opportunity to monitor implementation going forward.
Asked by: Uma Kumaran (Labour - Stratford and Bow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that young people are able to develop creative skills.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government published its Industrial Strategy and eight Sector Plans, including for the creative industries, on 23 June.
Skills are central to the strategy, recognising their vital role in enabling young people to succeed regardless of background and in supporting the UK’s future economic success.
Skills England will ensure the UK has the workforce to support growth sectors such as the creative industries by identifying and addressing current and future skills needs.
New shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships will help more people learn new skills at work and provide high-quality entry pathways for young people.
From April 2026, short courses in areas such as digital and artificial intelligence (AI) will be funded through the growth and skills levy and will support skills within the creative industries.
The government believes creative subjects are important elements of the rounded, enriching education every child deserves. The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is seeking a curriculum that readies young people for life and work, including creative subjects and skills, with the final report due autumn.
We are launching a National Centre for Arts and Music Education in 2026 to support excellent teacher training in the arts and boost partnerships between schools and arts organisations.