Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to provide support to schools in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency where the number of pupils achieving a grade 4 or above in English and Maths is lower than the national average.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We know unacceptable inequalities in outcomes exist across the country and at every phase of education.
The ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ White Paper establishes our plan to improve the outcomes of all children, building on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience.
Our ambition is that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap is halved, enabling 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.
The department has committed £28.3 million to drive standards in reading and writing, including the new continuing professional development programme for secondary schools, the Unlocking Reading programme, supporting struggling readers in key stage 3.
Our 40 maths hubs provide local school-to-school support to improve maths teaching, including Venn Essex Maths Hub in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.
We will go further by deepening the partnership between maths and English hubs and the Universal Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence programme, and strengthening and extending Maths Hubs programmes in reception to boost early numeracy.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of GCSE a) English and b) Maths attainment in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency over the last two years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We know unacceptable inequalities in outcomes exist across the country and at every phase of education.
The ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ White Paper establishes our plan to improve the outcomes of all children, building on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience.
Our ambition is that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap is halved, enabling 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.
The department has committed £28.3 million to drive standards in reading and writing, including the new continuing professional development programme for secondary schools, the Unlocking Reading programme, supporting struggling readers in key stage 3.
Our 40 maths hubs provide local school-to-school support to improve maths teaching, including Venn Essex Maths Hub in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.
We will go further by deepening the partnership between maths and English hubs and the Universal Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence programme, and strengthening and extending Maths Hubs programmes in reception to boost early numeracy.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the £1.6 billion Inclusive Mainstream Fund will be allocated between (a) early years settings, (b) primary schools, (c) secondary schools and (d) post-16 institutions; and what accountability mechanisms will apply to that funding.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We will publish methodology documents to explain the funding distribution of the Inclusive Mainstream Fund for early years settings, schools and 16-19 institutions in the spring.
In our recent publication 'SEND reform: putting children and young people first', we explained we will hold settings and trusts to account on how they take meaningful steps to invest in inclusion. More details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first.
Schools will be required to explain their plans to use their overall funding allocation to embed inclusive practice through a published Inclusion Strategy. 16-19 institutions will be required to demonstrate how they will use their inclusion funding in their Accountability Agreements. In early years settings, local authorities will play a role in ensuring providers use their inclusion funding to support inclusive practice. We will provide further detail on these arrangements in the spring.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to develop a National Trauma Strategy for England.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government recognises that trauma can have a profound impact on children’s lives and that addressing it requires support from the whole of society.
The NHS provides specialist assessment, talking therapies and medical treatment for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as self‑help resources and routes to urgent or ongoing psychological support.
Education settings also play an important role in identifying and supporting pupils affected by adversity, with the flexibility to choose the pastoral support that best meets their pupils’ needs. The department’s guidance emphasises creating safe, supportive environments and understanding the lasting impact trauma can have on wellbeing and learning.
The government is expanding mental health support teams to ensure access to specialist mental health professionals in all schools and colleges by 2029, alongside £13 million in pilots to enhance support for children with more complex needs, including those linked to trauma, neurodivergence and disordered eating.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether comparisons of the cost of maintained and independent special school placements take account of differences in (a) pupil needs, (b) placement complexity, and (c) length of placement.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Comparisons of the average cost of placements in different types of special school can be made at national level. The data collected on relevant local and central government expenditure is not differentiated on the basis of pupil needs, placement complexity or length of placement.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what projection she has made of the deficit in the High Needs block budgets of English councils between now and the start of FY 2028/9.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has set out plans for a reformed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system in the recent Schools White Paper. Our assessment of future SEND spending will be updated following the SEND consultation. From 2028/29, SEND spending will be covered by the overall government Departmental Expenditure Limit budget.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the balance between online safety measures and the development of digital literacy skills in young people aged 12 to 18.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As set out in the department’s Schools White Paper, it is vital that children are supported to become digitally literate and confident users of technology. We must strike a healthy balance between preparing young people for a technologically enabled world, whilst not compromising on safety.
We have updated our generative AI safety standards, introducing measures that safeguard children’s cognitive and social-emotional development, protect their mental health, and guard against manipulation. We will also establish new sovereign education benchmarks to provide a trusted framework for evaluating how well AI models meet stringent safety standards and prevent harmful content.
Following the recommendations of the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, we are strengthening digital education through clarifying digital literacy content within the revised computing curriculum and working with experts to consider incorporating digital content in other subjects. Alongside this, updated relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance, required from September 2026, includes strengthened online safety content, including deepfakes.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making play-based learning and continuous provision statutory in England's Key Stage 1 Curriculum.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Curriculum and Assessment Review considered the extent to which the curriculum and the assessment system in England is fit for purpose and meeting the needs of children and young people. The government’s response set out key reforms to the national curriculum that we will be taking forward. The purpose of the national curriculum is to outline what must be taught in schools rather than how.
There are no plans to legislate to make play and continuous provision statutory in the key stage 1 curriculum. However, we will continue to back educators to apply their professional judgment and creativity to meet the needs of their pupils, meaning children will be able to benefit from play-based learning throughout their primary education where appropriate.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) methodology and (b) data the Department uses to (i) calculate and (ii) compare the average cost of maintained special school placements and independent school placements.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
For maintained special schools and special academies, the department uses local authorities’ actual expenditure on high needs top-up funding, to which is added the £10,000 per place funding using pupil numbers from the January school census, divided by those pupil numbers to produce an average placement cost.
For independent special schools (ISS), the department cannot disaggregate this expenditure from that including non-maintained special schools (NMSS), so creates a combined average placement cost by adding spending on ISS fees, top up funding for NMSS and the total £10,000 per place funding for NMSS (using the number of pupils with education, health and care (EHC) plans at NMSS), and dividing by the number of pupils with EHC plans at both ISS and NMSS.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made in appointing a delivery partner for the PE and School Sport Partnerships Network; and whether her Department plans to provide funding for the School Games Organisers Network after the 2025-26 academic year.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has carried out market engagement with the sector, and we are using feedback from this to inform our invitation to tender. We will launch procurement for a national delivery partner to run the Partnerships Network shortly.
The government has confirmed funding for the School Games organisers until the end of the 2025/26 academic year.