Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to explicitly recognise the role of school milk provision within the revised School Food Standards.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever and are continuing our work to revise the School Food Standards. We are engaging experts across the sector and are developing our plans to consult on the changes.
We know milk is excellent for children’s growth and development. Regulation 9 of the School Food Standards states that lower fat milk or lactose reduced milk must be available to children who want it for drinking at least once a day during school hours. Under Section 512ZB (3) of the Education Act 1996, it is also a legislative requirement that milk is provided free of charge to pupils who meet the free school meal criteria.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices the Department recruited in 2015 compared to (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The number of apprentices that enrolled onto apprenticeship programmes within the department in each calendar year is as follows:
Note: this is a combination of new apprentices joining the department and existing staff embarking on apprenticeship programmes as part of their career development.
The department does not hold data for 2015. For comparison purposes we can confirm that in 2016 the department had 32 apprentices enrol onto apprenticeship programmes. In 2017, the department had 54 apprentices enrol onto apprenticeship programmes.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of pupils that would need to move from the independent to the state sector for VAT revenue from school fees to fall below the additional cost of educating those pupils in the state sector.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
HM Treasury published a tax information and impact note on applying VAT to private school fees: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/applying-vat-to-private-school-fees. This is a comprehensive assessment of the VAT policy, including estimated revenue and costs of increased pupil numbers in the state sector.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices her Department recruited in (a) 2022, (b) 2023, (c) 2024 and (d) 2025.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The number of apprentices enrolled on apprenticeship programmes within the department in each calendar year is as follows:
Note this reflects a combination of new apprentices joining the department and existing staff embarking on apprenticeship programmes as part of their career development.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether safeguards will be introduced to help ensure that Individual Support Plans (ISPs) do not become resource‑led documents due to limited specialist provision.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice sets out that the provision made for pupils with special educational needs should be recorded accurately and kept up to date. As a result, many settings already keep records of the needs and provision required by children or young people with SEND and communicate these with parents.
The department is introducing a duty on settings to produce an individual support plan for every child or young person with SEND, ensuring help keeps pace with their development, prevents challenges from escalating, and reduces the risk of them disengaging from learning.
Additional funding through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund will be provided to early years, schools and colleges to boost the existing core funding for SEND, with over £500 million per year over the next three years. This funding, alongside their existing core funding, will help equip settings to invest in high-quality, adaptive teaching, targeted evidence-based support, inclusive pedagogy and decision-making, and create safe, calm and accessible learning environments for all. On 25 March, we published the guidance ‘Inclusive mainstream fund: best practice for schools’, which provides examples and case studies of how settings can use this funding to enhance support for children with SEND. The guidance is available at:
Our proposed reforms go further to support educators, with easier access to expert advice through Experts at Hand and evidence-based tools and resources through the National Inclusion Standards.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will review the statutory guidance on school attendance to allow exemptions for term-time holidays for children in foster care with complex needs and SEND when travel during peak holiday periods is not feasible.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
There are currently no plans to review our approach to term-time holidays. Schools may grant a leave of absence for exceptional circumstances at their discretion by judging each application on the specific facts. However, generally a holiday would not constitute an exceptional circumstance. The school year is structured so that there are opportunities for holidays outside of term-time. Schools and local authorities also have considerable flexibility to plan term dates themselves and hold INSET days and other occasional days at quieter times of the year, allowing parents and carers to plan breaks at times that suit them.
This government recognises there can be considerable additional pressures on some pupils and their parents and carers, including for children in foster care with complex needs. However, all children have a right to a full-time education and we do not believe the solution is to endorse additional time away from school.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer on 12 March 2026 to question 117273, if she will provide financial assistance to schools to accommodate pupils from nearby private schools that have closed.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
School funding is increasing by £1.7 billion in 2026/27, meaning that core school budgets will total £67 billion, an increase on the £65.3 billion provided in 2025/26.
In 2026/27, the most deprived schools have, on average, attracted the largest per pupil funding amounts through the schools National Funding Formula.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her department is taking to ensure pupils, particularly those with imminent exams, can continue to attend schools safely in the context of the meningitis outbreak.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Children and young people, including those identified as contacts of cases, can and should continue to attend school or college as normal, including sitting exams and qualifications, unless directly advised otherwise by the local health protection team.
Meningococcal disease does not spread easily, and outbreaks of the size seen in Kent are rare. Transmission of meningococcal disease requires close and prolonged contact to spread, including living in the same household, and intimate contact such as kissing or sharing vapes.
A targeted programme of preventative antibiotics and meningitis B vaccination has been introduced to provide longer-term protection for students and young people in the area. Vaccination has been offered to all those who have received preventative antibiotics, and to year 11, 12 and 13 students in schools and colleges in Kent where confirmed or probable cases have been identified. Widening the vaccine offer is a precautionary measure to ensure longer-term protection whilst helping to minimise disruption to school attendance at a critical time in the academic year.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether school children who have been in a classroom, dining hall, shared areas with someone who now has confirmed meningitis are being offered a)antibiotics b)vaccinations.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Children and young people, including those identified as contacts of cases, can and should continue to attend school or college as normal, including sitting exams and qualifications, unless directly advised otherwise by the local health protection team.
Meningococcal disease does not spread easily, and outbreaks of the size seen in Kent are rare. Transmission of meningococcal disease requires close and prolonged contact to spread, including living in the same household, and intimate contact such as kissing or sharing vapes.
A targeted programme of preventative antibiotics and meningitis B vaccination has been introduced to provide longer-term protection for students and young people in the area. Vaccination has been offered to all those who have received preventative antibiotics, and to year 11, 12 and 13 students in schools and colleges in Kent where confirmed or probable cases have been identified. Widening the vaccine offer is a precautionary measure to ensure longer-term protection whilst helping to minimise disruption to school attendance at a critical time in the academic year.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure access for pre-school children with additional needs to nursery places in the Poole constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We want every child, including those with additional needs, to be able to access a childcare setting where they can get the best start in life. The special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms we announced in February, will give early years settings the training, evidence-based tools and expert input they need to welcome children with diverse needs into their settings and provide the right support from day one. We are investing over £200 million to strengthen the SEND offer in Best Start Family Hubs, including funding a family-facing practitioner in every hub to join up support across early years settings, health visitors and SEND teams.
Alongside this, we will work with local authorities to strengthen their childcare sufficiency planning for children with SEND and improve data on the availability of suitable places. This will provide parents greater confidence that their children can access the early education and childcare they are entitled to.