Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of guidelines on support for SEND children in the mainstream education system.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
To support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), we will help mainstream settings to make the necessary changes to embed inclusive practice. We will develop new National Inclusion Standards to bring greater clarity and evidence to this space. These will set out, for the first time, support that should be available in every mainstream setting, and we will appoint an expert panel to develop and make recommendations regarding the content of the National Inclusion Standards.
The SEND Code of Practice provides statutory guidance for organisations supporting children with SEND. We have committed to updating the Code to reflect changes in the SEND system and findings of recent independent scrutiny, including from the Education Select Committee. The updated Code will clarify responsibilities for mainstream settings and establish a consistent approach to supporting children with SEND.
We are consulting on proposals to reform the SEND system, and the consultation is accessible at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/. We will undertake a separate, full public consultation on the proposed changes to the Code of Practice to reflect best practice and the views of children and young people, families and professionals.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available for schools wanting to transition into co-operative academies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As set out in the Every Child Achieving and Thriving White Paper, we are placing collaboration at the heart of the system by moving to all schools being part of school trusts, which are rooted in their community and equipped to innovate for all children. To help achieve this, we have committed to working with the sector to update co-operative school trust model articles of association, so this model can effectively support purposeful, diverse and large-scale collaboration.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the rates of teacher retention amongst secondary school educators.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published detailed plans on how we will recruit and retain more teachers in our 6,500 additional teachers delivery plan, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving. Better retention of teachers and leaders keeps the skills and expertise they have developed in classrooms, underpinning high quality education for every child.
We will promote best practice in workload and wellbeing management, including flexible working opportunities, and tackle the external pressures where schools are filling the gaps.
The department also recognises the important role which pay, and financial reward play in attracting and retaining teachers. We are offering targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for the subjects and areas with greatest need, and we have implemented above inflation pay increases over the last two pay rounds where we accepted the School Teachers' Review Body recommendation of a nearly 10% award for school teachers and leaders
The last workforce census (June 2025) reported one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,700 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector. More teachers are also returning to state schools than at any point in the last ten years. The latest data showed 17,274 teachers returned to the classroom.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the rates of teacher retention amongst primary school educators.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published detailed plans on how we will recruit and retain more teachers in our 6,500 additional teachers delivery plan, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving. Better retention of teachers and leaders keeps the skills and expertise they have developed in classrooms, underpinning high quality education for every child.
We will promote best practice in workload and wellbeing management, including flexible working opportunities, and tackle the external pressures where schools are filling the gaps.
The department also recognises the important role which pay, and financial reward play in attracting and retaining teachers. We are offering targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for the subjects and areas with greatest need, and we have implemented above inflation pay increases over the last two pay rounds where we accepted the School Teachers' Review Body recommendation of a nearly 10% award for school teachers and leaders
The last workforce census (June 2025) reported one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,700 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector. More teachers are also returning to state schools than at any point in the last ten years. The latest data showed 17,274 teachers returned to the classroom.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many family hubs there are in a) urban and b) rural areas.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
At present, there are 675 Family Hubs in 88 local authorities funded by the department. Of these, based on the Office of National Statistics classification of Rural and Urban, 627 are based in urban areas and 48 are based in rural areas.
The department has set a clear ambition for 70% of hubs to be in the 30% most disadvantaged areas. From April we will be rolling out hubs nationally, meaning they will be in every local authority.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to include mandatory training on the climate emergency within Initial Teacher Training and the Early Career Framework.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF) is universal and designed to work for all new teachers regardless of subject, phase, or school. Whilst the ITTECF underpins what all new teachers should learn, it is not a curriculum. Training providers and schools can design a curriculum based on the ITTECF and which is responsive to the needs of the participants and individual school settings.
Beyond the ITTECF, decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rest with schools, headteachers, and teachers themselves as they are in the best position to judge their own requirements.
We recognise that continuous improvement is essential in transforming the training and support for all new teachers, and to review the experiences and needs of early career teachers as well as trainees. This is why we have committed to a full review of the programme in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for trainees and early career teachers.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release titled “10-year plan to revitalise schools and colleges for every child”, published on 11 February 2026, what is the estimated total cost of establishing an inclusion base in every secondary school.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
On Wednesday 11 February, the department set out our ambition that, in time, every secondary school will have an inclusion base.
Where new places are needed, this can be supported by the £3.7 billion in high needs capital that we are investing between 2025/26 and 2029/30. This funding is allocated to local authorities, who know their schools and will determine how best to spend funding to meet local need. £740 million of this funding has already been allocated, and allocations for 2026/27 will be published in the spring.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release titled “10-year plan to revitalise schools and colleges for every child”, published on 11 February 2026, by when does the government expect every secondary school to have an inclusion base.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
On Wednesday 11 February, the department set out our ambition that, in time, every secondary school will have an inclusion base.
Where new places are needed, this can be supported by the £3.7 billion in high needs capital that we are investing between 2025/26 and 2029/30. This funding is allocated to local authorities, who know their schools and will determine how best to spend funding to meet local need. £740 million of this funding has already been allocated, and allocations for 2026/27 will be published in the spring.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Your Party - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities fulfil their statutory duties in respect of Education, Health and Care Plans for children with special educational needs.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department and NHS England work together to support and challenge local areas to improve their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) service delivery where required. This includes monitoring, supporting and challenging any areas of identified weakness, both following an area SEND inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, or if those areas are identified outside of inspection timescales.
Where a local authority does not meet its duties, including in relation to securing provision in accordance with education, health and care plans, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement. This includes a range of universal, targeted and intensive support through departmental programmes, such as our expert advisers and commissioners.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to ensure school buildings are adequately maintained for future use.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government has published its education estates strategy backed by a 10 year plan to deliver a decade of renewal to transform schools and colleges in England. It is supported by unprecedented long-term funding through to 2034/35. We are investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance for schools and colleges, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
We are also launching a new Renewal and Retrofit Programme, backed by over £700 million to 2029/30, to improve the condition of school and college buildings, increase resilience to climate change and protect schools from flooding so buildings can last for decades to come and are net zero ready. The Programme will start with schools in the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber and the South East, and will be expanded from 2027 to other regions in England. We will set out further details in due course on how schools and colleges join the programme from 2027.