Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review the policy of automatic off-rolling to ensure a formal review and hearing occurs before any decision is made.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is clear that off-rolling in any form is unacceptable, and we will continue to work closely with Ofsted to tackle it.
Pupils may leave a school roll for many reasons, including permanent exclusion, transfer to another school or change of circumstances. All schools are legally required to notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is removed from the admissions register.
The law is clear a pupil’s name can only be deleted from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in Regulation 9 of the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the transparency data entitled the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for July to September 2025 for all departments, published on 25 December 2025, whether the KPI of 0% gender pay gap for the contract entitled Approach Social Work C24 - C26 supplied by The Frontline Organisation applies to all aspects of her Department's work.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The performance data for July to September 2025, published on 25 December 2025, for the contract titled ‘Approach Social Work C24 - C26 (con_20840)’, and specifically in relation to the ‘Key Performance Indicator con_20840-KPI-SV’ supplied by The Frontline Organisation reporting a 0% gender pay gap, is only in relation to this contract and is not for all aspects of the department.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Question 103540 answered on 13 January, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on potential impact of the extension of the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain on the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
In developing the Child Poverty Strategy, the Child Poverty Taskforce considered all children across the UK, including migrant children and children in families subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds condition.
The earned settlement model is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026. Details of the earned settlement scheme will be finalised following that consultation.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of eligibility criteria for free school transport on young children who are advised to walk to school in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for eligible children. A child is eligible if they are of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. There are extended rights to free travel for children from low-income families.
Local authorities also have a discretionary power to arrange travel for other children if they choose to do so.
Tackling school absence is at the heart of this government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity. Since September 2024, we have added a new absence code to school registers to reflect issues with local authority arranged transport. Only 0.011% of the total number of school sessions for the 2024/25 academic year were missed due to issues with transport normally provided by the local authority or school not being available.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding will be available for new special educational needs and disabilities schools through the Special Free Schools Programme in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
There are three planned special free schools in the county of Surrey. We are making a funding package available to the local authority so they can deliver the places planned for these schools themselves more quickly and with a greater focus on mainstream inclusion where appropriate. The total funding available to Surrey is up to £27 million.
For the two schools in Surrey that are closest to delivery, the local authority has a choice about whether to continue with the school or take the funding package. The department will fund the capital delivery of schools the local authority chooses to proceed with in the usual way.
Local authorities have until 27 February 2026 to make their decisions, and we will confirm the total funding for all local authorities, as well as the schools that are going ahead, in due course after that date.
We have also confirmed that £3 billion will be invested between 2025/26 and 2029/2030 to support local authorities to create places outside of the free schools programme. Local authority allocations for 2026/27 will be published in the Spring.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of teachers in England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The latest school workforce census reported that the workforce has grown by 2,346 FTE between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools. This year has one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,700 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector and more teachers returning to state schools than at any point in the last ten years. The latest data showed 17,274 teachers returned to the classroom.
This government agreed a 5.5% pay award for 2024/25 and a 4% pay award for 2025/26, meaning teachers and leaders will see an increase in their pay of almost 10% over two years. In 2024/25, we also confirmed targeted retention incentives worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers in the first five years of teaching in maths, physics, chemistry and computing in the most disadvantaged schools.
The government manages Teaching Vacancies, a website where schools can list their teaching, leadership and support vacancies. The service helps schools save money by removing advertising costs for their recruitment activities.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to help Cheshire East Council reduce its SEND assessment waiting times.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department provides special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support to local areas through a structured approach that balances support, challenge, and assurance. Through our SEND improvement support, a dedicated SEND Adviser is providing targeted advice and challenge to help Cheshire East Council streamline assessment pathways, ensure consistent decision‑making, and improve multi‑agency contributions so that assessments can be completed within statutory timeframes. The department, in collaboration with colleagues from NHS England in the North West, regularly engages with Cheshire East Local Area SEND Partnership to understand any further needs and provides support and challenge as appropriate, as well as monitoring progress.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Storm Chandra on children’s education in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is working closely with Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to monitor the impacts of Storm Chandra on education.
School closures are reported at local authority level, rather than at a constituency level. On 28 January 2026, Somerset Council reported on nine school closures in the county, none of which were in the Yeovil area. In addition, the local authority reported only one school closure due to flooding, in Taunton. The school reopened on 3 February 2026.
We provide guidance to schools and other childcare settings on how to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including severe weather.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 £100,000 earnings threshold for free childcare on incentives to work.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
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.
The working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. The minimum income threshold rises in line with National Minimum Wage increases at the beginning of the financial year.
The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Parents who earn over the maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for three and four-year-olds in England.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the gap between her Department's funding rates for early years childcare and the cost of provision.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government is prioritising and protecting investment in the early years, and in 2026/27 we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023/24.
On average nationally, next year we are increasing the 3- and 4-year-old hourly funding rate by 4.95%, the 2-year-old hourly funding rate by 4.36% and funding rate for the 9 months to 2-year-old entitlement by 4.28%. National average funding rate increases continue to reflect in full forecast cost pressures on the early years sector, including the National Living Wage announced at Autumn Budget 2025, and go further.
The department uses the early years national funding formulae (EYNFF) to distribute the early years entitlements budget to local authorities. The EYNFF determine local authority hourly funding rates by taking into consideration the different costs of delivering early years provision in different parts of the country.