Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
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 local authority top-slicing of High Needs Block funding on the resources available to schools and academy trusts to deliver provision set out in Education, Health and Care Plans (ECHP); and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that EHCP funding allocated to trusts is spent directly on the provision specified in those plans.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
High needs funding has increased by over £1 billion in the 2025/26 financial year and we are continuing that increased level of funding into next year. The vast majority of this funding is allocated by local authorities to schools, colleges and other settings, including for mainstream schools’ support costs in excess of £6,000 per pupil, to secure the special provision set out in education, health and care plans. Local authorities generally allow some flexibility over how this funding is used by schools, and are responsible for ensuring the school delivers the provision set out in those plans.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the department is taking to ensure that the National Year of Reading is accessible for neurodiverse people in (a) Yeovil constituency (b) Somerset and (C) the United Kingdom.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Year of Reading is a UK wide campaign designed to tackle the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults, and to engage new audiences in reading.
’Go All In’ is a fully inclusive campaign, encouraging people to read about whatever interests them, via any genre and all mediums of reading. Embracing a variety of reading formats, from print to digital to audio, can make reading more accessible, engaging and inclusive for both children and adults, including those with neurodiversity and special educational needs.
The campaign is reaching communities across the UK through schools, libraries, businesses and local partners. Libraries, as free to access community hubs, play a central role in supporting participation and helping people of all ages and from all sectors of society to develop a lasting love of reading.
You can find out more about events in your local area by visiting the website here: https://goallin.org.uk/whats-on/.Schools and early years settings in Somerset and across the UK can also access a range of exciting online webinars, resources and activities throughout the year. They can find more information here: https://goallin.org.uk/get-involved/schools/.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the level of funding for maintained schools in Yeovil constituency since 2010-11 on educational outcomes.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Somerset local authority allocates funding for schools in Yeovil constituency. The table below sets out the funding Somerset local authority has received through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) since 2019/20. Due to changes in the way that funding is allocated, the department cannot provide equivalent figures before then.
Financial Year | Overall funding (£ million) | Average per pupil (£) |
2019/20 | 294 | 4,361 |
2020/21 | 312 | 4,607 |
2021/22 | 339 | 5,008 |
2022/23 | 351 | 5,180 |
2023/24 | 372 | 5,451 |
2024/25 | 391 | 5,753 |
2025/26 | 418 | 6,228 |
2026/27 | 435 | 6,569 |
Somerset has historically experienced below-average educational performance at both primary and secondary levels. However, there have been measurable improvements in GCSE and Key Stage 2 outcomes since 2023. The department continues to work closely with the local authority, multi-academy trusts and other local partners to build on this progress, including through the regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) targeted and universal services.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The cost of feasibility studies conducted by the department on school building capital projects that did not proceed in the last 5 years is £8,689,888.
These costs are made up of capital funding, property costs, professional and technical services, staff and project management costs, and fees.
Between 2010 and 2024, over £300 million has also been spent on over 50 free schools that subsequently closed, money that could have been invested in places for children with special educational needs and disabilities or addressing urgent condition needs in existing schools.
This is why the department has taken action on the free schools pipeline. Projects that proceed will be those that meet the needs of communities, respond to demographic and housing demand, and raise standards without undermining the viability of existing local schools and colleges.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether independent assessment processes exist to monitor the changing costs for local authorities' expenditure on taxi provision to schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school travel for eligible children and use a mix of in-house services, passes for free travel on public transport and contracts with private transport operators. Such contracts are a matter for the council and the operator. We encourage councils to have robust arrangements in place. We would expect single-occupancy taxis to be used only when no other solution is appropriate. We are supporting councils through a new home-to-school travel data collection to support benchmarking and publishing guidance to support joined-up decision-making.
We have committed to reform the special educational needs and disabilities system to enable more children to thrive in local mainstream settings. This will mean fewer children will need to travel long distances to access education, reducing the burden on local authorities. These reforms are set out in the Schools White Paper, published on 23 February.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that curriculum, vocational training, and teacher development programs are used to promote students' understanding of ecosystems, soil health, and climate adaptation within the context of UK food security.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The current national curriculum includes topics relating to ecosystems, soil health, and climate adaptation within the context of UK food security, and they can also be studied at GCSE and A level.
Work is now underway to deliver a new curriculum and assessment system that is ambitious for every child, rich in knowledge and strong on skills. Programmes of study for each curriculum subject will be refreshed in line with the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s recommendations, and we are working towards a revised national curriculum being published in spring 2027, for first teaching in 2028.
There will be opportunity to provide views on the new curriculum content when the department conducts a public consultation on the draft programmes of study in summer 2026.
The department already has a range of vocational qualifications that provide training in green skills including apprenticeships, T levels, Skills Bootcamps and higher technical qualifications.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve environmental education in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The current national curriculum includes topics relating to ecosystems, soil health, and climate adaptation within the context of UK food security, and they can also be studied at GCSE and A level.
Work is now underway to deliver a new curriculum and assessment system that is ambitious for every child, rich in knowledge and strong on skills. Programmes of study for each curriculum subject will be refreshed in line with the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s recommendations, and we are working towards a revised national curriculum being published in spring 2027, for first teaching in 2028.
There will be opportunity to provide views on the new curriculum content when the department conducts a public consultation on the draft programmes of study in summer 2026.
The department already has a range of vocational qualifications that provide training in green skills including apprenticeships, T levels, Skills Bootcamps and higher technical qualifications.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Department has to promote the National Year of Reading in a) early years settings, b) primary schools, c) secondary schools, d) further education and e) higher education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Truro and Falmouth to the answer of 23 February to Question 112757.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department plans to promote the National Year of Reading within early years policy and strategy during 2026 and beyond.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Newbury to the answer of 16 February 2026 to Question 111973.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to extend free school milk provision in 2026 to the additional 500,000 children newly eligible for free school meals.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon to the answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 108822.