Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the cost to the public purse of industrial disputes in further education colleges.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating terms and conditions and managing their industrial relations.
Based on engagement with the sector, we know colleges affected by recent strikes have generally implemented measures to ensure the impact on learners is minimised as far as possible. This has included rearranging classes, providing online learning where possible, and keeping libraries and learning centres open to allow the opportunity for independent study.
We encourage colleges to continue to adopt these and other appropriate mitigations where that is necessary. We encourage colleges and unions to remain engaged in open and constructive dialogue for the best interests of staff and students.
We all have a shared goal in ensuring our young people gain the best education during this critical transition period, advancing their opportunities and supporting economic growth.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is her most recent estimate of (1) the Resource Accounting and Budgeting charge and (2) the estimated cost to Government of support for the student finance system, based on future loan write-offs and interest subsidies, (a) in net present-value terms, and (b) as a proportion of the initial loan outlay.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) charge, the government subsidy anticipated on student loans issued in any particular financial year, is calculated as the present value of student loan outlay less expected future repayments. This is in accordance with relevant International Financial Reporting Standards and guidance from HM Treasury’s's Government Financial Reporting Manual.
In the 2024/25 financial year, the RAB charge was £6.2 billion, or 29.6% of the £20.7 billion of the student loans issued.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many UK students have studied abroad under the Turing scheme by country in the most recent year for which figures are available; and at what cost.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The 2023/24 academic year is the most recent year for which data is published on placements completed using Turing Scheme funding and the associated costs. In 2023/2024, 32,714 UK students took part in international placements through the Turing Scheme, travelling to 153 countries. The most popular destinations were Spain (4,728), France (3,178), Italy (1,841), the United States (2,468), Australia (1,002) and Japan (750).
Across all sectors, the scheme spent £82.8 million of funding in that year on placements for students in higher education, further education and vocational training, and schools. The department does not hold information on the cost of placements by individual destination country.
A full breakdown of destinations and funding is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/turing-scheme-funding-outcomes-2023-to-2024.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will will consider exempting PhD students from the International Student Levy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We are engaging with the higher education sector to shape the design of the International Student Levy (ISL) to make delivery as easy as possible for providers. A technical consultation on the delivery of the ISL was open for responses until 18 February 2026. The government will publish its response in Summer 2026.
We have listened to concerns raised by the sector. The levy will not be introduced until 2028/29 to give providers time to plan for its introduction. Providers will also pay the ISL one year in arrears, to help with their financial planning and will also be given an allowance for the first 220 international students per year. This is to mitigate the ISL having a disproportionate impact on smaller providers, particularly those operating specialist and resource intensive models with limited other means of cross-subsidisation.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 24 February (HL Deb col 565), whether they will publish a breakdown by programme area of the £4 billion for special educational needs and disabilities reform over the next three years, including allocations for (1) the Inclusive Mainstream Fund, (2) Experts at Hand, (3) Best Start Family Hubs, and (4) a national training package.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As set out in special educational needs and disabilities reform: putting children and young people first, the breakdown of our £4bn investment package, over the next three years, is as follows:
The government will publish breakdowns by programme area for this coming financial year as part of publishing allocations in the coming months.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of the childcare sector to deliver Government-funded childcare places; and what their current estimate is of any shortfall or surplus of places.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through the Best Start in Life strategy, the department is focused on reforming the childcare system and delivering on our Plan for Change. This government continues to prioritise and protect investment in the early years, which is why we are investing over £1 billion more in early years entitlements next year compared to 2025/26. The school-based nursery programme is a £400 million capital investment to deliver the government’s manifesto commitment to create or expand thousands of additional school-based nurseries across England, increasing access to childcare for families.
The department is providing £82 million of capital funding to over 600 primary and maintained nursery schools across phases 1 and 2 which will create over 11,000 new nursery places by September 2027, of which over 5,000 places were available from September 2025.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. There are currently no sufficiency challenges reported.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to improve the quality and accessibility of social care services for children across the UK.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Children’s social care is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department is taking forward a comprehensive programme of major reforms, including a focus on early help, family support and stronger safeguarding, as set out in the ‘Keeping children safe, helping families thrive’ statement and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Our measures will strengthen multi‑agency child protection, expand kinship and foster care support, and enhance Ofsted’s powers to tackle unregistered or substandard provision.
The department is also delivering the Families First Partnership programme to keep families together and reduce reliance on high-cost residential placements. Placement quality, financial transparency and workforce capacity are being improved through significant investment and new oversight measures.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much in total was paid to the Teachers' Pension Scheme by (1) teachers, and (2) employers, in (a) 2021, (b) 2022, and (c) 2023; and how much was paid to retired teachers in pension payments in each of those years.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In the 2020/21 financial year, a total of £2.48 billion was paid by members into the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), and £6.15 billion was paid by employers over the same period. £9.41 billion was paid to retired members of the TPS within this financial year.
In the 2021/22 financial year, a total of £2.57 billion was paid by members into the TPS, and £6.357 billion was paid by employers over the same period. £9.563 billion was paid to retired members of the TPS within this financial year.
In the 2022/23 financial year, a total of £2.65 billion was paid by members into the TPS, and £6.58 billion was paid by employers over the same period. £9.93 billion was paid to retired members of the TPS within this financial year.
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 information her Department holds on the number of Plan 2 student loan borrowers who have seen their outstanding balance increase despite making regular repayments in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency in each of the last five years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are 330 people with contact postcodes held by the Student Loan Company (SLC) indicating they live in the South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency who have repaid their plan 2 Student Loan.
There are 6,530 people in the constituency who currently have outstanding plan 2 student loans; of which 5,700 borrowers have loans that have become liable to repay as they are beyond the statutory repayment due date.
In the 2024/25 financial year, 2,100 plan 2 borrowers with loans that had become liable to repay made regular repayments but saw their outstanding balance increase as the total interest added exceeded the total amount repaid over the year. Outstanding debt, including interest, is cancelled at the end of the loan term, with no detriment to the borrower.
For this analysis, a borrower is deemed to have made regular repayments if they have made at least four repayments in the 2024/25 financial year. This may include borrowers who stopped their regular repayments or ceased being liable to repay part-way through the year.
This will include borrowers who were resident in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency, including at parental addresses, when they applied for the loan and have not informed the SLC of a subsequent change of address.
(Borrower numbers rounded to the nearest 10).
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 information her Department holds on the number of people in the South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency who have fully repaid their Plan 2 student loan.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are 330 people with contact postcodes held by the Student Loan Company (SLC) indicating they live in the South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency who have repaid their plan 2 Student Loan.
There are 6,530 people in the constituency who currently have outstanding plan 2 student loans; of which 5,700 borrowers have loans that have become liable to repay as they are beyond the statutory repayment due date.
In the 2024/25 financial year, 2,100 plan 2 borrowers with loans that had become liable to repay made regular repayments but saw their outstanding balance increase as the total interest added exceeded the total amount repaid over the year. Outstanding debt, including interest, is cancelled at the end of the loan term, with no detriment to the borrower.
For this analysis, a borrower is deemed to have made regular repayments if they have made at least four repayments in the 2024/25 financial year. This may include borrowers who stopped their regular repayments or ceased being liable to repay part-way through the year.
This will include borrowers who were resident in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency, including at parental addresses, when they applied for the loan and have not informed the SLC of a subsequent change of address.
(Borrower numbers rounded to the nearest 10).