Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what process they use to verify the safety, privacy, and educational value of educational technology products being used in schools in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department supports schools to make informed decisions through published digital and technology standards, guidance on data protection, cyber security, filtering and monitoring, and advice on buying technology and services. These set clear expectations for safe, secure and effective use of technology in schools and colleges.
The department will shortly consult on a certification scheme for education technology products, including generative AI and filtering and monitoring products, to give schools clearer assurance about safety when considering products for use in classrooms. The certification scheme will build on existing digital and technology standards for schools, including the generative AI product safety standards, creating a robust model that can adapt as technology evolves.
To support schools further, the department is also investing £24 million in testbeds to evaluate the impact of education technology on outcomes, helping build the evidence base on what works for schools.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the cost of (1) one-to-one screen-based devices, and (2) educational technology software and licences, provided for use in schools in England in each of the last three academic years.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Schools and academy trusts are responsible for decisions on their own technology procurement and expenditure, within their delegated budgets and in line with relevant procurement rules.
In 2024/25, the department estimates that schools spent over £800 million on EdTech, including learning resources, admin software, laptops, desktops and tablets, which is equivalent to 1.2% of the entire school budget.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) primary schools, and (2) secondary schools, in England provide a one-to-one screen-based device to every pupil.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Schools in England are free to select and deploy educational technology based on their individual needs, circumstances and educational context. The department has set digital and technology standards for schools and colleges, including standards for laptops, desktops and tablets for educational use. The standards do not specify a device ratio to meet, but helps schools and colleges to get the right devices that will support their overall digital and technology strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by the Information Commissioner's Office Edtech examined, published on 24 June, which highlighted a number of compliance gaps across the EdTech sector, what assessment they have made of the collection of children's personal data by educational technology applications used in schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department welcomes the findings of the report from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and recognises the highlighted areas where some educational technology providers may need to improve their compliance with data protection requirements. The department is working with the ICO to address some of the highlighted areas.
As schools are data controllers in their own right, they are responsible for deciding which EdTech tools to procure to support their functions. To help schools make informed data protection decisions when procuring EdTech tools, the department produced guidance to support schools in making decisions on procuring EdTech, available at GOV.UK. This guidance is intended to help schools understand their data protection responsibilities and consider appropriate measures when selecting suppliers while safeguarding the personal data of pupils, parents and carers.
The department continues to engage with the ICO to promote good practice across the education sector.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether educational technology products adopted by schools are required to undergo a data protection impact assessment before deployment.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Schools, academy trusts and local authorities are responsible for complying with data protection law when adopting educational technology products.
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, they must complete a data protection impact assessment where the processing of personal data is likely to result in a high risk to individuals’ rights and freedoms.
This can include, for example, large-scale processing of children’s data, profiling, biometric data or other high-risk uses.
The department published guidance for schools on data protection and procuring educational technology, which encourages schools to consider data protection from the outset and consult their data protection officer when introducing new tools. This guidance is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effects on SEND provision of transferring SEND responsibilities from central government to regional authorities.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Some regional bodies, including Mayoral Strategic Authorities, are already working to support local authorities across their regions, as those local authorities deliver their statutory duties relating to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The department will continue to work with regional authorities to consider how they could further support our reforms to the SEND system to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND. There will be further announcements on devolution in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what safeguards they will retain to ensure national consistency in educational standards following the implementation of plans to reform funding for special educational needs and disabilities provision in mainstream and specialist schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have appointed an independent panel of experts, led by education and health co-chairs, to advise on what approaches, strategies, and tools should be included in the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages.
The Standards will set out the provision that ordinarily should be in every setting across the 0 to 25 system. This is in addition to the evidence-based tools, strategies and approaches for educators to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Specialist Provision Packages describe the support available for children and young people with the most complex needs. These measures are designed to create a consistent, high-quality offer, wherever they live, thereby ending the post code lottery of support.
We will develop a national cost framework for these packages, and we expect to engage with stakeholders and consult on any new funding arrangements in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of restoring the 24 Gigawatts target for nuclear energy.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As we enter the new golden age of nuclear, this government has committed almost £17 billion across the Spending Review period to the most ambitious nuclear new build programme for a generation, including Sizewell C and the Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) small modular reactor programme.
The government is focused on enabling nuclear projects to support the UK's long-term energy needs, including through the Advanced Nuclear Framework, to support private sector-led advanced nuclear projects.
Furthermore, GBE-N has been tasked with identifying other suitable sites that could host a potential further large-scale nuclear project.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had regarding the devolution of education and skills powers to mayoral combined authorities.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department engages regularly with Mayoral Strategic Authorities on a wide range of issues, including the devolved skills powers and funding they hold, and their role as leaders in their local skills systems. Skills devolution is an important mechanism for enabling more responsive and locally tailored provision that meets the needs of learners, employers and regional economies.
The government recognises the value of empowering Strategic Authorities to shape skills provision in line with local priorities. Through ongoing engagement, the department will continue to explore opportunities to build on existing devolution arrangements, ensuring that skills investment supports local growth and delivers outcomes that reflect the needs of communities across England.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform funding for special educational needs and disabilities provision in mainstream and specialist schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department has published the ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper, alongside a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) consultation, which set out our plans for reform, including those relating to funding. We have also published additional information on SEND Reform for those leading and working in mainstream schools, and a summary of what the SEND reforms mean for specialist provision, including special schools, which are available on GOV.UK.
In taking forward these plans, our aim is both to establish a fair mainstream school funding system that directs funding to where it is needed, enabling improved support for children with SEND, and to create a fair, transparent system that gives specialist schools stable, predictable funding to deliver high-quality education and integrated support for children with the most complex needs. We will consult on proposals for specific funding changes as these plans are further developed.