Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of appeals against education, health and care plan decisions were successful in each of the last five years.

Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The data has been taken from the local management information system with financial year set as April to March. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and is the best data that are available. For this reason, the appeals shown in the above table may not match published totals. Data does not include refusals to make a plan, as that is the step before deciding the content of a plan.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the additional cost to local authorities in England arising from increased demand for provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

High needs funding for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is continuing at an increased level of over £12 billion in the 2026/27 financial year, following an increase of 11% in 2025/26.

To reverse the trend of late intervention and escalation of needs, the department is providing £4 billion over the next three years, including:

• The Inclusive Mainstream Fund, providing £1.6 billion for schools, colleges and early years settings to prepare and deliver improved inclusive practice.
• £1.8 billion for local authorities to work in partnership with integrated care boards to develop and deliver a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer, providing a new route to expert advice and support for mainstream settings from education and health professionals.

Furthermore, in 2026/27, local authorities with a SEND deficit will be eligible for a High Needs Stability Grant covering 90% of their dedicated schools grant deficit accrued up to 2025/26.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many local authorities in England are currently failing to issue education, health and care plans within the statutory 20-week deadline.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department publishes figures on the number of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued within the statutory timeframe of 20 weeks. The latest data covers EHC plans issued during the 2018 to 2025 calendar years and is available on GOV.UK.

The published information shows that, in 2025, there were 143 of 153 local authorities where less than 100% of new EHC plans were issued within 20 weeks of the date the request for an EHC needs assessment was received.

The attached table, created from the release, is also available on GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of school closures on educational outcomes; and what support they are offering to students whose school has closed.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department recognises that the decision to close a school is difficult and sensitive and expects alternatives to closure to be explored before a decision is made. Where closure is considered the right option, the department expects proposers to minimise disruption to pupils’ education during the closure process and to support a smooth transition to alternative educational provision.

The evidence does not suggest a simple causal link between school closures and educational outcomes. However, we know that falling pupil numbers can create pressures on school finances, staffing and curriculum delivery, which may lead to closure being considered along with other options. The department is considering the impact of demographic change on educational outcomes, including for disadvantaged pupils, in line with recommendations made by the National Audit Office.

Proposers and local authorities should work together to ensure there are alternative places available for pupils, suitable transport arrangements and support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities as part of closure plans. Where the proposer is an academy trust, the department scrutinises these plans before agreeing to closure.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the terms of repayment for student loans.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government is taking decisive action to better support disadvantaged students, make things fairer for graduates, and create a more flexible, responsive post-16 education system through the introduction of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement in January 2027.

Since 2024, we have raised the Plan 2 repayment threshold twice, protected borrowers from the risk of inflation shocks by capping interest rates on Plan 2 and Plan 3 loans at 6% for the 2026/27 academic year, and future-proofed maintenance loans by committing to increase them every year in-line with forecast inflation. Further, we are making care leavers automatically eligible for the maximum rate of maintenance loan, and we will be reintroducing targeted, means-tested maintenance grants in the2028/29 academic year, funded by a levy on providers for international students.

We will continue to look for ways to make the system fairer for students, graduates and taxpayers in a financially sustainable way.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are considering the introduction of a levy to fund adult social care.

Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Prime Minister has set out his commitment to end decades of political drift on social care and fix the system with a National Care Service that gives people dignity, security and the support they deserve.

Reforms to social care will be fully and sustainably funded – the government will meet its fiscal rules. However, it is right that Baroness Casey’s Commission, which will now report in summer 2027, considers all options for the National Care Service. Funding options will be an important part of that conversation, and the government is not going to pre-empt Baroness Casey’s work.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of regional differences in the recruitment and retention of teachers across England.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department has now achieved 71.6% of the 6,500 additional teachers target. There are 4,654 more teachers - 3,008 more teachers in secondary and special schools in 2025/26 and 1,646 more teachers in further education, than in 2024/25. Latest data also reported one of the lowest leaver rates on record of 8.5% and a record 17,740 teachers returning to the classroom.

While the department does not routinely publish recruitment and retention rates at a regional level, trends in the full-time equivalent teacher workforce suggest that regions have broadly followed the national pattern over time.

Information on the school workforce in England, including teacher recruitment and retention, is published annually in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical release, available on GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of teachers in England who qualified in each year since 2018 remained in the profession five years later.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department has now achieved 71.6% of the 6,500 additional teachers target. There are 4,654 more teachers - 3,008 more teachers in secondary and special schools in 2025/26 and 1,646 more teachers in further education, than in 2024/25. Latest data also reported one of the lowest leaver rates on record of 8.5% and a record 17,740 teachers returning to the classroom.

While the department does not routinely publish recruitment and retention rates at a regional level, trends in the full-time equivalent teacher workforce suggest that regions have broadly followed the national pattern over time.

Information on the school workforce in England, including teacher recruitment and retention, is published annually in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical release, available on GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many teacher vacancies currently exist in England by subject area.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department has now achieved 71.6% of the 6,500 additional teachers target. There are 4,654 more teachers - 3,008 more teachers in secondary and special schools in 2025/26 and 1,646 more teachers in further education, than in 2024/25. Latest data also reported one of the lowest leaver rates on record of 8.5% and a record 17,740 teachers returning to the classroom.

While the department does not routinely publish recruitment and retention rates at a regional level, trends in the full-time equivalent teacher workforce suggest that regions have broadly followed the national pattern over time.

Information on the school workforce in England, including teacher recruitment and retention, is published annually in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical release, available on GOV.UK.