Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Skills England on the potential creation of an apprenticeship standard in counselling.

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

Skills England is focused on developing new, and reviewing existing, apprenticeships which will have the greatest impact on government priorities, including supporting young people into employment and supporting industrial strategy and other priority sectors.

Skills England has engaged with stakeholders on the development of a counselling apprenticeship. This included exploring whether the existing Level 4 Counsellor occupational standard, which was developed for Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) provision, could be used as the basis for an apprenticeship. However, to date, no decision has been made on the development of such an apprenticeship.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review: Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy, published in December 2025, and what steps they intend to take to hold the school to account for the practices highlighted in the report.

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

The department takes the findings of the Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review (LCSPR) very seriously. Our role is to ensure schools meet their statutory duties and respond appropriately to independent reviews and enquiries. Schools must safeguard and promote the welfare of every child.

The Mossbourne Federation has committed to taking forward the LCSPR’s recommendations and has set up an Implementation Committee to oversee changes. The London Regional Director is meeting Mossbourne trustees regularly to review progress.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether therapy providers amended treatment plans or reduced the value of funding applications following the introduction of the £3000 Fair Access Limit for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.

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

Recipient Average Costs per Financial Years

Application requests are made within the Fair Access Limit – we do not approve an amount different to the requested amount.

Local Authorities and Regional Adoption Agencies are responsible for submitting applications. The financial value of all applications submitted to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund were below the £3,000 fair access limit. The department regularly reviews the costs per hour of therapy, and the number of hours of therapy per application. Local authorities and regional adoption agencies can top-up funding using their own resources.

The department is currently considering responses to its consultation on the future of Adoption Support, including the long-term effects of any changes made to adoption support.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether their recent Adoption support that works for all consultation considered the long-term costs to the public purse of unmet therapeutic need among adopted children and children subject to special guardianship orders.

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

Recipient Average Costs per Financial Years

Application requests are made within the Fair Access Limit – we do not approve an amount different to the requested amount.

Local Authorities and Regional Adoption Agencies are responsible for submitting applications. The financial value of all applications submitted to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund were below the £3,000 fair access limit. The department regularly reviews the costs per hour of therapy, and the number of hours of therapy per application. Local authorities and regional adoption agencies can top-up funding using their own resources.

The department is currently considering responses to its consultation on the future of Adoption Support, including the long-term effects of any changes made to adoption support.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the (1) average amount requested by applicants, and (2) average amount awarded to applicants through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund in each financial year since 2022-23.

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

Recipient Average Costs per Financial Years

Application requests are made within the Fair Access Limit – we do not approve an amount different to the requested amount.

Local Authorities and Regional Adoption Agencies are responsible for submitting applications. The financial value of all applications submitted to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund were below the £3,000 fair access limit. The department regularly reviews the costs per hour of therapy, and the number of hours of therapy per application. Local authorities and regional adoption agencies can top-up funding using their own resources.

The department is currently considering responses to its consultation on the future of Adoption Support, including the long-term effects of any changes made to adoption support.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of expanding the automatic eligibility criteria for the Holiday Activities and Food programme to include all care-experienced children, including those who are looked after, in kinship care arrangements, or adopted.

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

The government recognises that care-experienced children, including children who are looked after, living in kinship care or adopted, can face additional challenges.

The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, backed by over £600 million of funding for the next three years, provides free nutritious meals, enriching activities, and safe environments to eligible children during the school holidays. The programme is specifically targeted at children eligible for free school meals from households with annual earnings of £7,400 or less, focussing on families facing the greatest levels of disadvantage.

Local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised places to children who do not meet the eligibility criteria but could benefit from HAF, in line with local needs and priorities such as care-experienced children.

The government is also strengthening support for care-experienced children through wider reforms, including enhanced support for children in kinship care, extension of the Virtual School Head role and investment in kinship care support.