Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 28 January (HL Deb col 1030), what inspection arrangements they are proposing for the governance of single academy trusts.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill introduces new powers for Ofsted to inspect academy trusts. These inspections will focus on trusts, rather than schools. The detailed arrangements will be set out in secondary legislation and subject to proposed consultation.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have issued guidance to local authorities in England about special school expansion and historical special educational needs and disability deficits; and if so, whether they will publish it.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department has issued guidance relevant to special school expansion in high needs provision capital allocations. This sets out how councils should assess need, plan delivery routes for new capacity, and, where appropriate, expand or refurbish existing special schools, while also strengthening mainstream inclusion through inclusion bases.
Guidance on Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits has also been published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The explanatory note confirms that High Needs Stability Grant payments, covering up to ninety per cent of high needs related DSG deficits accrued up to the end of the 2025/26 financial year, will only be released once a Local Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Reform Plan has been approved. This requirement was reiterated in the material circulated alongside the Local SEND Reform Plan commission.
All documents are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of Government initiatives launched between 2010 and 2024 in narrowing the attainment gap in schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Despite the efforts of dedicated staff, our school system is not serving all children well, with unacceptable disparities in attainment existing across all phases of education and all areas of the country.
Disadvantaged children, especially white working-class children, and those with special educational needs and disabilities are not succeeding as they should.
The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils remains high and persistent at both primary and secondary.
The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ white paper establishes the department’s plan to improve the outcomes of all children and young people.
When children born under this government finish secondary school, it is our ambition that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap will be halved, equating to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.
To deliver this we will provide family support to help more disadvantaged children arrive at reception school ready, strengthen teacher recruitment and retention, broaden the curriculum and offer high-quality enrichment opportunities.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 11 March (HL14898), what assessment they have made of the cost to the public of multi academy trust chief executives pay in comparison to similar roles in the maintained school sector.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The responsibilities of multi-academy trust chief executives are not directly comparable to those of leaders in the maintained sector.
The department is clear that executive pay must be justifiable, transparent, evidence-based and reflect individual responsibility. Trustees should adhere to these principles in setting pay, supported by our guidance and advice. We are taking steps to respond to instances where we see high salaries compared to peers. This includes tightening the academy trust handbook (ATH) by requiring executive pay increases to be proportionate and justified, to prevent excessive increases for individuals carrying out broadly similar roles.
The department reviews trusts’ annual accounts to identify trusts with outlying levels of executive pay and engages with them to ensure compliance with the requirements of the ATH.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to including multi academy trust chief executives in the remit of the Senior Salaries Review Body.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Senior Salaries Review Body has not received any request for Multi Academy Trust Chief Executives to be included in their remit.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards (1) identifying, and (2) compensating, families affected by the inadvertent legislative change that was reversed by the Child Benefit (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/818); and when they expect to complete the correction exercise.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The correction exercise opened to claims for both Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit on 1 October 2025.
As affected individuals may not have had an active claim, HMRC is unable to identify affected individuals from its records and is reliant on them contacting HMRC. Prior to the launch, HMRC provided messaging directly to third-party welfare rights stakeholders to advertise the exercise and encourage claimants to self-identify. HMRC officials worked with the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions to amplify this messaging through homeschooling networks and local authorities, respectively. The exercise also received national press coverage.
The communications campaign is expected to run until October 2026. HMRC will continue to publicise through stakeholders, and consider further press releases or targeted social media.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure opportunities for artists are spread more evenly across the country.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government prioritises making creative careers accessible for everyone and we are working closely with the arts sector to address barriers.
With regards to improving access to creative careers, the government has committed to delivering a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service. We will partner with industry to equip the next generation of young people with the ambition and knowledge to work in the creative industries and arts. We have also invested £500,000 to expand the King’s Trust Creative Futures programme, which is designed to break down barriers to jobs in the creative industries for young people across the country who are, or at risk of being, not in education, employment or training (NEET).
In February this year we announced a review of Arts Council England which will examine how the Arts Council can be best positioned to unlock creativity and cultural excellence in every corner of the country - making sure its structure and decision-making truly work for all communities.
Further, Arts Council England (ACE) is targeting 54 areas in England where cultural engagement and investment have been historically low through its Priority Places programme. In the 2024/25 financial year, ACE invested almost £27 million through National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG) into Priority Places.
In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government has committed to revitalising arts education through a reformed curriculum and through support for teachers. A new National Centre for Arts and Music Education will improve social mobility by ensuring high quality arts education is an essential part of the broad and rich curriculum every child deserves. It will achieve this through three key areas: supporting excellent arts teaching, developing sustainable partnerships and promoting arts education.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve access to careers and address socioeconomic divides in the arts.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government prioritises making creative careers accessible for everyone and we are working closely with the arts sector to address barriers.
With regards to improving access to creative careers, the government has committed to delivering a refreshed UK-wide £9 million creative careers service. We will partner with industry to equip the next generation of young people with the ambition and knowledge to work in the creative industries and arts. We have also invested £500,000 to expand the King’s Trust Creative Futures programme, which is designed to break down barriers to jobs in the creative industries for young people across the country who are, or at risk of being, not in education, employment or training (NEET).
In February this year we announced a review of Arts Council England which will examine how the Arts Council can be best positioned to unlock creativity and cultural excellence in every corner of the country - making sure its structure and decision-making truly work for all communities.
Further, Arts Council England (ACE) is targeting 54 areas in England where cultural engagement and investment have been historically low through its Priority Places programme. In the 2024/25 financial year, ACE invested almost £27 million through National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG) into Priority Places.
In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government has committed to revitalising arts education through a reformed curriculum and through support for teachers. A new National Centre for Arts and Music Education will improve social mobility by ensuring high quality arts education is an essential part of the broad and rich curriculum every child deserves. It will achieve this through three key areas: supporting excellent arts teaching, developing sustainable partnerships and promoting arts education.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle low pay for visual artists.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Low pay and precarious work can deter people from less advantaged backgrounds from creative careers, including in the visual arts. We will continue to back the industry's Good Work Review action plan to improve job quality and support the self-employed. We have also committed to appointing a Creative Freelance Champion by the end of 2025, who will advocate for freelancers within Government and on the Creative Industries Council. Further information on support for freelancers can be found on the Arts Council England’s website.
Arts Council England has also taken steps to encourage fair pay in England’s cultural sector, including through terms and conditions on grants, and guidance documents such as the attached Fair Pay Guidance.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support initiatives such as National Supported Lodgings Week which raise public awareness of family-based housing options for care leavers, young people at risk of homelessness and separated migrant children.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We recognise the vital support provided by hosts in supported lodgings for children and young people.
The Government is committed to tackling homelessness. We have invested over £1 billion in homelessness and rough sleeping services this year, which can be used flexibly to address a range of local needs, including support for young people.