Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform the system and provision of education, health and care plans for pupils.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
This government inherited a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system that has been failing to meet the needs of children and families for far too long. As part of the government’s Plan for Change, we are determined to make changes which will restore the trust of parents and ensure that children and young people with SEND, including those with education, health and care (EHC) plans, can achieve and thrive in their education.
The department is thinking about how we protect effective support for children, but make accessing support less bureaucratic and adversarial, and how we intervene earlier. There will always be a legal right to additional support for children and young people with SEND. Any changes we make in future will improve support for children and parents, stop parents from having to fight for support, and protect provision which is currently in place.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that major national historical events such as the Battle of Britain are given sufficient weight in the national curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The history curriculum provides a flexible framework that allows schools and teachers to select which topics they teach across the key stages. It does not set out how subjects, or topics within them, should be taught, giving teachers the freedom to use their knowledge and expertise to decide how and what specific topics they teach their pupils.
Significant national historical events, such as the Battle of Britain, can already be taught within the history curriculum across the three key stages. At key stage 1, the topic of World War II and the Battle of Britain can be taught within the statutory theme of ‘changes within living memory’. At key stage 2, schools may teach ‘a significant turning point in British history, for example, the first railways or the Battle of Britain’ as a non-statutory example within the statutory theme ‘a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066’. At key stage 3, students are expected to study ‘challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day’. In addition to the statutory requirement of studying the Holocaust, schools may choose to explore other major national historical events, including those linked to the First and Second World Wars.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, chaired by Becky Francis CBE. The Review wants to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work. The Review Group published its interim report in March 2025 and will publish its final report, with recommendations, this autumn. The interim report is accessible in the attached document.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the survey of Jewish teachers conducted by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers published on 1 July, what steps they are taking to combat antisemitism in schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
This government will not tolerate antisemitism in our educational institutions. We are investing £7 million to tackle antisemitism in education and are committed to ensuring all teachers and pupils are safe and supported inside and outside of the classroom.
This funding will support scholarship programmes for education staff on building confidence in identifying and tackling antisemitism. A new Innovation Fund will also invite creative approaches to working with children and young people on the issue of antisemitism.
The department’s Educate Against Hate website continues to provide a range of resources to support education staff, governors, and parents in promoting tolerance and helping young people understand antisemitism and its historical context, in order to reduce children’s susceptibility to hateful narratives.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to protect schools from party political interference after the minimum voting age has been lowered to 16.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Schools are subject to statutory duties regarding political impartiality under Sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996. This means schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
In 2022, the department published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance is clear that all schools should take full responsibility for ensuring lessons and materials are age appropriate, suitable, and politically impartial.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 28 April (HL6277), how many pupils were attending the 20 schools referred to.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information is available on Get Information about Schools and shows these schools had over 1,500 pupils.
Overall pupil numbers at these schools combined were only at 51% of the combined capacity of these schools in January 2024 - before details of tax changes were announced. Low pupil numbers relative to capacity can be a risk factor associated with subsequent closure.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional resources they will provide to combat hunger during school holiday periods.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Through the Spending Review, the department has announced funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time, supporting our ambition to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels.
The Household Support Fund (HSF) is a scheme for local authorities to provide discretionary support to vulnerable households in the most need. The department is providing £742 million in England to extend the HSF by a further year, from 1 April 2025 until 31 March 2026. This will enable local authorities to provide vulnerable households with immediate crisis support towards the cost of essentials, such as energy, water and food, and develop their schemes to help prevent poverty locally and build local resilience.
The government also remains committed to the Holiday Activities and Food programme to ensure children who are eligible for free school meals can access enriching activities and healthy meals during school holidays. More than £200 million has been allocated to the programme from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional funding they are providing to ensure that funding for the provision of free school meals rises in line with the cost of living and food prices.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets. This decisive action will support parents and improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.
We have set aside over £1 billion in funding over the multiyear spending review period to cover additional meal costs. This is new money, as opposed to funding within existing school budgets.
Making all children in households claiming Universal Credit eligible for FSM makes it straightforward for parents to know whether they are eligible. We are supporting this by taking forward a programme of work including improvements to our own systems that will make applying for FSM easier than it’s ever been.
This includes improvements to the Eligibility Checking System to allow parents and schools to check their own eligibility for FSM independently from their local authorities. We are also working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore legal gateways that could enable data sharing to improve local authorities’ ability to undertake local action to improve the targeting and delivery of FSM.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage eligible families to apply for free school meals.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets. This decisive action will support parents and improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.
We have set aside over £1 billion in funding over the multiyear spending review period to cover additional meal costs. This is new money, as opposed to funding within existing school budgets.
Making all children in households claiming Universal Credit eligible for FSM makes it straightforward for parents to know whether they are eligible. We are supporting this by taking forward a programme of work including improvements to our own systems that will make applying for FSM easier than it’s ever been.
This includes improvements to the Eligibility Checking System to allow parents and schools to check their own eligibility for FSM independently from their local authorities. We are also working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore legal gateways that could enable data sharing to improve local authorities’ ability to undertake local action to improve the targeting and delivery of FSM.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to simplify the process of applying for free school meals.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets. This decisive action will support parents and improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.
We have set aside over £1 billion in funding over the multiyear spending review period to cover additional meal costs. This is new money, as opposed to funding within existing school budgets.
Making all children in households claiming Universal Credit eligible for FSM makes it straightforward for parents to know whether they are eligible. We are supporting this by taking forward a programme of work including improvements to our own systems that will make applying for FSM easier than it’s ever been.
This includes improvements to the Eligibility Checking System to allow parents and schools to check their own eligibility for FSM independently from their local authorities. We are also working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore legal gateways that could enable data sharing to improve local authorities’ ability to undertake local action to improve the targeting and delivery of FSM.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the nutritional quality of free school meals.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.