Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to make enrichment activities, including residential trips, (a) affordable and (b) accessible for children on free school meals in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people across England can access a variety of enrichment opportunities at school as part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
A new Enrichment Framework will be published this academic year. It will set out benchmarks to help schools and colleges plan high-quality enrichment more strategically, with case studies and signposting to tools and resources. The framework will support schools to provide accessible and inclusive enrichment opportunities to those less likely to participate, such as pupils on free school meals.
We are also working with the Department of Culture Media and Sport to deliver a £22.5 million programme to create tailored enrichment offers in up to 400 schools over 3 years, with a particular focus on underserved pupils, and will confirm the schools which will be involved in due course.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of installing air filtration systems in schools in England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department regularly reviews its guidance to ensure that it aligns with best practice and industry standards, supporting the delivery of high quality school environments.
The department has assessed the suitability of using air cleaning units, and the relevant information is included in our guidance on ventilation and indoor air quality in education and childcare settings, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ventilation-and-air-quality-in-education-and-childcare-settings/ventilation-and-air-quality-in-education-and-childcare-settings.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of trends in the level of student debt on the financial stability of people in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Unlike commercial loans, student loans carry significant protections for borrowers. Student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. Repayments are made at a constant rate of 9% above the earnings threshold, and if a borrower’s income drops below the repayment threshold, or they are not earning, their repayments will stop.
Any outstanding loan, including interest built up, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants. However, the government appreciates that making student loan repayments does have an impact on individuals. This is why there are unique protections for borrowers and the finance system is heavily subsidised by taxpayers.
The department does not hold information on financial stability for Yeovil.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the retention of Special educational needs co-ordinator's (SENCO) in schools in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department knows the important role that special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs) play in driving inclusive practice across settings and building a culture where every child can achieve and the thrive. However, we recognise the challenges that the SENCO role currently involves, including excessive bureaucracy and administrative burdens.
Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) should be the responsibility of all staff. That is why in the ‘SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First’ document, we have committed to working with the sector to redefine roles and responsibilities across the system. This will drive inclusive practice and enable SENCOs to have a greater focus on strategic leadership and supporting the development of high quality practice. The government has announced a new training package, backed by £200 million of new funding, to ensure that every teacher, educator, teaching assistant and leader across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with SEND.
Alongside this, the mandatory SENCO national professional qualification continues to ensure that SENCOs receive high quality, evidence-based training and equips them with the knowledge and skills to work with other leaders to create an inclusive environment.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of safeguarding in settings that offer extracurricular activities for children outside of schools in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is committed to safeguarding children and protecting them from harm across all extracurricular activities. Local authorities have legal safeguarding duties towards children in their areas and, where concerns arise, we expect them to intervene using the wide range of powers available to them.
The department also works closely with regions, including in Somerset and Yeovil, to support the delivery of these duties. To help ensure all children can receive safe and enriching education and activities, we launched a Call for Evidence seeking to better understand current practice and invite views on possible approaches to further strengthen safeguarding.
The department intends to supplement the Call for Evidence with further engagement, including focus groups with parents and smaller providers, and sector roundtables with safeguarding experts, national governing bodies and other community representatives, before issuing a full response in due course.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to promote the National Year of Reading in (a) early years settings, (b) primary schools, (c) secondary schools, (d) further education and (e) higher education in Southwest England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign to address long term declines in reading enjoyment through engaging new audiences, reshaping public attitudes and building the systems needed to embed lasting, meaningful change, during 2026 and beyond. It includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year.
We are raising awareness of the National Year of Reading through a range of methods, such as via departmental communication channels, the National Year of Reading mailing list and social media, communications from the National Literacy Trust and promotion via the English Hubs network.
The Reading Agency are also providing public libraries with resources, toolkits and print and digital materials to activate the National Year of Reading. You can find out more about events in your local area here: https://goallin.org.uk/whats-on/. Schools and early years settings in South West England and across the UK can also access a range of engaging online webinars, resources and activities throughout the year. They can find more information here: https://goallin.org.uk/get-involved/schools/.
This government is also providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading for pleasure, as well as committing over £10 million in funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this parliament.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the lack of statutory authority for (a) schools or (b) local authorities to provide NHS clinical care outside the EHCP framework.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are not responsible for clinical healthcare tasks. Healthcare tasks can be delegated to staff in schools and other education settings where the responsible healthcare professional considers delegation safe and appropriate.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) both include a regulatory standard requiring registrants to delegate only when they are satisfied that the other person is competent to carry out the delegated task safely and require the healthcare practitioner to supervise and support those who are delegated to. These are found in the NMC Code, which is available here: https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/, and the HCPC Standards, available at: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the level of funding for maintained schools in Yeovil constituency since 2010-11 on educational outcomes.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Somerset local authority allocates funding for schools in Yeovil constituency. The table below sets out the funding Somerset local authority has received through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) since 2019/20. Due to changes in the way that funding is allocated, the department cannot provide equivalent figures before then.
Financial Year | Overall funding (£ million) | Average per pupil (£) |
2019/20 | 294 | 4,361 |
2020/21 | 312 | 4,607 |
2021/22 | 339 | 5,008 |
2022/23 | 351 | 5,180 |
2023/24 | 372 | 5,451 |
2024/25 | 391 | 5,753 |
2025/26 | 418 | 6,228 |
2026/27 | 435 | 6,569 |
Somerset has historically experienced below-average educational performance at both primary and secondary levels. However, there have been measurable improvements in GCSE and Key Stage 2 outcomes since 2023. The department continues to work closely with the local authority, multi-academy trusts and other local partners to build on this progress, including through the regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) targeted and universal services.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the department is taking to ensure that the National Year of Reading is accessible for neurodiverse people in (a) Yeovil constituency (b) Somerset and (C) the United Kingdom.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Year of Reading is a UK wide campaign designed to tackle the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults, and to engage new audiences in reading.
’Go All In’ is a fully inclusive campaign, encouraging people to read about whatever interests them, via any genre and all mediums of reading. Embracing a variety of reading formats, from print to digital to audio, can make reading more accessible, engaging and inclusive for both children and adults, including those with neurodiversity and special educational needs.
The campaign is reaching communities across the UK through schools, libraries, businesses and local partners. Libraries, as free to access community hubs, play a central role in supporting participation and helping people of all ages and from all sectors of society to develop a lasting love of reading.
You can find out more about events in your local area by visiting the website here: https://goallin.org.uk/whats-on/.Schools and early years settings in Somerset and across the UK can also access a range of exciting online webinars, resources and activities throughout the year. They can find more information here: https://goallin.org.uk/get-involved/schools/.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help promote equality and inclusion as part of the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Yeovil, to the answer of 24 February 2026 to Question 112566.