Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available to (a) private, (b) voluntary and (c) independent early years settings in areas of high deprivation to offer (i) healthy and (ii) nutritious meals to children regardless of parental income.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Within the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework, there is a requirement that where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, they must be healthy, balanced and nutritious. The EYFS framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.
Good nutrition in the early years is essential for children’s health and long-term development. For this reason, this year we published new EYFS guidance to support providers to understand and meet the EYFS requirement. Providers are required to have regard to the new nutrition guidance.
The guidance sets out that it is good practice for providers to develop a food and nutrition policy, to help parents and carers understand the obligation to provide healthy, balanced and nutritious food to children and encourage healthier food choices for packed lunches. It also provides information on cost-effective healthy food that can be shared with parents/carers.
As of September 2025, there is a requirement within the EYFS for providers to have ongoing discussions with parents and/or carers regarding known allergies and intolerances and to prepare food in a way to prevent choking. Providers must be clear about who is responsible for checking that the food being provided meets all the requirements for each child including food from packed lunches.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of healthy food provision in early years settings on (a) child health and (b) educational outcomes (i) in general and (ii) for disadvantaged children.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Within the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework, there is a requirement that where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, they must be healthy, balanced and nutritious. The EYFS framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.
Good nutrition in the early years is essential for children’s health and long-term development. For this reason, this year we published new EYFS guidance to support providers to understand and meet the EYFS requirement. Providers are required to have regard to the new nutrition guidance.
The guidance sets out that it is good practice for providers to develop a food and nutrition policy, to help parents and carers understand the obligation to provide healthy, balanced and nutritious food to children and encourage healthier food choices for packed lunches. It also provides information on cost-effective healthy food that can be shared with parents/carers.
As of September 2025, there is a requirement within the EYFS for providers to have ongoing discussions with parents and/or carers regarding known allergies and intolerances and to prepare food in a way to prevent choking. Providers must be clear about who is responsible for checking that the food being provided meets all the requirements for each child including food from packed lunches.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of children bringing packed lunches into early years settings on (a) health and (b) safety.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Within the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework, there is a requirement that where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, they must be healthy, balanced and nutritious. The EYFS framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.
Good nutrition in the early years is essential for children’s health and long-term development. For this reason, this year we published new EYFS guidance to support providers to understand and meet the EYFS requirement. Providers are required to have regard to the new nutrition guidance.
The guidance sets out that it is good practice for providers to develop a food and nutrition policy, to help parents and carers understand the obligation to provide healthy, balanced and nutritious food to children and encourage healthier food choices for packed lunches. It also provides information on cost-effective healthy food that can be shared with parents/carers.
As of September 2025, there is a requirement within the EYFS for providers to have ongoing discussions with parents and/or carers regarding known allergies and intolerances and to prepare food in a way to prevent choking. Providers must be clear about who is responsible for checking that the food being provided meets all the requirements for each child including food from packed lunches.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a national public awareness campaign on (a) the role of early years education in child development and (b) its wider economic impact.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Ensuring every child has the best start in life is at the heart of this government’s Plan for Change. This is why we are expanding childcare and providing parents with support and information to help their child’s development.
Children attending high quality early education for at least two years gain the equivalent of a higher grade in around seven GCSEs. For parents, particularly women, improved access to childcare enables employment, boosting family income and the wider economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility projects that by 2027/28, around 60,000 parents will enter employment as a result, with an equivalent effect from 1.5 million mothers already in work increasing their hours.
The government is introducing a new Best Start in Life awareness campaign which will support improved outcomes for children and help achieve our goal of 75% of children reaching a good level of development by 2028.
This campaign provides trusted advice for parents and carers from pregnancy through to starting school, covering healthy pregnancy, infant feeding, childcare, home learning, and school preparation which can be found here: https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/. Communications activity will continue throughout the autumn.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a national public awareness campaign on (a) the role of early years education in child development and (b) its wider economic impact.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Ensuring every child has the best start in life is at the heart of this government’s Plan for Change. This is why we are expanding childcare and providing parents with support and information to help their child’s development.
Children attending high quality early education for at least two years gain the equivalent of a higher grade in around seven GCSEs. For parents, particularly women, improved access to childcare enables employment, boosting family income and the wider economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility projects that by 2027/28, around 60,000 parents will enter employment as a result, with an equivalent effect from 1.5 million mothers already in work increasing their hours.
The government is introducing a new Best Start in Life awareness campaign which will support improved outcomes for children and help achieve our goal of 75% of children reaching a good level of development by 2028.
This campaign provides trusted advice for parents and carers from pregnancy through to starting school, covering healthy pregnancy, infant feeding, childcare, home learning, and school preparation which can be found here: https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/. Communications activity will continue throughout the autumn.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support local authorities to (a) simplify and (b) standardise the process for accessing (i) SEND funding and (ii) Education, Health, and Care Plans in early years settings.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As part of our strategy to give every child the best start in life, the department is committed to make it easier for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to access early education and childcare by investing in the support available to them in the early years and improving the way funding is distributed to providers.
New early years inclusion funding will give providers additional resources to support inclusion and early intervention, helping to prevent needs from escalating. The department will work with local authorities to reduce bureaucracy, encourage greater consistency and ensure that support reaches the children who need it quickly.
The department works closely with local authorities where education, health and care plan timeliness is a concern, supporting them to identify challenges and put in place effective recovery plans. This includes specialist SEND adviser support where needed.
Further details of the government's intended approach to SEND reform, including for the early years, will be set out in a Schools White Paper in the autumn.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the delivery of comprehensive SEND training in early years qualification routes.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Through our Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life strategy, the department will make inclusive practice standard practice in the early years by embedding an inclusive approach in our workforce education, training and leadership opportunities.
In 2023 the Early Years Educator level 3 qualification criteria were updated following a consultation with the sector. The new criteria include special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision as a standalone criterion, ensuring that there is now a greater focus on supporting children with SEND.
The department is funding training for 1,000 early years Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) to achieve their level 3 Early Years SENCO qualification by the end of the 2025/26 financial year, having already funded training for up to 7,000 early years SENCOs in previous years.
We have also published new resources, including a free online training module and SEND assessment guidance, to help early educators to identify, assess and support children in their settings.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve retention of early career teachers in schools rated (a) requires improvement and (b) inadequate by Ofsted.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
From September 2025, all early career teachers (ECTs) are entitled to two years of development support and training based on the content of the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF). The offer for ECTs includes regular, structured sessions with a dedicated mentor and time off timetable to undertake development activities, including training and mentoring. This investment is grounded in strong evidence that high-quality teaching is the most important in-school factor for improving pupil outcomes, and that structured professional development is key to teacher effectiveness and retention.
In addition to a structured programme of development and support, every ECT is also supported by an appropriate body who ensures that their teaching post is suitable and that ECTs receive all their entitlements and are supported with any difficulties. This support is available to every ECT serving an induction period. There are also restrictions on schools in special measures recruiting new ECTs unless Ofsted’s report specifically states that they can.
The latest data suggests that the support available to ECTs is having a positive impact on retention. In 2024/25, the ECT retention rate showed a continued increasing trend with one-year retention reaching 89.7%, the highest on record for a cohort of ECTs since the introduction of the Early Career Framework reforms.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of teacher shortages on the availability of Computer Science A level in schools in the most disadvantaged areas.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every young person, including those most disadvantaged.
Whilst it is ultimately for individual schools to decide which courses to offer, the best way of supporting schools to offer A level computer science is to ensure high-quality computing teaching by helping schools to recruit and retain good teachers.
For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. This will support the recruitment and retention of specialist computing teachers in the schools and areas that need them most. In Rusholme Constituency, seven out of a maximum seven schools are eligible for these retention payments. There are also tax-free bursaries worth £29,000 and tax-free scholarships worth £31,000, to encourage talented trainees to teach computing.
In the 2024/25 academic year, there were 496 new postgraduate entrants to computing initial teacher training (ITT), a 21% increase on the number of entrants in the 2023/24 academic year (411). The number of postgraduate entrants in 2024/25 was broadly in line with the average across the last ten years.
As of April 2025, the department is seeing positive recruitment trends regarding postgraduate ITT recruitment in computing. So far, there have been more candidate submissions (+10%), offers (+42%) and acceptances (+47%) compared to the same point in the previous recruitment cycle.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will (a) extend and (b) increase bursaries and salary uplifts for shortage subject teachers in schools with high proportions of pupils from low income backgrounds.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is offering Targeted Retention Incentive payments worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. These payments are offered to teachers in the most disadvantaged 50% of schools nationally, based on the proportion of pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium. This supports the recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most. It also represents a doubling of the payments of up to £3,000 after tax that were offered in the same schools prior to the 2024/25 academic year.
In addition, the department announced an initial teacher training (ITT) financial incentives package worth £233 million for trainee teachers in the 2025/26 academic year, a £37 million increase on the last cycle. This includes bursaries worth up to £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £31,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. It also includes salary grants of up to £29,000 in the same subjects so schools, including those in disadvantaged areas, can recruit trainee teachers on salaried routes including the Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship.