Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children receive adequate financial support during the school holidays in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the hon. Member for Surrey Heath to the answer of 3 October 2025 to Question 73205.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support adults with (a) adopted and (b) fostered children in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department continues to fund the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) with £50 million in 2025/26. The ASGSF funds therapeutic support for adoptive families, including parenting courses to help new adoptive parents support their child as they join their family.
Additionally, £8.8 million is being invested in Adoption England to improve adoption support. Adoption England supports regional adoption agencies, including Adoption South East, to agree a support plan with prospective adopters when they have been matched with children, which evolves over time as the child grows and develops. Adoption South East’s support offer for adoptive families can be found here: https://www.adoptionsoutheast.org.uk/post-adoption-support.
Foster carers are able to build relationships in a short period of time that can be loving, long-standing and incredibly valued by the children for whom they care. But we are clear that in order to do so, they must be supported, valued and respected as experts on the child in their care. Standards 20 and 21 of the ‘Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards’ detail the expectations required of all fostering providers: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7abe16e5274a319e77a6a1/NMS_Fostering_Services.pdf.
The department funds Fosterline, a free-to-access independent advice and support service for current and prospective carers on a wide range of fostering issues.
Financially, foster carers benefit from qualifying care relief (QCR), a tax relief that ensures a carer’s income is not taxed unless it exceeds an overall QCR allowance. All carers should also receive the national minimum allowance each week to help cover the cost of caring for a child. Current national minimum allowance rates are accessible here: https://www.gov.uk/support-for-foster-parents/help-with-the-cost-of-fostering.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to accelerate the delivery of special free schools in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, and ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. Work to deliver special free schools is ongoing.
Funding for free school projects is provided at different stages of project development, in line with key delivery milestones. The department provides capital funding for the acquisition of sites, land and construction. For centrally delivered free school projects, a contractor is appointed from the department’s framework and construction costs are paid directly by the department.
The department also supports local authorities to provide suitable school places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through annual high needs capital funding, including through the £740 million confirmed for 2025/26. Of this funding, Surrey has been allocated £16.1 million.
The department continues to engage closely with Surrey County Council about the provision of SEND places in Surrey Heath and Surrey as a whole.
I would be happy to meet the hon. Member for Surrey Heath to discuss the challenges in delivering high quality SEND support for children in Surrey.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out her timetable for the delivery of new special free schools in Surrey.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, and ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. Work to deliver special free schools is ongoing.
Funding for free school projects is provided at different stages of project development, in line with key delivery milestones. The department provides capital funding for the acquisition of sites, land and construction. For centrally delivered free school projects, a contractor is appointed from the department’s framework and construction costs are paid directly by the department.
The department also supports local authorities to provide suitable school places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through annual high needs capital funding, including through the £740 million confirmed for 2025/26. Of this funding, Surrey has been allocated £16.1 million.
The department continues to engage closely with Surrey County Council about the provision of SEND places in Surrey Heath and Surrey as a whole.
I would be happy to meet the hon. Member for Surrey Heath to discuss the challenges in delivering high quality SEND support for children in Surrey.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating funding to help progress the development of Frimley Oak Academy in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, and ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. Work to deliver special free schools is ongoing.
Funding for free school projects is provided at different stages of project development, in line with key delivery milestones. The department provides capital funding for the acquisition of sites, land and construction. For centrally delivered free school projects, a contractor is appointed from the department’s framework and construction costs are paid directly by the department.
The department also supports local authorities to provide suitable school places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through annual high needs capital funding, including through the £740 million confirmed for 2025/26. Of this funding, Surrey has been allocated £16.1 million.
The department continues to engage closely with Surrey County Council about the provision of SEND places in Surrey Heath and Surrey as a whole.
I would be happy to meet the hon. Member for Surrey Heath to discuss the challenges in delivering high quality SEND support for children in Surrey.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with Surrey County Council on the provision of SEND school places in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, and ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. Work to deliver special free schools is ongoing.
Funding for free school projects is provided at different stages of project development, in line with key delivery milestones. The department provides capital funding for the acquisition of sites, land and construction. For centrally delivered free school projects, a contractor is appointed from the department’s framework and construction costs are paid directly by the department.
The department also supports local authorities to provide suitable school places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through annual high needs capital funding, including through the £740 million confirmed for 2025/26. Of this funding, Surrey has been allocated £16.1 million.
The department continues to engage closely with Surrey County Council about the provision of SEND places in Surrey Heath and Surrey as a whole.
I would be happy to meet the hon. Member for Surrey Heath to discuss the challenges in delivering high quality SEND support for children in Surrey.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with the hon. Member for Surrey Heath to discuss the future SEND school provision in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, and ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. Work to deliver special free schools is ongoing.
Funding for free school projects is provided at different stages of project development, in line with key delivery milestones. The department provides capital funding for the acquisition of sites, land and construction. For centrally delivered free school projects, a contractor is appointed from the department’s framework and construction costs are paid directly by the department.
The department also supports local authorities to provide suitable school places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through annual high needs capital funding, including through the £740 million confirmed for 2025/26. Of this funding, Surrey has been allocated £16.1 million.
The department continues to engage closely with Surrey County Council about the provision of SEND places in Surrey Heath and Surrey as a whole.
I would be happy to meet the hon. Member for Surrey Heath to discuss the challenges in delivering high quality SEND support for children in Surrey.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of affording neurodiverse pupils frequent break periods for movement in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department believes schools are best placed to take these decisions locally, in consultation with parents, young people and the local authority, after a thorough assessment of the child or young person’s needs and drawing on wider professional advice, as appropriate.
To support schools, the department is strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve inclusive practice in mainstream settings and have commissioned evidence reviews from Newcastle University and University College London. The ‘What Works in SEND’ research programme is researching tools that schools can use to identify the needs of neurodivergent children.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that secondary school pupils have access to appropriate school transport arrangements in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
I refer the hon. Member for Surrey Heath to the answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54948.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to make a statement on the recommendations of the Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group upon the reports publication.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, chaired by Professor Karen Guldberg, brought together experts to make recommendations on how to best meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people within mainstream education settings.
The Group has recently concluded its work and have shared their report and recommendations with ministers for consideration. The recommendations will inform the development of the Schools White Paper which will be published in the autumn.