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 trends in the level of progression rates from foundation to other low-level courses in colleges in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department works closely with the four general further education colleges in Surrey: Brooklands, East Surrey, Nescot and Activate. The colleges collaborate through Surrey FE to support recruitment and progression across Surrey. Each college has worked towards targets in their accountability agreements, which include clear progression routes at all levels. This work is supported by the FE Provider Dashboard, which provides insight into progression and employment outcomes and informs annual strategic conversations with colleges.
Ofsted’s new framework will measure college achievement and performance, particularly in relation to those who are disadvantaged, those with special educational needs and disabilities or high needs, those who are known (or previously known) to social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and well-being, including those without level 2 English or mathematics
The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper sets out how we will make 16-19 pathways easier to navigate. The department will introduce V Levels as a new vocational option that sits alongside A levels and T Levels at Level 3, and will feature nationally set content linked to job standards, giving students clear, industry relevant choices. We will also introduce two new dedicated pathways at Level 2: an occupational pathway to prepare students for work, and a further study pathway to help students progress to higher levels of study.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evaluation her Department has undertaken of the effectiveness of Pupil Premium Plus funding in improving educational and wellbeing outcomes for adopted children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The pupil premium grant provides funding to schools to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. ‘Pupil premium plus’ (PP+) refers to the portion of the grant for children who are looked-after by the local authority or were previously looked-after by a local authority or other state care.
The pupil premium Conditions of Grant set out that maintained schools and academies must publish annual strategy statements setting out their planned use of pupil premium. Governors and trustees should scrutinise schools’ strategy statements, including their plans for and use of their pupil premium grant and the outcomes achieved in the previous academic year.
Pupil premium funding, including PP+, is not a personal budget for individual pupils. It is for schools to decide how to allocate the funding, after assessing the needs of their disadvantaged cohort, including looked after and previously looked after children. Pupil premium guidance supports school leaders to use their funding effectively. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2025-to-2026/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant-for-the-2025-to-2026-financial-year.
Designated teachers statutory guidance is clear that the school’s designated teacher should ensure the specific needs of the PP+ cohort are understood by the school’s staff and reflected in how the school uses PP+ to support these children. They should use parents and guardians’ insights to support decisions on how the PP+ is used. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/designated-teacher-for-looked-after-children.
An evaluation of pupil premium was published in March 2025. This included findings that 58% of schools and 70% of trusts identify looked-after children as one of the groups who most benefit from pupil premium funding. This evaluation can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67dd5b7f0114b0b86e59f42b/Pupil_premium_and_recovery_premium_evaluation.pdf.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what requirements are placed on schools to (a) monitor, (b) record, or (c) report how Pupil Premium Plus funding allocated for adopted children is spent.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The pupil premium grant provides funding to schools to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. ‘Pupil premium plus’ (PP+) refers to the portion of the grant for children who are looked-after by the local authority or were previously looked-after by a local authority or other state care.
The pupil premium Conditions of Grant set out that maintained schools and academies must publish annual strategy statements setting out their planned use of pupil premium. Governors and trustees should scrutinise schools’ strategy statements, including their plans for and use of their pupil premium grant and the outcomes achieved in the previous academic year.
Pupil premium funding, including PP+, is not a personal budget for individual pupils. It is for schools to decide how to allocate the funding, after assessing the needs of their disadvantaged cohort, including looked after and previously looked after children. Pupil premium guidance supports school leaders to use their funding effectively. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2025-to-2026/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant-for-the-2025-to-2026-financial-year.
Designated teachers statutory guidance is clear that the school’s designated teacher should ensure the specific needs of the PP+ cohort are understood by the school’s staff and reflected in how the school uses PP+ to support these children. They should use parents and guardians’ insights to support decisions on how the PP+ is used. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/designated-teacher-for-looked-after-children.
An evaluation of pupil premium was published in March 2025. This included findings that 58% of schools and 70% of trusts identify looked-after children as one of the groups who most benefit from pupil premium funding. This evaluation can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67dd5b7f0114b0b86e59f42b/Pupil_premium_and_recovery_premium_evaluation.pdf.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance is issued to schools on engaging adoptive parents in decisions relating to the use of Pupil Premium Plus funding for their children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The pupil premium grant provides funding to schools to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. ‘Pupil premium plus’ (PP+) refers to the portion of the grant for children who are looked-after by the local authority or were previously looked-after by a local authority or other state care.
The pupil premium Conditions of Grant set out that maintained schools and academies must publish annual strategy statements setting out their planned use of pupil premium. Governors and trustees should scrutinise schools’ strategy statements, including their plans for and use of their pupil premium grant and the outcomes achieved in the previous academic year.
Pupil premium funding, including PP+, is not a personal budget for individual pupils. It is for schools to decide how to allocate the funding, after assessing the needs of their disadvantaged cohort, including looked after and previously looked after children. Pupil premium guidance supports school leaders to use their funding effectively. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2025-to-2026/pupil-premium-conditions-of-grant-for-the-2025-to-2026-financial-year.
Designated teachers statutory guidance is clear that the school’s designated teacher should ensure the specific needs of the PP+ cohort are understood by the school’s staff and reflected in how the school uses PP+ to support these children. They should use parents and guardians’ insights to support decisions on how the PP+ is used. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/designated-teacher-for-looked-after-children.
An evaluation of pupil premium was published in March 2025. This included findings that 58% of schools and 70% of trusts identify looked-after children as one of the groups who most benefit from pupil premium funding. This evaluation can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67dd5b7f0114b0b86e59f42b/Pupil_premium_and_recovery_premium_evaluation.pdf.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of rejoining the Erasmus student exchange scheme on (a) society and (b) culture.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Erasmus+ opens up high quality international opportunities for learners and educators, helping to build skills, confidence, and global outlook while strengthening UK institutions through partnerships and innovation.
It supports inclusion and economic growth by developing a globally aware, highly skilled workforce and fostering cultural exchange that benefits communities and the wider education system.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of holiday club places in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Through our Plan for Change, the department is committed to giving every child the best start in life. We have confirmed over £600 million for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme for the next three financial years from 2026/27, which equates to just over £200 million each year. In addition, we are providing local authorities with £12.9 million of funding in the 2026/27 financial year to help ensure sufficiency of school-age childcare. This includes supporting the delivery of sufficient holiday childcare by fostering links between holiday childcare and the HAF programme to maximise opportunities to create efficiencies and deliver a sustainable school-age childcare market.
It is the duty of local authorities, under The Childcare Act 2006, to secure sufficient childcare provision to meet the needs of working parents in their area for children up to the age of 14 (or 18 for disabled children). Local authorities have flexibility in how they deliver provision to best meet local needs.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has been made of whether children’s social care practice adequately supports parents who have experienced trauma, including childhood abuse, to recover and safely parent.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The children’s social care national framework (2023) is statutory guidance that sets direction for children’s social care practice. It describes expectations for practitioners working sensitively with whole families, including to identify and address the impact of trauma. Ofsted plays a crucial role in upholding children’s social care standards. In November 2025, Ofsted confirmed they will update their Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services inspection framework from April 2026 and continue to align inspection with the national framework.
The department has also confirmed the national rollout of Family Help, multi-agency child protection and family group decision making reforms, delivered through the Families First Partnership programme. These services will prioritise supporting the whole family and intervening at the earliest opportunity to prevent problems escalating, including where there are experiences of trauma. This will require excellent place-based service design driven by local authorities working effectively with local partners, including health, police and education providers, and listening closely to families.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment has been made of the extent of regional disparities in access to post adoption (a) therapeutic and (b) practical support services.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The adoption and special guardianship support fund is available nationwide. It funds post-adoption support interventions including therapeutic support for adopted children and their families.
Adoption England recently completed a review of regional post-adoption support. The review is available here: https://www.adoptionengland.co.uk/sites/default/files/2025-06/ASGSF%20Options%20Appraisal.pdf. The report finds that families experiences differ by region due to local delivery models and provider capacity.
The department invested £8.8 million in Adoption England this year to improve adoption support across the country. This includes the development of a national core offer of support for the first 12-18 months of a placement. Practical support, such as peer groups and parenting programmes, are commissioned locally to reflect local need.
Adopted children and their families can also make use of universal provision including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Families First, a local authority-led early help service that provides practical and emotional support to families, including parenting advice and access to community resources, to prevent issues from escalating.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the (a) funding and (b) accessibility of the Adoption Support Fund, particularly for families with (i) complex or (ii) high risk placements in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This financial year, the department has invested £50 million into the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF). We have approved applications for nearly 14,000 children since April, for both therapy and specialist assessments. We continue to review the impact of the changes to funding made in April 2025. The ASGSF was formed specifically to meet the needs of complex and high-risk placements.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what oversight exists to ensure that local authorities engage constructively with parents who raise concerns on (a) fair process and (b) statutory obligations.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities must engage constructively with parents when concerns arise about fair process or statutory duties. Oversight is provided through several mechanisms. First, parents can use the statutory three-stage complaints procedure for children’s services, which includes independent review. If they remain dissatisfied, they may escalate to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which investigates maladministration and recommends remedies to ensure fairness and compliance.
Ofsted inspections also assess how effectively authorities involve parents and meet legal obligations.