Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding she has allocated to expand (a) vocational and (b) technical training routes in the West Midlands.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is making a substantial investment in skills, with £3 billion of additional funding across the Spending Review period, including an additional £1.2 billion a year by 2028/29.
This includes continuing to invest in apprenticeships and the growth and skills offer to meet priority skills gaps identified by Skills England and the needs of business.
This builds on previous rounds of 16-19 funding agreed for 2025/26 of over £400 million extra funding and making available additional funding of over £190 million in the 2025/26 financial year for the 2025/26 academic year.
The department will spend over £1.4 billion through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year. West Midlands Combined Authority’s devolved ASF budget for the 2024/25 academic year was £133.7 million.
We have also made £155 million available to support schools, colleges and local authorities with increased National Insurance contributions.
The recent Infrastructure Strategy confirmed almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26, to improve the condition of the school and college estate.
This increased funding and investment for skills in England will help to boost the provision of vocational and technical education and training in all areas of the country, including the West Midlands.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Sutton Coldfield constituency have access to mental health support teams.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding mental health support teams (MHSTs) by the end of 2029/30, so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. As well as providing targeted, low intensity support directly to young people and their parents or carers, MHSTs work in schools and colleges to reduce barriers to accessing mental health services and support a holistic approach to mental health and emotional wellbeing.
In April 2025, around five million pupils and learners were covered by an MHST. We estimate an additional 900,000 pupils in schools and learners in further education in England will be covered by April 2026, which is around six million in total, or 60% of all pupils and learners.
In Sutton Coldfield, all but one of the seven secondary schools were reported to be receiving support from an MHST in April 2025, with cover representing 39% of all pupils and learners in schools and colleges in the constituency. No primary schools are yet covered by an MHST. Further expansion is underway in the Birmingham and Solihull integrated care system this financial year.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of SEND services in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The constituency of Sutton Coldfield falls under Birmingham City Council.
A recent inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of the Birmingham Local Area Partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) took place from 23 June 2025 to 27 June 2025. The report is not yet published.
The Ofsted and CQC inspection in June 2018 identified 13 areas of weakness. A revisit in May 2021 deemed that sufficient progress had been made in one area of weakness. The department issued a statutory direction in October 2021, requiring the local authority to take specific actions to improve their SEND provision and appointed a SEND commissioner to work with the local area. A SEND advisor has also been deployed to drive improvement.
Departmental officials continue to work closely with Birmingham City Council, and the commissioner reports that progress is evident and measurable.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the work of foster carers in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Birmingham local authority, which includes Sutton Coldfield constituency, receives support from Fosterlink. This government-funded service provides diagnostic support to councils’ fostering recruitment and assessment services. Fosterlink’s work with Birmingham identified strengths and areas for development, making recommendations for improvements. Foster carers in Sutton Coldfield can also access ‘Fosterline’, a free helpline for current and prospective foster carers.
More broadly, as part of children’s social care reform, we are providing £15 million of funding in 2025/26 to recruit and retain more foster carers. We will provide an additional £25 million for fostering covering the 2026/27 and 2027/28 financial years. As part of this model, we are supporting foster carers and children by expanding ‘The Mockingbird Family Model’. Evaluation shows that Mockingbird improves carer retention, meaning that local authorities have a greater number of suitable fostering places available.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to encourage more girls into STEM subjects in (a) further and (b) higher education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
High and rising school standards are central to the government’s mission to break down barriers and provide every child with the best start in life. As part of this, the department supports various initiatives to encourage more girls into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
The ‘I Belong’ programme, part of the National Centre for Computing Education, helps schools understand barriers to girls’ engagement with computing and aims to increase computer science qualification uptake in primary and secondary schools.
To build a strong mathematics foundation for all children, the Maths Hubs programme improves teaching in publicly funded schools. Supported by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, the programme addresses attainment gaps linked to disadvantage, gender or other factors.
The STEM Ambassadors programme features over 28,000 volunteers from more than 7,500 employers, inspiring over 3 million young people annually by sharing personal experiences in STEM careers. 48% of the volunteers are women.
To provide careers information and guidance, the Careers and Enterprise Company, supported by £30 million of government funding, coordinates a careers hub network covering 95% of secondary schools and colleges, involving 400 employers and 4,000 business volunteers, many in STEM roles.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to improve learning outcomes for boys at Secondary School level.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Every child and young person should be able to achieve and thrive in education, regardless of background. As in previous years, girls continue to do better than boys across all headline measures, and although the gap has narrowed compared to 2018/19, there is more to do. The department is committed to addressing this challenge.
High standards across education are the key to unlocking stronger outcomes and a better future for all children and young people, including boys. We aim to deliver these improvements and reduce gaps in outcomes through excellent teaching and leadership, a high quality curriculum and a system which removes the barriers to learning.
Teaching quality is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes, which is why the department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 expert teachers. We have established an independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review, which is looking closely at the key challenges and barriers to attainment for young people. Alongside this, we are strengthening our tools for faster and more effective school improvement by launching the new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams.
As part of a £2 million investment to drive standards in reading and writing, teachers in secondary schools are being offered new training and resources this year to help them support readers at all levels. Next year, the department will commission further training focusing specifically on struggling readers in secondary school who are at risk of falling behind.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide funding to help improve the mental health of (a) primary school pupils, (b) secondary school pupils and (c) 18-25 year olds in (i) further or (ii) higher education.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to high and rising standards in schools and breaking down barriers to opportunity, helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.
That is why the government has committed to expand Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. NHS-funded MHSTs are expected to cover at least 50% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England by the end of March 2025.
The department will also recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults and open new Young Futures hubs with access to mental health support workers.
In addition, to support education staff, the department provides a range of guidance and practical resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. For example, a resources hub for mental health leads, and a toolkit to help choose evidence-based early support for pupils.
The department continues to work closely with the further education sector to promote and support providers to develop and implement a whole college approach to mental health and wellbeing. This includes supporting the Association of Colleges (AoC) in their goal for all colleges to sign up to the AoC Mental Health Charter and to align it with the University Mental Health Charter in higher education (HE). AoC’s framework aims to integrate mental health and well-being into every aspect of college life.
Departmental officials also continue to work closely with students, parents, mental health experts and the HE sector to drive meaningful change in mental health practice through the HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce, which recently published its second stage report.
To raise standards in the sector, the Office for Students has also provided £400,000 of funding to the student mental health charity, Student Minds. This has enabled significant expansion of the University Mental Health Charter Programme, with 113 universities now signed up. The programme helps universities to adopt a whole-institution approach to mental health, bringing universities together to drive forward continuous improvement in mental health support for students.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with Birmingham City Council on increasing the number of secondary school places in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools. The funding is not ringfenced, subject to the conditions set out in the published Grant Determination Letter, nor is it time bound, meaning local authorities are free to use this funding to best meet their local priorities.
Birmingham City Council has been allocated just below £26.2 million to support new school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026.
The department’s Pupil Place Planning Advisers engage with local authorities regularly, to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, they offer support and advice.
Recent engagement with Birmingham City Council has confirmed both existing and anticipated secondary sufficiency pressure in Sutton Coldfield. The local authority is investing in expansions within existing schools to address short term localised sufficiency pressure and exploring further expansions to meet medium term demand. The department is aware of planned housing development in the local area in the longer term which may ultimately require additional school places to meet community needs.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Net Zero strategy, what steps the Government is taking to help promote apprenticeships in the environmental sector.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Sutton Coldfield to the answer I gave on 24 May 2022 to Question 3482.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government is taking steps to align relevant apprenticeships with the schedule of public works on insulating housing.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Jennifer Coupland, to write to my hon. Friend, the Member for Sutton Coldfield, and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses when it is available.