Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of early language intervention on educational outcomes for deaf children.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Every child deserves the best start in life, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Early language skills at age five strongly predict future academic success, and timely access to specialist support is critical.
From April 2026, funding for home learning environment and parenting support within Best Start Family Hubs will focus on evidence-based interventions for 3-4-year-olds, including Auditory Verbal Therapy, for children who are deaf or use hearing technology.
The department funds proven programmes like the Nuffield Early Language Intervention which improves oral language and literacy. Independent evaluation found children made four months’ additional progress, rising to seven months for those eligible for free school meals. Whilst not a substitute for specialist therapy, many children benefit from such interventions, including some deaf children. We have also updated the early years foundation stage profile handbook, ensuring children can use their preferred mode of communication, such as signing, across all early learning goals.
Alongside this, the Early Language Support for Every Child programme trials new approaches to identify and support speech, language, and communication needs, with evaluation due autumn 2026.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with school governing bodies on improving transparency for parents.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s governance guidance for schools and trusts makes clear that as publicly funded organisations, schools and trusts should foster a culture of transparency and welcome public scrutiny.
When shaping the school or trust’s vision, the governing body or trust board should remain connected and responsive to pupils, staff, parents, carers, and the wider community through meaningful engagement.
To promote transparency in decision-making, the governing body or trust board should actively seek and consider the views of parents and carers. Governing bodies and trust boards are required to have at least two parent governors/trustees.
To ensure transparency, details of governors/trustees are recorded on Get Information About Schools, and governance structures, governor/trustee register of pecuniary of interests and governance meeting attendance are published on the school’s or trust’s website.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the consistency of pupil experience between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2; and what steps she is taking to address declines in pupil motivation or engagement during the transition between these stages.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises that moving between key stages can be challenging for some children, including the transition from key stage 1 to key stage 2.
One of the ways the department is looking to understand the experiences of children is through our Educational Outcome Pathways Studies (EOPS). EOPS Primary follows children in primary school from years 1 through 6 and collects data on their experiences, progress at school and wellbeing. It also examines factors at home, at school and in the wider environment that may influence children’s attitudes, behaviours and outcomes. Children in the study are currently in year 3, which is the key stage 2 transition year.
Alongside this, the government has committed to publish a new pupil engagement framework, helping schools to identify and address aspects of the pupil experience in their setting which may be preventing children from attending, achieving and thriving. As it is developed, we will consider the evidence around effective practice that supports pupil transitions alongside other approaches that can support pupil engagement.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 ringfencing receipts from the international student levy for funding in higher education and skills.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As set out in the Budget Document, the income raised by the Levy will be fully reinvested into higher education and skills, including to fund maintenance grants for disadvantaged students studying priority courses.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on school attendance rates in Fylde constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department publishes figures from the school census on pupil absence in England. The latest data covers the autumn and spring terms of the 2024/25 academic year and is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2024-25-autumn-and-spring-term. Local authority data is available in the release. School level data is also available in this release and includes school identifiers that can be used to link the parliamentary constituency for the school using the ‘Get Information About Schools’ website: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/. This absence release has been available since 23 October 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 25 of the Modern Industrial Strategy: Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, published on 23 June 2025, what steps her Department is taking to support access to (a) skills courses and (b) technical colleges for food and drink manufacturers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Our Post-16 education and skills white paper sets out plans to equip people with the skills and knowledge to succeed, drive growth, and support national renewal. We are introducing rigorous new qualifications so that all learners have access to high quality study pathways and can progress to employment or further study. Apprenticeships are being transformed with a new growth and skills offer, including new foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors launched in August, shorter apprenticeships available, and short, flexible training courses starting April 2026 to meet business needs.
We are also establishing technical excellence colleges (TECs) in the Industrial Strategy growth-driving sectors. This includes 4 advanced manufacturing TECs, with delivery beginning from April 2026. Advanced Manufacturing TECs will help secure a skilled workforce pipeline and will focus on skills provision for key subsector specialisms such as agri-tech, which may include supporting improvements to the efficiency and productivity of food production, ultimately benefiting the food and drink manufacturing industry.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure school closures due to extreme weather do not affect educational outcomes.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
It is for individual settings and responsible bodies to decide on closures based on their own risk assessment. Closures should be a last resort, and the priority is to keep settings open where safe. The department’s guidance for schools includes information on remote education when pupils cannot attend. Remote learning should only be used when attendance is impossible but learning can continue.
The department’s emergency planning guidance outlines how schools should provide remote education, and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings#exam-and-assessment-disruption. The department has also issued non-statutory guidance on providing remote education guidance for schools which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providing-remote-education-guidance-for-schools/providing-remote-education-guidance-for-schools. Guidance for parents on remote education is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providing-remote-education-information-to-parents-template.
Schools can make use of free resources provided by Oak National Academy, which includes comprehensive, curriculum-aligned lesson materials across all key stages and subjects. These can be accessed online and adapted by teachers. More information is available at: https://www.thenational.academy.
All schools and colleges must have contingency plans to ensure exams and assessments proceed during disruption. Detailed guidance on managing exam or assessment disruption can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exam-system-contingency-plan-england-wales-and-northern-ireland/what-schools-and-colleges-should-do-if-exams-or-other-assessments-are-seriously-disrupted.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delaying publishing provisional funding allocations will have any impact on schools’ and local authorities’ budget planning for 2026-27.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department published the financial year 2026/27 schools and central school services national funding formula (NFF) on 19 November. High needs allocations will follow shortly.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to local authorities on support for schools in cases of (a) snow and (b) other extreme weather.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is for individual settings and responsible bodies to decide on closures based on their own risk assessment. Closures should be a last resort, and the priority is to keep settings open where it is safe to do so.
The department’s emergency planning guidance outlines how schools should provide remote education when schools are closed due to snow and other forms of extreme weather, such as extreme heat, flooding and storms. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings#exam-and-assessment-disruption.
We have also issued non-statutory guidance on providing remote education guidance for schools, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providing-remote-education-guidance-for-schools/providing-remote-education-guidance-for-schools. Both sets of guidance are available online for local authorities to use.
All schools and colleges must also have contingency plans to ensure exams and assessments proceed during disruption. Detailed guidance on managing exam or assessment disruption can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exam-system-contingency-plan-england-wales-and-northern-ireland/what-schools-and-colleges-should-do-if-exams-or-other-assessments-are-seriously-disrupted.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 covering the cost of (a) insurance and (b) DBS checks for employers taking on volunteer workers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Keeping children safe could not be more important to this government, and schools and colleges as employers, play a critical role in this.
We support them to do this through our robust safeguarding framework, ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which is the statutory guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
This includes robust safer recruitment procedures which are vital to deterring and preventing individuals who are unsuitable to work with children from securing employment or volunteering opportunities in schools and colleges.