Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to include neurodiversity awareness on the curriculum at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report and the government’s response were published on 5 November. The Review sought to identify and focus on addressing the most significant and pressing issues facing curriculum and assessment without destabilising the system.
A key focus of the Review was inclusion and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), explored through dedicated inclusion work strands that were embedded across all areas of the panel’s work. Throughout the Review, the experiences and outcomes of children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs were considered to ensure the reformed curriculum works for every child.
In 2025 the department invested in multi-million-pound programmes, such as Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) and Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC), that bring together central and local government, schools and parents to test and learn new ways to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training is available for teachers on supporting neurodivergent children in the classroom.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
From September 2025, the department implemented the revised initial teacher training and early career framework, adding more content related to adaptive teaching and improving inclusivity for SEND pupils. The department also enhanced the requirement on providers to develop SEND training materials.
Beyond the first few years of teaching, national professional qualifications (NPQs) are available to education professionals at all levels. In 2024 we began delivery of the NPQ for special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs). This is the mandatory qualification for SENCOs in mainstream schools. Participants will develop the knowledge and skills needed to set the strategic direction of special educational needs policy and the conditions for pupils with SEND to thrive.
The department has committed to a full review of both NPQs and early career teacher training, which will include a focus on SEND.
The Universal SEND Services programme helps the school and further education workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND earlier and more effectively. It also helps them to successfully prepare children and young people for adulthood, including employment.
The Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme is a national programme backed by £22 million of investment. It is a cross-government collaboration between the department, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, supported by the National Network of Parent Carer Forums. PINS deploys specialists from both health and education workforces to build teacher and staff capacity to identify and better meet the needs of neurodivergent children in mainstream primary schools.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she considered a multi-year funding settlement for the Music and Dance Scheme after the spending review; and if she will consider setting out a multi-year funding settlement for the scheme in future years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government fully supports the arts and the development of a skills pipeline into the creative industries. The department is providing £36.5 million for the Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) this academic year. The MDS currently provides bursaries for over 2,000 students. The number of students supported in future will be considered in due course. Any introduction of multi-year funding agreements will also be considered in due course.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had on ensuring that the Music and Dance Scheme continues to support the same number of students for future scholarships.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government fully supports the arts and the development of a skills pipeline into the creative industries. The department is providing £36.5 million for the Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) this academic year. The MDS currently provides bursaries for over 2,000 students. The number of students supported in future will be considered in due course. Any introduction of multi-year funding agreements will also be considered in due course.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of staff in her Department did not meet the minimum office attendance target in the latest period for which data is available; and what sanctions her Department issues to staff who do not meet this target.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 24 October 2024, the Cabinet Office announced that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service. Senior managers will continue to be expected to be in the office more than 60% of the time. If people do not meet that reasonable expectation, as with any management instruction, it should be dealt with via existing management processes and, ultimately, with disciplinary action should there be sustained failure to comply.
Decisions on the working arrangements within individual departments are delegated matters, but the department’s approach is aligned with this wider expectation and managers are empowered to address non-compliance through informal conversations or formal warnings depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue.
Data on average office occupancy is available on a quarterly basis at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-headquarters-occupancy-data.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of staff in her Department have flexible working arrangements; and how many of those work compressed hours.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Flexible working arrangements are a core part of the Civil Service employment offer. These arrangements play a vital role in attracting top talent to government roles and support the delivery of high quality public services.
Whilst comprehensive data on all flexible working arrangements across the department is not currently available, the table below provides a snapshot of staff working part-time or compressed hours as at 31 August 2025.
Full-time employees | 5,588 | 68.6% |
Part-time employees | 1,351 | 16.6% |
Employees working compressed hours | 1,211 | 14.9% |
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of increases to employer national insurance contributions on the average staffing costs for each nursery.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.
In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We have also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.
On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require. We are also providing £25 million of funding to support public sector employers with increased national insurance contributions (NICs) through the early years NICs grant.
As we continue to roll out the new entitlements, we will keep the funding process under review to ensure that early years funding is distributed fairly and efficiently.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of exempting nurseries from increases to employers' National Insurance contributions.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.
In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We have also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.
On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require. We are also providing £25 million of funding to support public sector employers with increased national insurance contributions (NICs) through the early years NICs grant.
As we continue to roll out the new entitlements, we will keep the funding process under review to ensure that early years funding is distributed fairly and efficiently.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of increases in employer national insurance contributions on the number of nurseries.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.
In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We have also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.
On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require. We are also providing £25 million of funding to support public sector employers with increased national insurance contributions (NICs) through the early years NICs grant.
As we continue to roll out the new entitlements, we will keep the funding process under review to ensure that early years funding is distributed fairly and efficiently.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the funding model for nurseries.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.
That is why, despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face.
In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We have also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.
On top of this we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as they prepare to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require. We are also providing £25 million of funding to support public sector employers with increased national insurance contributions (NICs) through the early years NICs grant.
As we continue to roll out the new entitlements, we will keep the funding process under review to ensure that early years funding is distributed fairly and efficiently.