Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department plans to take to help deliver gigabit broadband in rural villages of fewer than 200 houses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We do not have a specific category of villages with fewer than 200 houses, but as part of Project Gigabit, over £2 billion of contracts have been signed to connect over a million premises with gigabit-capable broadband. These contracts are targeted at reaching premises that would otherwise not be covered by suppliers’ commercial rollout, and fall predominantly in rural areas. Eligibility is determined at a premises-level, rather than according to the size of the village.
The latest published data shows that between April 2023 and March 2024, 92% of premises benefiting from publicly-subsidised broadband rollout, including Project Gigabit, were in rural areas, including villages.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Nearly fifty thousand extra pensioners receiving vital Pension Credit support following surge in claims processed, published on 27 February 2025, how much her Department spent on promoting Pension Credit uptake.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Pension Credit campaign budget is £5m for the 2024/25 financial year. This supported the development of an expanded Pension Credit campaign encouraging all eligible pensioners to claim.
Activity has included TV and video on demand; radio; national and regional press; paid social media and website adverts; GP and Post Office screens; train panels; digital street displays; podcasts; and a partnership with ITV regional weather.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HMRC's policy paper entitled Private school fees — VAT measure, last updated on 15 November 2024, for what reasons the Government didn't model the potential impact of the policy on economic growth.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget the Government published the costing methodology for the measure. This included thorough analysis of the static costing and behavioural effects of the measure. In addition, the economic impact of the measure is included in the Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN), also published at the Budget.
The OBR's economic forecast in October modelled the macroeconomic impacts of the Budget package, including the private schools measure.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether children who attend school in a different local authority area to the one in which they reside are funded at the level of (a) the local authority their school is in or (b) the local authority where they reside.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates funding for mainstream schools. The funding levels vary between local authority areas, and the funding that mainstream schools receive is determined by the local authority that they are in, rather than where their pupils live. In any given year, mainstream schools are allocated funding based on pupil numbers and characteristics at the time of the previous October census. This means that for the 2025/26 financial year, schools are allocated funding based on the pupils they had at the time of the October 2024 census.
Children with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are mainly funded by the local authority in whose area they reside. Local authorities are allocated high needs funding for this purpose and their allocations are calculated through a high needs NFF which uses data relating to the children resident in their area. The local authority allocates the majority of this high needs funding to mainstream and special schools, both those located in the authority’s area and those elsewhere, in respect of the children with SEND resident in their area for whom they have statutory responsibilities.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an estimate of the number of passengers expected to interchange onto East-West Rail services at Cambridge South whose journeys began at London Stansted Airport in the next 12 months.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No estimate has been made of the number of passengers using Cambridge South station as an interchange to change from East-West Rail services to connecting services to Stansted Airport.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
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 allowing children to attend specialist education settings in a different local authority to the one in which they reside.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Children and young people can attend specialist provision in any local authority, not just the one in which they reside.
Children and young people will be placed in special schools through the statutory process which the Children and Families Act 2014 prescribes for an education, health and care plan. Where pupils require alternative provision because they do not have a school place, the local authority is responsible for arranging a placement.
As of January 2024, 8.9% of special school pupils were educated outside the local authority where they live. More information on school and pupil characteristics can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the equity of per pupil school funding in Bedfordshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Every year the department uses the schools national funding formula (NFF) to distribute core funding for 5- to 16-year-old pupils in mainstream state-funded schools in England. In the current NFF, the vast majority of funding is distributed on the basis of pupil numbers and characteristics.
The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that pupils with additional needs attract additional funding to help schools respond and meet their needs. In addition, schools in more expensive areas, like London, attract higher funding per pupil than other parts of the country to reflect the higher costs they face.
Through the dedicated schools grant, Bedford local authority is receiving over £179 million for mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year, which equates to £6,306 per pupil on average, excluding growth and falling rolls funding. Central Bedfordshire local authority is receiving almost £260 million, or £5,980 per pupil on average, for mainstream schools in the financial year 2025/26. Schools' final funding allocations are determined by local authority funding formulae and based on updated pupil numbers, so the final per pupil funding amounts for individual schools may differ.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of equalising dedicated school grants for schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Every year the department uses the schools national funding formula (NFF) to distribute core funding for 5- to 16-year-old pupils in mainstream state-funded schools in England. In the current NFF, the vast majority of funding is distributed on the basis of pupil numbers and characteristics.
The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that pupils with additional needs attract additional funding to help schools respond and meet their needs. In addition, schools in more expensive areas, like London, attract higher funding per pupil than other parts of the country to reflect the higher costs they face.
Through the dedicated schools grant, Bedford local authority is receiving over £179 million for mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year, which equates to £6,306 per pupil on average, excluding growth and falling rolls funding. Central Bedfordshire local authority is receiving almost £260 million, or £5,980 per pupil on average, for mainstream schools in the financial year 2025/26. Schools' final funding allocations are determined by local authority funding formulae and based on updated pupil numbers, so the final per pupil funding amounts for individual schools may differ.