Calum Miller

In line with the practice of successive administrations, detailed minutes of ministerial meetings - even those that are declared publicly - are not normally disclosed.

The UK government is committed to monitoring US policies and considering what action is best to promote and safeguard UK business interests.

Between January 2017 and January 2021, we engaged the US administration extensively on a range of US policies, including in the context of UK-US FTA negotiations. Beyond 2021, we have continued engaging with the US to improve access to the US market for UK exporters, including by securing the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium products.

The UK government is committed to monitoring US policies and considering what action is best to promote and safeguard UK business interests.

Between January 2017 and January 2021, we engaged the US administration extensively on a range of US policies, including in the context of UK-US FTA negotiations. Beyond 2021, we have continued engaging with the US to improve access to the US market for UK exporters, including by securing the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium products.

The UK government is committed to monitoring US policies and considering what action is best to promote and safeguard UK business interests.

Between January 2017 and January 2021, we engaged the US administration extensively on a range of US policies, including in the context of UK-US FTA negotiations. Beyond 2021, we have continued engaging with the US to improve access to the US market for UK exporters, including by securing the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium products.

The UK government is committed to monitoring US policies and considering what action is best to promote and safeguard UK business interests.

Between January 2017 and January 2021, we engaged the US administration extensively on a range of US policies, including in the context of UK-US FTA negotiations. Beyond 2021, we have continued engaging with the US to improve access to the US market for UK exporters, including by securing the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium products.

The UK government is committed to monitoring US policies and considering what action is best to promote and safeguard UK business interests.

Between January 2017 and January 2021, we engaged the US administration extensively on a range of US policies, including in the context of UK-US FTA negotiations. Beyond 2021, we have continued engaging with the US to improve access to the US market for UK exporters, including by securing the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium products.

Since the 5^th of November the Secretary of State has held positive discussions with European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera (15 January) and the Spanish Minister for Economy, Trade and Business, Carlos Cuerpo (14 November) on shared trade interests. We look forward to continuing to build these relationships with the new Commissioners.

The UK government is committed to monitoring US policies and considering what action is best to promote and safeguard UK business interests.

Between January 2017 and January 2021, we engaged the US administration extensively on a range of US policies, including in the context of UK-US FTA negotiations. Beyond 2021, we have continued engaging with the US to improve access to the US market for UK exporters, including by securing the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium products.

BEIS has, and DESNZ continues to, assess the implications of international policy on the UK. The Department works on the basis of its legislative commitment to combating climate change and meeting the UK's Carbon Budgets

This Government believes that we can only ensure climate security for further generations in the UK if we lead globally. Secretary of State has had a range of engagements with European counterparts on international climate commitments, including at COP29.

There is currently no legal obligation for developers in the UK to provide community benefits However, in the Clean Power Action Plan, we have made clear that in the future where communities host clean energy infrastructure, we will ensure they benefit from it. There are many options in this area including community funds and direct support for households, and we are exploring all options to ensure communities can benefit from our clean power mission. We hope to have more to say on this in due course.

Reducing the repayment rate for existing student loan borrowers would reduce expected future repayments and therefore be a cost to the public purse. Increasing the income threshold at which student loans are repaid for existing borrowers would also reduce expected future repayments.

To support the long-term sustainability of the student loan system, we announced at the Autumn Budget 2025 that the Plan 2 repayment threshold will be increased to £29,385 in April 2026 and then frozen at that level for three years beginning April 2027.

Cancelling all outstanding student loan balances for existing student loan borrowers would lead to reduction of the fair value of the entire loan book to zero. The fair value of the student loan book, published in the most recent annual accounts, as at 31 March 2025 was £157.9 billion.

The department has not estimated the impact to the public purse of cancelling all outstanding student loan balances for subsets of graduates who studied particular subjects or work in specific professions.

It was announced at the Autumn Budget that the repayment and interest thresholds for Plan 2 student loans will be frozen from the 2026/27 financial year until April 2030, when they will increase annually by inflation.

The department produced the following analysis regarding the impact of freezing the repayment and interest thresholds:

No freeze has been announced relating to interest rates.

The department will release an equalities impact assessment, including the impact on lifetime repayments, alongside other borrower impacts for the Plan 2 repayment threshold and interest threshold freeze announced at the Autumn Budget. Published results may differ from those provided due to model and data updates.

The department engages regularly with representatives from the higher education sector on a range of international issues, working to support universities to maximise the opportunities of international collaboration whilst managing related risks. However, it would not be appropriate to comment on the specifics of any discussions with individual universities on sensitive diplomatic or national security matters.

If we are made aware of concerns from universities regarding undue foreign pressure, we can and would take appropriate action to support universities, alongside other partners, to maintain their independence and autonomy. In England, providers have a regulatory requirement to ensure that their decisions are taken, without direction, coercion or covert influence. The Office for Students’ freedom of speech advice, published in June 2025, shows how providers should protect academic freedom from foreign interference, and the department has announced further work to improve international due diligence and awareness of foreign interference risks.

The department engages regularly with representatives from the higher education sector on a range of international issues, working to support universities to maximise the opportunities of international collaboration whilst managing related risks. However, it would not be appropriate to comment on the specifics of any discussions with individual universities on sensitive diplomatic or national security matters.

If we are made aware of concerns from universities regarding undue foreign pressure, we can and would take appropriate action to support universities, alongside other partners, to maintain their independence and autonomy. In England, providers have a regulatory requirement to ensure that their decisions are taken, without direction, coercion or covert influence. The Office for Students’ freedom of speech advice, published in June 2025, shows how providers should protect academic freedom from foreign interference, and the department has announced further work to improve international due diligence and awareness of foreign interference risks.

The department has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital funding in 2025/26 to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision.

Of this funding, Oxfordshire Council has been allocated just under £8 million.

This funding is intended to support local authorities to adapt or create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit pupils’ needs, and to create high quality special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places including for pupils with SEND, sits with local authorities. It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their high needs capital funding to address local priorities.

The department has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital funding in 2025/26 to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision.

Of this funding, Oxfordshire Council has been allocated just under £8 million.

This funding is intended to support local authorities to adapt or create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit pupils’ needs, and to create high quality special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places including for pupils with SEND, sits with local authorities. It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their high needs capital funding to address local priorities.

The department, through Skills England, is actively engaged in the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor. This engagement is supported by local skills improvement plans (LSIPs), which cover all the areas within the Oxford-Cambridge corridor. LSIPs are overseen by Skills England, helping to ensure all parties play their part.

Skills England works closely with employer representative bodies who develop LSIPs to ensure that local technical skills priorities support employers, empower learners and enable regions to respond to future workforce needs.

Employers have consistently engaged with and contributed to the development of LSIPs to articulate skills needs, outline issues faced and establish solutions to tackle these.

The UK is a leading advocate for human rights around the world, and we remain committed to the promotion of universal human rights. Universities attract international engagement from across the world, and this global reach plays an important part in promoting British values, such as the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous bodies, independent from government, and therefore responsible for their own policies and procedures.

However, English HE providers must uphold applicable public interest governance principles, including on free speech, and we expect the sector to be alert to regulatory risks when collaborating with international partners, conducting appropriate due diligence to comply with all legislation, including the Human Rights Act 1998. The Office for Students (OfS) have introduced a further registration condition on harassment and sexual misconduct, which will come into force on 1 August 2025. This condition is important in ensuring HE students are free from harassment and sexual misconduct that would otherwise adversely affect their ability to benefit from their studies.

As the independent regulator, it is the role of the OfS to monitor and assess registered providers’ compliance with all its conditions of registration.

The UK is a leading advocate for human rights around the world, and we remain committed to the promotion of universal human rights. Universities attract international engagement from across the world, and this global reach plays an important part in promoting British values, such as the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous bodies, independent from government, and therefore responsible for their own policies and procedures.

However, English HE providers must uphold applicable public interest governance principles, including on free speech, and we expect the sector to be alert to regulatory risks when collaborating with international partners, conducting appropriate due diligence to comply with all legislation, including the Human Rights Act 1998. The Office for Students (OfS) have introduced a further registration condition on harassment and sexual misconduct, which will come into force on 1 August 2025. This condition is important in ensuring HE students are free from harassment and sexual misconduct that would otherwise adversely affect their ability to benefit from their studies.

As the independent regulator, it is the role of the OfS to monitor and assess registered providers’ compliance with all its conditions of registration.

The answers to Written Parliamentary Questions 36322, 36323 and 36324 were published on 20 March 2025.

The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with neurodiverse conditions.

We have established a neurodivergence task and finish group, which includes a range of experts including clinicians, scientists and academics, education experts and third sector organisations. This group is chaired by Professor Karen Guldberg from Birmingham University and is working closely with the department to help improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream settings in a way that works for neurodivergent children and young people. This includes considering the use of needs-assessment and screening tools by educational professionals.

High-quality teaching is the most important in-school factor for improving outcomes for all children, particularly those with SEND. All initial teacher training (ITT) providers must ensure that their courses enable trainee teachers to meet the Teachers’ Standards, which set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND, such as neurodiversity, to be recommended for the award of qualified teacher status.

The ITT Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework (ECF), for trainee and Early Career Teachers (ECTs) respectively, cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career. They set out the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching, and from September 2025, these will be superseded by the combined Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF), which sets out a minimum entitlement to training and must be used by providers of ITT and those delivering provider-led early career training to create their curricula. From September 2025, all ECTs will be entitled to a two-year induction that is underpinned by the ITTECF, known as the Early Career Teacher Entitlement (ECTE).

The department’s review of content for the ITTECF paid particular attention to the needs of trainees and ECTs when supporting pupils with SEND. There is now significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND, including those with neurodiversity. We have edited existing statements to improve inclusivity for SEND throughout the framework including, for example, developing an understanding of different pupil needs, and learning how to provide opportunities for success for all pupils. From September 2025, the department has also enhanced the requirement on providers of ECT training to develop SEND training materials. The department tested this approach with SEND educational experts with consensus that the approach of ‘quality-first teaching’ would be the best way to improve outcomes for all children, particularly those with SEND.

We recognise that continuous improvement is essential and have recently committed to a full review of the ECTE in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for ECTs. This review will focus on the support we provide new teachers in teaching pupils with SEND.

The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on the allocation of the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the future of the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF), including issues linked to inflation, are being considered as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. We will always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.

To ensure there are no gaps in therapy, including for children with additional needs, ASGSF applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications are approved, therapy which starts during March 2025 may therefore continue into the next financial year under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.

The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on the allocation of the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the future of the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF), including issues linked to inflation, are being considered as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. We will always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.

To ensure there are no gaps in therapy, including for children with additional needs, ASGSF applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications are approved, therapy which starts during March 2025 may therefore continue into the next financial year under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.

The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on the allocation of the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the future of the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF), including issues linked to inflation, are being considered as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible. We will always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.

To ensure there are no gaps in therapy, including for children with additional needs, ASGSF applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications are approved, therapy which starts during March 2025 may therefore continue into the next financial year under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.