Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the retention rate of teachers in coastal communities.

Answered by Damian Hinds

The department currently has the highest number of teachers on record, with over 468,000 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England. This represents an increase of 27,000 (6%) since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

The department knows there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects. That is why the department has put in place a range of measures, including bursaries worth £28,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. For language subjects, the department is offering bursaries worth £25,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £27,000 tax-free in French, German and Spanish. The department is also continuing to offer bursaries and scholarships to all non-UK national trainees in physics and languages. The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) financial incentives package for the 2024/25 recruitment cycle is worth up to £196 million, which is a £15 million increase on the last cycle.

For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is doubling the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. As of 2023, 69% of secondary or special schools in coastal towns are eligible for the Levelling Up Premium, compared to 59% of schools elsewhere in the country. This will support both recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.

Coastal communities are also well served by the department’s network of Teaching School Hubs (TSHs), which are school-led centres of excellence in professional development, delivering training and support to teachers and school leaders at every stage of their career. The 87 TSHs cover all of England, with 31 hubs currently serving 146 coastal areas across England.

Regarding recruitment targets, simply looking at post-graduate Initial Teacher Training (PGITT) recruitment as an indicator of broader teacher recruitment is misleading as it is not the only route into teaching, nor does it represent the available number of teachers in the workforce. The PGITT target is calculated using the Teacher Workforce Model, which considers a broad range of factors including, but not limited to, projected pupil numbers, historical recruitment performance, teacher retention forecasts, economic factors, and recruitment from other non-ITT related routes such as returners and those teachers that are new to the state-funded schools sector.

Therefore, the PGITT target is not based on the total number of entrants schools’ need, but rather on the forecast residual need after accounting for other non-PGITT inflows, such as undergraduate ITT and returners. The department calculates targets on an annual basis, and if retention and entrants from other routes are higher than expected during the time that trainees are applying for and completing their course, this can offset the need to meet the PGITT targets in full.

The department will continue to monitor PGITT and other routes into teaching and have provided targeted support to ensure it recruits and retains sufficient numbers of teachers in all key subjects, including physics and languages.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase recruitment of teachers of (a) physics, (b) modern foreign languages and (c) other specialist subjects.

Answered by Damian Hinds

The department currently has the highest number of teachers on record, with over 468,000 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England. This represents an increase of 27,000 (6%) since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

The department knows there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects. That is why the department has put in place a range of measures, including bursaries worth £28,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. For language subjects, the department is offering bursaries worth £25,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £27,000 tax-free in French, German and Spanish. The department is also continuing to offer bursaries and scholarships to all non-UK national trainees in physics and languages. The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) financial incentives package for the 2024/25 recruitment cycle is worth up to £196 million, which is a £15 million increase on the last cycle.

For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is doubling the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. As of 2023, 69% of secondary or special schools in coastal towns are eligible for the Levelling Up Premium, compared to 59% of schools elsewhere in the country. This will support both recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.

Coastal communities are also well served by the department’s network of Teaching School Hubs (TSHs), which are school-led centres of excellence in professional development, delivering training and support to teachers and school leaders at every stage of their career. The 87 TSHs cover all of England, with 31 hubs currently serving 146 coastal areas across England.

Regarding recruitment targets, simply looking at post-graduate Initial Teacher Training (PGITT) recruitment as an indicator of broader teacher recruitment is misleading as it is not the only route into teaching, nor does it represent the available number of teachers in the workforce. The PGITT target is calculated using the Teacher Workforce Model, which considers a broad range of factors including, but not limited to, projected pupil numbers, historical recruitment performance, teacher retention forecasts, economic factors, and recruitment from other non-ITT related routes such as returners and those teachers that are new to the state-funded schools sector.

Therefore, the PGITT target is not based on the total number of entrants schools’ need, but rather on the forecast residual need after accounting for other non-PGITT inflows, such as undergraduate ITT and returners. The department calculates targets on an annual basis, and if retention and entrants from other routes are higher than expected during the time that trainees are applying for and completing their course, this can offset the need to meet the PGITT targets in full.

The department will continue to monitor PGITT and other routes into teaching and have provided targeted support to ensure it recruits and retains sufficient numbers of teachers in all key subjects, including physics and languages.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects to meet recruitment targets for (a) physics and (b) modern foreign languages at secondary school level.

Answered by Damian Hinds

The department currently has the highest number of teachers on record, with over 468,000 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England. This represents an increase of 27,000 (6%) since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

The department knows there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects. That is why the department has put in place a range of measures, including bursaries worth £28,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. For language subjects, the department is offering bursaries worth £25,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £27,000 tax-free in French, German and Spanish. The department is also continuing to offer bursaries and scholarships to all non-UK national trainees in physics and languages. The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) financial incentives package for the 2024/25 recruitment cycle is worth up to £196 million, which is a £15 million increase on the last cycle.

For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is doubling the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. As of 2023, 69% of secondary or special schools in coastal towns are eligible for the Levelling Up Premium, compared to 59% of schools elsewhere in the country. This will support both recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.

Coastal communities are also well served by the department’s network of Teaching School Hubs (TSHs), which are school-led centres of excellence in professional development, delivering training and support to teachers and school leaders at every stage of their career. The 87 TSHs cover all of England, with 31 hubs currently serving 146 coastal areas across England.

Regarding recruitment targets, simply looking at post-graduate Initial Teacher Training (PGITT) recruitment as an indicator of broader teacher recruitment is misleading as it is not the only route into teaching, nor does it represent the available number of teachers in the workforce. The PGITT target is calculated using the Teacher Workforce Model, which considers a broad range of factors including, but not limited to, projected pupil numbers, historical recruitment performance, teacher retention forecasts, economic factors, and recruitment from other non-ITT related routes such as returners and those teachers that are new to the state-funded schools sector.

Therefore, the PGITT target is not based on the total number of entrants schools’ need, but rather on the forecast residual need after accounting for other non-PGITT inflows, such as undergraduate ITT and returners. The department calculates targets on an annual basis, and if retention and entrants from other routes are higher than expected during the time that trainees are applying for and completing their course, this can offset the need to meet the PGITT targets in full.

The department will continue to monitor PGITT and other routes into teaching and have provided targeted support to ensure it recruits and retains sufficient numbers of teachers in all key subjects, including physics and languages.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on allowing land identified as Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England to be used for food production without financial penalties for farmers.

Answered by Mark Spencer

Locally significant historical and archaeological features identified by local authority Historic Environment officers that could potentially benefit from management under environmental land management schemes are placed on the Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England (or SHINE).

These irreplaceable features are often only on a part of a parcel and Government does not pay for any action that could cause them damage. Farmers may already be using this land for food production and many of these features are subject to environmental land management scheme actions which either cause no harm or can directly benefit them.

In 2022 we changed the process so that we could allow for the areas containing sensitive heritage features to be separated out from the remaining field area.

We want to ensure that farmers have the maximum opportunities to be able to take part in our schemes and to that end will work with our partners to refine both SHINE data and SFI actions. We also expect to introduce further actions that allow for management of SHINE features under the Sustainable Farming Incentive later in the year.

We will hold a roundtable discussion in due course to address the issues raised.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help increase the number of female-led businesses.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition

In March 2024, the government announced the launch of the Invest in Women Taskforce. Its mission is to make the UK the best place in the world to be a female founder.

Since its launch, the Taskforce members have been working with the private sector to begin raising its fund for female founders. This seeks to increase the proportion of investment
going to all-female founder teams – which has been stuck at 2% for the past decade.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to support parents of children with SEND to remain in the workforce.

Answered by Jo Churchill

Eligible Universal Credit (UC) customers can claim back up to 85% of childcare costs making it easier for families to take up and progress in work.

In the past year the Department has increased the generosity of the UC childcare costs maximum amounts by over 50%, to £1015 for one child and £1,739 for two children or more.

UC childcare support is paid to registered providers for example, OFSTED and providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information he holds on the number and proportion of participants of the Kickstart scheme that are in employment.

Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)

The Impact Assessment on Kickstart is currently being finalised. This assessment will quantify any impact on movement into employment following the scheme. We aim to publish the findings of this assessment in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that local authority trading standards bodies have sufficient (a) funding and (b) other resources to tackle (i) illicit vapes and (ii) underage sales.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom

The Government is concerned about the increase in the number of illicit vapes in the United Kingdom’s market, and the easy access and availability of these vapes to children. To strengthen our enforcement activity, we are providing an additional £30 million per year for enforcement agencies, including Trading Standards, to support work in tackling illicit and underage sales. We are working closely with Trading Standards to consider how the new funding can best support their programmes of local-level enforcement.

In April last year, we also provided £3 million of new funding for a new enforcement unit to tackle the illegal and underage sale of vapes, which has conducted targeted inspections in retail outlets and ports, upskilled Trading Standards officers, and piloted online underage test programmes.

The Government will also introduce fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for the underage sale of tobacco and vaping products. This will support Trading Standards in taking quicker and more proportionate enforcement action against the irresponsible retailers who allow underage sales. Enforcement authorities will retain all the proceeds from FPNs, to reinvest in the enforcement of tobacco and vaping product legislation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle the sale of illegal vapes to people under the age of 18.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom

The Government is concerned about the increase in the number of illicit vapes in the United Kingdom’s market, and the easy access and availability of these vapes to children. To strengthen our enforcement activity, we are providing an additional £30 million per year for enforcement agencies, including Trading Standards, to support work in tackling illicit and underage sales. We are working closely with Trading Standards to consider how the new funding can best support their programmes of local-level enforcement.

In April last year, we also provided £3 million of new funding for a new enforcement unit to tackle the illegal and underage sale of vapes, which has conducted targeted inspections in retail outlets and ports, upskilled Trading Standards officers, and piloted online underage test programmes.

The Government will also introduce fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for the underage sale of tobacco and vaping products. This will support Trading Standards in taking quicker and more proportionate enforcement action against the irresponsible retailers who allow underage sales. Enforcement authorities will retain all the proceeds from FPNs, to reinvest in the enforcement of tobacco and vaping product legislation.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing support for citizen science to help improve understanding of the UK's water quality.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Citizen Science initiatives can provide invaluable data about our water environment, which complements monitoring and assessment work conducted by the Environment Agency (EA). In recognition of this the EA is delivering the first phase of a three-year citizen science project: Supporting Citizen Science. This project is working with partners across England to explore how the EA can best utilise citizen science evidence alongside its own monitoring data to further increase understanding of water quality. Recommendations from this project are expected in 2025.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of asking citizen science programmes to (a) test water quality and (b) provide that data to his Department.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We recognise the value of citizen science data, and the additional insight it can provide to complement monitoring and assessment work conducted by the Environment Agency (EA).

The EA is delivering the first phase of a multi-year citizen science project: Supporting Citizen Science. The project is working with partners across England to explore how the EA can best work with citizen science groups to observe and measure the environment, alongside their ongoing monitoring to further increase understanding of water quality.

Citizen scientists are not being asked to test water quality on behalf of the EA: the focus is instead on citizen science data providing supplementary insight.

The EA is working with catchment partners to provide data management guidance to support citizen scientists in the collection and storage of data to improve our understanding of the water environment.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will introduce year-round water quality testing.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Bathing Water Regulations require the Environment Agency to sample bathing waters at a fixed location using a pre-determined sampling schedule during the bathing season, which runs from 15 May to 30 September. The Government is committed to reviewing the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 to ensure they reflect changes in how and where people use bathing waters. That is why Defra has recently announced plans to consult on proposals to reform the Bathing Water Regulations for England. The proposed changes will drive work to improve bathing water quality, enhance monitoring and enable more flexibility around the dates of the bathing water monitoring season.

The EA also conducts wider water quality monitoring for a range of purposes including understanding the state of the environment year-round.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential barriers to wider deployment of biomass fuels.

Answered by Anthony Browne

The government’s Biomass Strategy, published in 2023, analysed biomass availability and recognised that sustainable biomass is a limited resource and there is uncertainty around future availability for use in the UK. It concluded its use should be prioritised where it offers the greatest environmental, economic, and social benefits.

This analysis has been built on in the government’s response to the second Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate consultation, published in April 2024. This set out that while biofuels have a significant role to play, international availability of different types of sustainable biomass may limit their total application for the decarbonisation of aviation.

The Government is preparing a Low Carbon Fuel Strategy for future publication.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking with local authorities to help increase the rate of reunification of children in kinship care with their birth families.

Answered by David Johnston

The department is committed to ensuring that looked after children are able to achieve permanence. Where a looked after child’s permanence plan is to return to the care of their parents, there should be a robust decision-making process to ensure this decision is safe and sustainable and will safeguard and promote their welfare. Local authorities should set out what support and services will be provided following reunification.

In the 2023 update to the statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ the department set out that local authorities may consider whether family group decision-making would support the child’s transition home from care, and the role the family network could play in supporting this.

The £45 million Families First for Children Pathfinder programme will test family network reforms including through increased use of family group decision making. This reform area will empower families by prioritising family-led solutions, engaging wider family networks throughout decisions made about a child which may support reunification, including back to birth parents.

The number and percentage of looked after children returning home to live with parents or other people with parental responsibility is published annually in the department’s children looked after statistical release and can be interrogated at local authority level on GOV.UK. Figures are available for the last five years. The department does not intend to break down the data any further to identify returns to birth parents from kinship care.

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 requiring local authorities to (a) measure and (b) publish their performance on reuniting children in kinship care with their birth parents.

Answered by David Johnston

The department is committed to ensuring that looked after children are able to achieve permanence. Where a looked after child’s permanence plan is to return to the care of their parents, there should be a robust decision-making process to ensure this decision is safe and sustainable and will safeguard and promote their welfare. Local authorities should set out what support and services will be provided following reunification.

In the 2023 update to the statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ the department set out that local authorities may consider whether family group decision-making would support the child’s transition home from care, and the role the family network could play in supporting this.

The £45 million Families First for Children Pathfinder programme will test family network reforms including through increased use of family group decision making. This reform area will empower families by prioritising family-led solutions, engaging wider family networks throughout decisions made about a child which may support reunification, including back to birth parents.

The number and percentage of looked after children returning home to live with parents or other people with parental responsibility is published annually in the department’s children looked after statistical release and can be interrogated at local authority level on GOV.UK. Figures are available for the last five years. The department does not intend to break down the data any further to identify returns to birth parents from kinship care.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the impact of local authority specialist family reunification teams on trends in the number of children who have been reunited with their birth parents in the last 10 years.

Answered by David Johnston

The department is committed to ensuring that looked after children are able to achieve permanence. Where a looked after child’s permanence plan is to return to the care of their parents, there should be a robust decision-making process to ensure this decision is safe and sustainable and will safeguard and promote their welfare. Local authorities should set out what support and services will be provided following reunification.

In the 2023 update to the statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ the department set out that local authorities may consider whether family group decision-making would support the child’s transition home from care, and the role the family network could play in supporting this.

The £45 million Families First for Children Pathfinder programme will test family network reforms including through increased use of family group decision making. This reform area will empower families by prioritising family-led solutions, engaging wider family networks throughout decisions made about a child which may support reunification, including back to birth parents.

The number and percentage of looked after children returning home to live with parents or other people with parental responsibility is published annually in the department’s children looked after statistical release and can be interrogated at local authority level on GOV.UK. Figures are available for the last five years. The department does not intend to break down the data any further to identify returns to birth parents from kinship care.

Question

To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Church of England has had discussions with the Clewer Initiative on the impact of its funding on its work; and whether the Church is taking steps to support the Clewer Initiative.

Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner

The Clewer Initiative was set up as a joint programme between the Church of England and the Trustees of the Community of St John the Baptist (known as the Clewer Sisters). It was launched in October 2017 with the backing of the then Prime Minister Theresa May and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

It started as an initial three-year programme working to help the Church of England's 42 dioceses support victims of modern slavery and identify signs of exploitation in their local communities. Information about its work can be found here: https://theclewerinitiative.org/

Over the past seven years the Clewer Initiative has worked with a large network of volunteers drawn from across the Church of England. Sadly, the Trustees of CSJB feel unable to continue with funding and, in the absence of an alternative funding stream, the Clewer Initiative will close this summer. The National Church Institutions are currently working to ensure that the assets of the project, especially valuable tools such as the Car Wash App, which have led to many investigations and prosecutions for Modern Day Slavery, are transferred to other charities working in this field. The Church of England remains committed to combating modern day slavery and will consider other ways to continue its work in this area.

Question

To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Church of England has had discussions with the Clewer Initiative on tackling modern slavery in the last 12 months.

Answered by Andrew Selous - Second Church Estates Commissioner

The Clewer Initiative was set up as a joint programme between the Church of England and the Trustees of the Community of St John the Baptist (known as the Clewer Sisters). It was launched in October 2017 with the backing of the then Prime Minister Theresa May and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

It started as an initial three-year programme working to help the Church of England's 42 dioceses support victims of modern slavery and identify signs of exploitation in their local communities. Information about its work can be found here: https://theclewerinitiative.org/

Over the past seven years the Clewer Initiative has worked with a large network of volunteers drawn from across the Church of England. Sadly, the Trustees of CSJB feel unable to continue with funding and, in the absence of an alternative funding stream, the Clewer Initiative will close this summer. The National Church Institutions are currently working to ensure that the assets of the project, especially valuable tools such as the Car Wash App, which have led to many investigations and prosecutions for Modern Day Slavery, are transferred to other charities working in this field. The Church of England remains committed to combating modern day slavery and will consider other ways to continue its work in this area.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024, what estimate the Government has made of the potential cost of providing compensation to eligible women.

Answered by Paul Maynard

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has had discussions with the Minister for Women and Equalities on the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report into women's State Pension age changes, published on 21 March 2024.

Answered by Paul Maynard

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the State Pension age for women born in the 1950s on those women in Eastbourne constituency.

Answered by Paul Maynard

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of parents of children with special educational needs have returned to work due to the provision of Universal Credit in (a) Eastbourne constituency and (b) East Sussex over the most recent 12 months for which data is available.

Answered by Jo Churchill

The information requested is not available and to provide it would be at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of universal credit claimants are parents of a child with special educational needs in (a) the UK and (b) Eastbourne constituency.

Answered by Jo Churchill

The information requested is not available and to provide it would be at disproportionate cost.

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 reviewing the code-based system for accessing government-funded childcare to reduce the administrative burden on early years providers.

Answered by David Johnston

The department expects to provide over £4.1 billion by 2027/28 to facilitate the expansion of funded childcare and to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year overall on free hours and early education entitlements. This is the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever. As the childcare support is gradually rolled out, the department is encouraging consideration and take up through a parent facing campaign called Childcare Choices.

The department is using a range of communications to drive users to the Childcare Choices website to find out more information about the different offers, check eligibility, sign up for updates and to apply. This has included a leaflet campaign distributed to over four million households across the country, as well as GP surgeries and supermarkets. The department has partnered with Peanut and Mumset to provide information on the available and expanded offers and directly communicated to parents through the Childcare Choices newsletter, which now has over 257,000 subscribers.

This has resulted in over 210,000 childcare codes being validated for two year olds to benefit from 15 hours childcare from April 2024. The department is continuing to work with a range of partners to refine and disseminate messaging around the existing and new entitlements as it moves forward using a range of channels.

The number of code validations will continue to grow, meaning even more working parents will have the option to have a family and a career, whilst also helping to grow the economy. The department continues to engage with local authorities and providers regarding the effective working of the code-based system.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to encourage the take up of the newly introduced funded childcare.

Answered by David Johnston

The department expects to provide over £4.1 billion by 2027/28 to facilitate the expansion of funded childcare and to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year overall on free hours and early education entitlements. This is the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever. As the childcare support is gradually rolled out, the department is encouraging consideration and take up through a parent facing campaign called Childcare Choices.

The department is using a range of communications to drive users to the Childcare Choices website to find out more information about the different offers, check eligibility, sign up for updates and to apply. This has included a leaflet campaign distributed to over four million households across the country, as well as GP surgeries and supermarkets. The department has partnered with Peanut and Mumset to provide information on the available and expanded offers and directly communicated to parents through the Childcare Choices newsletter, which now has over 257,000 subscribers.

This has resulted in over 210,000 childcare codes being validated for two year olds to benefit from 15 hours childcare from April 2024. The department is continuing to work with a range of partners to refine and disseminate messaging around the existing and new entitlements as it moves forward using a range of channels.

The number of code validations will continue to grow, meaning even more working parents will have the option to have a family and a career, whilst also helping to grow the economy. The department continues to engage with local authorities and providers regarding the effective working of the code-based system.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a curiosity-led learning approach in early years settings.

Answered by David Johnston

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to give children the right foundation for future progress in school and life. The EYFS defines three characteristics of effective teaching and learning: playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically. Early years settings have the flexibility to utilise different learning approaches and design their own curriculum, based on the EYFS statutory requirements.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to encourage early years providers to adopt a curiosity-led learning approach.

Answered by David Johnston

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to give children the right foundation for future progress in school and life. The EYFS defines three characteristics of effective teaching and learning: playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically. Early years settings have the flexibility to utilise different learning approaches and design their own curriculum, based on the EYFS statutory requirements.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing Government (a) financial and (b) other support for people looking to open new nurseries.

Answered by David Johnston

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Found: Current membership Robin Walker MP (Conservative, Worcester ) (Chair) Caroline Ansell MP (Conservative

Found: Wedn esday 8 November 2023 Members present Robin Walker , in the Chair 1 Caroline Ansell Miriam

Found: Mr Robin Walker (Conservative, Worcester) (Chair) (added 16 Nov 2022) 22 of 22 (100.0%) Caroline Ansell

Found: Robin Walker (Conservativ e, Worcester) (Chair) (added 16 Nov 2022) 16 of 16 (100.0%) Caroline Ansell

Found: Current membership Robin Walker MP (Conservative, Worcester ) (Chair) Caroline Ansell MP (Conservative

Found: Current membership Robin Walker MP (Conservative, Worcester ) (Chair) Caroline Ansell MP (Conservative

Found: Andrew Jones Elliot Colburn Daniel Kawczynski Sir Paul Beresford Sir David Evennett Caroline Ansell

Found: _NC15 Caroline Ansell Sally-Ann Hart Rachael Maskell Ms Marie Rimmer Robin Millar Bob Blackman

Found: Andrew Jones Elliot Colburn Daniel Kawczynski Sir Paul Beresford Sir David Evennett Caroline Ansell

Found: _NC15 Caroline Ansell Sally-Ann Hart Rachael Maskell Ms Marie Rimmer Robin Millar Bob Blackman

Found: Gideon Sally-Ann Hart Lia Nici Sir John Hayes Sir Paul Beresford Sir David Evennett Caroline Ansell

Found: _NC15 Caroline Ansell Sally-Ann Hart Rachael Maskell Ms Marie Rimmer Robin Millar Bob Blackman

Found: _NC15 Caroline Ansell Sally-Ann Hart Rachael Maskell Ms Marie Rimmer Robin Millar Bob Blackman

Found: _NC15 Caroline Ansell Sally-Ann Hart Rachael Maskell Ms Marie Rimmer Robin Millar Bob Blackman

Found: _NC15 Caroline Ansell Sally-Ann Hart Rachael Maskell Ms Marie Rimmer Robin Millar Bob Blackman

Found: _NC15 Caroline Ansell Sally-Ann Hart Rachael Maskell Ms Marie Rimmer Robin Millar Bob Blackman

Found: approved. ”” REPORT STAGE Wednesday 15 May 2024 10 Not called _NC7 Sir Iain Duncan Smith Caroline Ansell

Found: in servitude or subjected to forced or compulsory labour.93 Proposals At second reading, Caroline Ansell