Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 32022 on Schools: Pay, whether the new productivity initiatives include consideration of the use of AI technology to reduce the employment of (a) teaching and (b) teaching assistant staff.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
High quality teaching is the within-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcomes. This is why the department will recruit 6,500 new expert teachers.
The department is committed to supporting schools in driving high standards for every child and addressing workload challenges. Our productivity initiatives include the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other evidence-based technology to reduce the time teachers spend marking, planning and form filling so that their drive, energy and passion is fully focused on delivering change for children.
AI, when made safe and reliable, represents an exciting opportunity to give our schools leaders and teachers a helping hand with classroom life. The department wants our teachers and support staff to not only stay in our classrooms, but to thrive in them.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to replace support for (a) adopted and (b) special guardianship children receiving therapy for early trauma when the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund closes.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how its budget will be allocated for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.
The department will always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of closing the Adoption and special guardianship support fund on children receiving support from that fund.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how its budget will be allocated for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.
The department will always consider the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of funding pay increases from school budgets on levels of (a) teachers and (b) teaching assistants.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion in 2025/26.
Of this £2.3 billion increase, almost £1 billion is being allocated to high needs budgets. The outstanding £1.3 billion will cover the remaining mainstream costs of the 2024 teachers’ pay award in the 2025/26 financial year, as well as an increase to the mainstream schools national funding formula, and any increases to other elements of core funding.
On 10 December 2024, the department published our written evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) to inform their recommendations for teachers’ pay in the 2025/26 academic year, which proposed a pay award of 2.8% for teachers. We expect that schools will also take into consideration the cost of support staff pay in the 2025/26 financial year. Schools will be expected to fund the 2025 teacher pay award from the additional investment provided at the Budget, alongside their existing funds. Most schools will need to supplement the new funding they receive with efficiencies in their budgets. The balance between new funding and efficiencies will vary at individual school level depending on their circumstances. It will continue to be for individual schools to decide how they spend their budgets, including on the balance between spending on teachers, support staff, including teaching assistants, and non-pay expenditure.
To support schools towards identifying efficiencies, the department is developing a suite of new productivity initiatives in partnership with the sector. This will complement the free support already available to schools, including new support to make budgets go further across technology, procurement, banking services and energy contracts. For example, we have already seen from our pilot that the 400 schools who have participated in the department’s ‘Energy for Schools’ offer will save 36% on average compared to their previous energy contracts.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the methodology for engaging with children and families living in poverty under the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Child Poverty Taskforce has prioritised hearing directly from children and families in the development of the child poverty strategy.
Ministers, special advisors and government officials have taken part in several sessions with children and families to inform the strategy. This has been supported by a number of partners, including the Changing Realities project and Save the Children, and has included discussion of a wide range of issues, including the effects of poverty on single parents, and the experience of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The details of the Taskforce’s engagement and supporting research with children and families will be published in the strategy.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many meetings the Child Poverty Taskforce has had with children and families living in poverty.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Child Poverty Taskforce has prioritised hearing directly from children and families in the development of the child poverty strategy.
Ministers, special advisors and government officials have taken part in several sessions with children and families to inform the strategy. This has been supported by a number of partners, including the Changing Realities project and Save the Children, and has included discussion of a wide range of issues, including the effects of poverty on single parents, and the experience of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The details of the Taskforce’s engagement and supporting research with children and families will be published in the strategy.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions on the Child Poverty Engagement Plan in which regions the Child Poverty Taskforce has had with (a) devolved governments, (b) elected mayors, (c) academia, (d) businesses and (e) civil society.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Child Poverty Taskforce is engaging with devolved governments, elected mayors, academia, businesses and civil society, as well as children and families across the regions and nations of the UK to shape and inform the Child Poverty Strategy.
The Taskforce regularly discusses its engagement approach with ministers from all four nations, and key child poverty stakeholders such as Save the Children, IPPR, Citizens Advice, Child Poverty Action Group, Barnardo’s, the End Child Poverty Coalition, and the National Children’s Bureau, who arrange events on our behalf. We also have an Analytical Expert Reference Group, which brings together independent external expertise.
The full details of our engagement plan will be set out when we publish the Child Poverty Strategy.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 2948 on Special Educational Needs, what estimate she has made of when the review of Norfolk County Council's Safety Valve agreement will be completed.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Norfolk County Council's Safety Valve agreement is currently under review. The local authority is working closely with the department and expert advisers on a plan to achieve a sustainable high-needs budget while delivering better outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. There is no set timetable for this review to be completed.
The department regularly reviews the implementation of all Safety Valve agreements through its monitoring process and provides support and intervention if they go off track.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
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 increasing 16 to 19 funding to colleges to help fund pay deals.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises how critical further education (FE) teachers are to unlocking opportunity, tackling disadvantage and equipping learners with the skills needed to secure high value work and boost employer productivity. While the government does not set or recommend pay in the FE sector, it is clear that remuneration is an important factor in teacher recruitment and retention.
The government continues to invest in FE teachers, including through additional funding of around £600 million across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. This will support FE providers to recruit and retain high quality teachers in critical subject areas where vacancy rates are high.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of levels of pay in further education institutions on recruitment and retention.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises how critical further education (FE) teachers are to unlocking opportunity, tackling disadvantage and equipping learners with the skills needed to secure high value work and boost employer productivity. While the government does not set or recommend pay in the FE sector, it is clear that remuneration is an important factor in teacher recruitment and retention.
The government continues to invest in FE teachers, including through additional funding of around £600 million across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. This will support FE providers to recruit and retain high quality teachers in critical subject areas where vacancy rates are high.