Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of access to (a) rugby in schools and (b) other school sport opportunities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Rugby remains an established part of school sport and there are clear inequalities among girls, disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs.
The department maintains regular engagement with sporting bodies, including the Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football League. These organisations report growing participation in schools and are investing in and are investing in formats such as T1 (non-contact) rugby, tag rugby and touch rugby, which can help schools introduce the sport more easily and safely.
We are investing over £1 billion in PE and school sport over the next three years, including £530 million for the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network. The Network will strengthen links between schools, governing bodies and local clubs, helping to identify and remove barriers to participation and ensuring that rugby, including contact rugby, and other sports are accessible to young people across the country.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with sporting bodies on increasing rugby participation in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Rugby remains an established part of school sport and there are clear inequalities among girls, disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs.
The department maintains regular engagement with sporting bodies, including the Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football League. These organisations report growing participation in schools and are investing in and are investing in formats such as T1 (non-contact) rugby, tag rugby and touch rugby, which can help schools introduce the sport more easily and safely.
We are investing over £1 billion in PE and school sport over the next three years, including £530 million for the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network. The Network will strengthen links between schools, governing bodies and local clubs, helping to identify and remove barriers to participation and ensuring that rugby, including contact rugby, and other sports are accessible to young people across the country.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with sporting bodies on increasing contact rugby participation in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Rugby remains an established part of school sport and there are clear inequalities among girls, disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs.
The department maintains regular engagement with sporting bodies, including the Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football League. These organisations report growing participation in schools and are investing in and are investing in formats such as T1 (non-contact) rugby, tag rugby and touch rugby, which can help schools introduce the sport more easily and safely.
We are investing over £1 billion in PE and school sport over the next three years, including £530 million for the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network. The Network will strengthen links between schools, governing bodies and local clubs, helping to identify and remove barriers to participation and ensuring that rugby, including contact rugby, and other sports are accessible to young people across the country.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support rugby in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Rugby remains an established part of school sport and there are clear inequalities among girls, disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs.
The department maintains regular engagement with sporting bodies, including the Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football League. These organisations report growing participation in schools and are investing in and are investing in formats such as T1 (non-contact) rugby, tag rugby and touch rugby, which can help schools introduce the sport more easily and safely.
We are investing over £1 billion in PE and school sport over the next three years, including £530 million for the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network. The Network will strengthen links between schools, governing bodies and local clubs, helping to identify and remove barriers to participation and ensuring that rugby, including contact rugby, and other sports are accessible to young people across the country.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department’s policies of rural education challenges in West Dorset.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to ensure there are enough school places available in their area for every child of compulsory school age. The department expects local authorities, academy trusts and local partners to engage collaboratively and constructively to balance the supply and demand of school places, in line with changing demographics locally.
The government also recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities, many of which are in rural areas.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act has introduced new measures that enable greater local collaboration on pupil admissions and place planning between local authorities and schools.
To support strategic planning at a local level, the department will work with the sector to develop a decision-making framework for the use of mainstream school space through demographic change. We aim to publish this in autumn 2026.
Area planning will help us to ensure that smaller and more vulnerable schools, including those in rural areas, can become part of a strong and supportive school trust. The department will work with local partners to develop the school trust landscape that reflects the needs of each area, with geographically coherent trusts that enable effective collaboration and reduce isolation, alongside wider support for rural provision including recognition within the funding system. The schools national funding formula accounts for the challenges faced by small schools in rural areas by providing additional funding through the lump sum and sparsity factor.
Our wider reforms will also strengthen the role of trusts working with local authorities and other services to support all children, particularly the most disadvantaged, in aiming to improve outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, including early, fair support, with shared accountabilities across local partners.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of waiting times for Education, Health and Care Plans on children in West Dorset.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The latest data, from June 2025, covering 2024, shows Dorset completed 60.2% of education, health and care plans within statutory timescales, compared to a national average of 46.4%. The department recognises the importance of children and young people receiving support as early as possible and continues to monitor local authority performance, providing support and challenge where needed.
We are reforming the special educational needs and disabilities system to ensure children get the right support in early years settings, schools, and colleges, with help available earlier and closer to home. This includes strengthening mainstream provision through a universal offer of high-quality teaching, alongside targeted support so children can access help without unnecessary delays.
These reforms are supported by significant investment of £1.6 billion to improve inclusivity in mainstream settings, £1.8 billion over three years for a new ‘Experts at Hand’ service, and over £200 million for workforce training. Together, these changes will deliver more timely and effective support.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support SEND students in West Dorset.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The latest data, from June 2025, covering 2024, shows Dorset completed 60.2% of education, health and care plans within statutory timescales, compared to a national average of 46.4%. The department recognises the importance of children and young people receiving support as early as possible and continues to monitor local authority performance, providing support and challenge where needed.
We are reforming the special educational needs and disabilities system to ensure children get the right support in early years settings, schools, and colleges, with help available earlier and closer to home. This includes strengthening mainstream provision through a universal offer of high-quality teaching, alongside targeted support so children can access help without unnecessary delays.
These reforms are supported by significant investment of £1.6 billion to improve inclusivity in mainstream settings, £1.8 billion over three years for a new ‘Experts at Hand’ service, and over £200 million for workforce training. Together, these changes will deliver more timely and effective support.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve educational outcomes in West Dorset.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is for all children to achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap to be halved.
We will deliver this through a refreshed curriculum, maximising the impact of deprivation funding to boost outcomes for disadvantaged children and supporting schools to improve behaviour, attendance and parental engagement.
In addition, we are rolling out Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams, who provide mandatory targeted interventions to schools identified by Ofsted as needing improvement, with West Dorset already benefiting from this programme of support, alongside a Universal RISE service designed to support a self improving system for all schools.
Alongside this, we are supporting excellence in leadership through targeted interventions that update standards, strengthen professional development and support wellbeing. We also support aspiring leaders through our network of 87 Teaching School Hubs that support local schools to access National Professional Qualifications. South Central Teaching School is the local hub supporting West Dorset.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing for post-16 education providers in West Dorset.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is supporting providers across the country, including in West Dorset with over £18 billion per year of programme funding in post-16 education and skills, delivering record investment this Parliament.
This includes nearly £800 million extra into 16 to 19 education in 2026-27 compared to original plans, enabling providers to grow high quality pathways for thousands more learners.
Through £1.4 billion investment in the Adult Skills Fund, we are continuing to invest in high-quality training for adults.
The department oversees the further education (FE) sector through its regulatory and stewardship role, setting funding and quality expectations and monitoring performance via data, inspections and structured engagement, and intervening where standards, financial management or delivery fall short.
Tiered support is available from the FE Commissioner’s (FEC) team for FE colleges and local authority providers using a risk-based approach. If an intervention trigger is met, the FEC will undertake an intervention assessment and publish their findings with recommended actions to improve.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with local education providers in West Dorset on skills and apprenticeship provision.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The approach in West Dorset follows the pattern and approach across the country. The department retains oversight and engagement with all post-16 providers through its Regional Performance Teams. There is a specific focus on working with further education colleges, local authorities and independent training providers who deliver apprenticeships. Each college has an accountability statement which focuses on local and national skills needs and is reviewed by this team. The department reviews the college’s performance on apprenticeships and skills through the Annual Strategic Conversation meeting, and during a spring and autumn review. This information is moderated at a national level.
The Regional Performance Team has undertaken some additional focused work with Coastland College (formerly Weymouth and Kingston Maurward College) in their development following merger in August 2024. There is a clear focus on developing apprenticeships in line with local need.