Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of post-16 transport costs on (a) education access and (b) participation rates in rural communities.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises that the cost and availability of transport can present difficulties for some students, including those in rural areas. However, the responsibility for post-16 transport lies with local authorities, who have a duty to publish a transport policy statement each year that sets out the travel arrangements they will make to support young people to access further education.
Arrangements do not have to be free, but the department expects local authorities to make reasonable decisions based on the needs of their population, local transport infrastructure, and the resources they have available.
Many local authorities do offer some form of subsidised transport. For example, in the West Dorset constituency, Dorset Council offer a surplus seat scheme and subsidised transport for young people from low-income families who meet their eligibility criteria. Some education and training providers also provide subsidised or free transport, such as college buses, and travel subsidies from private training providers.
The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is also used to help students with travel costs, including those on low incomes. It enables schools, colleges and training providers to support students with transport costs where these have been identified as a barrier to participation.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the funding framework for post-16 (a) school and (b) college transport, in the context of the requirement for participation in education or training until the age of 18.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises that the cost and availability of transport can present difficulties for some students, including those in rural areas. However, the responsibility for post-16 transport lies with local authorities, who have a duty to publish a transport policy statement each year that sets out the travel arrangements they will make to support young people to access further education.
Arrangements do not have to be free, but the department expects local authorities to make reasonable decisions based on the needs of their population, local transport infrastructure, and the resources they have available.
Many local authorities do offer some form of subsidised transport. For example, in the West Dorset constituency, Dorset Council offer a surplus seat scheme and subsidised transport for young people from low-income families who meet their eligibility criteria. Some education and training providers also provide subsidised or free transport, such as college buses, and travel subsidies from private training providers.
The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is also used to help students with travel costs, including those on low incomes. It enables schools, colleges and training providers to support students with transport costs where these have been identified as a barrier to participation.
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 she has made of the (a) affordability and (b) availability of transport to post-16 (i) education and (ii) training in (A) West Dorset constituency and (B) other rural areas.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises that the cost and availability of transport can present difficulties for some students, including those in rural areas. However, the responsibility for post-16 transport lies with local authorities, who have a duty to publish a transport policy statement each year that sets out the travel arrangements they will make to support young people to access further education.
Arrangements do not have to be free, but the department expects local authorities to make reasonable decisions based on the needs of their population, local transport infrastructure, and the resources they have available.
Many local authorities do offer some form of subsidised transport. For example, in the West Dorset constituency, Dorset Council offer a surplus seat scheme and subsidised transport for young people from low-income families who meet their eligibility criteria. Some education and training providers also provide subsidised or free transport, such as college buses, and travel subsidies from private training providers.
The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is also used to help students with travel costs, including those on low incomes. It enables schools, colleges and training providers to support students with transport costs where these have been identified as a barrier to participation.
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 low-income families with the cost of transport to (a) school and (b) college for 16 to 18-year-olds in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises that the cost and availability of transport can present difficulties for some students, including those in rural areas. However, the responsibility for post-16 transport lies with local authorities, who have a duty to publish a transport policy statement each year that sets out the travel arrangements they will make to support young people to access further education.
Arrangements do not have to be free, but the department expects local authorities to make reasonable decisions based on the needs of their population, local transport infrastructure, and the resources they have available.
Many local authorities do offer some form of subsidised transport. For example, in the West Dorset constituency, Dorset Council offer a surplus seat scheme and subsidised transport for young people from low-income families who meet their eligibility criteria. Some education and training providers also provide subsidised or free transport, such as college buses, and travel subsidies from private training providers.
The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is also used to help students with travel costs, including those on low incomes. It enables schools, colleges and training providers to support students with transport costs where these have been identified as a barrier to participation.
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 levels of access to dyslexia-specific teaching support and diagnostic services in West Dorset.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
High-quality teaching is central to ensuring that all pupils, including those with dyslexia or other types of SEND, are given the best possible opportunity to achieve. To support all teachers, the department is implementing a range of teacher training reforms to ensure teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed. From September 2025, the department has also enhanced the requirement on providers of Early Career Teacher Training to develop training materials that support the needs of children with SEND.
We recognise that the early identification of need and support is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with dyslexia, and measures have been introduced to support the effective teaching of reading. This includes the English Hubs programme, the publication of the reading framework and an updated list of high-quality systematic synthetic phonics programmes for schools. West Dorset's nearest English Hub is The Cornerstone English Hub.
Whilst the department has not made an assessment of dyslexia provision in West Dorset, the Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review (including its sufficiency), working with parents, young people, and providers. Where a local area does not meet its duties, we can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement.
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 (a) early identification and (b) support for children with dyslexia in primary schools in rural areas.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
High-quality teaching is central to ensuring that all pupils, including those with dyslexia or other types of SEND, are given the best possible opportunity to achieve. To support all teachers, the department is implementing a range of teacher training reforms to ensure teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed. From September 2025, the department has also enhanced the requirement on providers of Early Career Teacher Training to develop training materials that support the needs of children with SEND.
We recognise that the early identification of need and support is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with dyslexia, and measures have been introduced to support the effective teaching of reading. This includes the English Hubs programme, the publication of the reading framework and an updated list of high-quality systematic synthetic phonics programmes for schools. West Dorset's nearest English Hub is The Cornerstone English Hub.
Whilst the department has not made an assessment of dyslexia provision in West Dorset, the Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review (including its sufficiency), working with parents, young people, and providers. Where a local area does not meet its duties, we can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to schools on managing incidents in which children have (a) filmed and (b) disseminated footage of other children being harmed by their peers.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All pupils and staff should feel safe and protected at school, and nobody should face violence or abuse.
Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the 2024 ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance. Evidence from the Children’s Commissioner published in April 2025, shows over 90% of schools are restricting the use of phones during the school day. The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.
Schools should make clear to pupils that good behaviour does not end at the school gates and that, even though the online space differs in many ways, the same standards of behaviour are expected online as offline, and that everyone should be treated with kindness and respect.
In cases where pupils do misbehave outside school premises, including online bullying and abuse, schools can apply sanctions to the appropriate pupils. The school behaviour policy should set out how the school will respond to any non-criminal misbehaviour off the school premises or online.
All schools and colleges are also under a legal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children and must have regard to ‘Keeping children safe in education’ which is the department’s statutory safeguarding guidance. Any criminal behaviour should be appropriately escalated and reported to police.
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 (a) monitor and (b) reduce the risk of violence to children in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Keeping children safe is a top priority for this government. Statutory guidance, 'Working Together to Safeguard Children' (2023), is clear that children at risk of or experiencing harm from outside their home should receive a multi-agency safeguarding response to keep them safe. It is important to recognise threats may arise from school, peer groups, online or the wider community.
From April 2025, £500 million is being made available to local authorities to roll out reforms to family help and multi-agency child protection, including where harm is outside the home. Furthermore, the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will strengthen multi-agency safeguarding arrangements so that opportunities to keep children safe are not missed.
The government’s Young Futures programme will establish prevention partnerships which will identify those most at risk of violence and enable access to support. In the community, a new network of Young Futures Hubs is aimed at increasing access to opportunities for children and young people, improving mental health, and reducing vulnerability to violence and crime. Cross-government work to develop the programme is taking place with a large variety of stakeholders, including those who understand best practice in rural and urban areas.
The department monitors a range of data related to children’s risk of violence, including education, social care and police national computer data. Our published dashboard allows local areas to understand factors in their area which result in vulnerability to crime and compare to their nearest statistical neighbours. This dashboard is available here: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/childrens-social-care-and-offending/.
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 ensure (a) early and (b) accurate assessments of learning disabilities in children.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through early identification, effective support, high-quality teaching and effective allocation of resources.
The department knows that effective early identification and intervention can reduce the impact that SEND may have on individuals in the long term. The Early Years Foundation Stage two-year old progress check and the Healthy Child Programme development review offer two valuable opportunities to identify additional needs for children aged two to three and put the right support in place for the children who need it.
The department has also introduced additional resources for early years educators to support children with developmental differences and needs, including a free online training module and SEND assessment guidance and resources.
To support settings to identify need early, the department is also strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve early identification in mainstream settings. The department has commissioned evidence reviews from University College London, which will highlight what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective tools, strategies and approaches for teachers and other relevant staff in mainstream settings to identify and support children and young people (age 0 to 25) with different types of needs.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to increase the level of support available to help schools meet the needs of pupils with learning disabilities in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the essential role that small, rural schools play in their communities. The national funding formula (NFF) accounts for the particular challenges, including those of providing for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), faced by small schools in rural areas through the lump sum and sparsity factors. The NFF lump sum for the 2025/26 financial year is set at £145,100 and provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to the number of pupils in a school. In addition, eligible small, rural primary schools attract up to £57,400, and eligible secondary or all-through schools attract up to £83,400, in sparsity funding in 2025/26 through the NFF.
Where the cost of additional support for a pupil with SEN exceeds £6,000 per annum, the local authority provides the school with extra funding from its high needs budget. The department is providing £1 billion more for high needs budgets in 2025/26, bringing total high needs funding to over £12 billion, to help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of supporting their pupils with complex needs. Of that total, Dorset County Council is being allocated over £60 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £4.1 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs NFF.