Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve SEND provision in mainstream schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has announced plans for special educational needs and disabilities reform, with further information available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/every-child-achieving-and-thriving.
An inclusive education system for all children and young people requires a strong universal offer. We will introduce new National Inclusion Standards to guide schools on what effective, inclusive universal provision and evidence-based targeted provision looks like.
For those whose needs cannot be met through the universal offer alone, there will be additional layers of support (targeted, targeted plus and specialist). A duty will be placed on settings to produce an Individual Support Plan for any pupil receiving targeted or specialist support, developed together with parents and young people to ensure every professional understands their needs and how best to support them.
We have announced £1.6 billion for an Inclusive Mainstream Fund to support schools, colleges and early years settings to embed inclusive practice over the next three years. We will provide educators with a new landmark training package on inclusion, with an investment of over £200 million over three years. We have also announced a new £1.8 billion investment over three years to deliver expertise to all settings from Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists. We are consulting on our plans for reform and encourage the sharing of views through the ongoing consultation at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the age at which vocational and technical training begins on (a) pupil engagement at Key Stage 3 and (b) skills shortages in construction and technical trades.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
There are 46 key stage 4 (KS4) Technical Awards, which pupils can take alongside GCSEs. These qualifications cover broad sector areas such as health and social care, building and construction, and support the development of knowledge and practical skills. In 2024/25, 45% of students in state-funded schools took at least one Technical Award.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review emphasised maintaining stability to allow these qualifications to embed fully in the system and did not recommend introducing structured vocational pathways at ages 11 to 14, and we have no current plans to pilot such models. For pupils in KS4, we will review the current suite of Technical Awards from 2027 with a focus on their impact and progression to post-16 pathways.
This is because the Review concluded that in comparison to other jurisdictions, we have a reasonably broad and balanced curriculum to age 16, which offers all children an entitlement to a core set of knowledge. The department is maintaining the existing architecture of key stages, national assessments and qualifications, which international comparisons suggest have had a positive impact on attainment. New measures at key stage 3, including better sequenced content, a year 8 statutory reading test and improved use of diagnostic assessment, are designed to support engagement and progress without narrowing the curriculum prematurely. To prepare learners for a changing world, we are developing an oracy framework and embedding financial, media and digital literacy and climate and sustainability education into the relevant subjects.
The Review concluded that structured vocational pathways are most effective post‑16. The department is therefore reforming the 16 to 19 system through A levels, T Levels and new V Levels, alongside redesigned Level 2 pathways, ensuring clear, high quality routes into technical fields and helping address skills shortages, including in construction and the wider technical trades.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of introducing structured vocational education pathways for pupils aged 11 to 14, including in comparable education systems such as that operated by the Government of the Netherlands, in England; and whether she plans to pilot similar models in England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
There are 46 key stage 4 (KS4) Technical Awards, which pupils can take alongside GCSEs. These qualifications cover broad sector areas such as health and social care, building and construction, and support the development of knowledge and practical skills. In 2024/25, 45% of students in state-funded schools took at least one Technical Award.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review emphasised maintaining stability to allow these qualifications to embed fully in the system and did not recommend introducing structured vocational pathways at ages 11 to 14, and we have no current plans to pilot such models. For pupils in KS4, we will review the current suite of Technical Awards from 2027 with a focus on their impact and progression to post-16 pathways.
This is because the Review concluded that in comparison to other jurisdictions, we have a reasonably broad and balanced curriculum to age 16, which offers all children an entitlement to a core set of knowledge. The department is maintaining the existing architecture of key stages, national assessments and qualifications, which international comparisons suggest have had a positive impact on attainment. New measures at key stage 3, including better sequenced content, a year 8 statutory reading test and improved use of diagnostic assessment, are designed to support engagement and progress without narrowing the curriculum prematurely. To prepare learners for a changing world, we are developing an oracy framework and embedding financial, media and digital literacy and climate and sustainability education into the relevant subjects.
The Review concluded that structured vocational pathways are most effective post‑16. The department is therefore reforming the 16 to 19 system through A levels, T Levels and new V Levels, alongside redesigned Level 2 pathways, ensuring clear, high quality routes into technical fields and helping address skills shortages, including in construction and the wider technical trades.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve levels of attainment among working class pupils.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Too many children are held back by their background. That is why, through the Opportunity Mission, we will break the link between background and future success.
The ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ White Paper establishes the department’s plan to improve the outcomes of all children, building on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience. Our ambition is that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap is halved. This equates to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.
Additionally, we are driving standards through new RISE teams, a refreshed high-quality curriculum and assessment system and recruiting 6,500 additional teachers - as well as taking action to address barriers to learning.
Alongside this, around £3.2 billion is being provided in the 2026/27 financial year to state-funded schools in England through the pupil premium, to support disadvantaged pupils so they achieve and thrive in education.
'Giving every child the best start in life' sets out the immediate steps to deliver on our commitment to make early education and childcare more accessible and affordable. We have rolled out the expansion of government funded hours so that working parents can now access 30 hours per week from the term after their child turns nine months. We’ve also announced Best Start Family Hubs, backed by £500 million, and launched the Better Futures Fund, a new £500 million fund to break down barriers to opportunity for up to 200,000 vulnerable children and young people.
Finally, our Child Poverty Strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030. This includes the expansion of free school meals. Providing over half a million disadvantaged children with a free lunchtime meal will lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government has considered piloting or introducing an exemption to childcare funding rules where a relative is a registered childminder meeting all regulatory requirements.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Parents are free to choose the childcare that is right for them and their children, and childminders are not prevented from caring for related children.
However, the restriction on funding relatives is set out in the Childcare Act 2006. Section 18(4) of this Act specifically excludes care provided for a child by a parent or other relative.
Allowing childminders to receive funding for looking after related children would not be an effective use of public money and may have a negative impact on the viability of existing childcare businesses.
A local authority can choose to fund a childminder providing childcare for a related child, but this would have to be from local authority funds independent of the dedicated schools grant.
Although childminders cannot receive entitlements funding for related children, flexibilities within staff to child ratios can be used to enable childminders who are caring for related children to avoid limiting the income they can earn.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Department plans to review the eligibility criteria for government-funded childcare for children cared for by qualified and Ofsted-registered relatives.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Parents are free to choose the childcare that is right for them and their children, and childminders are not prevented from caring for related children.
However, the restriction on funding relatives is set out in the Childcare Act 2006. Section 18(4) of this Act specifically excludes care provided for a child by a parent or other relative.
Allowing childminders to receive funding for looking after related children would not be an effective use of public money and may have a negative impact on the viability of existing childcare businesses.
A local authority can choose to fund a childminder providing childcare for a related child, but this would have to be from local authority funds independent of the dedicated schools grant.
Although childminders cannot receive entitlements funding for related children, flexibilities within staff to child ratios can be used to enable childminders who are caring for related children to avoid limiting the income they can earn.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure schools are promoting reading as a substitute to social media use.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We know that reading for pleasure is hugely important and brings a range of benefits. However, we also know that just one in three children aged 8 to 18 read in their free time, and a recent Omnibus Survey by the department found that 31% of parents of primary-aged children and 40% of parents of secondary-aged children said their child prefers spending time online or playing video games, citing this as a barrier to encouraging reading in their free time.
We have launched the National Year of Reading 2026, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, to address long-term declines in reading enjoyment through engaging new audiences, reshaping public attitudes and building the systems needed to embed lasting, meaningful change.
The National Year of Reading encourages everyone to see how reading, in all forms, can unlock more of our existing passions and interests, from reading a story in a print book or on an e-reader, to reading a magazine article or an online blog, to listening to an audio book on a phone or tablet. With this in mind, digital technology is not incompatible with the National Year of Reading.
The national rollout of Best Start Family Hubs is underpinned by £500 million of government investment to help families in every part of the country. This includes increased investment in home learning and parenting support in the early years, enhancing support for families through integrated advice, targeted outreach and partnerships to empower more parents and carers to chat, play, and read with their children every day to nurture early reading skills and language development from birth.
This government is also providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading for pleasure, as well as committing over £10 million in funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to provide financial support to families to support reading among children.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Our ‘Giving every child the best start in life’ strategy outlines how we will invest in supporting children’s language and literacy, including continued funding for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention and the introduction of specialist early language leads in local areas from the 2026/27 academic year.
The national rollout of Best Start Family Hubs, underpinned by £500 million of government investment to help families in every part of the country. This includes increased investment in home learning and parenting support in the early years, enhancing support for families through integrated advice, targeted outreach and partnerships to empower more parents and carers to chat, play, and read with their children every day to nurture early reading skills and language development from birth.
Our National Year of Reading 2026 aims to address long-term decline in reading enjoyment and is focused particularly on priority groups including boys aged 10 to 16, parents from disadvantaged communities, and early years children and their caregivers.
This government is providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading for pleasure, and over £10 million to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to expand access to practical trade-based qualifications within mainstream secondary schools before the age of 16, including through partnerships with further education colleges and local employers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
There are 46 key stage 4 Technical Awards, which pupils can take alongside GCSEs. These qualifications cover broad sector areas such as health and social care, building and construction and support the development of knowledge and practical skills.
In 2024/25, 45% of students in state-funded schools took at least one Technical Award. The Curriculum and Assessment Review emphasised maintaining stability to allow these qualifications to embed fully in the system and did not propose significant reforms to change delivery or uptake at this stage.
School careers programmes introduce pupils to technical and trade occupations early. Under Provider Access legislation, schools must provide at least six opportunities for pupils in years 8 to 13 to meet technical education or apprenticeship providers. The Schools White Paper also sets out the department’s commitment to broadening pupils’ horizons by ensuring access to high quality careers advice and two weeks’ worth of work experience for every secondary pupil.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools encourage shared reading among children in their first 1,001 days.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The statutory guidance 'early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework' sets education requirements that early years settings must follow to ensure that every child aged 0 to 5 has the best start in life. The EYFS recognises that it is crucial for young children to begin to develop a life-long love of reading and requires practitioners to read frequently to children, and actively engage them in a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems. The framework can be found in full at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2
The department provides a range of online resources which support settings to deliver the statutory EYFS requirements well for all children, including the ‘Development Matters’ guidance, the department’s reading framework, and the National Year of Reading website. The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign aiming to tackle long-term declines in reading enjoyment, with early years being one of the priority groups. It includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year.