Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she made of the adequacy of the level of the Service Pupil Premium to support the needs of military children, including for children who have attended several different schools over a short period and have a parent deployed overseas on military service.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The service pupil premium (SPP) provides additional funding for state-funded schools in England attended by children from service families. In the 2026/27 financial year it is worth £360 per service child.
The SPP is not a personal budget and schools have flexibility over its expenditure. The funding is primarily to enable schools to offer pastoral support and help mitigate the negative impact of family mobility or parental deployment. We have published advice and wider guidance for schools and local authorities on supporting service pupils, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/service-pupils-in-schools-non-statutory-guidance/service-pupils-in-schools-non-statutory-guidance.
In addition to the SPP, schools also attract funding for pupil mobility through the ’mobility factor’ in the schools national funding formula. In the 2026/27 financial year, schools will attract £985 for eligible primary pupils and £1,415 for eligible secondary pupils, above a threshold of 6% of the schools’ pupil numbers, where more than 6% of the school’s pupil numbers are classified as mobile.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to set out a timeline for the process and completion of the independent review of the prevalence of and support for mental health conditions, ADHD and autism announced on 4 December 2025.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The terms of reference for the independent review into mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism state that the review will take three to six months and will provide a short report to Department ministers, setting out conclusions and recommendations.
The review will examine the prevalence of these conditions, the factors driving recent increases in diagnoses, and the quality and consistency of support available. It will consider how people access assessment and treatment, the experiences of families and carers, and the support provided across education, health, and wider public services. It will also look at the role of diagnosis, early intervention, and prevention, and the wider social and cultural factors influencing demand for services.
The 10-Year Health Plan set out an ambitious reform agenda to transform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future. We will go further by developing a new approach to mental health so that people receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place. This will be informed by the independent review into prevalence and support for mental health, autism, and ADHD.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what will the independent review of the prevalence of and support for mental health conditions, ADHD and autism be used for.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The terms of reference for the independent review into mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism state that the review will take three to six months and will provide a short report to Department ministers, setting out conclusions and recommendations.
The review will examine the prevalence of these conditions, the factors driving recent increases in diagnoses, and the quality and consistency of support available. It will consider how people access assessment and treatment, the experiences of families and carers, and the support provided across education, health, and wider public services. It will also look at the role of diagnosis, early intervention, and prevention, and the wider social and cultural factors influencing demand for services.
The 10-Year Health Plan set out an ambitious reform agenda to transform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future. We will go further by developing a new approach to mental health so that people receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place. This will be informed by the independent review into prevalence and support for mental health, autism, and ADHD.