Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential use of disused school buildings to increase SEND specialist school capacity in (a) Surrey and (b) Hampshire.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision sits with local authorities.
The department provides local authorities with capital funding to support them to meet this duty and has published allocations for £740 million in High Needs Provision Capital Allocations for the 2025/26 financial year.
Of this £740 million, Surrey has been allocated £16.1 million. Hampshire has been allocated £22.8 million.
This funding can be used to adapt schools to be more accessible, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs. This includes utilising spare capacity in mainstream schools where appropriate.
When considering options for the reutilisation of space, local factors should be carefully weighed up, along with considerations of quality, diversity, and accessibility of local provision and the forecast demand for places, to determine the most appropriate approach in each area.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a progress report on the (a) delivery of specialist school places and (b) other outcomes by all local authorities that entered into safety valve agreements.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision sits with local authorities.
The department provides local authorities with annual High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA) to support them to meet this duty.
Local authorities with Safety Valve agreements have previously received additional high needs capital funding where they were able to demonstrate that investment in local infrastructure would result in the availability of more appropriate provision and subsequent revenue savings.
This additional capital funding was paid to local authorities as a top-up to their HNPCA funding, and local authorities are responsible for prioritising this funding to create places and address local issues. The department continues to work with local authorities with Safety Valve agreements to deliver their plans.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Safety Valve Agreement signed with Surrey County Council in 2021, whether her Department has disbursed the full funding allocated to support the delivery of three new SEND schools in Surrey.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Funding for free school projects is provided at different stages of project development, in line with key delivery milestones.
The department provides capital funding for the acquisition of sites, land and construction. For centrally delivered free school projects, a contractor is appointed from the department’s framework and construction costs are paid directly by the department.
The department recognises the financial pressures on local authorities in providing suitable specialist places and will continue to support Surrey Council to implement its Safety Valve agreement.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to introduce a national alternative to the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to ensuring every young person can develop the skills they need to succeed in work and life. We want them to have access to good quality careers advice as part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity, under our Plan for Change.
Nationally, schools and colleges can access a range of digital and in-person support to help them inform their students about technical routes, such as apprenticeships. This support includes T Levels Ambassador Networks, the Skills for Apprenticeships support page (part of the government’s Skills for Life – ‘It All Starts With Skills’ communications campaign), and The Careers and Enterprise Company’s (CEC) resource directory.
Locally, through careers hubs, data and front-line insights support conversations about what is preventing take-up of technical and vocational pathways at the local level, enabling local partners to devise solutions. The government will continue to invest in high-quality careers education for young people, including boosting skills pathways such as apprenticeships and other technical education routes.
We will continue investing in wider careers infrastructure, including careers hubs, to ensure successful implementation of our careers programme.
Careers hubs, supported by CEC, will continue locally to address barriers relating to apprenticeships and technical education awareness and uptake.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 withdrawing funding for level 7 apprenticeships for people aged 22 and over on workforce planning in critical public services.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
From January 2026 the government will no longer fund level 7 apprenticeships, equivalent to master’s degree level, except for young apprentices under the age of 22. This will enable apprenticeships opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people and create more opportunities for those entering the labour market, who need skills and training to get on in their careers.
This decision was informed by a wide range of evidence, including Skills England’s analysis of official apprenticeship statistics and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. Skills England’s evidence suggested there was unlikely to be a significant or unavoidable fall in the supply of these skills in the long term, post-defunding.
We are encouraging more employers to invest in upskilling their staff over 22 to level 7 where it delivers a benefit to the business and the individual. It will be for employers to determine the most appropriate training. There are alternative training options available to employers at level 7 including non-apprenticeship routes.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that employers are financially able to support level 7 apprenticeships in the context of the proposed funding changes from January 2026.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
From January 2026 the government will no longer fund level 7 apprenticeships, equivalent to master’s degree level, except for young apprentices under the age of 22. This will enable apprenticeships opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people and create more opportunities for those entering the labour market, who need skills and training to get on in their careers.
This decision was informed by a wide range of evidence, including Skills England’s analysis of official apprenticeship statistics and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. Skills England’s evidence suggested there was unlikely to be a significant or unavoidable fall in the supply of these skills in the long term, post-defunding.
We are encouraging more employers to invest in upskilling their staff over 22 to level 7 where it delivers a benefit to the business and the individual. It will be for employers to determine the most appropriate training. There are alternative training options available to employers at level 7 including non-apprenticeship routes.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 ending the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme on regional equality of access to apprenticeship (a) information and (b) advice.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Enabling access to apprenticeships and technical education remains a key part of this government’s education policy. The decision not to continue the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) programme was based on:
Schools and colleges seeking support to raise awareness of apprenticeships and technical education can continue to access the following support:
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with representatives of the Council for Disabled Children on the potential impact of SEND reforms on (a) special needs children and (b) EHCP allocation.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department regularly works with a range of stakeholders, including the Council for Disabled Children (CDC), on a number of areas relating to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) policy. We regularly meet the CDC to discuss the development of SEND reforms and their impact on children and young people with SEND and their families. We have appointed Dame Christine Lenehan, former director of the CDC, as SEND adviser to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of promoting workplace apprenticeships as an alternative to sixth form or college education.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Too many young people are struggling to access high quality opportunities, and this government wants to ensure that more young people can undertake apprenticeships.
The department is widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer, to deliver greater flexibility and choice for learners and employers, including through new foundation apprenticeships for young people.
Foundation apprenticeships will be a work-based training offer that will provide young people with clear progression pathways into further work-based training and employment. Construction will be one of the key sectors that will benefit from new foundation apprenticeships. This will inspire more young people into the construction industry and give them the tools they need for a sustained and rewarding career. As part of this new offer, employers will be provided with £2,000 for every foundation apprentice they take on and retain in construction.
The department continues to promote apprenticeships to young people through the Skills for Life campaign and the apprenticeship ambassador network (AAN). The AAN, which has around 2,000 volunteers, aims to champion apprenticeships for young people by aligning an ambassador to every state-funded secondary school by March 2026.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for (a) parents and (b) schools in understanding the legal routes to raise concerns about people who pose a potential safeguarding risk.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government believes that action must always be taken to protect children from any safeguarding risk. That is why we are taking forward system reforms in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and have published a government progress update to the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. The Keeping Children Safe mission board, chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of Education, will ensure that there continues to be a cross-government focus on safeguarding, including how parents can be best supported.
We have also provided robust statutory safeguarding guidance for all schools on the policies and procedures they must put in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of their pupils. This guidance not only sets out the different types of abuse and harm but also supports all staff to know what signs to look out for, including how they must respond to any concerns about a child and when to make a referral to local safeguarding partners, the police and Prevent services.
Advice for parents is also clear that where there are child protection concerns, these should be reported to local authority children’s social care departments or to the police if a child is at immediate risk of harm.