Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will have discussions with Ofqual on the potential merits of requiring exam boards to give special consideration to students who are absent from school during the academic year due to exceptional circumstances.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Special consideration is any adjustment given to a student who has temporarily experienced an illness, injury, or other event outside of their control, which significantly affects their ability to either take or demonstrate what they can do in an assessment.
Special consideration can only be given for things that happen immediately before or during an exam or assessment. To be eligible for special consideration, students must have been fully prepared for the assessment and have covered the whole course. Special consideration does not apply where students miss a course due to absence, if they enrolled part way through, or if their education was disrupted.
As the exams regulator, Ofqual is clear that qualifications must represent what a student knows, understands, and can do. This is important so that qualifications maintain their value and users of qualifications, including universities and employers, have trust in the grades awarded.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department will make an assessment of the level of contingency capacity of (a) schools and (b) colleges in the event of other school settings being forced to close.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department engages with councils on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, we support them to find solutions as quickly as possible.
As with schools, the duty is also with local authorities to have a strategic overview of the 16-19 provision available in the area and to identify and resolve gaps in provision so that each young person receives an offer of a suitable place.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review the (a) age and (b) quality of school buildings in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ensuring schools and colleges have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life.
The department collects consistent data on the condition of the school and college estate, which helps inform capital policy and programmes. The full set of Condition Data Collection (CDC) 1 data is presented at school or regional level and can be accessed here: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2285521/details. A summary of the CDC1 data can be accessed in the CDC1 key findings report, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-data-collection-2-cdc2-programme. Individual reports are also shared with schools.
CDC1 ran from 2017 and 2019, covering government funded schools in England. The successor programme, CDC2, will provide an update on the condition of the government funded school buildings. It does not yet cover all schools in scope and is due to complete in 2026.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the (a) number and (b) availability of nursery places in (i) North Shropshire constituency and (ii) Shropshire.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change. In 2025/26 alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements.
The government has committed to working with the sector to better support parents in poorer and rural areas. We have awarded £37 million of capital funding in the first phase to 300 primary phase schools which we expect will deliver up to 6,000 nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 available from September 2025 to support the childcare expansion.
There are approximately 121 Ofsted registered nurseries listed in Shropshire.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking and, where needed, support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
We also continue to help people discover rewarding early years careers through the ‘Do Something Big’ national recruitment campaign, building on our pilot of delivering financial incentives in 38 local authorities this year.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of nursery places available for children in rural areas.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change. In 2025/26 alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements.
The government has committed to working with the sector to better support parents in poorer and rural areas. We have awarded £37 million of capital funding in the first phase to 300 primary phase schools which we expect will deliver up to 6,000 nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 available from September 2025 to support the childcare expansion.
There are approximately 121 Ofsted registered nurseries listed in Shropshire.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking and, where needed, support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
We also continue to help people discover rewarding early years careers through the ‘Do Something Big’ national recruitment campaign, building on our pilot of delivering financial incentives in 38 local authorities this year.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of nursery places available for children in rural areas.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change. In 2025/26 alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements.
The government has committed to working with the sector to better support parents in poorer and rural areas. We have awarded £37 million of capital funding in the first phase to 300 primary phase schools which we expect will deliver up to 6,000 nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 available from September 2025 to support the childcare expansion.
There are approximately 121 Ofsted registered nurseries listed in Shropshire.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking and, where needed, support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
We also continue to help people discover rewarding early years careers through the ‘Do Something Big’ national recruitment campaign, building on our pilot of delivering financial incentives in 38 local authorities this year.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of staff working in nursery settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change. In 2025/26 alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements.
The government has committed to working with the sector to better support parents in poorer and rural areas. We have awarded £37 million of capital funding in the first phase to 300 primary phase schools which we expect will deliver up to 6,000 nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 available from September 2025 to support the childcare expansion.
There are approximately 121 Ofsted registered nurseries listed in Shropshire.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking and, where needed, support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
We also continue to help people discover rewarding early years careers through the ‘Do Something Big’ national recruitment campaign, building on our pilot of delivering financial incentives in 38 local authorities this year.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that Shropshire Council has the resources to provide timely access to education, health and care plans.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The government confirmed a substantial increase in high needs funding in 2025/26, this includes almost £1 billion which is intended to help local authorities in meeting the costs associated with supporting those children and young people with education, health and care plans. A further £740 million has been made available for councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools, paving the way for significant, long-term reform.
The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025/26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase on 2024/2025. For Shropshire Council, the final Settlement represents an increase in Core Spending Power of up to 3.8%, making available a total of up to £353.2 million in 2025/26.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure young people living with special educational needs in North Shropshire can access the support they require.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
Following the last Ofsted inspection, departmental officials have been working with Shropshire Council to closely monitor progress against the areas for improvement identified by inspectors. A SEND Advisor was appointed to support and work alongside Shropshire Council and the local area partnership. Shropshire is also gaining valuable insights and learning across the SEND and alternative provision system through engagement in the Change Programme. A clear strategic vision and strength of partnership continues to drive improvement and access to support, though there is more work to be done.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 awarding teachers a 4 per cent pay increase on schools’ ability to (a) afford education supplies and (b) carry out building repairs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning that core school budgets will total £65.3 billion compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
This includes the £2.3 billion announced at the October Budget and £1.4 billion in additional funding being provided to support schools and high needs settings, with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions from April 2025 and the 2025 staff pay awards.
As part of that, the department is providing schools with £615 million in additional funding in the 2025/26 financial year to support them with overall costs, including the costs of the 4% schools teacher pay award and the 3.2% local government support staff pay offer in 2025/26. Schools, like other parts of the public sector, are being asked to do their part and to fund the first 1% of the staff pay awards. The circumstances will be different for individual schools, because they have autonomy over their spending, including staffing and educational supplies.
The government has increased capital investment to improve the condition of school buildings across England to £2.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year. We have also given a long term commitment to increase annual capital maintenance investment per year through to 2034/35. This is in addition to investment of almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years.