Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government intends to introduce accountability mechanisms in legislation to ensure that the National Inclusion Standards and updated SEND Code of Practice lead to improvements in outcomes for pupils with SEND in mainstream settings; and how the Department intends to monitor and evaluate compliance by schools and local authorities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department plans to introduce National Inclusion Standards, which we propose should set out minimum standards all settings must adhere to, including a range of evidence-based tools, strategies and approaches for educators to draw on to identify and support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
We are investing £1.6 billion in an Inclusive Mainstream Fund over three years, placing conditions on this funding to ensure it is used to support schools in moving towards practices that are inclusive by design. We will also place a duty on schools to produce an Inclusion Strategy, outlining what they will provide to remove barriers to learning. Ofsted will be able to draw on Inclusion Strategies to assess how leaders are delivering on inclusion and how staff are equipped to deliver it.
An updated SEND Code of Practice (subject to consultation and passage of legislation) will clarify responsibilities for education settings and local partners, with a stronger emphasis on evidence-based support and a whole setting approach to inclusion.
There will be a new remit for the Children’s Commissioner to oversee and scrutinise the implementation of SEND reforms. We are currently in the process of exploring and defining the options for this role.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing eligibility for Education, Health and Care Plans to only the most complex cases on equality of access to specialist educational support; and what steps she is taking to ensure that children with moderate but persistent needs receive timely, evidence-based interventions across local authorities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has carefully assessed the impact of our proposals, and this is included in our published equalities impact and child’s rights impact assessments.
Under our proposed reforms, education, health and care (EHC) plans will continue to exist, but we want to shift to earlier identification of need without bureaucratic assessments and long waiting times to ensure children and young people receive the right support more quickly and easily. We are providing funding for every school to deliver a strong inclusive universal offer for every child and investing £1.8 billion in our new Experts at Hand offer providing targeted health and expert education interventions from professionals such as speech and language therapists or educational psychologists. Experts at Hand will be developed by local area partnerships tailored to local needs and integrated with other local services.
Educational provision in reformed EHC plans will be underpinned by evidence-based specialist provision packages setting out the breadth of education, health and care support children may need. Specialist provision packages and our new National Inclusion Standards will be developed by independent expert panel and tested with parents and families.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will put in place transitional safeguards for children and young people who currently hold an EHCP to ensure that, during reassessment under the new SEND model proposed, there is no reduction in the level of support or legal protections to which they are entitled.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under the department’s proposals, a triple lock of transitional protections will ensure children get the support they need.
As they approach the point of transition, children and young people with an existing EHC plan will have their needs re-assessed under the new system, with the tribunal as a backstop. If they need a specialist provision package, then they will get a new EHC plan forming their package of support. Alternatively, they will transfer to an Individual Support Plan (ISP) which will be in place ahead of any change in how their support is delivered, developed in partnership with their families
An ISP will set out key information, such as a child or young person’s identified need, provision, intended outcomes and any reasonable adjustments, if they have them. Local authorities’ new Experts at Hand offer will also strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings so that specialist expertise can be accessed by children and young people without an EHC plan.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding and workforce capacity, including (a) specialist teachers, (b) teaching assistants, (c) therapists and (d) other support staff, to deliver the SEND support proposals in the Schools White Paper; and whether additional ring-fenced funding will be provided to local authorities and schools to recruit, retain, and reward qualified SEND professionals.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is investing to ensure all settings have the capacity, expertise and resources to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
We are already seeing positive signs, the latest School Workforce Census reported strong growth in special school teachers, with a 3.9% increase on the previous year, 1,100 more teachers, reflecting the government’s determination to ensure that children with SEND receive the high-quality support they need and deserve.
On 15 April 2026 we announced the Experts at Hand & Local Authority SEND Transformation Fund. The overall grant provides £1.8 billion in Experts at Hand funding and £200m in transformation funding over the course of the three-year spending review period.
To support delivery, we are investing over £40m in the specialist workforce, including £26m to train more educational psychologists and £15m to support more speech and language therapists to work in education settings.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of (a) the average outstanding student loan balance and (b) the proportion of borrowers currently making repayments in (i) Merseyside and (ii) the North West of England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The average outstanding student loan balance of borrowers in the North West government region who have been funded by Student Finance England was £37,000 (rounded to the nearest thousand) on 15 March 2025. This includes all loans, even those not yet liable to repay. The proportion of borrowers currently residing in the North West government region who have been funded by Student Finance England and made at least one repayment in this financial year is 46.8%.
The department does not hold student loan data for Merseyside specifically, as it is not a defined statistical geography in our datasets. Therefore, figures can only be provided at North West regional level.
Please note published national data provides the picture of borrowers’ repayment and employment status on 31 March 2025 and differs to the proportion who have made a repayment in the last year.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of borrowers on Plan 2 student loans whose outstanding balance is projected to increase for at least the first ten years of repayment due to interest accrual exceeding annual repayments.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold analysis of the proportion of borrowers whose loan is projected to increase in their first ten years of repayment.
Student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. As repayments remain income-contingent if a borrower’s salary remains the same, their monthly repayments will also stay the same. Repayments are made at a constant rate of 9% above the earnings threshold, and the 9% rate strikes a balance between affordability for graduates and fairness to taxpayers.
Outstanding debt, including interest built up, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants. This is a deliberate government investment in students and the economy.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 interest rates applied to income-contingent student loans on the total level of graduate debt.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold analysis on the impact of interest rates on total level of graduate debt.
No Plan 5 borrower should see their loan balance grow in real terms without additional outlay, as the rate of interest for Plan 5 loans is applied at Retail Price Index (RPI) only.
Plan 2 loan interest rates are applied at RPI only, then variable up to RPI+3% depending on earnings. Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers, which stay at a constant rate of 9% above an earnings threshold to protect lower earners.
Outstanding debt, including interest accrued, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants. There are no commercial loans that offer this level of borrower protection. This is a deliberate government investment in students and the economy.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of freezing the income repayment threshold for Plan 2 student loans on the level of disposable income of graduates earning between £29,000 and £40,000 per year.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Plan 2 student loans were designed and implemented by previous governments, and students in England starting degrees under this government have different arrangements. Threshold freezes have been introduced to protect taxpayers and students now, alongside future generations of learners and workers.
Student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. As repayments remain income-contingent if a borrower’s salary remains the same, their monthly repayments will also stay the same.
Repayments are made at a constant rate of 9% above the earnings threshold. Borrowers earning under the earnings threshold, are not required to make repayments. Any outstanding loan including interest built up, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
The government appreciates that making student loan repayments has an impact on individuals, and this is why there are unique protections for borrowers and the finance system is heavily subsidised by taxpayers.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
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 increased student loan balances on graduates’ access to mortgages and savings.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The size of one’s outstanding student loan is not a barrier to accessing a mortgage and savings. Student loan balances do not appear on borrower credit records, meaning the total size of the student loan debt is not considered in a borrower mortgage application. Monthly student loan repayments will be considered alongside other living costs as part of the affordability check for mortgage applications in the same way as any other fixed monthly outgoings, but monthly repayments are not linked to the size of the outstanding loan.
Student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. Repayments are made at a constant rate of 9% above the earnings threshold. Borrowers earning under the earnings threshold, are not required to make repayments. Any outstanding loan including interest built up, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
The government appreciates that making student loan repayments has an impact on individuals, and this is why there are unique protections for borrowers and the finance system is heavily subsidised by taxpayers.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make the eligibility criteria for the holiday activities and food programme the same as that for free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Liverpool West Derby, to the answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57800.