Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to answer Question 112455 on Teachers: Workplace Pensions from the Rt hon. Member for Burton and Uttoxeter.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The response to Written Parliamentary Question 112455 was published on 20 March 2026.
Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to shorten the time taken to issue Remediable Service Statements to members of the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is working closely with the scheme administrator to process Remediable Service Statements (RSSs) as quickly and efficiently as possible. Several factors have affected the original delivery timeline, including technical dependencies, regulatory requirements, coordination with external partners and preparation for a transition of contractor.
The department continues to monitor progress and is working closely with the scheme administrator to streamline processes and introduce automation where possible. Any pension adjustments arising from members’ choices will be backdated with interest to ensure members are not financially disadvantaged.
The administrator will keep affected members informed of revised timelines through established channels, including My Pension Online and its website. The latest update is available at: https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/news/public-news/2025/11/timeline-for-sending-out-remediable-service-statements-rss.aspx.
As responsibility for this work transitions to the new administrator of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in summer 2026, the department is working with the new administrator to finalise the timeline for issuing all RSSs. Once the timeline is confirmed, it will be communicated to relevant members.
Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support SEND children and their parents in Burton and Uttoxeter constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department has positive and open engagement with the local authority, Staffordshire County Council, through its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Lead and wider partners. The local authority has been approached to participate in the education, health and care (EHC) plan template pilot, which is led by the Change Partnership Programme.
The department continues to prioritise:
Asked by: Jacob Collier (Labour - Burton and Uttoxeter)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she will take to help alleviate child poverty in Burton and Uttoxeter constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Tackling child poverty, everywhere, is at the heart of breaking down barriers to opportunity and improving the life chances for every child. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper.
Child poverty has gone up by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. This not only harms children’s lives now, but it also damages their future prospects, and holds back our economic potential as a country.
On 17 July 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced the appointment of the Secretary of State for Work and Pension and the Secretary of State for Education to be the joint leads of a new ministerial taskforce to begin work on a Child Poverty Strategy. The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start at life.
The proposed Children’s Wellbeing Bill will ensure education and children’s social care systems transform life chances for millions of children and young people in England.
The department will remove barriers to opportunity to ensure the school system is fair for every child. Every primary school, including those in Burton and Uttoxeter, will be required to provide free breakfast clubs. To ensure that every child, no matter their background, is well prepared for the school day, the department will limit the number of branded uniform items that a school can require.
In addition to free school meals and the over £2.9 billion pupil premium funding, the department has also provided over £200 million of funding this year to all local authorities across England to deliver the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme in their area. This is to ensure that over summer holidays children from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families are able to take up free childcare spaces, which offer healthy meals and enriching activities, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. This summer, the department anticipates that over 3 million HAF places will be provided young people in this country.