Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of including a target of at least 80 hours of enrichment activities in the enrichment framework.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Rushcliffe to the answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62871.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of including a target of at least 80 hours of enrichment activities in the enrichment framework.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Rushcliffe to the answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62871.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of children expected to be impacted by the planned reductions to Official Development Assistance spending on health programmes in 2025-26 in (a) Democratic Republic of Congo, (b) Mozambique, (c) Zimbabwe and (d) Ethiopia.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
To assess the impact of decisions on Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations in 2025/26, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) conducted an equality impact assessment (EIA). While this did not capture the requested information and the data cannot readily be obtained for the purposes of answering this question, the EIA we have published confirmed we have avoided disproportionate negative impacts on women and girls and people living with disabilities in our 2025/26 ODA allocations.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what capital funding streams are available to academy trusts for essential playground (a) repairs and (b) replacement.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government has given a long-term commitment for capital investment to improve the condition of schools and colleges across England through to 2034/35. It is investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance and renewal, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
The department supports local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided school bodies, who are responsible for keeping buildings and grounds safe and well-maintained, by providing capital funding to improve the condition of their estates.
The majority of capital funding is provided through annual School Condition Allocations to large responsible bodies, such as local authorities and large multi-academy trusts, to decide how to invest in improving the condition of their estates, including playgrounds. Small or stand-alone academy trusts and sixth form colleges bid for funding for essential condition projects through the Condition Improvement Fund.
Schools also receive a small annual capital allocation, Devolved Formula Capital, to spend on their own capital priorities, such as replacing or upgrading playground equipment.
Further details about capital funding for 2025/26 are published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the job guarantee scheme for newly qualified nurses and midwives to include (a) occupational therapists, (b) physiotherapists and (c) other allied health professionals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to expand the job guarantee scheme to the professions highlighted, but the Government is committed to supporting all clinical staff in their careers. The new 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to introduce nature-friendly farming schemes.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this parliament. All our Environmental Land Management schemes (Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, and Landscape Recovery) will continue, and we will continue to evolve and improve them in an orderly way to make them work for farmers and nature.
We are working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future SFI offer that fairly and responsibly directs funding. Further information about the reformed SFI will be provided shortly. The new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) service will open this month for applications to those who have been invited to apply, have received pre-application advice and have completed any preparatory work. Landscape Recovery projects that were awarded development funding in rounds one and two are continuing to progress towards the delivery phase, and the first two projects have now completed the necessary checks, signed their agreements, and are ready to start work on the ground.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the value for money provided by Social Work England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is the sponsor department for Social Work England, and as such we monitor their performance on an ongoing basis. In addition, Social Work England is regulated by the Professional Standards Authority and is meeting 17 out of the 18 standards of good regulation. The government has a statutory obligation to appoint an independent person to review the operation of Part 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, which includes powers related to Social Work England. The review will collect evidence of Social Work England’s overall effectiveness as a regulator. Further details will be announced in due course, and on completion the report will be laid before Parliament. On 31 July 2025, Social Work England employed 278 staff (full-time equivalent 263).
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the performance of Social Work England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is the sponsor department for Social Work England, and as such we monitor their performance on an ongoing basis. In addition, Social Work England is regulated by the Professional Standards Authority and is meeting 17 out of the 18 standards of good regulation. The government has a statutory obligation to appoint an independent person to review the operation of Part 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, which includes powers related to Social Work England. The review will collect evidence of Social Work England’s overall effectiveness as a regulator. Further details will be announced in due course, and on completion the report will be laid before Parliament. On 31 July 2025, Social Work England employed 278 staff (full-time equivalent 263).
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the value for money of the services provided by Social Work England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is the sponsor department for Social Work England, and as such we monitor their performance on an ongoing basis. In addition, Social Work England is regulated by the Professional Standards Authority and is meeting 17 out of the 18 standards of good regulation. The government has a statutory obligation to appoint an independent person to review the operation of Part 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, which includes powers related to Social Work England. The review will collect evidence of Social Work England’s overall effectiveness as a regulator. Further details will be announced in due course, and on completion the report will be laid before Parliament. On 31 July 2025, Social Work England employed 278 staff (full-time equivalent 263).
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people are employed by Social Work England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is the sponsor department for Social Work England, and as such we monitor their performance on an ongoing basis. In addition, Social Work England is regulated by the Professional Standards Authority and is meeting 17 out of the 18 standards of good regulation. The government has a statutory obligation to appoint an independent person to review the operation of Part 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, which includes powers related to Social Work England. The review will collect evidence of Social Work England’s overall effectiveness as a regulator. Further details will be announced in due course, and on completion the report will be laid before Parliament. On 31 July 2025, Social Work England employed 278 staff (full-time equivalent 263).