Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has considered moving from a term‑time funding model to a year‑round model for early years entitlements.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our 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.
Children become eligible for the working parent entitlement from 1 September, 1 January or 1 April, the term after they reach the relevant age and meet relevant eligibility criteria.
Depending on when a child is born and when the eligibility criteria are met, there will be differing periods to wait until the relevant termly date.
Termly deadlines enable local authorities and childcare providers to better plan and ensure sufficient early years places are available for parents each term, as there are clear periods for when children are likely to enter into a place.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve (a) recruitment, (b) retention, (c) career progression and (d) workload in the early years workforce.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The early years workforce is at the heart of our mission to give every child the best start in life and deliver the Plan for Change. This is why the department is supporting the sector to attract talented staff and childminders by creating conditions for improved recruitment, alongside programmes to better utilise the skills of the existing workforce and make early years careers as accessible as possible.
The department is attracting new people into the early years sector through initiatives like our national recruitment campaign and financial incentives programmes. We are also ensuring there is a career path for everyone who wants to become an early years teacher, through increasing places on our existing teacher training programmes and introducing a new early years teacher degree apprenticeship route.
The department is confident that through our Best Start in Life Strategy, we can lay the foundations for long-term change. We will give early years educators the status they deserve, creating more opportunities to enter the profession, gain higher qualifications, and build fulfilling careers.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Holiday Activities and Food programme on levels of (a) food insecurity and (b) support for families during school holidays.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The holiday activities and food programme (HAF) ensures that children who are eligible for free school meals can access enriching activities and healthy meals during school holidays, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. On 28 August, the department announced that over £600 million has been confirmed for the programme for the next three financial years, from 2026/27.
This multi-year commitment gives parents and providers certainty that clubs will be available over what can otherwise be an expensive holiday period, ensuring that children and young people continue to benefit from enriching holiday experiences and nutritious meals. The programme also opens work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families.
Almost five million HAF days were provided across the Christmas, Easter and summer holidays this year, reaching over half a million children. During summer 2024, over 628,000 children attended the HAF programme.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) colleges and (b) schools will be able to offer appropriate post-16 pathways in the (i) 2026-2027 and (ii) 2027-2028 academic years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department published the Post-16 education and skills white paper on 20 October 2025. This sets out comprehensive reforms to build a world-leading skills system that break down barriers to opportunity, meets student and employers’ needs, widens access to high quality education and training, supports innovation, research and development, and improves people’s lives.
We are investing nearly £800 million extra in 2026/27 in funding for 16 to 19-year-old education, helping to enable the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. We will also pilot an automatic guaranteed provider place for all 16-year-olds, to ensure no one is left behind after year 11.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure sustainable funding linked to inflation for the Holiday Activities and Food programme.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Through our Plan for Change, the government is committed to giving every child the best start in life. On 28 August 2025, the department confirmed over £600 million for the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme for the next three financial years, from 2026/27. This equates to just over £200 million each year.
This multi-year commitment gives parents and providers certainty that clubs will be available over what can otherwise be an expensive holiday period, ensuring that children and young people continue to benefit from enriching holiday experiences and nutritious meals. The programme also opens work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families.
The department will be releasing further details about the HAF programme by the end of the year.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of misogynist attitudes amongst young people at (a) primary and (b) secondary level.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Through compulsory relationships education, all pupils should learn how to form positive and respectful relationships and develop an understanding of the concepts and laws around misogyny, sexual harassment and sexual violence.
The relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance has been reviewed and updated, with the final guidance published on 15 July. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
The guidance is clear that schools should provide pupils with the knowledge and skills they need to recognise sexism and misogyny and report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse, as well as to build empathy and promote respect for all. Positive action should be taken to build a culture where misogynistic attitudes and behaviour are not tolerated, and any occurrences are identified and tackled.
To help support the sector implement changes following the publication of the revised RSHE guidance, we are piloting a teacher training grant, starting in early 2026.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools in low-income communities can recruit and retain high-quality teachers.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every young person.
For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for secondary teachers in shortage subjects in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. In Leigh and Atherton Constituency, two out of five schools are eligible for this retention payment.
The High Potential Initial Teacher Training Programme, currently delivered by Teach First, also recruits high quality candidates specifically for placement in schools serving low-income communities to help improve outcomes for pupils.
Our investment is starting to deliver: the workforce has grown by 2,346 full time employed staff between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools and vacancies have fallen to their lowest since 2020.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support supply teachers in (a) Leigh and Atherton constituency and (b) nationally.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Supply teachers make an important contribution to the smooth running of schools across the country by filling posts on a temporary basis and covering teacher absences.
Schools and local authorities are currently responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers. There are various approaches to providing supply teachers, such as using private supply teacher agencies.
The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools to obtain value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to monitor private supply teacher agencies.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Supply teachers make an important contribution to the smooth running of schools across the country by filling posts on a temporary basis and covering teacher absences.
Schools and local authorities are currently responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers. There are various approaches to providing supply teachers, such as using private supply teacher agencies.
The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools to obtain value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a new Pupil Premium subcategory for persistently disadvantaged pupils.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department recognises that there are disparities in outcomes for children attracting pupil premium and we are committed to doing more to improve the life chances of our most disadvantaged children, breaking the link between background and future success.
The department is reviewing how we allocate pupil premium and related funding to schools and local authorities to ensure it is targeted to those who need it most, and we will provide more information in due course.