Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire are able to offer swimming lessons to pupils.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
It is a requirement of the PE national curriculum that schools must provide swimming and water safety lessons to pupils in either key stage 1 or 2. Whilst academies are not required to follow the national curriculum, they must provide a broad and balanced curriculum. The department is processing information gathered on swimming and water safety through the Digital Expenditure Reporting Return and will publish a summary of quality assured data in the new year.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that all pupils are able to purse vocational education pathways in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, published on 20 October, set out our vision for a world-leading skills system which breaks 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.
It sets out our plans to introduce V Levels, which will sit alongside A levels and T Levels, and will become the pathway for vocational qualifications at level 3 for 16 to 19 year olds, sitting alongside the academic and technical pathways. We will also introduce two clear post-16 pathways at level 2 for further study and for occupations. We have launched a consultation on these measures, which will close on 12 January 2026. Full details are accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/post-16-level-3-and-below-pathways.
Skills England has also been established to ensure we have the highly trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings to the answer of 31 October 2025 to Question 83935.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the proportion of food served in state schools in England that is sourced from British (a) farms and (b) other food producers.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Schools are responsible for their school meals service and how and where they choose to buy their produce. We encourage schools to provide a wide range of foods using fresh, sustainable locally sourced, seasonal ingredients including produce from the school vegetable garden where possible.
Alongside this, we encourage schools to follow the Government Buying Standard for food and catering, which includes advice around procurement and sustainable sourcing of produce.
We aim to revise the School Food Standards and are engaging with stakeholders to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history and will be consulting publicly in due course. As part of this work, we will review our guidance on sourcing good quality produce.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary schools in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire do not have a school library.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings to the answer of 22 October 2025 to Question 81502.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on school attendance rates in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in the last five years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department publishes figures from the school census on pupil absence in England on a termly basis. The most recent published data relates to the autumn and spring terms of the 2024/25 academic year, and the latest full academic year is 2023/24, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/.
The published data includes absence rates by local authority and school. School level data includes identifiers that can be used to link the parliamentary constituency for the school using the ‘Get Information About Schools’ website, which is available here: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
The latest absence release has been available since 23 October 2025.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the technology state schools require pupils to have.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department does not require pupils to own specific technology and does not hold information on individual pupil requirements. Our policy focuses on ensuring schools have the right infrastructure to support teaching and learning.
We have set six core digital and technology standards for schools and colleges to meet by 2030: broadband internet, wireless networks, network switches, digital leadership and governance, filtering and monitoring, and cyber security. These standards provide the foundations for safe and reliable connectivity at school and ensure safeguarding is a priority. Schools can use the ‘Plan technology for your school’ service to assess readiness and plan upgrades.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Education and Skills Funding Agency has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
During the period of 01 January 2020 to 17 November 2025, the Education and Skills Funding Agency spent £0.00 on translation and interpretation services.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of schools’ policies on mobile phones and learning disruption.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department’s guidance on mobile phones in schools, published in February 2024, is clear that schools should prohibit the use of devices with smart technology throughout the school day, including during lessons, transitions and breaks.
The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.
Research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools (99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools) already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much Ofqual has spent on translation and interpretation services in each of the last five years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.