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 assessment she has made of the adequacy of school transport available to parents of SEND children in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
I refer the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings to the answer of 30 December 2024 to Question 20796.
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 estimate her Department has made of the level of funding from Chinese firms into the UK education sector in the next ten years.
Answered by Janet Daby
HM Government carefully considers the security implications of proposed investments, to reach a balanced decision between UK economic growth and national security.
As an open economy, the UK benefits from foreign trade and investment where it supports growth and jobs in the UK, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements and does not compromise our national security. No accurate estimates of future investments can be made for specific sectors.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Education and Skills Funding Agency has offered apprenticeships in each year since 2017.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government is committed to using apprenticeships to break down barriers to opportunity, support skills development and deliver more effective public services.
As the policy holder for apprenticeships, the department has achieved over 5% of departmental headcount for the last three years. We offer apprenticeships to fill strategic skills gaps and as a development opportunity to all employees.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) closed on 31 March 2025, with its work being integrated into the department.
The department has made use of apprenticeships in its workforce since 2016 and recruitment data for ESFA can be found in the following table:
Year | Number of ESFA Apprentice enrolments starting in year |
2016 | 3 |
2017 | 6 |
2018 | 50 |
2019 | 60 |
2020 | 57 |
2021 | 56 |
2022 | 51 |
2023 | 16 |
2024 | 26 |
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Ofqual has offered apprenticeships in each year since 2010.
Answered by Janet Daby
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 right hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
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 and what proportion of key stage four students who completed their GCSEs went on to (a) start apprenticeships, (b) study A levels and (c) start vocational technical qualifications in (i) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (ii) Lincolnshire in each of the last five academic years for which data is available.
Answered by Janet Daby
The information requested is not held centrally.
The department does, however, measure the proportion of students in state-funded mainstream schools who go on to sustain a destination after completing their key stage 4 study. Data relating to South Holland and the Deepings constituency and Lincolnshire can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7c67e37a-6bf9-4706-9b63-08dd7377d1ad.
A breakdown of the sustained education destination by A level and vocational technical qualifications is not readily available, however, the number of students at the end of their 16 to 18 study who studied A levels and vocational technical qualifications in South Holland and the Deepings constituency can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/4dbda504-885f-4ecd-a918-08dd736ca4ba.
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 and what proportion of 18-year-olds have taken (a) three and (b) more than three A-levels in (i) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (ii) Lincolnshire in each of the last five academic years.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The requested data can be found in the attached table.
Data is based on students attending schools and colleges located in each geography who have reached the end of 16 to 18 study.
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 funding she plans to provide for school infrastructure in (a) South Holland district and (b) South Kesteven district in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
School buildings are integral to high and rising standards and need to be fit for the future. The department has announced, for the 2025/26 financial year, capital funding allocations for school condition and for funding high needs capacity.
Mainstream basic need allocations have been published for the 2025/26 to 2027/28 financial years. Other funding plans for 2026/27 and beyond will be confirmed following the multi-year spending review.
We are increasing capital funding to improve the condition of school buildings to £2.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, up from £1.8 billion for 2024/25. As part of this, Lincolnshire County Council, which includes South Holland and South Kesteven districts, has been provisionally allocated a school condition allocation (SCA) of £5,873,159 to invest across its maintained schools. Maintained schools in Lincolnshire have also been provisionally allocated a total of £913,014 in devolved formula capital (DFC) to spend on their own capital priorities.
Large multi-academy trusts and large voluntary aided school bodies have also been provisionally allocated SCA, but allocations typically span across district and local authority boundaries. Smaller multi-academy and single academy trusts and sixth form colleges were instead eligible to apply to the Condition Improvement Fund, with outcomes due to be published later in the spring. Eligible non-maintained schools in Lincolnshire have also been provisionally allocated DFC. Final allocations will follow later in the spring.
In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme is rebuilding or significantly refurbishing buildings at over 500 schools, including Tulip Academy and University Academy Long Sutton in South Holland.
The department has published £740 million in High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA) for the 2025/26 financial year, to support local authorities to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings. Of this, Lincolnshire County Council has been allocated £10.3 million.
Lincolnshire County Council has also been allocated just over £39 million of basic need capital grant over the current and next two financial years, to support it to create the mainstream school places needed by September 2028.
The department has recently announced 300 successful applicants for the school-based nursery capital grant, including two within the South Holland and the Deepings Parliamentary constituency.
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 progress her Department has made on ensuring that every school in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire has a defibrillator.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
All state-funded schools in South Holland and the Deepings that did not already have a defibrillator received them under the department’s programme, which has now closed.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to remove funding for level 6 apprenticeships.
Answered by Janet Daby
Level 6 apprenticeships are a core part of the department’s apprenticeships offer and continue to be funded by government.
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 improve mental health support for children with special educational needs in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Schools are required to identify and address the special educational needs (SEN) of the pupils they support and, in the case of mainstream settings, to use their best endeavours to make sure that a child or young person who has SEN gets the support they need. All schools should apply the ‘graduated approach’ that is outlined in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) code of practice, which means identifying a child’s needs, planning appropriate support, implementing that support and reviewing it regularly to ensure it continues to meet the identified needs. Through this, schools should develop personalised approaches to supporting the unique needs of individual pupils.
We will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. Further information on the support, as at 31 March 2024, for pupil's provided by NHS-funded mental health support teams in Lincolnshire schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.
The department will also recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults, and open new Young Futures hubs with access to mental health support workers.