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 support children in schools who have suffered acquired brain injuries.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Children who have had a brain injury can be affected in different ways. Some brain injuries will result in a special educational need (SEN) or a medical need, whilst others may affect a child in other ways.
In whatever way a brain injury manifests, it is essential that the pupil’s individual needs are identified and supported appropriately. Support should be tailored to their own learning barriers, irrespective of their diagnosis. This is underpinned by the range of statutory duties on schools to support children with SEN, disabilities or medical conditions. Depending on the impact that an acquired brain injury has on the child accessing education, they may be entitled to support under any or all of these duties. For example:
A mainstream school must use its ‘best endeavours’ to provide the right support for all its pupils with SEN.
Schools must make arrangements to support their pupils with medical conditions.
Schools must make reasonable adjustments to their practices, procedures and policies and not discriminate against their disabled pupils.
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 children in Lincolnshire were waiting for an Education, Health and Care plan as of October 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The latest published figures that show the number of children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan as at January 2025 are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/4ed35aab-4605-47d4-0c1d-08de07233b94. Figures are published as at January each year. Information for January 2026 will be published in summer 2026.
The department does not hold information on the number of children waiting for an EHC plan.
The number of requests for an EHC needs assessment which were outstanding at the end of the 2024 calendar year in Lincolnshire local authority is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e64ee712-b7aa-4ff8-f961-08de0724494a.
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 children had an Education, Health and Care plan in Lincolnshire as of October 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The latest published figures that show the number of children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan as at January 2025 are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/4ed35aab-4605-47d4-0c1d-08de07233b94. Figures are published as at January each year. Information for January 2026 will be published in summer 2026.
The department does not hold information on the number of children waiting for an EHC plan.
The number of requests for an EHC needs assessment which were outstanding at the end of the 2024 calendar year in Lincolnshire local authority is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e64ee712-b7aa-4ff8-f961-08de0724494a.
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 training opportunities in construction for people in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to improving construction training opportunities across England, including in South Holland and the Deepings.
A wide range of government-funded programmes are available for construction employers who are considering hiring employees, offering work experience, or upskilling existing staff. These include Apprenticeships, Skills Bootcamps, and Free Courses for Jobs. Through the Construction Support Package, we are investing in high-quality training provision, supporting providers to deliver industry-relevant skills and helping more people into good jobs in the sector. The recently announced Construction Technical Excellence Colleges (CTEC) will drive up standards in construction education by working closely with employers to ensure training meets current and future workforce needs.
The CTEC serving the East of England region, which includes South Holland and the Deepings, is West Suffolk College. This college is part of the government’s initiative to train construction workers through a network of 10 regional hubs operating under a ‘hub and spoke’ model.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 73942 on Department for Education: Social Media, how much her Department has spent on social media influencers since July 2024, listed by influencer.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Commercial sensitivities exist around aspects of spending of this kind which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.
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 measures her Department has in place to run critical services in the event of a major internet outage.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In preparation for potential major incidents, the department has undertaken Business Impact Assessments across all critical assets. These assessments have informed the development of Business Continuity Plans (BCPs), which outline the procedures and contingencies necessary to maintain essential services during such incidents. These plans are regularly reviewed and tested to ensure operational resilience and continuity of service delivery.
To further strengthen response capabilities, the department’s Central Major Incident and Cyber Incident team is equipped to manage such events end-to-end. In parallel to BCPs, Disaster Recovery Strategies are in place to restore affected services swiftly, minimising downtime and ensuring operational continuity.
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 number of families expected to receive 30 hours of free childcare in Lincolnshire in 2025.
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. We are delivering more support to working families than ever before with the rollout of 30 hours government-funded childcare.
The department does not hold data on estimates of the numbers of families expected to benefit by area.
However, the department does collect data on eligibility codes, which show the number of children who have benefitted by local authority level. This information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/expansion-to-early-childcare-entitlements-eligibility-codes-issued-and-validated/2025-may. In the spring 2025 term, 7,193 codes were issued to parents in Lincolnshire and 6,620 (92%) of these were validated via childcare providers.
This data was published on 12 May 2025. This data is being updated periodically in response to the 30 hours rollout.
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 days the Union Flag was flown on her Department's main sites in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Union Flag is flown every day at the department headquarters in London. This is the only department building with a flagpole.
This is in accordance with the Union Flag flying guidance for UK government buildings: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/designated-days-for-union-flag-flying.
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 her Department is taking to remove asbestos from schools in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings to the answer of 4 September 2025 of Question 70188.
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 her Department has spent money on social media influencers since July 2024.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has spent money on social media influencers since July 2024. Influencers can be effective in reaching audiences that the government and traditional marketing channels find hard to reach.