Laura Trott

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had discussions with Brighton and Hove City Council on its proposed new school admissions policy.

When changes are proposed to admission arrangements, paragraphs 1.45 – 1.48 of the school admissions code require admission authorities to consult for at least six weeks with relevant parties. Brighton and Hove City Council held their consultation between 6 December 2024 to 31 January 2025. The council are then required to determine (agree) the final admission arrangements by 28 February 2025. Once the council have determined their admission arrangements they must publish a copy of the determined admission arrangements on their website by 15 March 2025.

Once the admission arrangements have been determined anyone who considers them to be unfair may raise an objection to the Schools Adjudicator. Objections to admission arrangements must be referred to the Adjudicator by 15 May 2025.

The Adjudicator’s role is to consider whether the admission arrangements and consultation comply with the school admissions code and admissions law.

The Adjudicator can only act on an objection that they have received through the correct channels. Information on how to object to an admission authority’s admission arrangements can be found on the Office of the Schools Adjudicator’s website, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-admissions-arrangements.

As Brighton and Hove City Council’s admission arrangements have not yet been determined, an objection cannot be raised.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had discussions with Brighton and Hove City Council on its proposed new school admissions policy.

When changes are proposed to admission arrangements, paragraphs 1.45 – 1.48 of the school admissions code require admission authorities to consult for at least six weeks with relevant parties. Brighton and Hove City Council held their consultation between 6 December 2024 to 31 January 2025. The council are then required to determine (agree) the final admission arrangements by 28 February 2025. Once the council have determined their admission arrangements they must publish a copy of the determined admission arrangements on their website by 15 March 2025.

Once the admission arrangements have been determined anyone who considers them to be unfair may raise an objection to the Schools Adjudicator. Objections to admission arrangements must be referred to the Adjudicator by 15 May 2025.

The Adjudicator’s role is to consider whether the admission arrangements and consultation comply with the school admissions code and admissions law.

The Adjudicator can only act on an objection that they have received through the correct channels. Information on how to object to an admission authority’s admission arrangements can be found on the Office of the Schools Adjudicator’s website, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-admissions-arrangements.

As Brighton and Hove City Council’s admission arrangements have not yet been determined, an objection cannot be raised.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had discussions with Brighton and Hove City Council on its proposed new school admissions policy.

When changes are proposed to admission arrangements, paragraphs 1.45 – 1.48 of the school admissions code require admission authorities to consult for at least six weeks with relevant parties. Brighton and Hove City Council held their consultation between 6 December 2024 to 31 January 2025. The council are then required to determine (agree) the final admission arrangements by 28 February 2025. Once the council have determined their admission arrangements they must publish a copy of the determined admission arrangements on their website by 15 March 2025.

Once the admission arrangements have been determined anyone who considers them to be unfair may raise an objection to the Schools Adjudicator. Objections to admission arrangements must be referred to the Adjudicator by 15 May 2025.

The Adjudicator’s role is to consider whether the admission arrangements and consultation comply with the school admissions code and admissions law.

The Adjudicator can only act on an objection that they have received through the correct channels. Information on how to object to an admission authority’s admission arrangements can be found on the Office of the Schools Adjudicator’s website, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-admissions-arrangements.

As Brighton and Hove City Council’s admission arrangements have not yet been determined, an objection cannot be raised.

This government believes admissions arrangements should be fair, lawful and support good outcomes for all children.

School admission arrangements are set and applied locally by the admission authority for each school. After providing highest priority to looked after and previously looked after children, it is for the council, as the admission authority for the community and voluntary-controlled schools in its area, to decide what oversubscription criteria to apply for places at its secondary schools and in what order the criteria are applied. The purpose of consultation is to provide the local community the opportunity to express any concerns that they may have about the proposed admission arrangements.

Admission arrangements must be fair, clear and objective, and comply with the school admissions code. To ensure that a school’s admission arrangements meet the needs of their local community, the admission authority is required to consult on them locally when making a change.

The consultation for Brighton and Hove City Council went live on 6 December 2024 and closed on 31 January 2025. The council is required to determine the final admission arrangements for September 2026 by 28 February 2025.

Once the council has determined their admission arrangements, anyone who feels they are unlawful or unfair may raise an objection to the schools adjudicator. Objections to admission arrangements must be referred to the adjudicator by 15 May in the year they were determined. The adjudicator’s role is to consider whether the admission arrangements and consultation comply with the school admissions code and admissions law. The adjudicator’s decisions are binding and enforceable.

Schools that are still due to convert and join a high-quality multi-academy trust or are due to move into a new high-quality multi-academy trust in early 2025 will do so.

The department’s first 20 RISE advisers are now in post and work has begun with the first RISE schools. The advisers will work alongside the department to help support schools break down the barriers to opportunity and end the link between background and success. A full list of these advisers has been published on GOV.UK.

In addition to the RISE advisers in post, the department launched a recruitment campaign for a full cohort of advisers to start in the spring and summer term. We will be informing candidates of the outcome of this campaign shortly. Workforce allocations for 2025/26 have not yet been set.

The support offered by computing hubs is, for the most part, aimed at teachers only.

Hubs have also previously supported the National Centre for Computing Education's (NCCE) outreach programme aimed at pupils. NCCE will continue with outreach activity in 2025/26 continuing to raise awareness of careers in computing and digital. Data for the number of pupils who have attended hub outreach events since 2018 is not available.

The government will continue to fund the NCCE in the 2025/26 financial year to support the teaching of computing and increase participation in computer science qualifications.

The department’s continued investment in the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) for the 2025/26 financial year will continue to support the teaching of computing, increase participation in computer science qualifications at level two and three, including from female students, and support computer science A level students in achieving high grades.

The NCCE will continue to deliver the ‘I Belong’ programme, which aims to improve schools’ awareness of the barriers to girls’ engagement with computing and supports them in taking a sustained course of action to improve the take up of computer science qualifications within their school.

The NCCE also delivers industry-led, virtual events for pupils which raise awareness of digital opportunities and careers in sectors such as cyber and artificial intelligence, and Isaac Computer Science, an online platform supporting GCSE and A level computer science students with revision support and careers information events. In the 2022/23 academic year, 98% of the 1,297 schools with computer science A level results used Isaac.

Due to the fiscal challenges inherited from the previous government, this government has had to make tough decisions across the public sector to get our finances back under control and to ensure we deliver on our priorities through our Plan for Change. Funding beyond the 2025/26 financial year will be considered through the upcoming spending review.

The department’s continued investment in the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) for the 2025/26 financial year will continue to support the teaching of computing, increase participation in computer science qualifications at level two and three, including from female students, and support computer science A level students in achieving high grades.

The NCCE will continue to deliver the ‘I Belong’ programme, which aims to improve schools’ awareness of the barriers to girls’ engagement with computing and supports them in taking a sustained course of action to improve the take up of computer science qualifications within their school.

The NCCE also delivers industry-led, virtual events for pupils which raise awareness of digital opportunities and careers in sectors such as cyber and artificial intelligence, and Isaac Computer Science, an online platform supporting GCSE and A level computer science students with revision support and careers information events. In the 2022/23 academic year, 98% of the 1,297 schools with computer science A level results used Isaac.

Due to the fiscal challenges inherited from the previous government, this government has had to make tough decisions across the public sector to get our finances back under control and to ensure we deliver on our priorities through our Plan for Change. Funding beyond the 2025/26 financial year will be considered through the upcoming spending review.

The ongoing investment in the National Centre for Language Education (NCLE) in the 2025/26 financial year will continue to support the teaching of languages and increase participation in languages qualifications, including through continued professional development and new support models which are anticipated to reach more schools.

One of NCLE’s key aims is to increase access to home, heritage and community languages. It is, however, up to schools to decide which languages are taught as part of their curricula.

The impact assessment was published on 30 January.

The current contract for the Latin Excellence Programme, put in place by the previous government, is due to end on 28 February 2025. The Latin Excellence Programme has cost £2,071,000 to date since 2022. All schools on the programme will continue to have access to the programme’s curriculum resources and all students will sit their planned exams this summer.

Funding for hubs has been part of wider funding for the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) and the National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE). Funding for the NCCE and NCLE will continue in the 2025/26 financial year. It is not possible to quantify how much money will be saved through reshaping the programmes because no spending baselines for individual programmes for 2025/26 and beyond were set ahead of the spending review.

NCCE and NCLE will continue to deliver high quality continuing professional development and teaching resources to support and enrich lessons which are expected to reach a greater number of teachers nationally compared to last year.

Any spending in future financial years will be subject to the multi-year spending review. The department will not be making spending commitments outside of that process.

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.

I refer the hon. Member for Sevenoaks to the answer of 14 January 2025 to Question 22724.

Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

Figures for the 2024/25 academic year will be published in June 2025.

In line with the contract agreed by the previous government, the department has allocated £19 million in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years to the Opening School Facilities fund. The contract is ending in March 2025, as agreed at the outset of the programme.

The government is delivering on its commitment to put education back at the forefront of national life and break down barriers to opportunity for all children and young people.

This government inherited a £22 billion blackhole in our country’s finances and is taking the difficult decisions necessary to fix the foundations and get our economy back on track. This means prioritisation on how money is spent right across the public sector to ensure we deliver on our priorities, including protecting core funding for schools.

Given this, the department has made the difficult decision not to extend the Latin Excellence Programme beyond the end of the three year contract, which will end on 28 February 2025. The department is grateful for the excellent work of the Centre for Latin Excellence and that of the schools who have participated in the programme.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer took difficult decisions in order to restore economic and fiscal stability, which included increasing Employer National Insurance Contributions from April 2025. Working people’s living standards were protected by raising the National Living Wage, keeping bus fares down, and not increasing income tax, employee national insurance or VAT.

Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school transport and deliver this through both in-house services and a range of external providers, as such the department holds no central assessment of Employer National Insurance Contributions. Departmental officials engage regularly with local authorities to understand the challenges they face across the services they deliver.

The most recent application window for the Trust Capacity Fund opened on 1 March 2024 and closed on 25 June 2024. A total of 190 applications were received from 174 establishments, mainly trusts.

This government is clear it wants to make sure all children with special educational needs and disabilities receive the support they need to achieve and thrive. That is why we have set out a clear ambition to improve inclusivity in mainstream schools, while ensuring that special schools cater for those with the most complex needs.

The window for trusts to apply to run these schools closed on 19 July. The department will provide an update in due course.

High and rising standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure every child has the best life chances.

Trusts have played, and continue to play, an important role in supporting collaboration between schools and spreading best practice in pursuit of high standards. Against a challenging fiscal inheritance the government has had to make difficult choices and ensure that limited funding is best targeted. On 1 November, we announced that we would be ending the academy conversion grant from 1 January 2025.

Voluntary conversion is a choice for schools. The department thinks that the benefits, including financial, of joining a strong structure are well understood in the sector and schools and trusts should continue to make these informed choices.

Additionally, latest published figures show 98% of academy trusts and 87% of local authority maintained schools are in cumulative surplus or breaking even. At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for 2025/26, compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion next year, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25, after technical adjustments.

High and rising standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure every child has the best life chances.

Trusts have played, and continue to play, an important role in supporting collaboration between schools and spreading best practice in pursuit of high standards. Against a challenging fiscal inheritance the government has had to make difficult choices and ensure that limited funding is best targeted. On 1 November, we announced that we would be ending the academy conversion grant from 1 January 2025.

Voluntary conversion is a choice for schools. The department thinks that the benefits, including financial, of joining a strong structure are well understood in the sector and schools and trusts should continue to make these informed choices.

Additionally, latest published figures show 98% of academy trusts and 87% of local authority maintained schools are in cumulative surplus or breaking even. At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for 2025/26, compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion next year, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25, after technical adjustments.

The number and proportion of pupils in independent schools with special educational needs who do not have an education, health and care plan is published annually in the statistical release ‘Special educational needs in England’. The release can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england.

The information requested can be found in the section titled ‘Pupils with special educational needs in schools’.

Data collected by the 2024 survey of childcare and early years providers has been used to estimate the average unit costs of delivering childcare per child in a setting. This data can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673b14b8fc572967fe66a92e/Providers__finances_Evidence_from_the_2023_Survey_of_Childcare_and_Early_Years_Providers.pdf.

The department no longer publishes providers’ total costs as differences between providers largely reflect differences in the average number of children that attend them and the average number of hours that they attend for.

There are limitations to the unit cost measure because of some challenges in gathering information from providers on total costs, such as the difficulty in estimating costs shared with other settings for group-based providers that are part of a chain. Furthermore, the number of hours of care provided was estimated. As a result, caution should be applied to the interpretation of the unit cost measures.

On 2 September, the government announced that the use of single headline grades for Ofsted’s school inspection would end with immediate effect, and that a new system of report cards would be launched from September 2025. Single headline grades were overly simplistic, being low information for parents and high stakes for schools.

Ofsted’s Big Listen consultation, the largest in Ofsted’s history, evidenced widespread concerns about single headline grades and the need for reform. Ofsted found that single headline grades were supported by only 3 in 10 professionals and 4 in 10 parents. The schools section of the consultation found that only 1 in 8 respondents agreed that the number of good and outstanding providers was reflective of the overall quality of the sector. Therefore, it was right for the government to act quickly and decisively to address this.

The department is currently engaging closely with Ofsted to develop proposals for new reporting arrangements, through a report card system, to capture the performance of schools in a much richer way, and to provide more helpful information to parents and support school improvement. The new reporting system will be accompanied by improved support arrangements through Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams. Proposals for the new arrangements will be subject to public consultation in the new year.

An equalities impact assessment will be carried out as part of the process of reform in the usual way.

Depriving a child of their liberty must always be a last resort in order to keep the child safe. A growing number of children in England and Wales, often with complex behavioural needs, are being deprived of their liberty through Deprivation of Liberty Orders (DOLOs) under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court, due to a lack of suitable registered placements.

The department would like to see fewer children given DOLOs and an improved quality of provision for these children. As set out in the department’s recent policy statement, ‘Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive’, we want to see new forms of provision to address the rising need for suitable, registered homes capable of depriving a child of their liberty. This provision needs to be able to respond flexibly to children’s changing and fluctuating needs, as well as provide the crucial therapeutic care and, when necessary, restriction.

The department intends, when Parliamentary time allows, to amend primary legislation to provide a statutory framework for local authorities seeking to place children in such new forms of accommodation, rather than relying on a DOLO. This new legislation will ensure that, where a secure children’s home cannot meet a child’s needs, there are clear criteria for when children may need to be deprived of liberty and mandatory review points to ensure that no child is deprived of liberty for longer than is required to keep them safe, while in high quality, registered provision.

This is part of a wider programme of work to improve outcomes for children with complex needs. This includes a programme of capital investment to support local authorities to maintain existing capacity and expand provision in both open and secure children’s homes, including for children with complex needs. This also includes the creation of 350 additional open children’s homes placements by March 2025. The recent Autumn Budget 2024 announced £90 million for the 2025/26 financial year which includes a multi-million pound package of match funding to support local authorities to build additional open children’s home placements. This will provide high quality, safe homes for some of our most vulnerable children and young people.

We have also recently commissioned independent research to understand the existing system and how we can achieve better outcomes for children who are, or are at risk of, being deprived of liberty. We aim to publish this in summer 2025. This will build on the insights gained from the research commissioned by the department from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s ‘Children with complex needs who are deprived of liberty’ report, published on 18 November, which interviewed children with complex needs who are deprived of liberty, their parents and the professionals who support them.

The department published ‘Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive’ on 18 November, setting out our vision for reform to children’s social care. Our legislative proposals will keep families together and children safe, remove barriers to opportunity for children in care and care leavers, make the care system child-centred, and tackle profiteering.

To deliver reform across children’s social care, the department announced £44 million for 2025/26 at the Autumn Budget 2024 to support children in kinship and foster care, and £90 million to provide safe and suitable homes for some of the most vulnerable children and young people.

The government has confirmed its commitment to further reforms to children’s social care in future spending reviews, to make sure every child, irrespective of background, has the best start in life.

On 2 September, the government announced that the use of single headline grades for Ofsted’s school inspection would end with immediate effect, and that a new system of report cards would be launched from September 2025. Single headline grades were overly simplistic, being low information for parents and high stakes for schools.

Ofsted’s Big Listen consultation, the largest in Ofsted’s history, evidenced widespread concerns about single headline grades and the need for reform. Ofsted found that single headline grades were supported by only 3 in 10 professionals and 4 in 10 parents. The schools section of the consultation found that only 1 in 8 respondents agreed that the number of good and outstanding providers was reflective of the overall quality of the sector. Therefore, it was right for the government to act quickly and decisively to address this.

The department is currently engaging closely with Ofsted to develop proposals for new reporting arrangements, through a report card system, to capture the performance of schools in a much richer way, and to provide more helpful information to parents and support school improvement. The new reporting system will be accompanied by improved support arrangements through Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams. Proposals for the new arrangements will be subject to public consultation in the new year.

An equalities impact assessment will be carried out as part of the process of reform in the usual way.

On 2 September, the government announced that the use of single headline grades for Ofsted’s school inspection would end with immediate effect, and that a new system of report cards would be launched from September 2025. Single headline grades were overly simplistic, being low information for parents and high stakes for schools.

Ofsted’s Big Listen consultation, the largest in Ofsted’s history, evidenced widespread concerns about single headline grades and the need for reform. Ofsted found that single headline grades were supported by only 3 in 10 professionals and 4 in 10 parents. The schools section of the consultation found that only 1 in 8 respondents agreed that the number of good and outstanding providers was reflective of the overall quality of the sector. Therefore, it was right for the government to act quickly and decisively to address this.

The department is currently engaging closely with Ofsted to develop proposals for new reporting arrangements, through a report card system, to capture the performance of schools in a much richer way, and to provide more helpful information to parents and support school improvement. The new reporting system will be accompanied by improved support arrangements through Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams. Proposals for the new arrangements will be subject to public consultation in the new year.

An equalities impact assessment will be carried out as part of the process of reform in the usual way.

On 2 September, the government announced that the use of single headline grades for Ofsted’s school inspection would end with immediate effect, and that a new system of report cards would be launched from September 2025. Single headline grades were overly simplistic, being low information for parents and high stakes for schools.

Ofsted’s Big Listen consultation, the largest in Ofsted’s history, evidenced widespread concerns about single headline grades and the need for reform. Ofsted found that single headline grades were supported by only 3 in 10 professionals and 4 in 10 parents. The schools section of the consultation found that only 1 in 8 respondents agreed that the number of good and outstanding providers was reflective of the overall quality of the sector. Therefore, it was right for the government to act quickly and decisively to address this.

The department is currently engaging closely with Ofsted to develop proposals for new reporting arrangements, through a report card system, to capture the performance of schools in a much richer way, and to provide more helpful information to parents and support school improvement. The new reporting system will be accompanied by improved support arrangements through Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams. Proposals for the new arrangements will be subject to public consultation in the new year.

An equalities impact assessment will be carried out as part of the process of reform in the usual way.

As at 31 March 2024, there were 83,630 looked after children, which was similar to the previous year. The government has announced the following measures to ensure there are more of the right placements to meet the needs of looked after children:

• £44 million investment to support children in kinship care and foster care. This includes trialling a new kinship allowance in up to ten local authorities and ensuring that every local authority has access to a regional recruitment hub.
• £90 million to maintain capacity and expand provision in secure and open residential children’s homes. This will include creating 200 additional open children’s homes beds. This will provide safe and suitable homes for some of our vulnerable children and young people.

Building on this investment in kinship, fostering and children’s homes, this government will go further to reform the children's social care system by helping children to stay with their families where possible, fixing the broken care market, and investing in key enablers which underpin the system.

As the suite of reforms are developed, we will assess the impact for children, the social care system (including care places and workforce pressures) and the value for money of our reforms. Impact assessments will be published at the point of introducing proposals, subject to parliamentary procedure and time.

The level of any future cap on the profits of children’s social care placement providers would depend on a number of factors, including market conditions at the point it was introduced. Before introducing any such cap we would consult fully, including with providers and local authorities.

On the quality of children’s homes and inspection, the department is working hard to improve the quality of this provision through numerous avenues. We will seek to strengthen Ofsted’s powers to hold provider group owners of children’s homes and other children’s social care provision to account where there are quality issues across several settings owned by a group. This will help to resolve issues quickly and ensure the quality of children’s placements.

The department is also working closely with Ofsted as they revise both their Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF) and Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services framework in response to the Big Listen. We welcome their focus on ensuring that inspections are a constructive force in the sector that champion good practice, empower leaders and also that the progress and experiences of children are at the heart of inspection.

Additionally, the department is working with Social Work England to scope and develop options for establishing professional registration for children’s homes managers and staff. This has the potential to raise the status and profile of working in the sector and improve the quality of provision by providing greater oversight of those working in the sector. We are confident that the ongoing work on provider oversight, updates to the SCCIF and development the workforce will result in significant improvements to the quality of children’s homes and inspection processes.

There are no plans to increase the frequency of inspections this year. Children’s homes normally receive a full inspection at least once annually and if leaders and managers have shown that they can consistently deliver services for children well, it may be appropriate to return less often or do a more proportionate inspection. However, Ofsted always takes into account the risk to children of not inspecting as frequently.

As at 31 March 2024, there were 83,630 looked after children, which was similar to the previous year. The government has announced the following measures to ensure there are more of the right placements to meet the needs of looked after children:

• £44 million investment to support children in kinship care and foster care. This includes trialling a new kinship allowance in up to ten local authorities and ensuring that every local authority has access to a regional recruitment hub.
• £90 million to maintain capacity and expand provision in secure and open residential children’s homes. This will include creating 200 additional open children’s homes beds. This will provide safe and suitable homes for some of our vulnerable children and young people.

Building on this investment in kinship, fostering and children’s homes, this government will go further to reform the children's social care system by helping children to stay with their families where possible, fixing the broken care market, and investing in key enablers which underpin the system.

As the suite of reforms are developed, we will assess the impact for children, the social care system (including care places and workforce pressures) and the value for money of our reforms. Impact assessments will be published at the point of introducing proposals, subject to parliamentary procedure and time.

The level of any future cap on the profits of children’s social care placement providers would depend on a number of factors, including market conditions at the point it was introduced. Before introducing any such cap we would consult fully, including with providers and local authorities.

On the quality of children’s homes and inspection, the department is working hard to improve the quality of this provision through numerous avenues. We will seek to strengthen Ofsted’s powers to hold provider group owners of children’s homes and other children’s social care provision to account where there are quality issues across several settings owned by a group. This will help to resolve issues quickly and ensure the quality of children’s placements.

The department is also working closely with Ofsted as they revise both their Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF) and Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services framework in response to the Big Listen. We welcome their focus on ensuring that inspections are a constructive force in the sector that champion good practice, empower leaders and also that the progress and experiences of children are at the heart of inspection.

Additionally, the department is working with Social Work England to scope and develop options for establishing professional registration for children’s homes managers and staff. This has the potential to raise the status and profile of working in the sector and improve the quality of provision by providing greater oversight of those working in the sector. We are confident that the ongoing work on provider oversight, updates to the SCCIF and development the workforce will result in significant improvements to the quality of children’s homes and inspection processes.

There are no plans to increase the frequency of inspections this year. Children’s homes normally receive a full inspection at least once annually and if leaders and managers have shown that they can consistently deliver services for children well, it may be appropriate to return less often or do a more proportionate inspection. However, Ofsted always takes into account the risk to children of not inspecting as frequently.

As at 31 March 2024, there were 83,630 looked after children, which was similar to the previous year. The government has announced the following measures to ensure there are more of the right placements to meet the needs of looked after children:

• £44 million investment to support children in kinship care and foster care. This includes trialling a new kinship allowance in up to ten local authorities and ensuring that every local authority has access to a regional recruitment hub.
• £90 million to maintain capacity and expand provision in secure and open residential children’s homes. This will include creating 200 additional open children’s homes beds. This will provide safe and suitable homes for some of our vulnerable children and young people.

Building on this investment in kinship, fostering and children’s homes, this government will go further to reform the children's social care system by helping children to stay with their families where possible, fixing the broken care market, and investing in key enablers which underpin the system.

As the suite of reforms are developed, we will assess the impact for children, the social care system (including care places and workforce pressures) and the value for money of our reforms. Impact assessments will be published at the point of introducing proposals, subject to parliamentary procedure and time.

The level of any future cap on the profits of children’s social care placement providers would depend on a number of factors, including market conditions at the point it was introduced. Before introducing any such cap we would consult fully, including with providers and local authorities.

On the quality of children’s homes and inspection, the department is working hard to improve the quality of this provision through numerous avenues. We will seek to strengthen Ofsted’s powers to hold provider group owners of children’s homes and other children’s social care provision to account where there are quality issues across several settings owned by a group. This will help to resolve issues quickly and ensure the quality of children’s placements.

The department is also working closely with Ofsted as they revise both their Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF) and Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services framework in response to the Big Listen. We welcome their focus on ensuring that inspections are a constructive force in the sector that champion good practice, empower leaders and also that the progress and experiences of children are at the heart of inspection.

Additionally, the department is working with Social Work England to scope and develop options for establishing professional registration for children’s homes managers and staff. This has the potential to raise the status and profile of working in the sector and improve the quality of provision by providing greater oversight of those working in the sector. We are confident that the ongoing work on provider oversight, updates to the SCCIF and development the workforce will result in significant improvements to the quality of children’s homes and inspection processes.

There are no plans to increase the frequency of inspections this year. Children’s homes normally receive a full inspection at least once annually and if leaders and managers have shown that they can consistently deliver services for children well, it may be appropriate to return less often or do a more proportionate inspection. However, Ofsted always takes into account the risk to children of not inspecting as frequently.

As at 31 March 2024, there were 83,630 looked after children, which was similar to the previous year. The government has announced the following measures to ensure there are more of the right placements to meet the needs of looked after children:

• £44 million investment to support children in kinship care and foster care. This includes trialling a new kinship allowance in up to ten local authorities and ensuring that every local authority has access to a regional recruitment hub.
• £90 million to maintain capacity and expand provision in secure and open residential children’s homes. This will include creating 200 additional open children’s homes beds. This will provide safe and suitable homes for some of our vulnerable children and young people.

Building on this investment in kinship, fostering and children’s homes, this government will go further to reform the children's social care system by helping children to stay with their families where possible, fixing the broken care market, and investing in key enablers which underpin the system.

As the suite of reforms are developed, we will assess the impact for children, the social care system (including care places and workforce pressures) and the value for money of our reforms. Impact assessments will be published at the point of introducing proposals, subject to parliamentary procedure and time.

The level of any future cap on the profits of children’s social care placement providers would depend on a number of factors, including market conditions at the point it was introduced. Before introducing any such cap we would consult fully, including with providers and local authorities.

On the quality of children’s homes and inspection, the department is working hard to improve the quality of this provision through numerous avenues. We will seek to strengthen Ofsted’s powers to hold provider group owners of children’s homes and other children’s social care provision to account where there are quality issues across several settings owned by a group. This will help to resolve issues quickly and ensure the quality of children’s placements.

The department is also working closely with Ofsted as they revise both their Social Care Common Inspection Framework (SCCIF) and Inspecting Local Authority Children’s Services framework in response to the Big Listen. We welcome their focus on ensuring that inspections are a constructive force in the sector that champion good practice, empower leaders and also that the progress and experiences of children are at the heart of inspection.

Additionally, the department is working with Social Work England to scope and develop options for establishing professional registration for children’s homes managers and staff. This has the potential to raise the status and profile of working in the sector and improve the quality of provision by providing greater oversight of those working in the sector. We are confident that the ongoing work on provider oversight, updates to the SCCIF and development the workforce will result in significant improvements to the quality of children’s homes and inspection processes.

There are no plans to increase the frequency of inspections this year. Children’s homes normally receive a full inspection at least once annually and if leaders and managers have shown that they can consistently deliver services for children well, it may be appropriate to return less often or do a more proportionate inspection. However, Ofsted always takes into account the risk to children of not inspecting as frequently.

​The department knows that using mobile phones in schools can lead to online bullying, distraction and classroom disruption, which can, in turn, lead to lost learning time.

Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including outlining the items that are banned from school premises. Additionally, the government’s non-statutory guidance supports schools on how to develop, implement and maintain a policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones throughout the school day. Headteachers are responsible for the implementation of such guidance within their schools.

I refer the right Hon. member for Sevenoaks to the answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12804.

The requested information for each region and local authority is attached.

Information on the number of all education, health and care (EHC) plans, and their named school is not readily available at constituency level.

Information on the number of pupils in schools in England with EHC plans is available at constituency level here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england. The data file titled ‘School level underlying data 2024 (csv, 10 Mb)’ under the section ‘Additional supporting files’ includes the figures at school level, including the school type and parliamentary constituency. As these figures are taken from the January 2024 school census, the parliamentary constituencies are based on pre-election boundaries. Where statistics were published prior to the changes in parliamentary constituency boundaries, they will be updated to reflect the new boundaries in the next publication of statistics. This is expected to be in June 2025 for statistics on schools and pupils, including special educational needs.

The department is aware that higher education (HE) providers will have to pay increased National Insurance contributions. As my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in the Autumn Budget 2024, raising the revenue required to fund public services and restore economic stability requires difficult decisions. That is why the government has asked employers to contribute more.

The Office for Students (OfS) is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the financial sustainability of the HE sector. The OfS has made its own estimate of the impacts in their update published on 15 November 2024. This update is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/s32lw2vq/financial-sustainability-of-higher-education-providers-in-england-november-2024-update.pdf.

It is clear that the UK needs to put its world-leading HE sector on a secure footing in order to face the challenges of the next decade and ensure that all students have confidence they will receive the world-class HE experience they deserve. In line with this approach, from August 2025, the government will be increasing the maximum cap for tuition fees by 3.1%, in line with forecast inflation.

The government recognises the impact the cost of living crisis has had on students and is also increasing the maximum loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, to ensure that more support is targeted at students from the lowest income families. The department plans to publish an assessment of impacts of the planned tuition fee and student finance changes shortly.

The department expects the HE sector to demonstrate that, in return for the increased investment that students are being asked to make, they deliver the very best outcomes both for those students and for the country. We are calling for providers to go further and play a stronger role in expanding access and improving outcomes for disadvantaged students.

The department knows how vital securing a sustainable future for the HE sector is for the success of students. We will set out our longer-term plans for HE reform by next summer.