Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the savings to the public purse made by cancelling the Latin Excellence Programme from March 2025.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the savings to the public purse made by (a) cancelling computing hubs and (b) changes to language hubs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with which unions she has had meetings since 5 July 2025; and when.
Answered by Janet Daby
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new teachers have been recruited since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will extend the Opening School Facilities Fund beyond March 2025.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
I refer the hon. Member for Sevenoaks to the answer of 14 January 2025 to Question 22724.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on the future of the Latin Excellence Programme.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the planned increase in employer National Insurance on the cost of home-to-school transport.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 5.20 of the Spring Budget 2024, published on 6 March 2024, HC 560, what her policy is on building 15 new special free schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many trusts submitted grant applications for the Trust Capacity Fund in the most recent funding window.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on schools of ending the academy conversion support grant.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
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.