Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils have an (a) education, health and care plan and (b) a named school in each (i) region, (ii) local authority and (iii) constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of how much the increase to employers National Insurance contributions will cost universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the judicial review of her decision to pause the implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Sevenoaks to the answer of 18 November 2024 to Question 13264.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
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.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of increasing employers National Insurance contributions on childcare costs for working parents.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks to the answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12804.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timetable is for publishing the recommendations of the Curriculum and Assessment review.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The timetable for the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review may be found in the terms of reference available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66d196b7d107658faec7e3db/Curriculum_and_assessment_review_-_aims_terms_of_reference_and_working_principles.pdf.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2024 to Question 9707 on Tax Avoidance, when she will provide an update on her policy on the Loan Charge.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government announced at Autumn Budget that it will commission an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.
Further details about the review will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 22 October 2024 on Mainstream Free Schools, UIN HCWS150, if the proposed new special educational needs school in Swanley is one of the schools to have their funding reviewed.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department is reviewing mainstream free school projects, to ensure that they continue to meet localised need for places, offer value for money and are not to the detriment of the other schools in the local area. The review covers mainstream, centrally delivered projects.
Work on special and alternative provision (AP) free schools is continuing. As with all government investment, special and AP free school projects will be subject to value for money consideration through their development, in line with the government’s vision for the special educational needs system.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to respond to the consultation entitled The licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England which closed on 2 September 2023.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is currently considering what steps may need to be taken in relation to the safety of the non-surgical cosmetics sector. The Government will set out its position at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to introduce a criminal offence to prosecute individuals who create sexually explicit deepfakes.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Government refuses to tolerate violence against women and girls, which is why our manifesto included a commitment to ban the creation of degrading and harmful sexually explicit deepfakes.
We are looking at options to deliver this manifesto commitment as effectively as possible.