Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in attainment levels between boys and girls in schools in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
All young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are or where they are from. That is why, through our work to deliver the Opportunity Mission, this government will improve opportunities across the country for all children and young people.
As in previous years, the latest attainment data shows girls continue to do better than boys across all headline measures. However, the gap has narrowed when comparing 2023/24 to 2018/19. The department publishes attainment data by sex on an annual basis in the autumn term, which can be broken down by specific local authorities, including Ashfield. The relevant data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/0b85fb67-0628-414c-95b1-08dd85738b16.
High and rising standards across education are at the heart of this mission and are key to unlocking stronger outcomes and a better future for all children and young people, regardless of their gender. As one of the department’s first steps for change, we are committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 expert teachers. We have also introduced new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams and launched an independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review that is looking closely at the key challenges to attainment.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many SEN schools have informed her Department that they require additional funding in each of the last five years.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Nottinghamshire County Council is being allocated over £130 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which is an increase of £10.8 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.
Departmental officials regularly meet with representatives of special schools to discuss a wider variety of matters, including funding levels.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase SEND funding in Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Nottinghamshire County Council is being allocated over £130 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which is an increase of £10.8 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.
Departmental officials regularly meet with representatives of special schools to discuss a wider variety of matters, including funding levels.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure teachers remain political impartiality in secondary schools in Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Ashfield to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43267.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to meet the demand for specialist SEND school places in Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision sits with local authorities.
We recognise the vital role that special schools play in catering to those with the most complex needs. We also want more children and young people to receive the support they need to thrive in their local mainstream school, reducing the need for pupils to travel a long way to access a specialist placement. Many mainstream settings are already committed to delivering specialist provision locally, including through resourced provision and special educational needs units.
The department has now published allocations for £740 million in high needs provision capital allocations 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.
The funding can be used to adapt schools to be more accessible for children with SEND, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.
Nottinghamshire Council has been allocated £14 million for the 2025/26 financial year and it is up to the local authority to make decisions about the places they create and to prioritise this funding to meet local needs.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of school buildings in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department supports academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided bodies, who are responsible for managing the safety and maintenance of their estates, with capital funding, rebuilding programmes and guidance on effective estate management.
We recently confirmed details of £2.1 billion of capital funding for the 2025/26 financial year to improve the condition of schools, up from the £1.8 billion committed for the 2024/25 financial year. Allocations are partly informed by consistent data on the condition of the estate collected by the department reflecting the relative need of schools.
This is in addition to the continuing school rebuilding programme, which includes Ashfield Comprehensive School and Outwood Academy Kirkby in Ashfield constituency.
The department also provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support local authorities meet their statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data.
In March 2025, the department announced that Nottinghamshire County Council has been allocated just over £21.7 million to support it to create the mainstream school places needed by September 2028. This is on top of the just over £55 million we have previously allocated to support Nottinghamshire County Council provide the new school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools ban the use of mobile phones by pupils during the school day in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the department’s ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance. The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.
New research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England show that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will introduce trauma training in nurseries and schools to support (a) children in care and (b) children who have been adopted.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Children in care and care leavers are significantly more likely to have experienced trauma and have poor mental health. The latest departmental data shows that two thirds of children become looked after due to abuse or neglect, and we know that care-experienced adults are at four to five times greater risk of suicide attempt than their peers. Knowing the significant trauma that many of these children and young people have experienced and its lasting impact, providing effective support is crucial.
To support children in care and those who have previously been in care, including children adopted from state care, Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,630 is provided per eligible child, per year. For looked-after children, this funding is managed by the local authority’s Virtual School Head and can be used to facilitate a wide range of educational support including additional mentoring, tuition and therapeutic services. Many Virtual School Heads work closely with schools to support the implementation of whole-school, trauma-informed practice. For previously looked-after children, Pupil Premium Plus is paid to, and managed by, the child’s school and can be used to facilitate a wide range of educational support.
All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher to promote the educational achievement of the children in care or previously in care on the school’s roll. Designated teachers have an important role in ensuring staff can identify signs of potential issues and understand where the school can draw on specialist services. This includes identifying signs of potential mental health issues and understanding the impact that these issues, including experiences of trauma, can have on children in care or previously in care and their ability to engage in learning.
Schools have the flexibility to decide what pastoral support they provide to best meet the individual needs of all their pupils. This includes how they approach supporting children who may be particularly vulnerable, such as those who have experienced trauma. The department recognises that many schools do use trauma informed practices as part of their approach.
To help schools support their pupils, the government will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.
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.
To support education staff, the department provides a range of guidance and practical resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. For example, a resources hub for mental health leads and a toolkit to help choose evidence-based early support for pupils, which include resources on trauma.
Personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for all children to lead healthy and happy lives and is fundamental to their cognitive development. This is why PSED is one of the three prime areas of learning set out in the early years foundation stage statutory framework that all early years providers in England must follow. This statutory framework can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.
The department’s online child development training for early years educators includes a module dedicated to supporting children’s PSED and covers attachment theory, including how trauma can impact a baby and young child’s attachment style. This training is available at: https://child-development-training.education.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total cost was of providing translation services in her Department in the last year.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The total cost incurred by the department in providing translation services for the period 01/04/2024 to 25/03/2025 is £25,286.79. This is split between £24,820.60 for British sign language and braille support and £318.57 for other translation services.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what diversity, equality and inclusion targets her Department has for staff recruitment.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has diversity, equality and inclusion targets for Senior Civil Servants from ethnic minority backgrounds (13%) and staff with a disability (12%) only.