Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, whether her Department plans to review the English as an additional language funding formula.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.
The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.
A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.
The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, how many schools receive English as an additional language funding.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.
The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.
A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.
The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in English as an additional language funding on the long term financial sustainability of schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.
The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.
A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.
The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, whether her Department monitors how (a) primary and (b) secondary schools spend English as an additional language funding.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.
The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.
A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.
The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, what English as an additional language funding may be used for in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.
The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.
A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.
The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure veterans are not (a) homeless and (b) rough sleeping.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Government is fully committed to ensuring that all veterans across the UK have access to the support they need on housing. That is why we have committed an additional £12 million to ensure the continuation of the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme. Op FORTITUDE will also be extended, putting the service that has already supported over 1,000 veterans on a sustainable footing. These programmes will deliver three years of support services across the UK for veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
On 11 December 2025, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published A National Plan to End Homelessness. The Ministry of Defence contributed to this strategy including committing to ensuring that all councils are aware of service provision in their area to support veterans at risk of homelessness.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to close migrant hotels.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
At its peak under the previous government, around 400 hotels were used to accommodate asylum seekers – costing £9 million per day. That figure is now under 200 - the government remains committed no longer using hotels to accommodate asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament.
Hotel closures are prioritised based on a wide range of criteria. The hotel exit plan will continue to be carefully managed to ensure that all supported asylum seekers are accommodated in suitable alternative accommodation, including large sites, elsewhere in the estate.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrant hotels have been closed in the last year.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
At its peak under the previous government, around 400 hotels were used to accommodate asylum seekers – costing £9 million per day. That figure is now under 200 - the government remains committed no longer using hotels to accommodate asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament.
Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation, including hotels, and by local authority can be found within the Asy_D11 tab for our most recent statistics release: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions he has had with businesses on ensuring customers can contact them on the telephone and not just by email.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, businesses are obligated to provide contact information in a clear and comprehensible manner which is easily, directly and permanently accessible. This includes the business name, the geographical address where the business is established, a telephone number, and email address.
The specific mechanisms businesses use to provide customer services is a commercial decision that the government does not normally seek to intervene in.
While there is no record of a specific discussion on this matter, the Department engages regularly with businesses on consumer law.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of spiking in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Incidents of spiking may be prosecuted under various criminal offences. These offences encompass a broad spectrum of criminal behaviours, not all of which constitute spiking.
The Ministry of Justice does not currently collate statistics which show the number of individuals who are charged and subsequently prosecuted and convicted of offences which relate to incidents of spiking. The Government is, however, considering options to improve the way spiking crimes are recorded and collated with the aim of capturing better data to help advise preventative strategies for spiking where needed.