Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of (a) current funding models in the context of high mobility and separation on Service pupils and (b) targeted support for those with special and additional education needs, and disabilities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Over £26 million of targeted funding was allocated in 2025/26 to help schools in England support their Service pupils, through the Service Pupil Premium. The rate increased to £350 per eligible pupil in 2025, reflecting the department’s commitment to recognising the unique challenges faced by Armed Forces families. This funding enables schools to provide targeted pastoral and academic support to mitigate the effects of mobility and parental separation on pupil progress and wellbeing. The department reviews the Service Pupil Premium annually.
Service children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) might experience delays in identifying needs and inconsistent services and support between local authorities when their parents are redeployed and they move to a new area. The SEND reforms we are proposing respond directly to long-standing concerns about the outcomes for children with SEND and the inconsistency and inefficiencies in support. For example, National Inclusion Standards will set out support that should be available in every mainstream setting so that children can receive more consistent support. Education, health and care plans and new Individual Support Plans will be digital, to support smoother transitions when children move between schools or local authorities.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the portability of (a) special and (b) additional needs, and (c) disability provision for children in Armed Forces families.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As part of the consultation on the government’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms, I recently attended a roundtable hosted by the Armed Forces Community All-Party Parliamentary Group. I met representatives from armed forces families and the charities that support them to hear first-hand about the problems they face. Children and young people from armed forces families might have to change nursery, school or college when their parents are redeployed. They can experience delays in identifying their needs, and inconsistent services and support between local authorities.
To address the problems caused by delays, the department’s special educational needs and disabilities reforms will improve early identification of children’s needs so that provision can be put in place more quickly. We will invest in new training for all staff and increase the number of specialists. Education health and care plans and new Individual Support Plans will be digital, which will support services children by facilitating smoother transitions when they move between schools or local authorities.
In future, services children should receive more consistent services when they move. National Inclusion Standards will set out, for the first time, support that should be available in every mainstream setting. A nationally consistent set of Specialist Provision Packages will provide comprehensive, evidence-based packages of support for children and young people with the most complex needs.
Education is a devolved matter and the reforms will apply to England only.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 August 2025 to Question 73095, whether her Department has complemented a New Burden Assessment regarding the potential financial impact of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty on its Departmental responsibilities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
New burdens assessments are required when a department’s actions meet the government definition of a new burden, ensuring that the financial impact on local authorities is estimated for at least the first three years and fully funded by the relevant department.
The Ministry of Defence will lead on developing a new burdens assessment in relation to the new Legal Duty extending the Armed Forces Covenant.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2025 to Question 98631, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the mathematical sciences on delivering the Industrial Strategy and the Growth Mission; and whether the reviewed Strategic Priorities Grant budget for 2026-27 will include additional funding for those sciences.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises mathematical sciences as a valuable subject in higher education.
As outlined by my hon. Friend, the Member for Vale of Glamorgan, the 25/26 Guidance Letter from my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to the Office for Students (OfS) sets out that the department will work with the OfS to review and reform the high-cost subject funding element of the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG). This ensures that the funding best aligns with the government’s Growth Mission and is targeted effectively towards high-cost provision that supports the Industrial Strategy and future skills needs. We are collaborating closely with the OfS to assess the impact of any changes to SPG funding.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 98630, if she will recognise mathematical sciences as a strategically important high-cost subject as part of the Strategic Priorities Grant funding for 2026-27.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises mathematical sciences as a valuable subject in higher education.
As outlined by my hon. Friend, the Member for Vale of Glamorgan, the 25/26 Guidance Letter from my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to the Office for Students (OfS) sets out that the department will work with the OfS to review and reform the high-cost subject funding element of the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG). This ensures that the funding best aligns with the government’s Growth Mission and is targeted effectively towards high-cost provision that supports the Industrial Strategy and future skills needs. We are collaborating closely with the OfS to assess the impact of any changes to SPG funding.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure early intervention for pupils with special educational needs.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Leeds South West and Morley, to the answer of 12 November 2025 to Question 86204.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to (a) continue to fund the Music and Dance Scheme and (b) ensure that all Centres for Advanced Training continue to operate.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department will inform Music and Dance Scheme providers about funding for the 2025/26 academic year following the conclusion of the spending review in the spring.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that childcare providers are not able to charge for childcare costs on days where they are unable to deliver the service.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is the department’s ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving the life chances for every child and the work choices for every parent.
Eligible children are entitled to 570 or 1140 hours of free early education and childcare per year. If parents are concerned that they are not receiving their child’s full entitlement, they should raise this with their local authority.
The private paid hours delivered by childcare providers across the country are subject to private arrangements between providers and parents. Details of these services, including whether payment is required for days when the provider is unable to deliver services, are set out in each individual agreement. Where issues arise in relation to such agreements, parents and providers may want to consider guidance from the Competitions and Markets Authority on consumer law: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cma-consumer-enforcement-guidance.
As part of the department’s regular review of the early years statutory guidance for local authorities, we have engaged with local authorities, providers and groups representing parents on the issue of charging. We will consider how to better support local authorities to protect parents from overcharging.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) improve SEND provision and (b) recruit more educational psychologists.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department recognises that the current special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system is not working and that, for far too long, too many children and families have been failed by it. This government is determined to address the problems and restore parents’ trust that their children will get the support they need. The department has been restructured so that SEND is now treated as part of mainstream schooling, but the government knows that this is only a small step on the road to fixing the system. The department will listen to, and work with, families to fix the foundations and deliver long-term renewal.
The department understands the critical role educational psychologists play in the support available to children and young people, including those with SEND. Whilst it is the responsibility of local authorities, as employers, to recruit to their educational psychology services, the department is taking measures to support these services by investing in building the training pipeline.
The department is investing over £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from this year. This builds on the £10 million currently being invested in a cohort of over 200 trainees who began their training in September 2023.
Following graduation, trainees who have had their training funded by the department are required to remain in local authority employment for a minimum period. To support local authority services to recruit and retain their educational psychology workforce, this requirement will increase to three years for those trainees beginning their course this year. This will allow local authority services to benefit from the public investment in training, and support their delivery of statutory assessments and wider work.