Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness and impact of the UK Parliament Education and Engagement service in the nations and regions.
Answered by Nick Smith
Education and Engagement is part of the wider Participation team and shares the strategic aim of the Participation team to reach every part of the UK with its range of public engagement services.
In financial year 2025/26, Education and Engagement’s combined services reached every constituency in some form. In the longer-term, the team aims to increase the scale of services every constituency receives. Part of achieving this aim will include the creation of a digital outreach model, to replace the current regionally-based model. Under the current model, in 2025/26, 32% of constituencies received no outreach visits at all. The new service aims to significantly improve on these figures, with much greater opportunities for Members to join in with digital sessions with their local schools. The total, combined reach of the new service is expected to be the same as or greater than the current service by the third year of its operation.
The Commission has also endorsed a recommendation from the Education and Engagement Team to put in place regional allocations for slots for schools to visit Parliament and the Parliamentary Education Centre, meaning, for the first time, that all UK regions and nations will be given a fair and equitable allocation of opportunities to visit.
In terms of Parliament’s overall engagement work across the UK, a number of different programmes continue to provide opportunities for the public to participate, including UK Parliament Week, teacher training activity delivered around the country, the travel subsidy scheme supporting visits to the Parliamentary Education Centre, Learn with the Lords, and wider outreach undertaken by select committees. Taken together, these channels mean that Parliament will continue to have a strong and visible presence beyond Westminster, even as the Education Outreach service evolves.
Asked by: Martin Rhodes (Labour - Glasgow North)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, what evidence was used to inform decisions to potentially reduce roles based in the regions and nations in the Education and Engagement service under the Savings and Improvement Programme.
Answered by Nick Smith
The Commission has considered the proposed changes to the educational outreach model.
The proposed changes involve the development of a smaller, Westminster-based team, which would operate a UK-wide digital outreach service. Under the current model, in 2025/26 only 9% of Members were involved in a school outreach visit and 32% of constituencies received no outreach visits at all. The new service aims to significantly improve on these figures, with much greater opportunities for Members to join in with digital sessions with their local schools. The total, combined reach of the new service is expected to be the same as or greater than the current service by the third year of its operation.
Evidence of demand for current digital services has been considered, including the “Learn with the Lords” programme, where three quarters of schools request online over in-person experiences to meet a Member of the House of Lords and learn more about their work. This programme reaches every nation and region of the UK every year. The team has also conducted research into organisations who are delivering ambitious and successful digital outreach models including the Royal Ballet and Opera, North East Museums, the National Gallery, BBC Bitesize and The Shakespeare Curriculum. This research has demonstrated the large-scale need from schools for this type of educational offer from UK Parliament.