Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of response times from Social Work England for complains about social workers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is the sponsor department for Social Work England, and as such we monitor their performance on an ongoing basis. Social Work England is also regulated by the Professional Standards Authority.
The government has a statutory obligation to appoint an independent person to review the operation of Part 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, which includes powers related to Social Work England. The review, chaired by Dame Annie Hudson, will collect evidence of Social Work England’s overall effectiveness and efficiency of its core regulatory functions. Further details will be announced in due course, and on completion, the report will be laid before Parliament.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 minimum earnings eligibility criteria for the additional funded childcare entitlement on parents who are paid on a four-weekly payroll cycle; and whether she has considered changes to ensure that parents with equivalent annual earnings are treated the same, regardless of their employer's pay frequency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
Eligibility for the working parent entitlement is based on expected income for the next three months. To ensure parents continue to meet the income criteria for the entitlement, parents must confirm they still meet the income threshold.
Each parent must expect to earn at least £2,643.68 before tax if aged 21 or over (equivalent to £203.36 per week), £2,256.80 before tax if aged 18 to 20 (equivalent to £173.60 per week), or £1,664 before tax if under 18 or an apprentice (equivalent to £128 per week).
This is equivalent to the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week, on average. Parents must also not expect their income to exceed £100,000 adjusted net income per year.
If they earn income from work over the three months following an application and receive payment for this work at a later date, for example because they have a different payment cycle, they may still be eligible.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has estimated the number of parents who have been found ineligible for the additional funded childcare entitlement solely because they are paid every four weeks rather than monthly.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
Eligibility for the working parent entitlement is based on expected income for the next three months. To ensure parents continue to meet the income criteria for the entitlement, parents must confirm they still meet the income threshold.
Each parent must expect to earn at least £2,643.68 before tax if aged 21 or over (equivalent to £203.36 per week), £2,256.80 before tax if aged 18 to 20 (equivalent to £173.60 per week), or £1,664 before tax if under 18 or an apprentice (equivalent to £128 per week).
This is equivalent to the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week, on average. Parents must also not expect their income to exceed £100,000 adjusted net income per year.
If they earn income from work over the three months following an application and receive payment for this work at a later date, for example because they have a different payment cycle, they may still be eligible.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the Hon. Member for Newton Abbot on the email ref 2026-0065504 sent on the 21 of April 2026.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
I can confirm that a response to the letter of 21 April 2026 from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot was sent on 15 June 2026.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her department plans to respond to the correspondence of 24 April 2026 from the hon. member for Newton Abbot with case ref MW15547.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
I can confirm that a response to the letter of 24 April 2026 from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot was sent on 15 June 2026.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will have discussions with the PCS trade union over the Department for Education office closures in Exeter.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department engages regularly and constructively with its recognised trade unions, including the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) trade union, in line with established frameworks. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education is fully briefed, and engagement with PCS and other unions is taken forward constructively on her behalf by departmental officials, including on workforce changes such as office closures.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she are taking to support children with medical conditions in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, Academies and pupil referral units in England to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions.
The department has consulted on revised statutory guidance on Medical conditions at school: statutory guidance, seeking views from schools, parents, health professionals, and other stakeholders on proposals to strengthen how schools meet their duties, including on allergy safety. Our aim is to ensure that every child can access education safely and confidently, regardless of their health needs. The guidance can be accessed at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/medical-conditions-at-school/medical-conditions-at-school-statutory-guidance/.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act has introduced new allergy safety duties, requiring all schools in England to have clear, regularly updated policies and arrangements for managing allergy safety.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish an impact assessment of the provisions in Part 2 (Sections 24–29) of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of those provisions on (a) children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans and (b) children experiencing mental health difficulties.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published impact assessments considering a broad range of impacts of provisions in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026.
Under the Public Sector Equality Duty, all public authorities, including government departments, must give due regard to equality considerations, including the impact on disabled people.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that disabled children have access to social care support following the Law Commission's report on social care law; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing legal reform to achieve that objective.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Law Commission published its final report on 16 September 2025 following a department-commissioned review in April 2023 of the legal framework for disabled children’s social care.
The report sets out 40 recommendations, which we are now considering, aimed at improving how the law operates, with a focus on simplifying and strengthening the system to better support disabled children and their families.
In line with the protocol agreed between the Lord Chancellor and the Law Commission, the department provided an initial response to these recommendations on 16 March 2026 and is expected to provide a full response within one year, setting out which recommendations will be accepted, rejected or modified, and any implementation timeline. Policy development is ongoing and the department continues to engage with key stakeholders, therefore it would not be appropriate to comment on specific recommendations ahead of publication of the full response.
Alongside this, we believe the rollout of Family Help as part of the Families First Partnership programme, backed by £2.4 billion of funding over three years, is already beginning to deliver many of the intended outcomes of the report. Our wider reforms are designed to make a real and tangible difference to children and families, including disabled children.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of adequacy of the Law Commission's findings regarding regional variations in support for disabled children; and what steps her Department is taking to help ensure consistent entitlements for such children across all local authorities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Law Commission published its final report on 16 September 2025 following a department-commissioned review in April 2023 of the legal framework for disabled children’s social care.
The report sets out 40 recommendations, which we are now considering, aimed at improving how the law operates, with a focus on simplifying and strengthening the system to better support disabled children and their families.
In line with the protocol agreed between the Lord Chancellor and the Law Commission, the department provided an initial response to these recommendations on 16 March 2026 and is expected to provide a full response within one year, setting out which recommendations will be accepted, rejected or modified, and any implementation timeline. Policy development is ongoing and the department continues to engage with key stakeholders, therefore it would not be appropriate to comment on specific recommendations ahead of publication of the full response.
Alongside this, we believe the rollout of Family Help as part of the Families First Partnership programme, backed by £2.4 billion of funding over three years, is already beginning to deliver many of the intended outcomes of the report. Our wider reforms are designed to make a real and tangible difference to children and families, including disabled children.