Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any further reductions or restrictions to DSA-funded assistive technology or non-medical support are currently under consideration.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is aware of the response written on behalf of the National Association of Disability Practitioners in December 2025 to the change made from March 2025 to remove Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software other than in exceptional circumstances. The department keeps all support funded through DSA under regular review to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of disabled students. Any future changes will be communicated publicly.
Since October 2025, the department has received one formal request for a meeting regarding recent DSA policy changes from a disability sector organisation.
The department’s policy change to remove DSA funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software other than in exceptional circumstances applied only to DSA applicants whose needs assessments took place from 17 March 2025. Students who had already been awarded this software had their awards left in place. It is therefore not the case that software has been removed from students' part-way through their courses. While it is too early to collect any post-implementation data on the academic performance or withdrawal rates of students previously supported with specialist assistive software, given that the policy change came into effect less than a year ago, the department is continuing to monitor the participation, attainment, and completion rates for disabled students in higher education.
The department has not undertaken a specific assessment of the impact of DSA changes on demand for Access to Work or other employment support schemes. DSA is designed to address disability related barriers to study, while Access to Work provides support in employment-related barriers to study. The department and the Department for Work and Pensions are in regular contact.
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 collected post-implementation data on the academic performance or withdrawal rates of students previously supported with specialist assistive software.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is aware of the response written on behalf of the National Association of Disability Practitioners in December 2025 to the change made from March 2025 to remove Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software other than in exceptional circumstances. The department keeps all support funded through DSA under regular review to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of disabled students. Any future changes will be communicated publicly.
Since October 2025, the department has received one formal request for a meeting regarding recent DSA policy changes from a disability sector organisation.
The department’s policy change to remove DSA funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software other than in exceptional circumstances applied only to DSA applicants whose needs assessments took place from 17 March 2025. Students who had already been awarded this software had their awards left in place. It is therefore not the case that software has been removed from students' part-way through their courses. While it is too early to collect any post-implementation data on the academic performance or withdrawal rates of students previously supported with specialist assistive software, given that the policy change came into effect less than a year ago, the department is continuing to monitor the participation, attainment, and completion rates for disabled students in higher education.
The department has not undertaken a specific assessment of the impact of DSA changes on demand for Access to Work or other employment support schemes. DSA is designed to address disability related barriers to study, while Access to Work provides support in employment-related barriers to study. The department and the Department for Work and Pensions are in regular contact.
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 reviewed the findings of the National Association of Disability Practitioners’ December 2025 critique of the Equality Impact Assessment relating to Disabled Students’ Allowance changes; and what steps she plans to take in response that critique.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is aware of the response written on behalf of the National Association of Disability Practitioners in December 2025 to the change made from March 2025 to remove Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software other than in exceptional circumstances. The department keeps all support funded through DSA under regular review to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of disabled students. Any future changes will be communicated publicly.
Since October 2025, the department has received one formal request for a meeting regarding recent DSA policy changes from a disability sector organisation.
The department’s policy change to remove DSA funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software other than in exceptional circumstances applied only to DSA applicants whose needs assessments took place from 17 March 2025. Students who had already been awarded this software had their awards left in place. It is therefore not the case that software has been removed from students' part-way through their courses. While it is too early to collect any post-implementation data on the academic performance or withdrawal rates of students previously supported with specialist assistive software, given that the policy change came into effect less than a year ago, the department is continuing to monitor the participation, attainment, and completion rates for disabled students in higher education.
The department has not undertaken a specific assessment of the impact of DSA changes on demand for Access to Work or other employment support schemes. DSA is designed to address disability related barriers to study, while Access to Work provides support in employment-related barriers to study. The department and the Department for Work and Pensions are in regular contact.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many formal requests for meetings her Department has received from disability sector organisations regarding recent DSA policy changes since October 2025.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is aware of the response written on behalf of the National Association of Disability Practitioners in December 2025 to the change made from March 2025 to remove Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software other than in exceptional circumstances. The department keeps all support funded through DSA under regular review to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of disabled students. Any future changes will be communicated publicly.
Since October 2025, the department has received one formal request for a meeting regarding recent DSA policy changes from a disability sector organisation.
The department’s policy change to remove DSA funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software other than in exceptional circumstances applied only to DSA applicants whose needs assessments took place from 17 March 2025. Students who had already been awarded this software had their awards left in place. It is therefore not the case that software has been removed from students' part-way through their courses. While it is too early to collect any post-implementation data on the academic performance or withdrawal rates of students previously supported with specialist assistive software, given that the policy change came into effect less than a year ago, the department is continuing to monitor the participation, attainment, and completion rates for disabled students in higher education.
The department has not undertaken a specific assessment of the impact of DSA changes on demand for Access to Work or other employment support schemes. DSA is designed to address disability related barriers to study, while Access to Work provides support in employment-related barriers to study. The department and the Department for Work and Pensions are in regular contact.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of changes to Disabled Students’ Allowance support on demand for Access to Work or other employment support schemes.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is aware of the response written on behalf of the National Association of Disability Practitioners in December 2025 to the change made from March 2025 to remove Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software other than in exceptional circumstances. The department keeps all support funded through DSA under regular review to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of disabled students. Any future changes will be communicated publicly.
Since October 2025, the department has received one formal request for a meeting regarding recent DSA policy changes from a disability sector organisation.
The department’s policy change to remove DSA funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software other than in exceptional circumstances applied only to DSA applicants whose needs assessments took place from 17 March 2025. Students who had already been awarded this software had their awards left in place. It is therefore not the case that software has been removed from students' part-way through their courses. While it is too early to collect any post-implementation data on the academic performance or withdrawal rates of students previously supported with specialist assistive software, given that the policy change came into effect less than a year ago, the department is continuing to monitor the participation, attainment, and completion rates for disabled students in higher education.
The department has not undertaken a specific assessment of the impact of DSA changes on demand for Access to Work or other employment support schemes. DSA is designed to address disability related barriers to study, while Access to Work provides support in employment-related barriers to study. The department and the Department for Work and Pensions are in regular contact.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made progress on the implementation of a Ukraine Language GCSE course.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations, AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC, rather than by central government. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has written to these organisations to ask them to consider introducing a Ukrainian GCSE based on the existing subject content for modern foreign languages set by the department. We are also considering alternative ways of supporting Ukrainian language learning in the UK.
The British government stands steadfast behind the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government. The department is proud to support children and families from Ukraine during their transition to a new life in the UK. To do our part to support the Ukrainian people, we are supporting the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science in policy development, and in 2025 we launched a UK-Ukraine Schools Partnership Programme, twinning 100 schools in the UK and Ukraine. Due to the programme’s popularity in its first year, it has been extended to include 30 more schools.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what oversight exists when academy trusts increase executive pay in years where frontline teaching posts are reduced.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s Academy Trust Handbook is clear that executive pay must be justifiable and should reflect individual responsibility alongside local retention and recruitment needs. The Handbook is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-handbook/academy-trust-handbook-2025-effective-from-1-september-2025.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body to support the 2026 pay award recognises that the department is aware of trends of increasing executive pay and monitors this through an annual engagement exercise. The evidence was published in October 2025 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69034343fabc9f10a832a838/Government_evidence_to_the_STRB_2026.pdf.
The evidence also recognises that there are opportunities to drive value for money in this area. The department has started to make progress in this area with the recent introduction of executive pay into the Financial Benchmarking and Insight tool for trusts to encourage boards to make evidence-based decisions when setting executive pay.
The department engages annually on executive pay, requiring academy trusts to demonstrate value for money. The engagement considers executive responsibilities, taking into account peer benchmarking data on the level of pay, the size of trust, pupil numbers and grant income. The department will also engage on executive pay when intervening in an academy trust that is in financial difficulty.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the relationship between academy trust executive pay levels and reductions in curriculum offer or staffing.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s Academy Trust Handbook is clear that executive pay must be justifiable and should reflect individual responsibility alongside local retention and recruitment needs. The Handbook is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-handbook/academy-trust-handbook-2025-effective-from-1-september-2025.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body to support the 2026 pay award recognises that the department is aware of trends of increasing executive pay and monitors this through an annual engagement exercise. The evidence was published in October 2025 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69034343fabc9f10a832a838/Government_evidence_to_the_STRB_2026.pdf.
The evidence also recognises that there are opportunities to drive value for money in this area. The department has started to make progress in this area with the recent introduction of executive pay into the Financial Benchmarking and Insight tool for trusts to encourage boards to make evidence-based decisions when setting executive pay.
The department engages annually on executive pay, requiring academy trusts to demonstrate value for money. The engagement considers executive responsibilities, taking into account peer benchmarking data on the level of pay, the size of trust, pupil numbers and grant income. The department will also engage on executive pay when intervening in an academy trust that is in financial difficulty.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, What benchmarks her Department uses to assess whether academy trust executive pay represents value for money when trusts are making redundancies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s Academy Trust Handbook is clear that executive pay must be justifiable and should reflect individual responsibility alongside local retention and recruitment needs. The Handbook is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-handbook/academy-trust-handbook-2025-effective-from-1-september-2025.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body to support the 2026 pay award recognises that the department is aware of trends of increasing executive pay and monitors this through an annual engagement exercise. The evidence was published in October 2025 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69034343fabc9f10a832a838/Government_evidence_to_the_STRB_2026.pdf.
The evidence also recognises that there are opportunities to drive value for money in this area. The department has started to make progress in this area with the recent introduction of executive pay into the Financial Benchmarking and Insight tool for trusts to encourage boards to make evidence-based decisions when setting executive pay.
The department engages annually on executive pay, requiring academy trusts to demonstrate value for money. The engagement considers executive responsibilities, taking into account peer benchmarking data on the level of pay, the size of trust, pupil numbers and grant income. The department will also engage on executive pay when intervening in an academy trust that is in financial difficulty.
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 is taking to end child hunger in Devon.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child hunger. That is why the department is introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals (FSM). This ensures that all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible from September 2026. This will provide over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day. Department for Work and Pensions data shows that 36,230 children in Devon will be eligible for FSM from September 2026.
The government remains committed to deliver on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day. Over 750 early adopter schools are already being funded to deliver free breakfast club places for their primary pupils, including 27 in Devon. An additional 2,000 schools will join the scheme between April 2026 and March 2027, benefitting around half a million more children.
Additionally, the holiday activities and food programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their heath, wellbeing and learning.