Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for free childcare for working parents to include postgraduate research students.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
Parents of students are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education which is available to all three and four-year-olds regardless of family circumstances.
Students who work in addition to studying may be eligible for 30 hours free childcare if they meet the income requirements. PhD stipends are non-taxable income and therefore do not count towards the income requirements of the 30 hours childcare entitlement.
The government recognises the value of parents continuing in education and provides a range of support for students in higher education to assist them with childcare.
Through the Student Loans Company, the department offers a specific Childcare Grant (CCG) to support students with the costs of childcare whilst they are in study. The CCG offers parents support of up to 85% of their childcare costs up to a maximum of £183.75 a week for one child and £315.03 for two children. CCG support is provided to individuals where both parents are students, the student is a lone parent, or the student parent’s partner is on a low income. The government has no plans to extend CCG to postgraduate research students.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her department plans to assess the (a) funding and (b) availability of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund for families with children dealing with complex trauma in Stockport constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has confirmed the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) will continue in 2026/27 and that applications which start in 2025/26 and which run into 2026-27 can be made. Details of the ASGSF from April 2026, including for families in Stockport, will be made available once departmental business planning decisions are completed. We will share details of the public engagement process on longer-term decisions as soon as possible.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of modern language A-level entry at (a) state schools and (b) colleges in (i) Stockport Borough and (ii) Greater Manchester.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to ensuring that all pupils, regardless of location, have access to a high quality language education. This includes increasing the number of students studying languages at GCSE and ensuring that those who wish to continue to A level are able to do so.
The department is continuing to fund the National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE) to deliver a new model of support for schools. The programme offers free continuous professional development via Language Educators Online (LEO), supported by 14 Strategic Learning Networks and locally responsive National Priority Projects. It is research-informed, helping teachers collaborate and tackle key challenges in language education. Language teachers can join the NCLE Language Network in their area and sign up to LEO to keep up to date with current and evolving teaching practice in language education.
To further support languages education, the government is offering a £20,000 tax-free bursary for trainee language teachers starting courses in 2026, or alternatively, a £22,000 tax-free scholarship for those training to teach French, German, or Spanish.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to reduce regional disparities in modern language A-level (a) provision and (b) entries.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to ensuring that all pupils, regardless of location, have access to a high quality language education. This includes increasing the number of students studying languages at GCSE and ensuring that those who wish to continue to A level are able to do so.
The department is continuing to fund the National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE) to deliver a new model of support for schools. The programme offers free continuous professional development via Language Educators Online (LEO), supported by 14 Strategic Learning Networks and locally responsive National Priority Projects. It is research-informed, helping teachers collaborate and tackle key challenges in language education. Language teachers can join the NCLE Language Network in their area and sign up to LEO to keep up to date with current and evolving teaching practice in language education.
To further support languages education, the government is offering a £20,000 tax-free bursary for trainee language teachers starting courses in 2026, or alternatively, a £22,000 tax-free scholarship for those training to teach French, German, or Spanish.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department will make an assessment of the availability of secondary school places in Stockport constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department collects annual data from local authorities about primary and secondary state-funded school places, local authorities’ pupil forecasts and local authorities’ planned changes to school places. The data is published at local authority level in the annual School Capacity statistics publication, accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity/2023-24.
The latest data relates to school capacity as at 1 May 2024. The latest school capacity data for secondary schools in Stockport local authority and latest modelled estimates of the future number of secondary school places needed to meet predicted demand for Stockport local authority can be found in this publication.
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) initiatives and (b) retraining opportunities are available for people returning to work after a career break for caring responsibilities.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund in the 2025/26 academic year. This includes funding the ‘Free courses for jobs’ offer, which gives eligible adults the chance to access high value level 3 qualifications for free, which can support them to gain higher wages or a better job.
The government will also support learners through our technical education offer, including through a range of apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps. Our new levy-funded growth and skills offer will introduce greater flexibility to employers and learners in England.
From September 2026, learners will be able to apply for funding from the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), which will be the new student finance system for courses and modules starting from January 2027 onwards. The LLE will allow people to develop new skills and gain new qualifications across their working lives, at a time that is right for them, such as those returning from a career break.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration her Department has given to including Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council in the cohort for the pilot on the kinship allowance trial scheme.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government announced a £40 million package to trial a new kinship allowance. The pilot will begin in autumn 2025 and the department will evaluate the pilot to build an evidence base on how best to deliver financial support for kinship families. We will confirm the process for selecting local authorities taking part in the pilot in due course.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
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 the proposed increase to employer's National Insurance contributions on the ability of independent training providers to provide skills development and workforce training.
Answered by Janet Daby
On 5 March 2025 the department gave details of 16 to 19 funding which meant that it will be spending over £400 million more on 16 to 19 education in the 2025/26 financial year. This represents over £100 million more than the £300 million announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 and aims to ensure enough funding is available given the very significant increase in student numbers and other pressures on the system. Further guidance on how 16 to 19 funding will work in the 2025/26 academic year can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-information-for-2025-to-2026.
The government has agreed that public sector employers will receive support in recognition of the increase in their National Insurance contributions from April 2025. This does not include support for the private sector, including private sector firms contracted by public sector entities.
Independent training providers will benefit from the 3.78% increase to all the national funding rates for students on 16 to 19 study programmes and T Levels in the 2025/26 academic year.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to increase funding for schools in Stockport constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.2 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning the core schools budget will total over £64.8 billion compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This includes the £2.3 billion announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 and over £930 million being provided to support schools and high needs settings with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions from April 2025.
In Stockport local authority for the 2025/26 financial year, average funding per pupil through the mainstream schools dedicated schools grant (DSG) is increasing by 3% compared to 2024/25. Stockport is seeing a funding increase above the national average per pupil funding increase of 2.15%.
Funding allocations for the 2026/27 financial year will be confirmed following the spending review process.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April to Question 20456 on Special Educational Needs: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Counci, what estimate her Department has made of the number of local authorities that are not delivering their education, health and care function as a result of constraints upon the general fund.
Answered by David Johnston
Responsibility for local authority funding lies with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to assess whether children and young people have special educational needs that require an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. EHC plans must be issued within twenty weeks of the needs assessment commencing so that children and young people can access the support they need.
In 2022, 49.2% of EHC plans were issued within the twenty week time limit. Where local authorities are failing to deliver, the department works with them using a range of improvement programmes and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) specialist advisers to address weaknesses. The department is also putting in place measures such as developing new national standards and a standardised EHC plan process to improve the SEND system so that, where an EHC plan is needed, they can be issued as quickly as possible to ensure children and young people can access the support they need.