Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support mental health provision in schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to high and rising standards in schools and breaking down barriers to opportunity, helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.
That is why the department has committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school. We will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.
Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) are continuing to roll out in schools and colleges across the country. As of April 2024, MHSTs covered 44% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England. MHSTs are expected to cover at least 50% of pupils by the end of March 2025.
The department has also provided a resource hub for mental health leads, signposting practical resources and tools to embed effective whole-school approaches. To further help schools identify and embed the most effective targeted support options for their setting, the department also launched a targeted mental wellbeing toolkit. This practical guide and tool covers a range of evidence-based interventions.
On top of this, schools are also able to arrange their own mental health interventions that are best suited to their pupils. The Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed an additional £2.3 billion for the core schools budget for the 2025/26 financial year compared to 2024/25. This means that core schools funding will reach over £63.9 billion in 2025/26.
Schools are also able to spend pupil premium funding on providing mental health support. Schools must use pupil premium in line with the department’s menu of approaches, which can be found on page 13 of the department’s publication ‘Using pupil premium: guidance for school leaders’. The guidance can be found here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65cf69384239310011b7b91f/Using_Pupil_Premium_-_Guidance_for_School_Leaders.pdf.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the Review of the RSHE statutory guidance published in 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance for schools. As such, the department is looking carefully at responses to the public consultation conducted last year, considering the relevant evidence and discussing with stakeholders before setting out next steps to make sure the guidance draws from the best available evidence.
The results of the consultation and the department’s response will be published in due course.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure the financial resilience of the (a) university and (b) colleges sectors.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises that the financial position of the higher education (HE) sector is under pressure and this government has acted quickly to address this.
The department accepted, in full, the recommendations of the independent review of the Office for Students (OfS) undertaken by Sir David Behan. Sir David has been appointed as interim OfS Chair to oversee the important work of refocusing their role to concentrate on key priorities, including the HE sector’s financial stability. On 2 December, the OfS announced temporary changes to its operations to allow greater focus on financial sustainability. The OfS will work more closely with providers under significant financial pressure in order to protect the interests of students. The department continues to work closely with the OfS to monitor any risks and ensure there are robust plans in place to mitigate them.
Moreover, the government has made the difficult decision to increase tuition fee limits in line with forecast inflation (3.1%). The department also recognises the impact that the cost-of-living crisis has had on students. Maximum loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year will also increase by 3.1%. Longer-term funding plans for the HE sector will be set out in due course.
As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education set out in her oral statement on 4 November, this government will secure the future of HE so that students can benefit from a world-class education for generations to come.
The department also recognises the financial position of the further education (FE) sector is very important. As announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, the government is providing an additional £300 million for FE to ensure young people are developing the skills they need to succeed. We will set out in due course how that is distributed.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will continue her Department’s funding for the Mandarin Excellence Programme.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government remains committed to supporting the teaching of modern foreign languages in England’s schools. Languages provide an insight into other cultures and can open the door to travel and employment opportunities. They also broaden pupils’ horizons, helping them flourish in new environments. Having the opportunity to study a modern foreign language should be part of the broad and rich education that every child in this country deserves.
The department will continue to fund the Mandarin Excellence programme for the 2024/25 academic year.
The Spending Review settlements for 2025/26 were confirmed at Budget on 30 October and business planning is underway so that programmes can be given certainty about funding as soon as possible.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to publish a response to her Department's review of RSHE statutory guidance launched by the previous Administration in May 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The public consultation on the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education statutory guidance was open for eight weeks and received over 14,300 responses.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance for schools. Therefore, the government will look carefully at the consultation responses, discuss with stakeholders and consider the relevant evidence, including the Cass Review which has since been published, before setting out next steps.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's guidance for local authorities entitled Travel to school for children of compulsory school age, published in January 2024, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Part 1: Local authorities, statutory duty in relation to eligible school children.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s home to school transport policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education due to a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free travel to school for children of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so.
The department formally consulted on the statutory guidance for local authorities in 2019, and continued to engage with key partners until the updated guidance was published in June 2023. We continue to engage with local authorities on a regular basis on this issue.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help local councils reduce waiting times for education, health and care plans.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department knows that parents often struggle to get the right support for their children, including having to go through long and difficult education, health and care (EHC) plan processes.
We want to ensure that EHC plan applications are processed promptly and, where required, plans are issued so that children and young people can access the support they need. The department has listened to parents, schools and local authorities and is reflecting on what practice could be made consistent nationally.
Where local authorities are failing to deliver consistent outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), we work with them using a range of support, and challenge, improvement programmes and SEND specialist advisors, to address identified weaknesses.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help local councils support children with special educational needs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), or in alternative provision, receive the right support to achieve and thrive including as they move into adult life. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with local area partnerships to improving support for all children and young people with SEND.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) introduced a strengthened area SEND inspection framework in January 2023, leading to a greater emphasis on the outcomes being achieved for children and young people. It is the primary tool to maintain a focus on high standards in the SEND system across all partners.
The department works to monitor, support and challenge local authorities as needed, working closely with NHS England to tackle weaknesses that sit with health partners.
Where a council does not meet its duties, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement. We offer a range of universal, targeted and intensive support through department-managed programmes, such as our Sector Led Improvement Partners, which provide peer-to-peer tailored support.
We will continue to work closely with Ofsted and CQC as they review the local area SEND inspection framework in response to feedback from the Big Listen exercise.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on future funding for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The future of the Holiday Activities and Food programme, beyond 31 March 2025, is subject to the next government Spending Review taking place this autumn. The department will communicate the outcome of that process in due course.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of VAT on school fees on state school capacity in (a) Epping Forest constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
HM Treasury is considering the potential impact of VAT on school fees on state schools as part of its development of an economic case. It is anticipated this impact will be minimal. Projections by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggest that the number of pupils who may switch schools would represent only a very small proportion of overall pupil numbers in the state sector, less than 0.5%. Any pupil transfers from the private to state sector would also be expected to take place over several years, as many pupils transfer at normal transition points. The department will work with local authorities in England to help them manage any local pressures through normal processes where required.