Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the National Year of Reading having engaged 6,800 schools and early years settings, and 11,000 teachers and early years practitioners, so far.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Reading for pleasure is hugely important and brings a wide range of benefits, from increased wellbeing, confidence and empathy to better vocabulary and aptitude for learning. That is why this government, in collaboration with our delivery partner, the National Literacy Trust (NLT), has declared 2026 the National Year of Reading, a UK-wide campaign to inspire a love of reading, combining a universal campaign with a targeted focus on priority groups who are least likely to read for pleasure.
The department is pleased that the campaign has attracted significant attention, momentum and engagement since its launch in January. The department’s ambition is that it will make a lasting change to the reading habits of the nation to address the decline in reading for pleasure and unlock one of the most powerful tools for equity and opportunity, a love of reading that lasts a lifetime. The department is pleased that the NLT’s recent reading report shows children’s reading enjoyment increased in 2026 for the first time in five years.
An independent evaluation will be published in 2027 and will examine how the campaign has influenced reading behaviours, connected with audiences and shaped attitudes towards reading.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the National Year of Reading having engaged over 2.1 million children so far.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Reading for pleasure is hugely important and brings a wide range of benefits, from increased wellbeing, confidence and empathy to better vocabulary and aptitude for learning. That is why this government, in collaboration with our delivery partner, the National Literacy Trust (NLT), has declared 2026 the National Year of Reading, a UK-wide campaign to inspire a love of reading, combining a universal campaign with a targeted focus on priority groups who are least likely to read for pleasure.
The department is pleased that the campaign has attracted significant attention, momentum and engagement since its launch in January. The department’s ambition is that it will make a lasting change to the reading habits of the nation to address the decline in reading for pleasure and unlock one of the most powerful tools for equity and opportunity, a love of reading that lasts a lifetime. The department is pleased that the NLT’s recent reading report shows children’s reading enjoyment increased in 2026 for the first time in five years.
An independent evaluation will be published in 2027 and will examine how the campaign has influenced reading behaviours, connected with audiences and shaped attitudes towards reading.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration she has made of the use of care cooperatives in the delivery of social care to displace the for profit sector.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Regional Care Cooperatives (RCCs) are part of a package of measures we are introducing to rebalance the children’s social care placements market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, shine a light on the level of profit being made and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying.
The vision is for every local authority to be part of an RCC in the future, operating at scale to deliver homes for children in care and delivering what matters most: children thriving in safe, supporting environments that facilitate enduring relationships.
An expression of Interest for the next wave of RCCs was launched in March, with funding to cover the start-up costs of up to six new RCCs. RCCs will give areas the scale to create the types of homes children in care need and the leverage to drive out profiteering and poor-quality placements.
We are confident that our reforms, including the expansion of RCCs will address excessive profiteering and ensure that the supportive and caring placements children need are delivered at a sustainable cost. However, we will keep the market under close review and will not flinch from taking action to cap providers’ profits if needed.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to implement the recommendation of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 2024 to help tackle attainment gaps and improve education attainment of children belonging to (a) minorities and (b) Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ white paper establishes our plan to improve outcomes for all children and tackle unacceptable disparities in attainment. Our ambition is that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap is halved.
As part of our Best Start in Life strategy, we will invest close to £1.5 billion, subject to the Spending Review, over the next three years on improving family services and early years education with better targeted support to disadvantaged children and families. This includes through Best Start Family Hubs, with up to 1000 hubs and 2000 network sites providing integrated health, early years, and family support services by 2028.
Building on this, we will deliver a refreshed, high-quality curriculum, introduce a new pupil engagement framework and support schools to improve behaviour, attendance and parental engagement.
This is alongside recruiting an additional 6,500 teachers and strengthening our tools for faster and more effective school improvement through regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams.
Alongside this, through our Gypsy, Roma and Traveller stakeholder group, which includes representatives from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities and the education sector, the department continues to engage with communities, and discuss issues faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children.
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Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the evidential basis used by the Office for Students when deciding when to use its regulatory powers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Office for Students (OfS) is an independent regulator with autonomy to decide how and when to use its regulatory powers, including the gathering and use of evidence. The department does not therefore hold information on the evidential basis used by the OfS when exercising those powers.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Office for Students has taken enforcement action or opened up investigations into any higher education institutions relating to the E6 regulation since it came into force.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Office for Students (OfS) operates independently of the government, and is responsible for regulating higher education (HE) providers in England, including compliance with the Harassment and Sexual Misconduct registration condition E6.
The department does not hold information on the number or proportion of notifications received by the OfS. Decisions on investigations and enforcement are taken wholly by the OfS. It is for the OfS to determine what it publishes about its regulatory activity. To date it has not published any information about notifications, enforcement or investigations relating to registration condition E6.
The OfS has powers to require and publish information from HE providers, and any decisions about introducing additional public data reporting are a matter for the OfS.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Office for Students will consider requiring public data reporting from higher education institutions to support enforcement of E6.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Office for Students (OfS) operates independently of the government, and is responsible for regulating higher education (HE) providers in England, including compliance with the Harassment and Sexual Misconduct registration condition E6.
The department does not hold information on the number or proportion of notifications received by the OfS. Decisions on investigations and enforcement are taken wholly by the OfS. It is for the OfS to determine what it publishes about its regulatory activity. To date it has not published any information about notifications, enforcement or investigations relating to registration condition E6.
The OfS has powers to require and publish information from HE providers, and any decisions about introducing additional public data reporting are a matter for the OfS.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many notifications has the Office for Students received relating to harassment and sexual misconduct since Condition E6 came into effect; what proportion of the total number of notifications this is; and what actions the Office for Students has taken in relation to these notifications.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Office for Students (OfS) operates independently of the government, and is responsible for regulating higher education (HE) providers in England, including compliance with the Harassment and Sexual Misconduct registration condition E6.
The department does not hold information on the number or proportion of notifications received by the OfS. Decisions on investigations and enforcement are taken wholly by the OfS. It is for the OfS to determine what it publishes about its regulatory activity. To date it has not published any information about notifications, enforcement or investigations relating to registration condition E6.
The OfS has powers to require and publish information from HE providers, and any decisions about introducing additional public data reporting are a matter for the OfS.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential impact of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder on SEND provision.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is prioritising early, local support for families by strengthening family services and access to high quality early education for children with additional needs. Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education are working together through the 10 Year Health Plan, Best Start Family Hubs, Healthy Babies and neighbourhood health. New clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment released in November includes guidance on supporting mothers to reduce alcohol use to improve maternal outcomes.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Home Office decisions on the finances of universities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The new International Education Strategy reflects the positive impact of international students. It confirms our continued commitment to welcoming students who meet the requirements to study in the UK.
The system must, however, ensure that international students make a positive contribution to the communities in which they study. The ‘Restoring control over the immigration system’ White Paper contains measures that will achieve a reduction in net migration, whilst maintaining the UK’s globally competitive position and boosting our skills base.
The department expects the UK to remain an attractive study destination. The most recent data shows that applications from Sponsored Study visa main applicants in the year ending January 2026 were 2 per cent higher than the previous year. The data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-entry-clearance-visa-applications-january-2026/monthly-entry-clearance-visa-applications-january-2026.
Whilst we recognise international students’ value, reliance on international fee income is a risk to some providers' income. HE providers must ensure their business models provide long-term sustainability.