Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Policy Exchange report entitled In absentia parentis, published on 24 August 2025, the Cass Review's final report, published in April 2024, and the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities to protect the welfare of gender-questioning children who are children in care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities and social care practitioners are required to support children in a way that meets their needs and best interests. This support will look different on an individual case basis. In considering their safeguarding policies and how best to support children questioning their gender, leaders and practitioners should be led by the guidance and regulations most relevant to their setting or role. They can also be informed by the evidence and principles set out in the Cass Review.
Further resources on support for children questioning their gender can be found via the NHS here: https://www.genderreferralservice.nhs.uk/.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Policy Exchange report entitled In absentia parentis, published on 24 August 2025, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities have up-to-date safeguarding policies for gender-questioning children who are children in care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities and social care practitioners are required to support children in a way that meets their needs and best interests. This support will look different on an individual case basis. In considering their safeguarding policies and how best to support children questioning their gender, leaders and practitioners should be led by the guidance and regulations most relevant to their setting or role. They can also be informed by the evidence and principles set out in the Cass Review.
Further resources on support for children questioning their gender can be found via the NHS here: https://www.genderreferralservice.nhs.uk/.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merit of allowing nannies to offer funded hours under the Free Childcare for Working Parents programme.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is the government’s 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.
Nannies are an unregulated part of the sector because they are employed by parents to provide care to children in their home. Parents alone are responsible for deciding the services that a nanny provides, which may or may not include early education. Parents also arrange the payment of income tax and National Insurance contributions and organise security checks for those that they employ. For this reason, successive governments have not engaged in private arrangements between the two parties.
Officials remain in touch with the National Nanny Association and we keep all such policies under review.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with (a) Surrey County Council and (b) Surrey Police on child safeguarding following the conviction of Stephen Ireland.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Child sexual abuse is an abhorrent crime that no child should ever have to endure. We recognise the lifelong impact it can have on victims and survivors and remain committed to strengthening our response to this abuse.
The department holds regular meetings with Surrey County Council to discuss a wide range of topics including child protection and safeguarding. While we do not comment on if individual cases have been raised, we are aware of the serious concerns raised following the conviction of Stephen Ireland and continue to work closely with local authorities to ensure robust safeguarding practices are in place.
In addition, the government published its progress update on tackling child sexual abuse on 9 April, which responds to the 20 recommendations from the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. Work is underway on several key recommendations, including legislating for mandatory reporting and establishing a child protection authority with a consultation set to be published before the end of 2025.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) guidance and (b) training is provided to (i) teachers and (ii) school staff to help ensure they are (A) confident and (B) equipped to (1) educate pupils about online grooming and (2) respond appropriately to disclosures.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
As part of statutory relationships and health education in primary schools and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in secondary schools, pupils are taught about online safety and harms. The statutory guidance emphasises that schools should be alive to issues such as grooming and sexual exploitation, including coercive and controlling behaviour, and that these should be addressed sensitively and clearly. The statutory guidance for primary schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-education-primary.
The statutory guidance for secondary schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-and-sex-education-rse-secondary.
The RSHE statutory guidance is currently under review. 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.
In 2023, the department published guidance on teaching online safety in schools, which sets out how to teach about all aspects of internet safety. The full guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools.
Schools and colleges must also have regard to the department’s robust safeguarding framework ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The guidance makes clear that all staff should receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety. The training should be regularly updated. In addition, all staff should receive safeguarding and child protection updates as required, and at least annually, to continue to provide them with relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve online safety education in schools to help children (a) recognise and (b) respond to online grooming.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
As part of statutory relationships and health education in primary schools and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in secondary schools, pupils are taught about online safety and harms. The statutory guidance emphasises that schools should be alive to issues such as grooming and sexual exploitation, including coercive and controlling behaviour, and that these should be addressed sensitively and clearly. The statutory guidance for primary schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-education-primary.
The statutory guidance for secondary schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-and-sex-education-rse-secondary.
The RSHE statutory guidance is currently under review. 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.
In 2023, the department published guidance on teaching online safety in schools, which sets out how to teach about all aspects of internet safety. The full guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools.
Schools and colleges must also have regard to the department’s robust safeguarding framework ‘Keeping children safe in education’. The guidance makes clear that all staff should receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety. The training should be regularly updated. In addition, all staff should receive safeguarding and child protection updates as required, and at least annually, to continue to provide them with relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of calculating student loan repayments on an annual basis to prevent overpayments.
Answered by Janet Daby
Student loan repayments for borrowers resident in the UK are collected by HMRC through the UK tax system, which is an efficient approach that minimises the burden on borrowers. Employers deduct repayments each pay period for employees with a student loan when their earnings are above the relevant student loan repayment threshold for that pay period.
At the end of the tax year, a borrower with total earnings below the annual student loan repayment threshold may reclaim any repayments made where a pay period threshold was exceeded. A borrower will be able to apply for a refund of these repayments at the end of the tax year: https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/getting-a-refund. This offers additional protection to the lowest earning borrowers. Alternatively, they may decide not to apply for a refund, which will allow them to repay their loan more quickly.
For those borrowers who are close to fully repaying their student loan, the Student Loans Company provides borrowers with the option to switch to repayments via direct debit, which prevents over-repayments entirely.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason Hatchlands Primary School in Redhill has withdrawn from the breakfast club trial.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Schools were able to apply to join the breakfast clubs early adopter scheme in November and December last year. The department published an updated list of successful schools on 22 April.
The department has been working closely with schools on the scheme to ensure their plans are deliverable to have breakfast clubs up and running from the first day of summer term. The department will not be discussing the circumstances and decisions of any individual school.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of amending the assessment only route to Qualified Teacher Status to allow applications from unqualified teachers who have worked in one school throughout their careers on teacher recruitment and retention.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The assessment only (AO) route to qualified teacher status (QTS) has been designed to allow experienced unqualified teachers to be assessed against the Teachers’ Standards and awarded QTS if they meet them all at the appropriate level.
The AO criteria sets out the entry requirements for the AO route. Applicants must have taught in at least two schools and must be able to demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards without the need for any further training. Typically, applicants with fewer than two years of teaching experience would be unsuitable for the AO route. The AO criteria can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64edf4006bc96d00104ed206/Assessment_only_route_to_QTS_-_criteria_and_supporting_advice.pdf.
The department continuously considers whether the criteria we have in place meets the needs of schools and teachers, as well as ensuring the high quality teaching that pupils and parents would expect.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the provision of SEND support for children in Reigate constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department is continuing to support and challenge Surrey to improve the delivery of its special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services, following the most recent local area SEND inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in September 2023.
This inspection found that the local area partnership’s arrangements led to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people. In response, the Surrey partnership has developed a strategic plan with specific actions to address the areas for improvement that were identified in the inspection report.
The four areas for improvement identified were:
The department, working alongside NHS England, has put into place systems to track the progress that the Surrey partnership is making against these areas for improvement and to offer support where appropriate. For example, the department has put in place a SEND advisor who will continue to provide support and advice to the local authority.
Furthermore, Surrey County Council entered into a Safety Valve agreement with the department in March 2022, with a view to addressing the effectiveness and financial sustainability of the local high needs system.