Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has issued guidance to schools on ensuring that classroom discussions involving people who have entered the UK illegally do not (a) compromise safeguarding standards and (b) expose pupils to political messaging.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.
The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.
Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had correspondence with Wandsworth Council on external-speaker sessions in local schools on (a) migration and (b) asylum since January 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.
The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.
Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to schools on obtaining parental consent before children participate in classroom sessions involving external speakers discussing their personal experiences of (a) irregular and (b) illegal migration.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.
The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.
Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with the Quality First Education Trust regarding (a) classroom sessions and (b) external speaker events addressing (i) migration and (ii) asylum issues in the 2024/25 academic year.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.
The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.
Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what oversight her Department exercises over academy trusts that invite external speakers to address pupils on politically sensitive issues.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.
The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.
Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) average waiting time for people calling and (b) time people spent on hold to Jobcentres was in the last year.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We cannot provide the data requested for this Parliamentary Question. Jobcentres span multiple benefit streams and business functions and therefore we do not retain telephony data specifically relating to Jobcentres.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Office for National Statistics has provided (a) data, (b) technical support and (c) modelling assistance her Department in connection with analyses of (i) tax contributions and (ii) benefit claims by (A) ethnicity, (B) nationality, and (C) country of birth.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces the Living Costs and Food survey which is one of the household microdata sets used regularly for analysis of tax and welfare measures by protected characteristics to fulfil the requirements under the Public Sector Equality Duty in the Equality Act 2010. The ONS has not provided any technical support or modelling assistance.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to (a) initiate and (b) publish the findings of an emergency census in 2026.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In July the Government confirmed the next census of England and Wales will take place in 2031.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether officials in her Department have had (a) meetings and (b) correspondence with (i) the Carbon Trust, (ii) MyEmissions, (iii) Raynor Foods Ltd. and (iv) UK food retailers on the (A) development and (B) testing of (1) carbon scores and (2) carbon ratings on food packaging.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Eco-labels on food are used by some businesses on a voluntary basis to help consumers make more sustainable choices.
Eco-labels based on robust environmental impact data could support informed consumer choices and business competition based on sustainability. Through the Food Data Transparency Partnership, Defra have conducted engagement on eco-labelling across the food and drink sector, including the Carbon Trust and MyEmissions as well as retailers. Minutes of meetings with our industry groups can be found on Food Data Transparency Partnership - GOV.UK.
The feedback helped identify two fundamental data challenges to address. The first challenge is how to accurately quantify product level environmental impacts. The second is the insufficient availability and quality of data used to inform these assessments from product supply chains. Defra-commissioned research has therefore focused on solving these two fundamental data challenges through the LED 4 Food project. We continue to support new and existing industry-led initiatives to develop the evidence base in these areas. There are currently no plans for Government to make eco-labelling mandatory or to develop a Government eco-label.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the value was of student loans that were written off in the last year; and what this was as a proportion of all outstanding student loans, by nationality.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The requested information can be found in the Student Loans Company’s Student loans in England publication, updated in July each year. The publication, ‘Student loans in England: 2024 to 2025’ can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2024-to-2025.
The amount that has been cancelled or written off during the 2024/25 financial year, the total amount outstanding at the start of the financial year including interest and loans not yet due for repayment (after adjustments), and the proportion that write offs or cancellations make out of the starting balance can be found at: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F684c16b8da3d1b49e6797046%2Fslcsp012025.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK.
These statistics are not broken down by borrower nationality. This information is not readily available and cannot be obtained within the timeframe given to respond. Figures for the 2025/26 financial year will be available in the July 2026 publication.