Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of Health and Social Care on the impact of employment eligibility thresholds on the ability of student nurses completing mandatory unpaid clinical placements to access Government childcare support.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
Practice learning is intended to support student development, not to meet workforce pressures. Students are not employed to provide care, do not hold contracts of employment, and are therefore unpaid.
It is essential that students have the time and space to develop the skills and experience needed to graduate and join the professional register. These protections also ensure that students do not substitute for trained professionals delivering patient care.
DHSC provides eligible healthcare students with non‑repayable support through the NHS Learning Support Fund, including a £5,000 annual training grant and an additional £2,000 for those with childcare responsibilities, reviewed annually.
All students, including student nurses are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education regardless of family circumstances. Those undertaking paid work may access 30 hours if they meet income requirements.
Full-time students with dependent children may also access the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance, subject to household income.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of mandatory unpaid clinical placements on student nurses' ability to meet the employment hour thresholds required to access Government childcare support schemes.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
Practice learning is intended to support student development, not to meet workforce pressures. Students are not employed to provide care, do not hold contracts of employment, and are therefore unpaid.
It is essential that students have the time and space to develop the skills and experience needed to graduate and join the professional register. These protections also ensure that students do not substitute for trained professionals delivering patient care.
DHSC provides eligible healthcare students with non‑repayable support through the NHS Learning Support Fund, including a £5,000 annual training grant and an additional £2,000 for those with childcare responsibilities, reviewed annually.
All students, including student nurses are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education regardless of family circumstances. Those undertaking paid work may access 30 hours if they meet income requirements.
Full-time students with dependent children may also access the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance, subject to household income.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her department holds on the number of pupils with an EHCP in Glastonbury and Somerton, who had a special school as their first preference and were subsequently allocated a place in a mainstream setting.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Placements at special schools are usually made through education, health and care (EHC) plans. The department does not hold figures on whether a mainstream setting named on an EHC plan was the setting preferred by the parents of the child.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact the change in VAT status has had on private schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
HM Treasury’s Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) provides a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of the removal of the VAT exemption on private schools. The TIIN is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/applying-vat-to-private-school-fees#who-is-likely-to-be-affected.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment the Department has made of the potential impact of the expansion of free school meal eligibility from 2026 on the level of demand for school milk; and what steps are being taken to ensure adequate provision.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
It is a legislative requirement that milk is provided free of charge to children who meet the free school meal criteria.
We are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This new entitlement will mean over 500,000 of the most disadvantaged children will begin to access free meals putting £500 back in families’ pockets.
We have set aside over £1 billion in funding over the multi-year spending review period to cover additional meal costs. This includes milk. This is on top of £1.5 billion we already spend annually supporting schools to deliver free school meals and milk.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many veterinary students are currently enrolled in veterinary public health courses in the UK.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. These data are shared with the department and include a wide range of information on student courses.
In the 2023/24 academic year, across all levels and modes of study, there were 12,880 student enrolments in the subject area ‘Veterinary sciences’ across all UK HE providers. The following table presents numbers of HE students by subject area and sex for each academic year from 2019/20 to 2023/24: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb271/figure-13.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to help children and young people understand the circular economy.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government recognises the importance of ensuring that children and young people are taught about and understand sustainability and the circular economy, which is why this topic can already be covered across a range of subjects, including science and design and technology. The national curriculum in England provides a broad framework within which schools have the flexibility to develop the content of their own school curriculum.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report is due to be published this autumn, along with the government’s response. The Review is looking at where the evidence suggests that curriculum and qualifications content needs to be updated to reflect rapid social, environmental and technological change, including a greater focus on sustainability.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of schools that have the budget to provide free school meals in the next 5 years in a) Somerset and (b) England.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
I refer the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton to the answer of 5 September 2025 to Question 71911.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria she considers when setting student maintenance loan thresholds.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The loan for living costs is a contribution towards a student’s living costs while attending university, with the highest levels of support for students who need it most.
The government recognises the impact that the cost-of-living crisis has had on students. All funding decisions must be carefully balanced to ensure the system targets students who need support the most, while also making it sustainable.
The government has increased maximum loans for living costs for full-time and part-time undergraduate students by 3.1% for the 2025/26 academic year. A 3.1% increase is in line with forecast inflation based on the RPIX inflation index.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have a place on the breakfast clubs pilot programme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
From summer term 2025, 750 state funded primary schools will be funded as early adopter schools to provide access to a free, universal breakfast club lasting at least 30 minutes that includes food.
The department aims to test and learn with as many different types of schools as possible.
On 24 February 2025, the department published the list of early adopter schools here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breakfast-clubs-early-adopters-schools-in-the-scheme.