Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to introduce retrospective funding for schools that met special educational needs support costs during periods when Education, Health and Care Plan assessments were delayed by local authorities beyond the statutory deadline.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Mainstream schools are currently expected to meet the costs of supporting their pupils with special educational needs (SEN), up to £6,000 per pupil per annum. When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEN exceed that £6,000 threshold, the local authority should allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This funding comes from the authority’s high needs budget. This may follow a statutory assessment producing an education, health and care (EHC) plan, though local authorities have the discretion to provide high needs funding to schools for pupils without an EHC plan, including those whose EHC needs assessment has been delayed.
Following the publication of the Schools White Paper, we are consulting on a range of reforms to enable mainstream schools to be inclusive of children with SEN, and are providing £4 billion over the next three years to prioritise early intervention and drive forward the reforms.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the additional revenue raised through the application of VAT to independent school fees has been allocated to addressing funding gaps in maintained schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Ending the tax breaks previously enjoyed by private schools raises essential revenue that will be invested in our public services, such as the £1.7 billion increase to core school funding in 2026/27, meaning an increased total of £67 billion, compared to £65.3 billion in 2025/26.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of people subject to the loan charge who will have their cases settled following the independent review of the loan charge.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government accepted all but one of the independent review’s recommendations and in some cases we are going further. We are legislating a generous new settlement opportunity that will help those who have not yet settled to do so.
Most individuals could see reductions of at least 50% in their outstanding loan charge liabilities, and an estimated 30% of individuals could have these liabilities written off entirely.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the consistency of the implementation of anti-bullying guidance in schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling and preventing bullying in schools is essential to ensure that schools can provide calm and inclusive learning environments. All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. They have the freedom to develop their own anti-bullying strategies appropriate to their environment and are held to account by Ofsted.
Ofsted’s renewed education inspection framework, which has been in use from November 2025, evaluates a school’s approach to bullying during school inspections. This is considered through the lens of the attendance and behaviour evaluation area but is also considered as part of the personal development and wellbeing and safeguarding evaluation areas.
To support schools, the department has procured for the development of a bespoke evidence-based toolkit for teachers which will guide them through approaches to tackling misbehaviour and bullying and actions to focus on prevention.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Department plans to make anti-bullying training mandatory for school staff.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling and preventing bullying in schools is essential to ensure that schools can provide calm and inclusive learning environments. All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. They have the freedom to develop their own anti-bullying strategies appropriate to their environment and are held to account by Ofsted.
Ofsted’s renewed education inspection framework, which has been in use from November 2025, evaluates a school’s approach to bullying during school inspections. This is considered through the lens of the attendance and behaviour evaluation area but is also considered as part of the personal development and wellbeing and safeguarding evaluation areas.
To support schools, the department has procured for the development of a bespoke evidence-based toolkit for teachers which will guide them through approaches to tackling misbehaviour and bullying and actions to focus on prevention.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to update guidance on handling complaints in children's social care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Departmental officials will be meeting with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman to better understand issues with the complaints process, but at present we are not planning to update the complaints guidance. We will, however, publish updated statutory guidance on advocacy services for children, who are making complaints, this year.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what clinical monitoring arrangements are in place for prisoners who have been on hunger strike for more than 14 days.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Healthcare services in the prison estate are commissioned by NHS England. All prison healthcare providers are commissioned and contracted to use National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines and have pathways of care in place for people refusing food and/or fluid. If a person requires hospital care this will also be available and facilitated.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress has been made towards publishing a formal Government response to the Older People’s Housing Taskforce report.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market and we will continue to consider this issue as we develop our long-term housing strategy.
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 26 November 2024 (HCWS249), the government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations from the Older People’s Housing Taskforce report including in relation to specialist accommodation for older people.
The government is consulting on changes to the NPPF, including proposed changes to support the delivery of specialist forms of accommodation such as housing for older people. The consultation is open for responses until 10 March 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to require retirement housing operators to provide leaseholders with more detailed annual reporting on how management fees, including any surplus or excess sums, are spent or retained.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 95245 on 5 December 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the proposals in the Strengthening Leaseholder Protections Over Charges and Services consultation are intended to apply to event fees in retirement villages.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 95245 on 5 December 2025.