Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of school workload on student mental health.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity, and helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.
The government is providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. By April 2026, we estimate that 60% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England will be covered by an MHST, up from 52% in April 2025.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to raise attainment levels for disadvantaged students in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ White Paper establishes our plan to improve the outcomes of all children, building on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience. When children born under this government finish secondary school, it is our ambition that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap will be halved. This equates to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.
We are driving standards through new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, a refreshed high quality curriculum and assessment system and recruiting 6,500 additional teachers, as well as taking action to address barriers to learning.
Alongside this, schools continue to receive the pupil premium grant. In the 2026/27 financial year we will be providing £3.2 billion of pupil premium funding across all state-funded schools in England, an increase of 2.2% per pupil from the 2025/26 financial year. In the 2025/26 financial year Leicester received £23,112,193 of pupil premium funding, and the East Midlands received £260,716,608.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support neurodivergent and SEND pupils with their studies in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to support school leavers to access (a) further education opportunities and (b) work placements; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of those steps in delivering long-term employment outcomes.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is taking a range of steps to support school leavers to access further education (FE) opportunities and work placements.
The government is improving careers advice in schools so that all young people understand the full range of pathways available to them, including FE, apprenticeships and employment, and feel confident navigating a changing labour market.
We are also committed to guaranteeing every young person access to two weeks’ worth of high‑quality work experience during secondary education. This more flexible model provides multiple, meaningful workplace experiences across key stages 3 and 4, helping pupils develop employer‑valued skills and supporting successful transitions into FE and work.
In 2024/25, a pilot flexible work‑experience model reached over 2,500 pupils across 66 schools and is being scaled in 2025/26, with enhanced support for up to 750 disadvantaged schools. From 2026/27, additional support will expand provision in alternative provision schools.
Effectiveness is monitored through the Future Skills Questionnaire, which shows rising career readiness, pathway awareness and confidence, all of which are associated with improved long‑term employment outcomes.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to provide (a) financial and (b) business education to (i) secondary school students and (ii) further education students.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to strengthening pupils’ foundational understanding of financial education in mathematics and citizenship following the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review's final report in November 2025. The department is engaging with sector experts and young people in how best to reflect this, and life skills content, in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on updated curriculum Programmes of Study in 2026, seeking views on the content before they are finalised.
Teaching at GCSE business studies can build on the financial education being taught in earlier key stages in citizenship and maths.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanisms are in place to monitor local authorities’ compliance with statutory duties relating to high needs element 3 funding; and whether her Department plans to strengthen oversight to ensure that all eligible students receive appropriate support in a timely manner.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Where a child or young person with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) has an education, health and care (EHC) plan, the local authority must secure the special educational provision specified in the plan. The allocation of top-up funding to the school or college often helps secure that provision.
Our national guidance on allocation of high needs top-up funding (sometimes called element 3) is set out in section 7 of the 2026 to 2027 high needs funding operational guide here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2026-to-2027/high-needs-funding-2026-to-2027-operational-guide#highneedstopfunding. This includes guidance that local authorities should collaborate with neighbouring local authorities when reviewing and developing their top-up funding bands, with a view to bringing more consistency to the levels of top-up funding for schools and colleges used routinely for placements by more than one local authority. The guidance also refers to conditions of grant that require local authorities to make timely payments of top-up funding.
In February, we launched our SEND reform consultation to build on existing good practice and improve inclusivity and support in schools and colleges. These include reforms to the allocation of funding and to accountability, which will create a simpler, fairer and more collaborative system focused on outcomes, replacing bureaucracy with clarity and trust.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the consistency of local authorities’ approaches to allocating high needs element three funding to further education colleges; and whether her Department plans to introduce national guidance.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Where a child or young person with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) has an education, health and care (EHC) plan, the local authority must secure the special educational provision specified in the plan. The allocation of top-up funding to the school or college often helps secure that provision.
Our national guidance on allocation of high needs top-up funding (sometimes called element 3) is set out in section 7 of the 2026 to 2027 high needs funding operational guide here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2026-to-2027/high-needs-funding-2026-to-2027-operational-guide#highneedstopfunding. This includes guidance that local authorities should collaborate with neighbouring local authorities when reviewing and developing their top-up funding bands, with a view to bringing more consistency to the levels of top-up funding for schools and colleges used routinely for placements by more than one local authority. The guidance also refers to conditions of grant that require local authorities to make timely payments of top-up funding.
In February, we launched our SEND reform consultation to build on existing good practice and improve inclusivity and support in schools and colleges. These include reforms to the allocation of funding and to accountability, which will create a simpler, fairer and more collaborative system focused on outcomes, replacing bureaucracy with clarity and trust.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children receiving SEND transport support where the responsible adult has access to a vehicle through the Motability Scheme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Education Act 1996 requires local authorities to arrange free home-to-school travel for eligible children. A child’s eligibility is not affected by any further benefits or allowances they or their parents may receive.
The department does not collect or hold information about the number of children receiving home to school travel from their local authority where the responsible adult has access to a vehicle through the Motability Scheme.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to a) improve the nutritional quality of school meals and b) increase the use of British produced food and ingredients in schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department aims to revise the School Food Standards and is engaging with stakeholders, including academics and nutrition professionals, to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.
Schools are responsible for their school meals service and how and where they choose to buy their produce. We encourage schools to voluntarily follow the Government Buying Standards for food and catering, which includes lots of advice around sustainable sourcing. Additionally, we are working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to support schools to buy more of the fresh, high-quality ingredients produced in the UK when sourcing their meals as part of the government’s Food Strategy.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures are being taken to ensure student safety on university campuses in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands, and (c) the UK.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I stand with Members across this House in expressing my sorrow at the killing of Khaleed Oladipo near De Montfort University on 4 February 2026, and I pay tribute to the members of the public and emergency services who fought to save him.
Student safety is of utmost importance. As autonomous institutions, universities are responsible for setting their own policies and security arrangements to ensure the safety of students and staff on campus, maintaining robust welfare and risk‑management procedures to protect their students, even though they do not operate under a statutory safeguarding duty.
In the wake of Mr Oladipo’s death, De Montford University continues to work proactively with staff and students to offer support and reassurance. Enhanced police patrols remain in place. Universities also provide a range of practical support to help keep students safe and supported while on campus.
In August 2025, the Office for Students strengthened its regulatory oversight through a new registration condition for all English universities that sets out clear requirements for preventing and responding to harassment of all kinds on campus.