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)
From September, the government is providing upfront investment for schools, colleges and early years providers to intervene early in meeting the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), through the inclusive mainstream fund worth £1.6 billion over three years. Over time, this will be supported through the development of National Inclusion Standards, enabling teachers to draw on evidence-based strategies to identify and support children and young people with additional needs, including those with neurodivergent conditions such as autism and ADHD.
In addition, every local area is being funded to create a new Experts at Hand service, providing mainstream education settings with access to healthcare professionals like speech and language therapists and education experts such as educational psychologists to work directly with children and support staff to put in place appropriate support and interventions.
The department will roll out a new national training programme supporting educators to identify and respond to children’s needs backed by £200 million investment, to train staff across nurseries, schools and colleges with the first wave of training materials coming online from September.
This is supported by investment to create an additional 60,000 school places for children with SEND through inclusion bases, new special or alternative provision school places and adaptations to mainstream, ensuring appropriate education facilities for all our children. As part of this, we will publish inclusive design guidance to support local authorities and settings to use their estate to support inclusion, by improving accessibility for children with neurodivergence, disabilities, or other types of SEN.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether (a) payments, (b) fees, (c) gifts, (d) hospitality, or other benefit has been made to (i) Gemma Collins, (ii) TM Media PR, or (iii) any other agent or representative acting on her behalf, by or on behalf of her Department, since 1st January 2026.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
No payments, fees, gifts, hospitality, or any other benefits are being made from the department to Gemma Collins or TM Media PR or any other agent or representative on her behalf.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has entered into contracts or agreements with (a) Gemma Collins, (b) TM Media PR, or (c) any third party for the purpose of facilitating Gemma Collins’s participation in departmental communications, since 1st January 2026.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department has not entered into contracts or agreements with Gemma Collins or TM Media PR or any third party for the purpose of facilitating Gemma Collins’s participation in departmental communications.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential benefits of introducing provision for an embedded (a) mentor and (b) counsellor in every school in England through (i) internal staff and (ii) external providers.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is currently working to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs).
As at March 2025, 52% of pupils and learners were supported by MHSTs (70% of pupils in secondary schools). By April 2026, we estimate that 60% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England will be covered by an MHST. Latest data on MHST coverage as of March 2026 will be published in due course.
Schools need the freedom to decide which mix of support best meets their pupils’ needs, making best use of their funding. This is why many schools already provide mentoring and counselling, which can play an important role in supporting mental wellbeing. The department has published guidance providing practical, evidence-based advice on offering high-quality school counselling, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.
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 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 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 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.