Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support schools seeking to attain purchasing power agreements for solar panels.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Budget 2025 indicated that departments could consider private sources of finance, including Public Private Partnerships, to decarbonise the public sector estate. The department is exploring how this could be applied to schools, including the potential use of Power Purchase Agreements for solar installations. Based on research to date there is an estimated capacity on the school estate in its current roof condition to generate up to 1.9 gigawatts of electricity.
The Great British Energy Solar Partnership for Schools is already investing £100 million to install solar and other energy efficiency interventions on 250 schools and colleges. The department ‘s sustainability website also provides support for all schools on reducing their emissions, including some low-cost approaches.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to publish data on school swimming attainment.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is processing the information gathered on school swimming attainment, which was received through the physical education and sport premium digital expenditure reporting return. We will publish a summary of quality assured data in due course.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of Exchequer on adopting a stepped repayment system for student loans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education regularly engages with my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a range of matters, including higher education (HE) finance and funding. We are aiming to publish our plans for HE reform as part of the Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy White paper soon. As part of this, we will need to ensure that the student finance system is financially sustainable and works for students, taxpayers and the HE sector.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on supporting new solar power installations for state schools via Power Purchase Agreements.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to helping schools decarbonise and reduce energy costs through sustainable solutions like solar. Rooftop solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) can deliver public sector savings and wider social benefits through partnerships with community energy groups. Ministers at the department, and HM Treasury, are clear on the potential here and continue to explore ways to increase renewable energy across the education estate
The government remains focused on supporting schools in adopting renewables to cut emissions and energy bills. The department is already partnering with Great British Energy on an £80 million initiative to install solar panels and other decarbonisation technologies in up to 200 schools and colleges in 2025/26. This programme aims to deliver long-term savings and contribute to net zero goals. We continue to work across government to ensure schools have access to sustainable tools and funding.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 18684 on Students: Loans, what progress she has made in developing a longer-term plan for higher education reform.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department is determined that the higher education (HE) system should deliver for our economy, for providers and for students. Whilst we have already taken action to help move the sector towards a more stable financial footing, we recognise that a real change of approach is needed, both from the government and from the sector itself, to support our broader plans for HE. That is why we will publish our plans for HE reform soon as part of the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support (a) foster carers, (b) kinship carers and (c) adoptive parents.
Answered by Janet Daby
The Transformation Fund, announced in the spring, builds on the £15 million investment for foster care in the Budget. The department will provide an additional £25 million over two years, beginning in the 2026/27 financial year.
Foster carers receive the national minimum allowance to cover the costs of looking after children in their care, uplifted each year in line with inflation and earnings. Our investment includes the rollout of the Mockingbird Family model, which offers peer support to foster carers and children. We also continue to fund Fosterline, a free helpline for current and prospective foster carers.
To support kinship carers, the government announced £40 million to pilot the Kinship Allowance in some local authorities, supporting eligible kinship carers with the additional costs of taking parental responsibility for a kinship child. The pilot will launch in late autumn and support approximately 5,000 kinship children until March 2029. In addition, the department funds training and peer support groups for kinship carers.
In April, the department announced £8.8 million for Adoption England to improve adoption services and support regional adoption agencies to respond more effectively to adoptive families in crisis. The £50 million adoption and special guardianship support fund will continue to enable families to access a significant package of therapeutic support.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support (a) dyscalculic learners and(b) learners with maths learning difficulties.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including dyscalculia, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The department funds the Maths Hubs programme, a school-led network aimed at improving the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly funded schools. The programme covers primary, secondary and special schools and uses a mastery-based teaching approach, which aims to secure understanding of key concepts. This includes training for teachers on techniques such as avoiding cognitive overload by breaking the learning down into small manageable steps, using representations to expose mathematical structure, and ensuring that learning is sequenced in a coherent manner so it makes sense to pupils.
Professionals can access online training to develop their understanding how the curriculum support learners. This includes approaches to support learners who face barriers to understanding of maths, such as those with SEND or dyscalculia.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has considered including water-only policies in updated school food standards.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The department is engaging with stakeholders on revising the school food standards, to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history. Schedule 1 of the school food standards outlines the permitted drinks. These include a variety of drinks such as plain water, milk and plain soya, rice or oat drinks. Beyond the school food standards, headteachers, governors and their caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies, including drinks policies. As with all aspects of the school food standards review, we will consider our approaches to drinks.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure the provision of (a) clear and (b) consistent statutory guidance on educational guardianship.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
All independent and state boarding schools must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ guidance and must meet the national minimum standards for boarding schools. Section 22 of those standards sets out the requirements of schools in relation to educational guardians appointed by a school.
Parents of international child students who make private educational guardianship arrangements for their children should ensure that they apply due diligence to any arrangements.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to incorporate soil health education into the National Curriculum.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The national curriculum provides a broad framework within which schools have the flexibility to develop the content of their own curricula. Soil health can be taught within both the geography and science curricula.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review wants to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work. The Review Group published an interim report on 18 March, and the final report with recommendations will be published in the autumn.