Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated for STEM professional development from April 2025; and how teachers will access this funding.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The following programmes are delivering teacher professional development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the 2024/25 academic year.

The Maths Hub Programme, which is supported by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, provides school-to-school support on subject knowledge and pedagogy training for teachers of mathematics. The aim is to raise the standard of mathematics education from reception to age 18 and enhance the quality of mathematics teaching through a collaborative national network of mathematics educational professionals. Teachers can access support by contacting their Maths Hub here: https://www.ncetm.org.uk/maths-hubs/find-your-hub/.

The Advanced Maths Support Programme (AMSP) provides high quality teacher continuing professional development (CPD) and national support to increase participation and attainment in level 3 Maths. Support is provided across all state-funded schools and colleges in England and prioritises areas of greatest need. Teachers can access support through the AMSP website here: https://amsp.org.uk/.

The mathematics and English 16 to 19 further education (FE) workforce grant supports CPD activity targeted at teachers who teach level 2 and below mathematics and English to 16 to 19 year-olds, including GCSEs and Functional Skills Qualifications (FSQs), in FE settings in line with the Condition of Funding policy. The department is currently running a grant competition to secure new providers.

The Subject Knowledge for Physics Teaching programme is a series of blended learning courses, offered for free, covering the key stage 3 and key stage 4 physics curriculum to support non-specialist teachers of physics to enhance their subject knowledge. These are delivered and supported by physics specialists who identify eligible schools across England and include face-to-face sessions, online tutorials and independent learning. Teachers may apply to take part through ‘STEM Learning’, which can be found here: https://www.stem.org.uk/.

The National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) supports teachers through the provision of online CPD, as well as other elements such as industry-led outreach events, a revision platform, programmes to encourage more girls into computing and a self-assessment tool for schools to review their computing provision. Further details of the support offered to teachers can be found at: https://teachcomputing.org/.

Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses support recruitment to initial teacher training in hard-to-recruit subjects with funding currently available in the following STEM subjects: chemistry, computing, mathematics and physics. SKE participants benefit from blended courses tailored to their individual needs to meet the minimum knowledge required to train to teach their chosen subject, which leads to the award of Qualified Teacher Status. Details can be found here: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/how-to-apply-for-teacher-training/subject-knowledge-enhancement.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered increasing the threshold from which people must pay for their own care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The capital limits and the social care allowance rates are reviewed annually and the rates for 2025/26 were published in the Local Authority Circular in February 2025.

We are launching an independent commission into adult social care later this month as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. It will lead a national conversation to build consensus on what adult social care should achieve, address systemic challenges comprehensively, and chart a clear path toward practical and impactful reform.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) keeping records of all incidents in nurseries and (b) making these statistics publicly available.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government’s priority is to grow high-quality, affordable and flexible education and care for children, whilst ensuring their safety, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

The department is responsible for setting the standards which early years settings such as nurseries must follow, these are set out in the early years foundation stage statutory framework. The department has responsibility for policy on inspection and registration, but how it is implemented is for Ofsted to decide, and to be held to account by Parliament.

Given the sensitivity and quality of the information around incidents, Ofsted does not publish incident data as routine statistics. However, their annual report and accounts include some national level data on notifications that may relate to incidents. This document can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e575d987cebda7c4ca4cde/31795_Ofsted_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2023-24_-_Accessible.pdf.

Found: Sarah Edwards (Labour; Tamworth) Alison Griffiths (Conservative; Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) Sonia Kumar

Found: the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Antonia Bance; John Cooper; Alison Griffiths; Sonia Kumar

Found: Sonia Kumar: I would be happy to add my name.

Found: Sarah Edwards (Labour; Tamworth) Alison Griffiths (Conservative; Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) Sonia Kumar