Early Years Funding 2025-26
Stephen Morgan Excerpts(3 weeks ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
This Government are clear that whoever you are, wherever you come from, ours should be a country where hard work means you can get on in life. Ensuring that every child has the best start in life is crucial to breaking down barriers to opportunity from the earliest point in our lives.
Early years educators, providers and local authorities are already doing incredible work to meet this mission and expand their provision so that more families can benefit from affordable, accessible and high-quality early education and childcare.
As announced in the 2024 autumn Budget, we expect to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements in 2025-26—an increase of more than 30% compared with 2024-25—as we work towards the expansion of the entitlements.
Today we have also published the new early years local authority core funding rates for 2025-26. The national average three and four-year-old hourly funding rates of local authorities is increasing by 4.1%, the two-year-old hourly funding rates is increasing by 3.3%, and the nine months to two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.4%. As usual, the hourly funding rates will vary between local authorities, reflecting the relative needs of the children and different costs of delivering provision across the country.
To ensure that providers are set up to deliver 30 funded hours of childcare and early education for children aged nine months to when they start school, and that parents are able to access this across our communities from September 2025, on top of over £8 billion through the core funding rates we will be investing an additional £75 million of revenue funding in 2025-26 through an expansion grant, recognising the significant effort and planning to prepare for the final phase of the expansion. This grant is on top of over £8 billion provided through the core funding rates.
It is essential that high-quality early education and childcare are accessible for all children and families, given the importance of the early years of life. However, currently there are gaps in both provision and quality, especially for disadvantaged children. That is why we are delivering the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing EYPP rates by over 45% per hour in 2024-25 to £1 per hour in 2025-26, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.
This unprecedented increase is an investment in quality early education for those children who need it most, providing additional support for disadvantaged children to meet development goals at age five.
Eligible children can also receive £938 per child per year through the disability access fund to support reasonable adjustments for children with a disability. We also expect to spend £92.6 million on maintained nursery school (MNS) supplementary funding in 2025-26, in recognition of the additional costs that MNSs face.
It is important that providers can plan ahead. Therefore, we have set the expectation that local authorities communicate their rates to providers by 28 February 2025 at the latest, and we will be working with local authorities to support them to do this. This will become mandatory from 2026-27.
From April 2025, we are increasing the minimum pass-through requirement, meaning that local authorities must pass on at least 96% of funding to providers, as part of a phased approach to a 97% pass-through in the future.
Full details on the 2025-26 local authority hourly funding rates, including step-by-step tables, have been published on www.gov.uk.
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Oral Answers to Questions
Stephen Morgan Excerpts(3 weeks, 1 day ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
Schools with primary age pupils can now apply to become early adopters of the universal free breakfast club programme starting from April 2025. Up to 750 participating schools will be funded to provide access to a free universal breakfast club lasting at least 30 minutes that includes food.
Matt Turmaine
In my constituency, parents speak to me about their worries and concerns regarding education provision and support. These range from being able to get their children into a good local school to how they will be able to continue to work while parenting. Will my hon. Friend outline further the benefits that breakfast clubs will bring to parents and pupils in constituencies such as mine?
Stephen Morgan
This Government are committed to making quick progress to deliver on our commitment to offer a free breakfast club in every primary school to ensure that children are ready to learn at the start of the school day. The Chancellor has announced a tripling of investment in breakfast clubs, driving improvements to behaviour, attendance and attainment and, for parents, more choices over childcare.
David Burton-Sampson
I have contacted all the primary schools in my constituency to encourage them to become early adopters. Child poverty in my constituency stands at 12.1%, and food bank use has risen by 433% over the last five years. Does my hon. Friend agree that breakfast clubs will be part of the solution by helping to lift children out of poverty, giving them food in their belly to start the school day and encouraging their parents back into part-time employment?
Stephen Morgan
Parents and carers up and down the country are still struggling with the cost of living. As part of our mission to bring down barriers to opportunity, breakfast clubs give parents and carers the confidence that their child can access a breakfast, should they need one, and we are supporting families to work with the cost of childcare. It is a pity that the Conservatives cannot say whether they back our plan to deliver better life chances for all children in all parts of the country.
Julia Lopez (Hornchurch and Upminster) (Con)
Nurseries and the small businesses that provide before and after-school clubs are being whacked by national insurance increases, and there is little clarity from the Government about how these breakfast clubs will work, which has the potential to undermine another part of their business model. What representations has the Education Secretary made to the Chancellor to deal with the massive hole that she has blown in her plans?
Stephen Morgan
We take no lectures from the Conservative party on how it failed children over the last 14 years. I have heard providers’ concerns about early years funding, and I recognise the importance of local authorities and providers planning ahead for the pivotal expansion year. We will be updating the House very soon on that issue.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
Recently I met my constituent Farhan Adam, a winner of headmaster of the year, who lamented the fact that he spends more time addressing issues such as food insecurity than doing what he loves, which is teaching. This is not surprising as, according to the Food Foundation, approximately 18% of households with children are experiencing food insecurity. Does the Secretary of State agree that, in addition to breakfast clubs, lifting the two-child cap would help to alleviate this problem?
Stephen Morgan
Breakfast clubs offer a huge amount, including food and club provision. I encourage the hon. Member to consider that for roll-out in his constituency. More broadly, he will be aware of the ministerial taskforce focused on child poverty, which will report in the new year.
Sarah Green (Chesham and Amersham) (LD)
Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
I appreciate my hon. Friend’s concern. As she will know, this Government inherited a broken system from the previous Government. We want to make sure that all children with SEND receive the support they need to achieve and thrive. We have announced £740 million of high needs capital funding for next year for additional places, which will support our ambition to improve inclusivity in mainstream schools.
Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)
Stephen Morgan
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the importance of early support for babies. The plan for change sets out that we will improve support through pregnancy and early childhood. The Start for Life programme is the responsibility of Department of Health and Social Care Ministers, but officials would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this important issue.
Sarah Green (Chesham and Amersham) (LD)
Sir Oliver Dowden (Hertsmere) (Con)
Over the weekend, Immanuel prep in my constituency announced it was closing, citing VAT on school fees and other damaging Labour policies. Does the Secretary of State share my concern about the damage that will do to Jewish children growing up in my constituency and the surrounding area, who will be deprived of access to a Jewish education, which they richly deserve?
Stephen Morgan
The Government’s fiscal inheritance is so dire that we have to take tough, but necessary decisions and take them quickly. Removing VAT exemptions from January is the right thing to do to deliver for every child across our country.
Tom Hayes (Bournemouth East) (Lab)
I was delighted to spend Friday afternoon with Cats Whiskers day nursery and earlier this year, I visited Tops day nursery, which is ranked ninth in the Department’s top 100 apprenticeship employees. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to increase the number and quality of childcare apprenticeships?
Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)
I welcome this Government’s ambition to ensure that 40,000 extra children are school ready every year. However, at schools such as West End school in Oswaldtwistle in my constituency, there are no extra classrooms to make extra nursery provision available. Will the Minister consider capital funding to ensure that lots of primary schools have the opportunity to extend high quality nursery provision?
Stephen Morgan
The Government are committed to rolling out school-based nurseries. I would welcome the opportunity to meet my hon. Friend to discuss those issues further.
Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)
I assure the Education Secretary that we are very positive about schooling in this country. I am sure that she will want to thank all school leaders for their work to help English schools to soar up the rankings for the programme for international student assessment and programme for international student assessment rankings—PISA and TIMMS—but will she join me in sending personal congratulations to Katharine Birbalsingh, whose approach to discipline, the curriculum and teacher-led instruction makes her school Michaela the best in the country?
Oliver Ryan (Burnley) (Lab/Co-op)
I recently visited Heasandford primary school in my constituency, which is in a dire state. Will the Minister meet me and Lancashire county council to see what we can do to repair the school—the biggest in Lancashire by class number—and make sure that it is fit for children’s ambitions in Burnley?
Stephen Morgan
We are committed to improving the condition of the estate through the annual funding programme. I will happily meet my hon. Friend to discuss those issues further.
SEND Capital Funding
Stephen Morgan Excerpts(3 weeks, 6 days ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
Today I am announcing £740 million of capital investment in 2025-26 to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision (AP). This is alongside the previously announced additional high needs revenue funding, which will increase by almost £1 billion in 2025-26, compared with 2024-25.
This new funding can be used to adapt classrooms to be more accessible for children with SEND, to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs, and create special schools places for pupils with the most complex needs.
Today’s funding announcement is part of the broader £6.7 billion capital settlement for 2025-26 so that we can deliver this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. Ensuring schools have the high-quality and sustainable buildings they need is a key part of that.
Allocations of this funding to local authorities are expected to be published by the end of March.
We have also confirmed that we will not enter into any more safety valve agreements for councils in financial deficits, pending wider reform of the whole system to prioritise early intervention, properly supporting councils to bring their finances under control. Over time, over 30 local authorities have been supported to manage their high needs budgets through the safety valve programme. We will continue to work with LAs with safety valve agreements to deliver their plans.
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Breakfast Club Early Adopters
Stephen Morgan Excerpts(1 month ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
This Government believe that every child deserves access to a brilliant education, including the opportunity to have a supportive start to the school day. That is why the Government made a manifesto commitment to introduce free breakfast clubs for primary school children, breaking down barriers to opportunity and setting every child up to achieve.
As a first step towards this commitment, from today, schools can apply to become one of up to 750 early adopter schools, providing free breakfast clubs from April 2025, as part of a test-and-learn phase. These schools will be funded to provide access to a free, universal breakfast club lasting at least 30 minutes that includes food. New breakfast clubs, once rolled out nationally, will be available to every state-funded school with primary aged children.
Breakfast clubs help make sure that children are ready to start the school day. They support children’s attendance and attainment. Breakfast clubs offer much more than just food; they can serve as a welcoming space for children, providing valuable opportunities for them to play, learn, and socialise at the beginning of the school day. Breakfast clubs also give families more choices in childcare and support with the cost of living. We want every school, every child, and every family to benefit, which is why the Chancellor tripled the investment in breakfast clubs in the autumn 2024 Budget to over £30 million in the 2025-26 financial year.
Full details on the early adopter scheme, including how schools can apply to take part, will be available on gov.uk.
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Holidays in School Term Time
Stephen Morgan Excerpts(1 month ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward, and I welcome to his place the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (Neil O’Brien), who made some very reasonable remarks. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Dave Robertson) for introducing the debate and all Members who have contributed, on both sides of the House.
Let me start by acknowledging the points made by Members across the Chamber on the issue of holidays in particular. I sympathise with families who, for a variety of reasons, wish to avoid the busier and more expensive periods. As we heard from Members, including a number of former teachers, school attendance is clearly an important issue that a lot of people in this country care deeply about.
This Government are acting decisively to tackle absence via a new approach rooted in responsibility, partnership and belonging. That includes supporting schools and recognising that they have important responsibilities to create a welcoming, engaging and inclusive environment for children, and it also include parents’ legal responsibility to send their children to school every day that they can. That is why we will not automatically grant two weeks of term-time absence to every pupil.
Tackling absence from school is at the heart of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Sometimes, of course, children are too poorly to attend school, but we are currently facing an absence epidemic in this country, with one in five children persistently absent, missing the equivalent of a day every other week. Thanks to the hard work of the sector, there has been progress, but we remain a long way off pre-pandemic levels.
If children are not in school, it does not matter how effective or well supported teaching or learning is, as they will not benefit. That is why the Government have the highest possible expectations of all children’s attendance at school, and why we will ensure that school is the best place for every child, with free breakfast clubs in primary schools so that every child is on time and ready to learn; better mental health support through access to specialist mental health professionals in every school; and inclusion for children with special educational needs and disabilities within mainstream settings right across the age range. We will make sure that parents are supported to send their children to school and that schools are supported to welcome them.
The reason that this such a top priority for the Government is that we know the overwhelming benefits of regular school attendance for children’s attainment, mental wellbeing and long-term development. The most recent DFE data shows that an increase in absence is associated with dramatic reductions in attainment, with 18% fewer children who miss two weeks of the school year achieving good GCSE results compared with those who are in almost every day. Other independent studies support that finding.
Some Members have questioned whether that evidence applies specifically to absence for holidays, and there is clear evidence that it does. Analysis undertaken by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner in 2023, for example, shows that any amount of holiday during term time is associated with lower GCSE results. We also know that absence for term-time holidays cannot be seen in isolation. Children inevitably miss some school due to childhood illnesses, and based on the most recent census data, a child who is taken out of school for a two-week holiday every year and has an average number of days off for sickness and medical appointments will have missed the equivalent of a full year of school by the time they finish year 11 at age 16. Let me repeat that: a child who takes a fortnight’s term-time holiday and has an average number of days off due to illness will miss a full school year over the course of their education.
I have spoken about how we are adopting an approach rooted in partnership and belonging, and I would like to highlight that term-time holidays do not impact only the child missing school. Children thrive on stability, and a steady churn of absences disrupts the learning of every child. The hard work by school staff to cultivate a sense of community and belonging is wasted, and teachers have to replan lessons, making it more difficult for them to cover the curriculum. Even if we assume that that takes just one minute per missed day, it adds up to the equivalent of 1,000 teachers working full-time on nothing else for an entire year. The impact of absence on other children is not spread equally; it hits the children who already face greater barriers to opportunity the hardest. Research by the National Foundation for Educational Research shows that in year groups where there was higher absence, disadvantaged pupils had worse attainment.
A number of hon. Friends and Members have raised points on children with SEND. We know that parents have struggled to get the right support for their children, particularly through the long and difficult EHCP process. We have announced extra funding for this year: over £1 billion to help schools with the additional costs that they face, including the costs of supporting their pupils with SEND. We will work across the sector to provide support for children with SEND and to restore parents’ trust.
We know that some pupils face more complex barriers to attendance. This can include pupils who have long-term physical or mental health conditions or special educational needs and disabilities. However, those children have the same right to an education as any other pupil. It is also worth noting that the national framework for penalty notices strengthens protections for SEND parents in, for example, absence cases other than holiday, including an expectation that attendance support will have been provided before a penalty notice is used. Our updated guidance on attendance includes more detail about additional support where a pupil is not attending due to unmet or additional needs. It sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services should work together to access and provide the right support to improve attendance.
A number of Members raised issues relating to holiday prices and term times. Of course, we recognise the concerns that they raised on behalf of their constituents about the cost of holidays at peak times. However, travel companies, airlines and hotels are private companies that set their prices based on their costs, competition and profit margins. The Government do not have the authority to dictate pricing strategies for private companies and businesses.
However, as has been mentioned, schools and local authorities have the flexibility to plan term dates, and to hold inset days and other occasional such days at less busy times of the year, which can help families to plan breaks at times that suit them. For example, I know of councils and school trusts, including in my constituency, that have trialled a two-week half term or slightly later summer holidays. Similar points were made by the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom). I stress that we are interested in anything more that holiday companies and other businesses in the sector can do to make holidays in peak times more affordable for families.
Several Members made remarks about penalty notices, which came into force following a national consultation. They are designed to embed our support-first approach and to improve consistency and fairness across the country, but they should always be used as a last resort. On bereavement, our guidance requires schools to take a support-first approach. Schools have the discretion to authorise a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances.
In conclusion, I once again thank all Members for their contributions. I acknowledge the strength of feeling behind them and that family holidays can be enriching activities, but we are not ashamed of the importance that we place on children attending school. Absence is one of the biggest barriers to success for children and young people. Minimising absence of any kind is crucial if we are to ensure that they reach their full potential, and we will continue to work in collaboration with the sector to take steps to achieve that.
Education
Stephen Morgan Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Stephen Morgan
I note the hon. Member’s point on that specific college. As he will know, the Chancellor committed £1.4 billion at the Budget to drive the delivery of the current school rebuilding programme for next year. Over the coming weeks and months, we will work with trusts and local authorities to identify which schools will be in scope.
[Official Report, 4 November 2024; Vol. 756, c. 19.]
Written correction submitted by the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan):
Stephen Morgan
… Over the coming weeks and months, we will work with trusts and local authorities to confirm which schools in the programme will be in scope.
Young Carers: School Absence
The following extract is from Education Questions on 4 November 2024.
Bobby Dean
One thing that might be driving absences from schools for young carers is long-term mental health conditions. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says that as many as one in five young carers could be suffering from long-term mental health conditions. Can the Minister explain what measures the Department is taking to ensure that sufficient help is in place for people suffering from those conditions?
Primary School Breakfast Clubs
Stephen Morgan Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi) for securing a debate on this important subject, and for his characteristically passionate contribution on behalf of his constituents. I also thank all those who have made interventions tonight.
This Government believe that all children deserve access to a brilliant education, regardless of who they are, where they come from or their parents’ income. We want to work hand in hand with the sector to deliver a system that means that children start school ready to learn, ready to seize opportunities and ready to get on in life. The Government made a manifesto commitment to introduce free breakfast clubs for primary school children, and we confirmed in the autumn Budget that we will triple our investment in breakfast clubs to more than £30 million in the 2025-26 financial year. That funding will support breakfast clubs in up to 750 early adopter schools from as early as April next year, as part of our test-and-learn phase, ahead of national roll-out. I urge my hon. Friend to encourage schools in his constituency to apply when bidding opens. That is the first step in the Government’s commitment to funding breakfast clubs in all state schools with primary-aged children.
That investment includes our continued support for 2,700 schools that are on the existing national school breakfast programme. One of those schools is Montem Academy, a primary school in Slough in my hon. Friend’s constituency. Breakfast clubs will remove barriers to opportunity by ensuring that primary school children, no matter their circumstance, are ready to start the school day. That will help to drive improvements in behaviour, attendance and attainment. Breakfast clubs offer much more than just food. They can serve as a welcoming space for children, providing valuable opportunities for them to play, learn and socialise at the beginning of the school day. They will also provide families with more affordable childcare choices and increase parents’ ability to work more hours. It is important that children eat healthily across the school day. Breakfast clubs in every primary school, along with the continued provision of free school meals to disadvantaged children, will play an important role in combating hunger and making sure that children can listen and concentrate throughout the school day.
As my hon. Friend identifies, it is important that children eat nutritious food at school. The school food standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, those that are restricted and those that must not be provided. They apply to food and drink provided to pupils on school premises and during an extended school day up to 6 pm. That includes breakfast clubs. Compliance with standards is mandatory for maintained schools, academies and free schools. The standards restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, including high-sugar foods and confectionery. They ensure that children get the energy and nutrition that they need across the school day, and that pupils always have healthy options.
My hon. Friend asked about timeframes. He will know that we have already taken decisive action by announcing in the King’s Speech that, under the children’s wellbeing Bill, every primary school in England will offer a free breakfast club. Legislating for breakfast club provision will give schools the certainty that they need. I can confirm that the Bill will come to the House as soon as parliamentary time allows.
In conclusion, I once again thank my hon. Friend for securing a debate on this important topic. I look forward to working with him and other hon. and right hon. Members across the House who have contributed to tonight’s debate, as we deliver our manifesto commitment on free breakfast clubs in all primary schools to secure the best start in life for every child, in every part of the country.
Question put and agreed to.
Oral Answers to Questions
Stephen Morgan Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Afzal Khan (Manchester Rusholme) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
What schools teach can play an important part, alongside wider activity, in the Government’s safer streets mission and tackling knife crime. Relationships, sex and health education includes content on situations that lead to young people carrying knives, including criminal exploitation, county lines operations and grooming relationships. We are reviewing the content to ensure that it remains relevant and protects children’s wellbeing.
Afzal Khan
Greater Manchester continues to experience some of the highest rates of knife violence in the country, with more than 10,000 recorded incidents since 2020. Organisations such as the Greater Manchester violence reduction unit have been doing excellent work in early prevention by engaging children and young people through community-led projects, including theatre productions. Given the importance of early community-based intervention, does the Minister agree that providing support for such initiatives is important in tackling knife violence?
Stephen Morgan
I thank my hon. Friend for raising such an important topic and highlighting the good work of the Greater Manchester violence reduction unit. As well as the work on the RSHE curriculum, the Government will create a new young futures programme, intervening early to stop young people being drawn into crime through preventive action and learning from best practice across the country. It is vital that we have a system that can identify and support those young people who need it most, be they victims or potential perpetrators.
Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
Preventive education is critical, and not just when it comes to knife crime. A recent report from the University of Bath highlighted that one in six vapes confiscated in school contains the synthetic drug Spice, a highly addictive drug that condemns young people—in particular, vulnerable young people—to a life of crime and addiction. Will the Secretary of State agree to a special educational programme to address the alarming issue of Spice-spiked vapes in schools?
Stephen Morgan
We want to make sure that every school and college across our country is a safe environment for children to learn. I am happy to meet the hon. Member to understand those issues in more detail.
Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington) (Lab)
Jen Craft (Thurrock) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
Ensuring that parents have access to affordable and high-quality childcare is a priority for this Government. We will focus on greater opportunities for every family to access early education, and on greater opportunities for children to thrive and develop. As an initial step, we have announced the bidding round for the first 300 school-based nurseries from next September.
Jen Craft
Many early years providers struggle to meet the needs of children with SEND. Lack of funds, lack of training and lack of specialist staff often mean that those that do provide a good or excellent service quickly become over-subscribed. What steps is the Department taking to reassure parents and carers of children with SEND that those children will have access to the childcare or early years provision in their areas that meets their needs?
Stephen Morgan
We are helping members of the workforce to develop the skills and confidence that will enable them to work effectively with children with SEND, and reviewing early years funding arrangements to ensure that they meet the needs of those children. I should be happy to meet my hon. Friend or visit her constituency to understand the issues that her local providers are facing.
Dr Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth) (Con)
Martin Lewis has long campaigned for changes in childcare, in particular because the way in which it is set up can damage single parents. There is an obvious cliff edge. The last Government proposed a consultation on thresholds for households being taken as one, but this Government seem to have scrapped that in the Budget. Will Ministers be speaking to the Treasury to decide how they will overcome this cliff edge that affects so many single parents?
Stephen Morgan
I thank the hon. Member for his question. We have a child-centred Government, and early years is a priority for the Secretary of State. We will focus on reforming the childcare system to ensure that it is fit for purpose for the future and of high quality for all young people. We are taking the sector’s concerns seriously, and we want to ensure there is a sustainable system going forward.
Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)
Mr Speaker
Order. These are topical questions. I have to get everybody in who has not got in before. You have got in once already, so don’t be greedy.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
We are committed to improving school buildings, where we want our children to achieve and thrive, but that will not be a quick fix. Bury council has been awarded £1.8 million for the financial year to improve its school buildings, including The Derby high school. Last week, this Government increased next year’s capital allocation for England to £2.1 billion, some £300 million more than last year. I will, of course, be happy to meet with my hon. Friend—
Mr Speaker
Order. Obviously, set-up questions have very long answers. We should be able to have shorter questions and answers.
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Stephen Morgan
I note the hon. Member’s point on that specific college. As he will know, the Chancellor committed £1.4 billion at the Budget to drive the delivery of the current school rebuilding programme for next year. Over the coming weeks and months, we will work with trusts and local authorities to identify which schools will be in scope.
Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)
Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire) (Lab)
Stephen Morgan
I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the matter.
Alicia Kearns (Rutland and Stamford) (Con)
Helen Blythe from Stamford has campaigned courageously for improvements to allergy safety since her son Benedict died following a severe allergic reaction at school in 2021. Will the Minister commit to meet me to discuss introducing a mandatory requirement for all schools to have a specific allergy and anaphylaxis plan, and for every school to have adrenaline auto-injectors?
Stephen Morgan
I met Helen Blythe last week, and I will happily meet the hon. Member to take forward her concerns.
Tom Rutland (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Lab)
I thank the Minister for working with Treasury colleagues to secure important additional funding to rebuild schools in last week’s Budget. Will he meet me to discuss the serious repair issues facing St Nicolas and St Mary primary school in my constituency, which are hampering children’s ability to thrive?
Stephen Morgan
We are proud of the investment that we are making in school buildings. I would be delighted not only to meet my hon. Friend but to visit his constituency.
Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)
Will the Secretary of State acknowledge, as the right hon. Baroness Smith of Basildon has in the other place, that concerns around freedom of speech and academic freedom in our universities are not a botched culture war but a serious matter that needs to be addressed properly?
Childcare: Black Country
Stephen Morgan Excerpts(2 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Sonia Kumar) for securing a debate on this important subject, especially on such a busy day in the House. I know already that she is a real champion for children and young people in her constituency.
This Government believe that all children, regardless of who they are, where they come from or their parents’ income, deserve access to high-quality early education. This mission-driven Government have committed to the best start in life pillar, reinforcing the importance of available and affordable high-quality early years education and childcare. The new Government are committed to delivering the childcare entitlements that families have been promised, giving every child the opportunity to have the best start in life. Local authorities and early years providers have worked diligently to deliver the latest expansion of entitlements in September, and more than 320,000 parents are already accessing a place.
Over the weekend, we confirmed £1.8 billion to support the expansion to 2025-26 and a further £15 million of capital funding to expand school-based nurseries. Eligible working parents of children aged nine months are currently entitled to 15 hours of Government-funded childcare a week for 38 weeks a year. From September next year, this will increase again to 30 hours, but we have to be honest with parents in the Black Country and across the country about the scale of that final, more challenging phase.
Around 70,000 additional places and 35,000 early years educators are needed to deliver the expansion to 30 hours next September. Our analysis tells us that more than half of local areas need to increase their capacity by between 10% and 20% to meet the demand for next September and that the highest uplifts are needed in some of the most disadvantaged areas. We will continue to work tirelessly to bridge the gaps ahead of next September. However, in some parts of England, though parents may receive the hours they were promised, they may not get their first choice of nursery or childminder.
I know from my engagement with councils that local authorities are working hard to generate growth in available places and to develop the workforce they need. My Department has regular contact with each local authority in England to discuss the sufficiency of their childcare places and the issues they are facing. Where needed, it links local authorities with Childcare Works, an organisation contracted by the Department, to support them.
The size and quality of early education and childcare provision in the Black Country is significant. Across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton, there are around 770 providers that provide approximately 32,000 places. My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that local authorities in the Black Country area are not reporting any issues with their sufficiency.
As my hon. Friend rightly states, high-quality early years education plays a crucial role in improving children’s life chances. It has a positive impact on children’s outcomes in the short and long term, particularly for the most disadvantaged. Under this Government, growing the early years education system will not come at the cost of quality. We have already announced the extension of the early years stronger practice hubs programme until at least March 2025, with a continued focus on supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds. In July, the Government committed to extend the funding of evidence-based early language interventions in primary schools, so that every child can find their voice. We will also drive up standards in early maths education and increase the quality of provision.
Following consultation, with strong support from the sector, we have published our response to proposals to strengthen safeguarding requirements in the early years foundation stage statutory framework. The Department will implement all the proposals, including those on safer recruitment, child absences, safer eating, safeguarding training and paediatric first aid training. Additionally, new proposals on providing employment references and supporting whistleblowing will be introduced. These changes are set to be implemented from September 2025 and will formalise existing best practices to ensure that all early years educators have the knowledge and support they need to deliver safe, high-quality early education and childcare.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley for securing this important debate, and I thank all Members who have contributed. The Government will continue to work hand in hand with the sector to deliver an early years system that gives every child a firm foundation and sets them up for their next stages in life.
Question put and agreed to.
Education
Stephen Morgan Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
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Stephen Morgan
On school-based nurseries, the pilot during the testing phase is for 300 places from April. Our ambition is for 3,000 places over the course of this Parliament.
[Official Report, 17 October 2024; Vol. 754, c. 1020.]
Written correction submitted by the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan):
Stephen Morgan
On school-based nurseries, the pilot during the testing phase is for up to 300 nurseries from September. Our ambition is to take this forward over the course of this Parliament.
Stephen Morgan
We are starting a test-and-learn phase in April; the roll-out will be in September.
[Official Report, 17 October 2024; Vol. 754, c. 1024.]
Written correction submitted by the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Portsmouth South:
Stephen Morgan
We are starting a test-and-learn phase with delivery of the first nursery places from September 2025.