Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that curriculum, vocational training, and teacher development programs are used to promote students' understanding of ecosystems, soil health, and climate adaptation within the context of UK food security.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The current national curriculum includes topics relating to ecosystems, soil health, and climate adaptation within the context of UK food security, and they can also be studied at GCSE and A level.
Work is now underway to deliver a new curriculum and assessment system that is ambitious for every child, rich in knowledge and strong on skills. Programmes of study for each curriculum subject will be refreshed in line with the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s recommendations, and we are working towards a revised national curriculum being published in spring 2027, for first teaching in 2028.
There will be opportunity to provide views on the new curriculum content when the department conducts a public consultation on the draft programmes of study in summer 2026.
The department already has a range of vocational qualifications that provide training in green skills including apprenticeships, T levels, Skills Bootcamps and higher technical qualifications.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to help tackle inequalities in access to healthy, minimally processed food through education.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The national curriculum aims to teach children how to cook and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and nutrition. In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the department has set out that we will enhance the identity of food education by clearly distinguishing cooking and nutrition, which will be renamed food and nutrition, as a distinct strand within design and technology.
The updated relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance includes content on healthy eating. Pupils are taught what constitutes a healthy diet, the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals, the characteristics of a poor diet and risks associated with unhealthy eating.
The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day. We aim to revise the School Food Standards and are engaging with stakeholders to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.
From September 2026, we will extend free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit. This will ensure that over 500,000 additional children receive a free and nutritious lunchtime meal.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to align apprenticeship standards, T Levels, and other vocational qualifications with future food system needs.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is strengthening technical education so that young people can gain practical skills in areas such as regenerative farming, agroecology, and sustainable horticulture. This includes a range of apprenticeships in agriculture, environmental and animal care sector such as crop technician.
Land-based colleges and institutes of technology offer applied learning experience with employer designed standards increasingly embedding regenerative and agroecological practices. Land based T Levels and technical qualifications include opportunities for hands on learning in soil health, sustainable crop production, biodiversity, and low-impact land management.
Skills England works with employers to embed real world regenerative and agroecological practices in relevant occupational and apprenticeship standards to ensure they meet ongoing skills needs.
Local Skills Improvement Plans help guide providers to match training with the priority skills needs, which include those related to agriculture and land-based industries.
Together, these measures create a strong pipeline of young people equipped for careers in regenerative, low carbon land-based sectors.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department is ensuring that young people gain practical, vocational skills in regenerative farming, agroecology, and sustainable horticulture.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is strengthening technical education so that young people can gain practical skills in areas such as regenerative farming, agroecology, and sustainable horticulture. This includes a range of apprenticeships in agriculture, environmental and animal care sector such as crop technician.
Land-based colleges and institutes of technology offer applied learning experience with employer designed standards increasingly embedding regenerative and agroecological practices. Land based T Levels and technical qualifications include opportunities for hands on learning in soil health, sustainable crop production, biodiversity, and low-impact land management.
Skills England works with employers to embed real world regenerative and agroecological practices in relevant occupational and apprenticeship standards to ensure they meet ongoing skills needs.
Local Skills Improvement Plans help guide providers to match training with the priority skills needs, which include those related to agriculture and land-based industries.
Together, these measures create a strong pipeline of young people equipped for careers in regenerative, low carbon land-based sectors.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to embed practical food, nature, and sustainability education across the national curriculum from EYFS to post-16, including T Levels.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The current national curriculum includes these topics, and there is a food preparation and nutrition GCSE, and science and geography are available at GCSE and A level.
In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the department will enhance the identity of food education by clearly distinguishing cooking and nutrition, which will be renamed food and nutrition, as a distinct subject within design and technology.
The department will also enhance the focus on climate education and sustainability that already exists in subjects such as geography, science, and citizenship. We will also include sustainability within design and technology.
The national curriculum will be taught in academies when it is implemented.
At post-16, the department is continuing to support adults to retrain and reskill in line with the needs of the green economy. We have a range of qualifications for older learners that provide training in green skills including apprenticeships, T levels, Skills Bootcamps and higher technical qualifications.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department is ensuring that early year’s provision includes learning about food, soil, biodiversity, and ecosystems.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The statutory Early Years Foundation Stage framework (EYFS) sets the education requirements for all early years settings. The EYFS provides a curriculum framework for settings to build upon across seven areas of learning, to ensure every child has the best start in life and is prepared for school.
The department provides a range of resources to support practitioners with promoting children’s learning about the natural world around them, including the Development Matters curriculum guidance, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/development-matters--2.
Further resources can be found through the Help for Early Years Providers site, accessible at: https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk/. Practitioners may also refer to the free, quality assured climate, nature and environmental education resources on the National Education Nature Park website: https://www.educationnaturepark.org.uk/resources.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found in Table 29 of the statistical tables, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025.
Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to align school food procurement with the Government’s (a) horticulture strategy and (b) food security objectives.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The government’s commitment to the horticulture sector and its vital role in strengthening food security by ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of home-grown fresh produce remains steadfast. We are taking a strategic approach to support for horticulture, recognising the specific needs of the sector. This includes developing a farming roadmap, which will set out a 25-year vision and blueprint to make our farming and food production more sustainable and profitable.
Alongside this, our food strategy will deliver clear long term outcomes that create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system. This will boost our food security, improve our health, ensure economic growth, and deliver environmental sustainability.
The department engages with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a variety of topics related to food in schools, as part of the government’s wider food strategy, helping to drive change and support a healthier, more sustainable and resilient food system.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to lower waiting times for speech therapy for children.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department continues to improve access to speech and language therapy by including the ‘Early Language and Support for Every Child’ (ELSEC) pathfinder project, in partnership with NHS England and within the department’s existing Change Programme. This is delivered across nine pathfinder sites, with one in each English region.
The interim programme evaluation allows the department to explore insights into the effectiveness of ELSEC delivery at a local level. Highlight reporting data shows that therapy support teams have helped around 20,000 children so far and just over 3000 setting staff have been upskilled in delivering interventions. A final evaluation will take place following the end of the summer term 2025.
The department is continuing funding support for the 11,100 schools registered for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme. As of March 2025, as part of NELI, 47,982 pupils undertook an initial Language Screen assessment in the 2024/25 academic year.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance she has provided to (a) local authorities and (b) families on the special assessments section of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.
Answered by Janet Daby
Detailed guidance has been provided to local authorities and regional adoption agencies about the recent changes to the adoption and special guardianship support fund, including regarding specialist assessments. Similar information has been shared with stakeholder organisations representing families. The GOV.UK website has also been updated with information to explain the recent changes. This information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adoption-support-fund-asf#funding-eligibility.