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 support children who do not meet the criteria for Specialist Provision Packages but require direct and ongoing support.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for South West Norfolk, to the answer of 2 September to Question 8865.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what safeguards will be put in place to ensure children and young people who lose their EHCP under the transition to the new system are still provided with specialist provision.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under the department’s proposals, a triple lock of transitional protections will mean no child loses effective support already in place.
Every child with a special school place in September 2029 will be able to stay in a special school until they finish education. Transition will only begin in 2029 once the new inclusive mainstream system has been built, and no child or young person with a current education, health and care (EHC) plan will transition until 2030. Children and young people who transition out of their EHC plan will have an Individual Support Plan in place ahead of their plan ceasing, developed in partnership with their families.
Over the next three years, we are investing to make our mainstream system more inclusive. For example, we are providing funding for every school to deliver a strong inclusive universal offer for every child and investing £1.8 billion in our new Experts at Hand offer, providing targeted health and expert education interventions from professionals such as speech and language therapists or educational psychologists so that more children and young people will get specialist support than they can currently. Experts at Hand will be developed by local area partnerships tailored to local needs and integrated with other local services.
The department will consider feedback from the consultation exercise carefully before making any final decisions on this policy.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of Welsh ALN reforms; and what steps she is taking to ensure that requirements for schools and settings to produce Individual Support Plans does not discourage the identification and support of children and young people with SEND.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I recently met senior officials from jurisdictions that have implemented special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms to learn lessons and share best practice. This included senior officials from Wales, who talked about their Additional Learning Needs reforms.
We will continue to work with the devolved governments as we progress the proposals set out in the SEND consultation document, as well as preparations for future legislation, to ensure that legislative impacts are fully understood and addressed. Under our proposals we will introduce clearer statutory expectations on schools to identify and meet needs as early as possible, monitor progress closely and put timely support in place.
To underpin this, we are developing the National Inclusion Standards through an independent expert panel, providing practical, evidence-informed tools for identifying and supporting diverse needs. We would also place a duty on settings to produce an Individual Support Plan for any child or young person receiving targeted, targeted plus or specialist support. The introduction of Individual Support Plans will help to ensure children and young people with SEND receive the right provision, supported by earlier identification.
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 to ensure that Initial Teacher Training equips all new teachers with the skills to deliver adaptive teaching for children with speech and language challenges.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for South West Norfolk to the answer of 2 March 2026 to Question 115276.
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
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
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.