Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of moving SEND children onto Individual Support Plans on legal rights, risk to harm and recognisability of hidden disability.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Our reformed system will focus on earlier, more accurate identification of need, ensuring children and young people receive the right support at the earliest possible point without relying on diagnosis. The National Inclusion Standards will include whole school, universal approaches, as well as tools and approaches to identify and respond to needs through the targeted/targeted plus layers of support. These new Standards will support teachers to notice and identify where children or young people may be experiencing barriers to their learning, and suggest evidence-based approaches to support them.
Experts at Hand will also provide expert advice direct into settings to support staff to identify needs, without the need for bureaucratic hurdles.
The proposal is for Individual Support Plans (ISPs) to provide a record of need and provision for any child or young person receiving targeted, targeted plus or specialist support in school or college developed with children and parents/carers.
We have carefully assessed the impact of all our proposals and this is included in our published SEND reform: equalities impact assessment and SEND reform: child’s rights impact assessment.
Under our proposed reforms, Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) will continue to exist, guaranteeing statutory entitlements to education and health provision, with content agreed in consultation with young people and parents. Children and young people will be eligible for an EHC plan in the reformed system, if they need the support set out in a specialist provision package which will provide comprehensive, evidence-based support.
After a 12 week consultation period including over 200 engagement events, meetings and roundtables, the consultation has now closed and we are carefully considering responses.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of SEND reform proposals on the availability of ECHPs for children whose difficulties are (a) high-masking and (b) not immediately visible.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Our reformed system will focus on earlier, more accurate identification of need, ensuring children and young people receive the right support at the earliest possible point without relying on diagnosis. The National Inclusion Standards will include whole school, universal approaches, as well as tools and approaches to identify and respond to needs through the targeted/targeted plus layers of support. These new Standards will support teachers to notice and identify where children or young people may be experiencing barriers to their learning, and suggest evidence-based approaches to support them.
Experts at Hand will also provide expert advice direct into settings to support staff to identify needs, without the need for bureaucratic hurdles.
The proposal is for Individual Support Plans (ISPs) to provide a record of need and provision for any child or young person receiving targeted, targeted plus or specialist support in school or college developed with children and parents/carers.
We have carefully assessed the impact of all our proposals and this is included in our published SEND reform: equalities impact assessment and SEND reform: child’s rights impact assessment.
Under our proposed reforms, Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) will continue to exist, guaranteeing statutory entitlements to education and health provision, with content agreed in consultation with young people and parents. Children and young people will be eligible for an EHC plan in the reformed system, if they need the support set out in a specialist provision package which will provide comprehensive, evidence-based support.
After a 12 week consultation period including over 200 engagement events, meetings and roundtables, the consultation has now closed and we are carefully considering responses.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how SEND reforms will ensure that local authorities are held accountable for statutory duties, including meeting deadlines and appropriately assessing need.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Schools White Paper sets clear expectations for the quality and timeliness of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision delivered by local authorities, supported by significant investment to drive system transformation.
In March 2026, the department commissioned local authorities, working with Integrated Care Boards, to develop SEND reform plans and will hold them to account for delivering strong outcomes for children and young people with SEND, intervening decisively where progress stalls and using our full intervention powers where failure persists.
Area SEND inspections provide independent evaluation of local arrangements. The department, alongside NHS England, provides support and challenge to local area partnerships. Where concerns are identified, we will draw on the full range of support and challenge levers to drive improvements.
The department publishes annual SEN2 data on education, health and care plans and assessments, including timeliness, which informs performance monitoring. Where a local authority fails to meet statutory duties, we can take action that prioritises children’s needs, including the issuing of Improvement Notices or Statutory Directions to drive urgent improvements.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of education psychologists.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer, strengthening mainstream education through access to health and specialist education support, including from educational psychologists (EPs).
By setting clear national expectations alongside locally delivered support, the offer will help ensure children and young people can receive timely, high‑quality specialist support regardless of locality, reducing variation and improving equity of access.
The department is also investing £26 million to train at least 200 EPs per year from 2026/2027, followed by additional funding from 2028 to train more EPs than we currently do, subject to the future Spending Review. This is in addition to the £31 million already invested to train EPs since 2023.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve data sharing between schools, local authorities and safeguarding agencies to support the identification of children at risk of going missing.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government takes the issue of any child going missing, from home or care, extremely seriously and has provided clear guidance about responsibilities for all children who go missing. When a child is found, they must be offered an independent Return Home Interview and local authorities, police and voluntary services should also work together to understand why the child went missing and what support they may need, including with their mental health, in the future to prevent them from going missing again.
The department has announced a £7 million funding boost to early support hubs across England providing drop-in mental health support for young people aged 11 to 25. Alongside this, we are investing an extra £688 million in mental health services this year and are recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers across children’s and adult services.
Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme, supported by £2.4 billion, updates to the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance, and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the underlying drivers.
Measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aim to put an end to misconceptions about legal barriers to sharing information, through introducing an Information Sharing Duty and making provision for a Single Unique Identifier to improve information sharing between agencies.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of mental health support available to children who are at risk of going missing.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government takes the issue of any child going missing, from home or care, extremely seriously and has provided clear guidance about responsibilities for all children who go missing. When a child is found, they must be offered an independent Return Home Interview and local authorities, police and voluntary services should also work together to understand why the child went missing and what support they may need, including with their mental health, in the future to prevent them from going missing again.
The department has announced a £7 million funding boost to early support hubs across England providing drop-in mental health support for young people aged 11 to 25. Alongside this, we are investing an extra £688 million in mental health services this year and are recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers across children’s and adult services.
Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme, supported by £2.4 billion, updates to the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance, and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the underlying drivers.
Measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aim to put an end to misconceptions about legal barriers to sharing information, through introducing an Information Sharing Duty and making provision for a Single Unique Identifier to improve information sharing between agencies.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues is taking to improve outcomes for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who go missing from care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government takes the issue of any child going missing, either from home or from local authority care, extremely seriously. An unaccompanied child is entitled to the same support as any other looked after child, regardless of their immigration status.
We expect local authorities and their safeguarding partners to work together to reduce the chances of children going missing, to respond effectively when they do, and understand why. We have provided clear guidance about responsibilities towards all children who go missing. This includes the appropriate response from the relevant police force and expectations for the settings where children live, to ensure children have access to the services they need.
Measures from the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and Crime and Policing Bill, reforms being delivered through the Families First Partnership Programme (supported by £2.4 billion), updates to the ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ statutory guidance and oversight from the Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will ensure that we better respond when children go missing and intervene earlier to tackle the problems children and their families face.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of schools’ mobile phone policies in preventing disruption in learning.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Mobile phones have no place in schools.
Research from the Children’s Commissioner, published in April 2025, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.
The department’s recently strengthened guidance on mobile phones in schools is clear that all schools should be mobile phone-free by default. Pupils should not have access to their devices during lessons, break times, lunch times, or between lessons.
The guidance will be implemented through behaviour management in schools, and by setting out clear expectations for teachers and school staff. Our attendance and behaviour hub lead schools will support other schools to implement and enforce a mobile phone policy where needed.
From April, Ofsted will also check school mobile phone policy on every inspection, with schools expected to be mobile phone-free by default. Ofsted will examine both schools' mobile phone policies and how effectively they are implemented when judging behaviour during inspections.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support she is providing to students who want to pursue a creative course for further education but cannot due to not obtaining English and Maths GCSEs despite resits.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Level 2 English and mathematics skills are essential for progression in work and further study, and providers are required to continue teaching English and/or mathematics to students aged 16 to 19 without these skills. Learners aged 16 to 18 at the start of their apprenticeship are required to achieve English and/or maths qualifications as an exit requirement.
The department does not set entry requirements for further education (FE) courses and guidance is clear that decisions to enter students into English and mathematics exams should be based on readiness to improve their grade.
The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper outlined further support for providers to improve outcomes for all students, on study programmes. We have introduced teaching hours requirements and will also introduce new Level 1 preparation for GCSE qualifications. We are working with the FE Commissioner to share effective practice. Proposed reforms to level 2 and 3 vocational and technical pathways will also be designed to ensure there is sufficient time to continue studying English and mathematics.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the requirement to resit Maths and English GCSEs until passing on young people starting their careers and pursuing vocational further education and apprenticeships.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Level 2 English and mathematics skills are essential for progression in work and further study, and providers are required to continue teaching English and/or mathematics to students aged 16 to 19 without these skills. Learners aged 16 to 18 at the start of their apprenticeship are required to achieve English and/or maths qualifications as an exit requirement.
The department does not set entry requirements for further education (FE) courses and guidance is clear that decisions to enter students into English and mathematics exams should be based on readiness to improve their grade.
The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper outlined further support for providers to improve outcomes for all students, on study programmes. We have introduced teaching hours requirements and will also introduce new Level 1 preparation for GCSE qualifications. We are working with the FE Commissioner to share effective practice. Proposed reforms to level 2 and 3 vocational and technical pathways will also be designed to ensure there is sufficient time to continue studying English and mathematics.