Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to help increase enrichment activities for children and young people in educational settings in Hyndburn.

The department is committed to ensuring all young people across England can access a wide range of enrichment opportunities at school and college, as part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure all children deserve a childhood with a wide range of things to do away from screens.

In our response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, and in the Every Child Achieving and Thriving Schools White Paper, we set out our ambition to introduce an enrichment entitlement for every pupil, underpinned by a core enrichment offer that every school and college should aim to provide.

This is supported by the new Enrichment Framework, which sets out benchmarks, case studies and practical tools to help schools and colleges plan high-quality enrichment more strategically.

We are also putting in place support for wider provision, including through PE and School Sport Partnerships, Music Hubs, and the £22.5 million Enrichment Expansion Programme, delivered with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, supporting up to 400 schools in the most deprived areas of England to meet these benchmarks. ‘Every Child Can’, funded through the Dormant Assets Scheme, will deliver £132.5 million for new activities programmes delivered through schools, community programmes, weekend activities and holiday provision, structured around the same five categories as the Enrichment Framework.