Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she plans to monitor and evaluate the impact of the SEND teacher training programme on inclusion, attendance and educational outcomes for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department recently announced investment in a new package of training for staff in nurseries, schools and colleges, with the aim to ultimately improve support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
The new training programmes will also go through stages of quality assurance to ensure they are aligned with evidence of best practice.
A full monitoring and evaluation plan will be developed, and officials are currently scoping options for an independent evaluation.
The new package builds on training that is already available, such as special educational needs and disabilities and inclusion content woven through the suite of national professional qualifications, for which evaluation is already underway and interim reports are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an estimate of how many claimants have incurred overpayments as a result of moving into or between temporary accommodation.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We cannot provide any figures for this request as DWP does not record “moving into/ between temporary accommodation” as an overpayment reason.
Further information on published statistics for overpayments can be found here:
Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - GOV.UK
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many LinkedIn Learning licences were provided to Department for Work and Pensions staff; and what the total cost of those licences was, in each calendar quarter from Q1 2023 to the most recent quarter for which data is available.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below shows the number of licenses purchased and costs associated since Q1 2023.
These are annual subscriptions and have not been renewed since 2024.
| Q1 2023 | Q1 2024 |
Learning Licenses | 10 | 10 |
Costs | £3,264 | £3,600 |
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the number of UK small and medium‑sized defence companies that will use the business centre in Kyiv in its first year of operation.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The business centre is specifically designed to help UK SMEs overcome practical barriers to operating in Ukraine, based on industry and industry bodies feedback. Estimates cannot be disclosed at this stage, as it could prejudice fair competition among potential delivery partners and operational delivery. The Ministry of Defence will work with the selected delivery partner and relevant stakeholders to ensure the scale meets the business need and is enduring.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to introduce a framework to monitor the potential impact of the business centre in Kyiv on UK defence exports to Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
On completion of the procurement process, the Ministry of Defence will work with the selected delivery partner and relevant stakeholders to develop the business centre’s monitoring framework. As the centre becomes operational, we will integrate its activities within our existing monitoring and reporting frameworks to assess its contribution to UK-Ukraine defence exports, and wider UK trade as conditions change.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the scope of Project BOYD.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Project BOYD, delivered by the Royal Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, is a series of operational capability demonstrators harnessing AI to transform complex, time consuming and resource intensive command and control planning cycles through machine-speed, data-centric decision making, in order to generate a decision-action cycle that is palpably better than those of our adversaries.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the current student maintenance support system in light of sustained increases in rent, food, and energy costs; and what steps it is taking to ensure that student finance reflects real-world living expenses across all regions, including for students studying at rural institutions.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
To help higher education students with cost-of-living pressures, we are future-proofing maintenance loans by increasing them in-line with forecast inflation every year and reintroducing targeted means-tested maintenance grants of up to £1,000 per year from 2028/29. This year, we increased maximum maintenance loans by 3.1%, to £10,544 for students living away from home studying outside London, £13,762 for students living away from home studying in London, and £8,877 for students living at home.
Kathryn Mitchell, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Derby, will bring together sector experts and chair the Higher Education Access and Participation Task and Finish Group. Its remit includes developing options to address regional disparities in access for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. We are also working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to encourage universities to work with their local authorities on strategic approaches to meeting student housing needs.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department provides guidance to local authorities on ensuring that children and young people moving into temporary accommodation are supported to make necessary changes to personal information and continue to access education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Schools and colleges in England must follow the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ 2025 statutory guidance when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that all children of compulsory school age in their area are receiving suitable education. To support this duty, every local authority must have a Fair Access Protocol in place to ensure that vulnerable children, including those who are homeless, can be secured a school place as quickly as possible where they fail to secure one through the usual admissions processes.
The government has also tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to introduce a new duty on local housing authorities to notify educational institutions, GP practices and health visiting services when a child is placed in temporary accommodation. Guidance will be provided for local authority housing officers and the public bodies receiving notifications.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether disabled young carers in families affected by sodium valproate-related harm are being (a) identified and (b) supported within the education system.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We know that families with children with disabilities, including those affected by sodium valproate harm and where the children may be caring for other family members, are crying out for change.
The department’s upcoming full Schools White Paper will build on the work we have already done to create a system that is rooted in inclusion, where children receive high-quality support early on and can thrive at their local school. This work includes the new standards on inclusion introduced by Ofsted in their new education inspection framework last November, and we are pleased to note that the needs of pupils with disabilities and those who are young carers are fully recognised in the inspection toolkit for the new framework.
Schools are also required to identify and record all pupils who are young carers on the school census regardless of the reason they may be providing care for family members.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask The Senior Deputy Speaker for what reason access by Parliamentary pass holders to College Green was restricted for a period between 1100-1200 on Monday 19 January, and which Parliamentary official or office holder authorised this restriction.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The safety and security of all those who work on and visit the Parliamentary Estate is a top priority, with access controls in place to maintain this safety. Black Rod’s Office in the House of Lords work with The Serjeant at Arms’ Office and the Parliamentary Security Department to ensure that access, including the passage at College Green, is maintained wherever possible to allow for Parliamentary pass holders to have the access they need within the Estate and between parts of the Estate so that they can carry out their duties.
Access to College Green is managed by the House of Commons through the office of the Serjeant at Arms, in consultation with the Parliamentary Security Department. On the date in question, access was briefly impeded by a personal security operative working for an MP. The Office of the Serjeant at Arms has since reminded the MP of the established protocols to ensure that access is not impeded, restricted, or interrupted by security operatives or broadcast teams.