Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many schools have mental health support teams.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
9,986 out of 24,149 (41%) schools in England were supported by an NHS-funded Mental Health Support Team (MHST) in March 2025. This data on the coverage of MHSTs in England in 2024/25 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision. This has been available since 16 May 2025 at national, regional and local authority level and since 10 July 2025 at constituency level. Around six in ten pupils nationally are expected to have access to an MHST by March 2026, and we will accelerate the roll out to reach full national coverage by 2029.
Data on MHST coverage is collected annually, as part of the government's commitment to expand MHSTs to every school, so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Young Futures Hubs have been set up.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The first eight Early Adopter Young Futures Hubs are due to be operational before 31st March 2026. The host local authorities for the Early Adopters can be found on gov.uk
The timeline for rollout of the remaining 42 Young Futures Hubs will be determined in due course.
The Government has developed Young Futures Hubs as part of the recently published National Youth Strategy - Youth Matters. The National Youth Strategy sets out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this across the country.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the decision to restrict Level 7 apprenticeship funding for apprentices aged over 21 does not financially disadvantage learners who have completed a Level 6 architectural assistant apprenticeship and wish to progress to a full professional qualification at Level 7.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Since January 2026, the government no longer funds level 7 apprenticeships, equivalent to master’s degree level, except for young apprentices under the age of 22, and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan. This will enable apprenticeships opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people and create more opportunities for those entering the labour market, who need skills and training to get on in their careers.
The government is encouraging more employers to invest in upskilling their staff aged over 22 to level 7 where it delivers a benefit to the business and the individual. It will be for employers to determine the most appropriate training. The department has published guidance on privately funded apprenticeships, which will enable employers to privately fund level 7 apprenticeships for staff aged over 22: Privately funded apprenticeships: rules and guidance - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the major sporting events listed in Ofcom's listed events regime.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The current listed events regime is designed to ensure that certain sporting events of national significance are available to as wide an audience as possible, by prohibiting exclusive broadcasting of the event without prior consent from Ofcom.
The Government believes the current list of events strikes an appropriate balance between ensuring viewers access to significant sporting events and allowing sports to maximise broadcasting revenue to invest in the growth and development of those sports.
The Government has no plans to review the list at this time.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 10 December (HL12375), what assessment they have made of the planned level of tuition for young offenders by the Shaw Trust compared to the number of hours delivered.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Shaw Trust is programming the required learning hours; delivery is affected by restrictions on mixing between certain children, which limit the number of learners who can be accommodated in a classroom at any one time. These restrictions arise from conflicts that have transferred into custody from the community. The establishment is actively addressing this by working to resolve these conflicts, enabling greater classroom integration and maximising access to education.
The action plan prepared in response to the joint Ofsted/HMIP thematic report The Quality of Education in Young Offender Institutions was published on 15 November 2024.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Timpson on 10 December (HL12375), what action they are taking at Feltham Prison and Young Offenders Institution to increase the number of hours of tuition delivered by the Shaw Trust.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Shaw Trust is programming the required learning hours; delivery is affected by restrictions on mixing between certain children, which limit the number of learners who can be accommodated in a classroom at any one time. These restrictions arise from conflicts that have transferred into custody from the community. The establishment is actively addressing this by working to resolve these conflicts, enabling greater classroom integration and maximising access to education.
The action plan prepared in response to the joint Ofsted/HMIP thematic report The Quality of Education in Young Offender Institutions was published on 15 November 2024.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the youth custody service improvement plan has been published.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Shaw Trust is programming the required learning hours; delivery is affected by restrictions on mixing between certain children, which limit the number of learners who can be accommodated in a classroom at any one time. These restrictions arise from conflicts that have transferred into custody from the community. The establishment is actively addressing this by working to resolve these conflicts, enabling greater classroom integration and maximising access to education.
The action plan prepared in response to the joint Ofsted/HMIP thematic report The Quality of Education in Young Offender Institutions was published on 15 November 2024.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what level of tuition has been provided in each young offender institution in England and Wales since August.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Youth Education Service contract requires Shaw Trust to deliver education to each learner for at least 15 hours each week. This is in addition to the wider curriculum offer, which includes library access, gym, youth work sessions and other activities that support children’s learning and development.
Every child is assessed to determine the grade or level of tuition they should be working at or towards, from Entry Level 1 in subjects such as Mathematics and English, through to A level.
The table below shows the number of hours planned per child by education providers, and the number of hours delivered.
HMP/YOI Feltham | Average planned weekly hours | Average hours delivered |
August | 15.78 | 6.34 |
September | 15.81 | 6.71 |
October | 16.32 | 4.87 |
HMP/YOI Wetherby | Average planned weekly hours | Average hours delivered |
August | 19.97 | 10.2 |
September | 18.46 | 10.96 |
October | 20.29 | 11.1 |
HMP/YOI Werrington | Average planned weekly hours | Average hours delivered |
August | 15.09 | 8.17 |
September | 15.55 | 7.64 |
October | 15.94 | 9.18 |
HMP/YOI Parc | Average planned weekly hours | Average hours delivered |
August | 23.60 | 19.20 |
September | 23.40 | 14.50 |
October | 25.00 | 20.00 |
Planned learning sessions may not take place for a variety of reasons, including court appearances, legal visits, sickness and medical treatment. Absence of provider staff is a further cause of cancellation.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) has developed a comprehensive improvement plan for the next three years, which aims to increase time spent out of room in purposeful activity. It is also overhauling the incentives systems to ensure it focuses on values-led behaviour. The YCS has seconded staff from HMYOI Parc to develop systems across the other YOIs and share learning from their success. We are already seeing a gradual increase in time out of room in all sites, work which the YCS will continue to build on.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the agreed level of tuition to be provided by Shaw Trust in the contract they signed with the trust for young offender institutions.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Youth Education Service contract requires Shaw Trust to deliver education to each learner for at least 15 hours each week. This is in addition to the wider curriculum offer, which includes library access, gym, youth work sessions and other activities that support children’s learning and development.
Every child is assessed to determine the grade or level of tuition they should be working at or towards, from Entry Level 1 in subjects such as Mathematics and English, through to A level.
The table below shows the number of hours planned per child by education providers, and the number of hours delivered.
HMP/YOI Feltham | Average planned weekly hours | Average hours delivered |
August | 15.78 | 6.34 |
September | 15.81 | 6.71 |
October | 16.32 | 4.87 |
HMP/YOI Wetherby | Average planned weekly hours | Average hours delivered |
August | 19.97 | 10.2 |
September | 18.46 | 10.96 |
October | 20.29 | 11.1 |
HMP/YOI Werrington | Average planned weekly hours | Average hours delivered |
August | 15.09 | 8.17 |
September | 15.55 | 7.64 |
October | 15.94 | 9.18 |
HMP/YOI Parc | Average planned weekly hours | Average hours delivered |
August | 23.60 | 19.20 |
September | 23.40 | 14.50 |
October | 25.00 | 20.00 |
Planned learning sessions may not take place for a variety of reasons, including court appearances, legal visits, sickness and medical treatment. Absence of provider staff is a further cause of cancellation.
The Youth Custody Service (YCS) has developed a comprehensive improvement plan for the next three years, which aims to increase time spent out of room in purposeful activity. It is also overhauling the incentives systems to ensure it focuses on values-led behaviour. The YCS has seconded staff from HMYOI Parc to develop systems across the other YOIs and share learning from their success. We are already seeing a gradual increase in time out of room in all sites, work which the YCS will continue to build on.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they have spent on each young offender institution in England and Wales in each year since October 2022.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The following table shows total resource expenditure at each public sector young offender institution (YOI), in the Children and Young People Estate for the three years 2022-23 to 2024-25. The figures do not include expenditure on education, as this is managed collectively across establishments, and it is not therefore possible to apportion it to individual YOIs.
YOI(1) | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
Cookham Wood(2) | 15,120,726 | 16,205,614 | 6,854,616 |
Feltham | 16,472,102 | 17,695,172 | 20,121,355 |
Werrington | 14,135,716 | 14,517,650 | 16,897,088 |
Wetherby | 24,491,671 | 26,969,686 | 31,683,400 |
Notes:
HMYOI Parc is not included. This is because it is managed under a single contract together with HMP Parc and it is not possible to disaggregate spending between the two establishments.
Cookham Wood closed as a YOI in August 2024.