Department for Education

I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 08 July 2025 to Question 60798.

To promote the School-Based Nursery Capital Grant 2024/25, the department published detailed information on GOV.UK and the Education Hub, supported by social media posts. We held two webinars for schools and one for local authorities to explain the programme and answer questions. Additional communications were shared in a variety of ways with local authorities and stakeholders to help cascade information to schools.

The programme received 642 applications, which was more than double the number of available grants. The North West, where Fylde is located, submitted 115 applications (18% of the total), the highest of any region and above its 15% share of primary schools nationally.

The government has committed nearly £370 million to further expand school-based nursery places, with next steps to be announced shortly. Schools in Fylde are encouraged to stay in touch with their local authority about upcoming opportunities to create or expand school-based nursery provision.

The department is reviewing its communications to inform future rounds.

Schools are receiving £615 million to support them with the costs of the 2025 pay awards, over and above the funding already being provided to schools in financial year 2025/26. The increase in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) costs were considered when calculating this additional funding.

The department has asked that schools fund, on average, the first 1% of the 2025 pay awards. The impact of this will vary for individual schools based on their circumstances, as they have autonomy over how they use their funding, including any decisions on staffing.

Schools in Central Bedfordshire are receiving £4 million to support them with their NICs costs; we will publish allocations for the 2025 pay grant in the autumn. From 2026/27, funding in respect of both NICs costs, and the 2025 pay awards, will be incorporated into schools’ core budgets through the national funding formula.

The department provides a suite of free tools, guidance and support, developed in partnership with the sector, to help schools better manage their spending. Schools are already making savings and bringing core operating costs down: for example, the 400 schools who participated in the department’s new energy for schools pilot will save 36% on average compared to their previous contracts, which will free up vital funding to deliver for children and young people. We are also making plans to secure better banking solutions for schools, getting them better returns on their cash balances.

Additionally, all schools can access services such as the get help buying for schools service to get best value when procuring goods and our teaching vacancies service to save recruitment costs. Since, workforce deployment is the biggest component of school budgets, we will support schools to benefit fully from the tools we offer to benchmark and integrate resourcing and curriculum planning, such as the financial benchmarking and insights tool. We will also introduce a new toolkit to support schools to adopt evidence-based deployment models. This will focus on data that helps schools identify areas for improvement and support to learn from best practice peers who are delivering strong outcomes for pupils with an efficient deployment model.

Schools are receiving £615 million to support them with the costs of the 2025 pay awards, over and above the funding already being provided to schools in financial year 2025/26. The increase in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) costs were considered when calculating this additional funding.

The department has asked that schools fund, on average, the first 1% of the 2025 pay awards. The impact of this will vary for individual schools based on their circumstances, as they have autonomy over how they use their funding, including any decisions on staffing.

Schools in Central Bedfordshire are receiving £4 million to support them with their NICs costs; we will publish allocations for the 2025 pay grant in the autumn. From 2026/27, funding in respect of both NICs costs, and the 2025 pay awards, will be incorporated into schools’ core budgets through the national funding formula.

The department provides a suite of free tools, guidance and support, developed in partnership with the sector, to help schools better manage their spending. Schools are already making savings and bringing core operating costs down: for example, the 400 schools who participated in the department’s new energy for schools pilot will save 36% on average compared to their previous contracts, which will free up vital funding to deliver for children and young people. We are also making plans to secure better banking solutions for schools, getting them better returns on their cash balances.

Additionally, all schools can access services such as the get help buying for schools service to get best value when procuring goods and our teaching vacancies service to save recruitment costs. Since, workforce deployment is the biggest component of school budgets, we will support schools to benefit fully from the tools we offer to benchmark and integrate resourcing and curriculum planning, such as the financial benchmarking and insights tool. We will also introduce a new toolkit to support schools to adopt evidence-based deployment models. This will focus on data that helps schools identify areas for improvement and support to learn from best practice peers who are delivering strong outcomes for pupils with an efficient deployment model.

Schools are receiving £615 million to support them with the costs of the 2025 pay awards, over and above the funding already being provided to schools in financial year 2025/26. The increase in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) costs were considered when calculating this additional funding.

The department has asked that schools fund, on average, the first 1% of the 2025 pay awards. The impact of this will vary for individual schools based on their circumstances, as they have autonomy over how they use their funding, including any decisions on staffing.

Schools in Central Bedfordshire are receiving £4 million to support them with their NICs costs; we will publish allocations for the 2025 pay grant in the autumn. From 2026/27, funding in respect of both NICs costs, and the 2025 pay awards, will be incorporated into schools’ core budgets through the national funding formula.

The department provides a suite of free tools, guidance and support, developed in partnership with the sector, to help schools better manage their spending. Schools are already making savings and bringing core operating costs down: for example, the 400 schools who participated in the department’s new energy for schools pilot will save 36% on average compared to their previous contracts, which will free up vital funding to deliver for children and young people. We are also making plans to secure better banking solutions for schools, getting them better returns on their cash balances.

Additionally, all schools can access services such as the get help buying for schools service to get best value when procuring goods and our teaching vacancies service to save recruitment costs. Since, workforce deployment is the biggest component of school budgets, we will support schools to benefit fully from the tools we offer to benchmark and integrate resourcing and curriculum planning, such as the financial benchmarking and insights tool. We will also introduce a new toolkit to support schools to adopt evidence-based deployment models. This will focus on data that helps schools identify areas for improvement and support to learn from best practice peers who are delivering strong outcomes for pupils with an efficient deployment model.

Schools are receiving £615 million to support them with the costs of the 2025 pay awards, over and above the funding already being provided to schools in financial year 2025/26. The increase in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) costs were considered when calculating this additional funding.

The department has asked that schools fund, on average, the first 1% of the 2025 pay awards. The impact of this will vary for individual schools based on their circumstances, as they have autonomy over how they use their funding, including any decisions on staffing.

Schools in Central Bedfordshire are receiving £4 million to support them with their NICs costs; we will publish allocations for the 2025 pay grant in the autumn. From 2026/27, funding in respect of both NICs costs, and the 2025 pay awards, will be incorporated into schools’ core budgets through the national funding formula.

The department provides a suite of free tools, guidance and support, developed in partnership with the sector, to help schools better manage their spending. Schools are already making savings and bringing core operating costs down: for example, the 400 schools who participated in the department’s new energy for schools pilot will save 36% on average compared to their previous contracts, which will free up vital funding to deliver for children and young people. We are also making plans to secure better banking solutions for schools, getting them better returns on their cash balances.

Additionally, all schools can access services such as the get help buying for schools service to get best value when procuring goods and our teaching vacancies service to save recruitment costs. Since, workforce deployment is the biggest component of school budgets, we will support schools to benefit fully from the tools we offer to benchmark and integrate resourcing and curriculum planning, such as the financial benchmarking and insights tool. We will also introduce a new toolkit to support schools to adopt evidence-based deployment models. This will focus on data that helps schools identify areas for improvement and support to learn from best practice peers who are delivering strong outcomes for pupils with an efficient deployment model.

The Armed Forces Covenant aims to ensure that service people and their families are not disadvantaged by their service to our country. The government is dedicated to recognising and supporting the education of children and young people from military families within the state-funded education system, ensuring they have the opportunity to achieve and thrive.

Schools are allocated additional funding through the Service Pupil Premium to help them better support the specific needs of children from service families. For the 2025/26 financial year, over £26 million has been allocated to state-funded schools in England through the Service Pupil Premium, at a rate of £350 per pupil.

The government remains open to new evidence regarding the specific needs of service children and is committed to finding the best ways to support them throughout all educational phases.

Pupil premium funding is allocated to eligible schools based on the number of:

• Pupils who are recorded as eligible for free school meals (FSM), or have been recorded as eligible in the past 6 years (referred to as Ever 6 FSM),
• Children previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, including children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales.

Pupil premium funding is allocated to local authorities based on the number of:

• Looked-after children, supported by the local authority.
• Pupils who meet any of the eligibility criteria and who attend an independent setting, where the local authority pays full tuition fees.

Pupil premium will continue to be allocated on this basis, on the basis of household income below £7,400 (after tax, not including benefits) for the 2026/27 financial year.

We are reviewing how we allocate pupil premium funding in the longer term. We will provide more information in due course.

The department’s National Pupil Projections are updated annually to take account of the latest population estimates and population projections published by the Office for National Statistics, which incorporate the latest birth rate trends. The department’s projections are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/national-pupil-projections/2024.

​​​The government has announced an additional £4.2 billion for schools across the Spending Review period, which will take core schools budgets to £69.5 billion by 2028/29.

​The majority of school funding is allocated through the national funding formula, which will be published in the autumn to provide schools with greater certainty over their funding in the financial year 2026/27. The core schools budget is used to support several different funding streams, and how it will be distributed across the Spending Review period will depend on future business planning processes.

​Allocations to individual local authorities and schools will be determined using up-to-date data. 2026/27 allocations will be calculated by reference to the October 2025 school census.​​

East Sussex’s most recent Area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspection was undertaken by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in November 2024, which found that the local area partnership’s arrangements lead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

The inspection identified four areas for improvement, including that the local area partnership should develop and embed its work with education settings on improving inclusion, so that the proportion of children and young people achieving strong outcomes increases.

Following the inspection, the East Sussex local area partnership has published a strategic plan with specific actions to address all four areas for improvement, and the department, alongside NHS England, will be tracking the progress that the local area makes against this plan, including through regular engagement, and will offer support and challenge as the local area’s improvement journey continues.

I refer the hon. Member for Strangford to the answer of 03 July 2025 to Question 63139.

​​I refer my hon. Friend the member for the City of Durham to the answer of 03 July 2025 to Question 62713.​

It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, improving opportunity for every child and work choices for every parent. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school.

The department is expanding the childcare entitlements so that from September 2025, eligible working parents can access 30 hours of early education and childcare a week, over 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their child turns 9 months until they start school.

Parents can find information on early education entitlements and other childcare offers at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.

On Monday 7 July, the department published its strategy to give every child the Best Start in Life. We will look across the early education and childcare support provided by different parts of government to identify ways to make it simpler for providers and parents, improve access and increase the overall impact of government spending on children and families. We will look at how to improve outcomes for children from low-income families and at the requirements on households to access different childcare entitlements.

This government is committed to strengthening the home learning environment to support literacy and school readiness as part of the Plan for Change. In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million through Family Hubs in home learning environment services to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings that support early communication and confidence. In the recent Spending Review, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, confirmed that the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme as part of the Spending Review 2025.

Our Little Moments Together campaign provides free resources and advice to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their children, simple actions that make a lasting difference. Promoting a culture of reading for pleasure at home supports children’s language development, emotional wellbeing and cognitive growth, particularly in the early years. These benefits extend into later childhood, contributing to improved educational outcomes and a lifelong engagement with learning.

For school-age children, we continue to encourage parental engagement in reading and learning at home, recognising that strong early foundations are key to long term educational success.

This government is committed to strengthening the home learning environment to support literacy and school readiness as part of the Plan for Change. In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million through Family Hubs in home learning environment services to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings that support early communication and confidence. In the recent Spending Review, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, confirmed that the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme as part of the Spending Review 2025.

Our Little Moments Together campaign provides free resources and advice to encourage parents to chat, play and read with their children, simple actions that make a lasting difference. Promoting a culture of reading for pleasure at home supports children’s language development, emotional wellbeing and cognitive growth, particularly in the early years. These benefits extend into later childhood, contributing to improved educational outcomes and a lifelong engagement with learning.

For school-age children, we continue to encourage parental engagement in reading and learning at home, recognising that strong early foundations are key to long term educational success.

The government is committed to improving early literacy and ensuring children have the best start in life. Strong early foundations are essential for school readiness and long-term educational success. That is why we are focused on strengthening the home learning environment and supporting families from pregnancy through the early years, as part of our wider ambition under the Plan for Change. This includes the national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028.

Family Hubs are central to this ambition, providing joined-up support for families across health, education and early years services.

In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings that support early communication and confidence.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme as part of the Spending Review 2025. Through our ‘Little Moments Together’ campaign and partnerships with the voluntary sector, we continue to support parents to chat, play and read with their children, simple, everyday actions that make a lasting difference to early literacy and school readiness.

The government is committed to improving early literacy and ensuring children have the best start in life. Strong early foundations are essential for school readiness and long-term educational success. That is why we are focused on strengthening the home learning environment and supporting families from pregnancy through the early years, as part of our wider ambition under the Plan for Change. This includes the national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028.

Family Hubs are central to this ambition, providing joined-up support for families across health, education and early years services.

In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings that support early communication and confidence.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme as part of the Spending Review 2025. Through our ‘Little Moments Together’ campaign and partnerships with the voluntary sector, we continue to support parents to chat, play and read with their children, simple, everyday actions that make a lasting difference to early literacy and school readiness.

The government is committed to breaking down the barriers to accessing sport and physical activity for children and young people, including girls. Our manifesto set out our intention to support more children to be active by protecting time for physical education (PE) in schools and working across government to support the role grassroots clubs play in expanding access to sport and physical activity.

On 19 June, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced next steps for the future of PE and sport in schools. As part of our mission-led approach and Plan for Change, the government will co-design PE and School Sport Partnership networks. We are looking to develop and build strong partnerships between schools, national governing bodies, local organisations and clubs. The planned model will look to strengthen and broaden partnership-based support with the aim to increase equal access for children to high quality PE and extracurricular sport.

Schools are also supported to increase girls’ engagement in sport through programmes delivered by sector organisations, such as the Football Association’s ‘Barclays Girls’ Football School Partnerships’ programme and Sport England’s online Studio You programme.

The government recognises the wide-ranging benefits of promoting a culture of reading for pleasure at home, both in the early years and throughout a child’s school life. Reading for pleasure supports the development of early language, literacy, and cognitive skills, and is associated with improved educational attainment and emotional wellbeing. In the early years, shared reading helps build secure attachments and supports communication and confidence. For school-age children, it reinforces comprehension, vocabulary, and a lifelong engagement with learning.

In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings that support early communication and confidence. Our Little Moments Together campaign encourages parents to chat, play and read with their children, simple, everyday actions that help foster a love of books and stories. These efforts are part of our wider ambition under the Plan for Change, which includes a national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028. By supporting families to embed reading into daily routines, we are helping to lay strong foundations for children’s development and long term success.

There is strong evidence that the 1,001 days from conception to the age of two set the foundations for cognitive, emotional, and physical development. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, families are supported during this period and beyond. Focusing on early years is a preventative measure to improve the outcomes of children of all ages. Family Hubs provide thousands of families access to the support they need to help give their child the best start in life, which includes support with infant feeding, parent-infant relationships, perinatal mental health, parenting, early language development and the home learning environment.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, set out plans for spending and public sector reforms through the Spending Review 2025. This announcement confirmed departmental budgets for 2026/27 onwards and committed that the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, working with parents to help give children the best start in life. This builds upon my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024, which outlined the ambition to give children the best start in life by strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.

The government recognises the significant benefits of promoting a culture of reading for pleasure in the home learning environment. Reading for pleasure supports the development of early language, literacy and cognitive skills, and is strongly associated with improved educational outcomes and emotional wellbeing. Through our national campaign ‘Little Moments Together’ we encourage parents and carers to chat, play and read with their children, helping to foster a love of books and stories from the earliest years. This complements our wider investment of £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs, which provides families with the tools and support to create language-rich, nurturing settings. These efforts are part of our broader ambition, set out in the Plan for Change, to ensure every child has the best start in life and develops strong foundations for lifelong learning and success.

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements that all early years providers must follow to ensure every child has the best start in life and is prepared for school. The EYFS is clear that children learn through play and that play is essential for children’s development. For example, singing songs helps to develop language comprehension, vocabulary, self-expression and literacy. Practitioners should carefully organise enabling environments and cultures for high-quality play and are encouraged to create games and provide opportunity for play both indoors and outdoors.

‘The Children of the 2020s’ study is part of the department’s programme of research that will improve our understanding of children’s progress throughout key phases of learning and education and aid future policy development. The study follows more than 8,500 families and their babies, born in England between September and November 2021. The first wave of data published in 2023 showed that more than half of primary caregivers engaged in physical or turn-taking play, singing, pretend games and noisy play with their babies several times a day. These activities were linked to improved early language development. The second wave of data is due to be published in the autumn, and we will assess that to consider how we shape future policy for early education, including anything it tells us about learning through play.

The department does not have evidence to suggest that university students are using self-declaration of neurodiversity to cheat or gain unneeded leniency in exams or assessments.

Universities provide support for neurodiverse students to ensure they have equal opportunities to succeed. This includes reasonable adjustments such as extra time in exams or alternative assessment methods.

To receive this type of support, students typically need to provide evidence of their neurodivergence and how it would impair their ability to complete certain activities. This process helps ensure that only those who genuinely need support receive it.

Universities are increasingly aware of the need to support neurodiverse students appropriately. This includes training staff to recognise and support students with neurodiverse conditions. The focus is on providing fair and necessary support to students who need it.

Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission. This government is committed to giving children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity. We have set a milestone of a record proportion of children (75%) starting school ready to learn in the classroom.

Physical development is one of the three prime areas of learning and development in the early years foundation stage and includes fine motor skills. Practitioners should support children to develop fine motor skills including manipulating objects and eating with cutlery.

All schools have specific duties to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of their pupils and to prepare them for the opportunities and responsibilities of adult life in modern Britain. This includes ensuring pupils understand the society in which they are growing up and the importance of respect for other people.

Through compulsory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE), pupils are taught how to build respectful and empathetic relationships as well as how to support their own and others’ health and wellbeing, including simple self-care techniques, personal hygiene, prevention of health and wellbeing problems and basic first aid. Citizenship education is also important for ensuring pupils have the knowledge and skills for life that they need to grow into responsible and caring adults.

Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission. This government is committed to giving children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity. We have set a milestone of a record proportion of children (75%) starting school ready to learn in the classroom.

Physical development is one of the three prime areas of learning and development in the early years foundation stage and includes fine motor skills. Practitioners should support children to develop fine motor skills including manipulating objects and eating with cutlery.

All schools have specific duties to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of their pupils and to prepare them for the opportunities and responsibilities of adult life in modern Britain. This includes ensuring pupils understand the society in which they are growing up and the importance of respect for other people.

Through compulsory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE), pupils are taught how to build respectful and empathetic relationships as well as how to support their own and others’ health and wellbeing, including simple self-care techniques, personal hygiene, prevention of health and wellbeing problems and basic first aid. Citizenship education is also important for ensuring pupils have the knowledge and skills for life that they need to grow into responsible and caring adults.

Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission. This government is committed to giving children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity. We have set a milestone of a record proportion of children (75%) starting school ready to learn in the classroom.

Physical development is one of the three prime areas of learning and development in the early years foundation stage and includes fine motor skills. Practitioners should support children to develop fine motor skills including manipulating objects and eating with cutlery.

All schools have specific duties to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of their pupils and to prepare them for the opportunities and responsibilities of adult life in modern Britain. This includes ensuring pupils understand the society in which they are growing up and the importance of respect for other people.

Through compulsory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE), pupils are taught how to build respectful and empathetic relationships as well as how to support their own and others’ health and wellbeing, including simple self-care techniques, personal hygiene, prevention of health and wellbeing problems and basic first aid. Citizenship education is also important for ensuring pupils have the knowledge and skills for life that they need to grow into responsible and caring adults.

As part of our Opportunity Mission, this government wants to widen access to the arts.

Music Hubs continue to play a vital role across England with grant funding of £76 million for the 2025/26 academic year. This includes nearly £2 million for the Sussex Music Hub partnership led by Create Music, to support schools in East Sussex, including Eastbourne.

On 18 March 2025, the department announced a National Centre for Arts and Music Education to support schools across England to teach all arts subjects. Our intention is to launch in September 2026, with further details in the autumn.

The government also established the Curriculum and Assessment Review. This seeks to deliver a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum, including music, art and drama. The final report and government response will be published this autumn.

We are legislating so that, following the Review and implementation, academies will be required to teach the reformed national curriculum, alongside maintained schools. This will ensure arts education is an entitlement for pupils in every state-funded school.

Berwick Academy is the body responsible for the school buildings and has not put forward a nomination for the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP). The department is aware that Northumberland County Council has plans to invest in Berwick Academy as part of a wider school reorganisation in the area but we are yet to receive a business case or further detail.

The government has given a long-term commitment for capital investment through to 2034/35 to improve the condition of schools and colleges across England. We are investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance and renewal of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.

This is in addition to investment of almost £20 billion in the SRP through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years.

The department plans to set out further details on the process for selecting additional schools for the rebuilding programme later this year.

Cheating of any kind is unacceptable. It threatens to undermine the reputation of our world-class higher education (HE) sector and devalues the hard work of those who succeed on their own merit.

Universities are independent and autonomous bodies responsible for decisions such as admissions, diversity of provision, course content, teaching and assessment. As such, they are responsible for designing and implementing their own policies and approaches to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and for taking steps to detect and prevent any form of academic misconduct by students, including the misuse of AI, as set out in the Office for Students’ (OfS) regulatory framework.

The experience and expertise of the sector is contributing to the department’s evidence base for how generative AI is used in education. In January 2024, the department published research entitled ‘Generative AI in education: Educator and expert views’ containing insights from interviews with teachers and experts in HE and the education technology industry. The full research paper is attached and also available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65b8cd41b5cb6e000d8bb74e/DfE_GenAI_in_education_-_Educator_and_expert_views_report.pdf.

The OfS set out its approach to the use of AI in HE in a recent blog post entitled ‘Embracing innovation in higher education: our approach to artificial intelligence’. The full blog post is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/blog/embracing-innovation-in-higher-education-our-approach-to-artificial-intelligence/.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, set out plans for spending and public sector reforms through the Spending Review 2025.

This announcement confirmed departmental budgets for 2026/27 onwards and committed that: the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, working with parents to help give children the best start in life.

This builds upon my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024, which outlined the ambition to give children the best start in life by strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.

The department is working with the Department of Health and Social Care to share further information about what the Spending Review settlement means for the continuation and expansion of the programme. We recognise the importance of providing local authorities with certainty of future funding across the whole programme and we will share further information when we are able to.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, set out plans for spending and public sector reforms through the Spending Review 2025.

This announcement confirmed departmental budgets for 2026/27 onwards and committed that: the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, working with parents to help give children the best start in life.

This builds upon my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024, which outlined the ambition to give children the best start in life by strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.

The department is working with the Department of Health and Social Care to share further information about what the Spending Review settlement means for the continuation and expansion of the programme. We recognise the importance of providing local authorities with certainty of future funding across the whole programme and we will share further information when we are able to.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, set out plans for spending and public sector reforms through the Spending Review 2025.

This announcement confirmed departmental budgets for 2026/27 onwards and committed that: the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, working with parents to help give children the best start in life.

This builds upon my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024, which outlined the ambition to give children the best start in life by strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.

The department is working with the Department of Health and Social Care to share further information about what the Spending Review settlement means for the continuation and expansion of the programme. We recognise the importance of providing local authorities with certainty of future funding across the whole programme and we will share further information when we are able to.

Young Futures Hubs will build on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, with the government establishing a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. The multi-year Spending Review set overall resource departmental budgets until 2028/29 and overall capital departmental budgets until 2029/30. Departments are now working to determine allocations and further details will be provided in due course.

Young Futures Hubs will be co-designed using local knowledge to best serve their communities and will serve a core age range of 10-18, but with flexibility to support young people at each end of this age range in line with local needs.

Young Futures Hubs will build on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, with the government establishing a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. The multi-year Spending Review set overall resource departmental budgets until 2028/29 and overall capital departmental budgets until 2029/30. Departments are now working to determine allocations and further details will be provided in due course.

Young Futures Hubs will be co-designed using local knowledge to best serve their communities and will serve a core age range of 10-18, but with flexibility to support young people at each end of this age range in line with local needs.

Officials from across a range of departments are working jointly to make progress, using evidence of what works to start to shape the Young Futures Hubs model. As part of this we are engaging with local areas, communities, statutory partners, charities, and other key stakeholders to support the design of the Young Futures Hubs and explore options for their delivery, including considering how best to engage with those young people who would benefit most from support.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the government will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. These early adopters and work in local areas and will inform the longer-term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located.

The government will set out more details in due course.

I refer the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire to the answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57098.

The transition from foster care to adoption is a critical period that can significantly impact both the children involved and their former foster parents.

Statutory guidance on placing adopted children states that a clear plan to move a child from foster care to an adoptive placement must be agreed. In many cases a series of introductory meetings will be needed, and guidance is clear that foster carers should be supported by their social worker on such arrangements. What is important is that both the child and prospective adopter feel well prepared before the placement and are happy with the pace of the introductions and date of the placement.

Adoption England are implementing National Matching Practice Standards, which includes detail on how children should move in with their adoptive families. The Standards state that professionals involved with the child should ensure an appropriate plan is made to enable the child to maintain relationships with their foster family following the period of introductions to their prospective adoptive family.

This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to high and rising standards in schools and breaking down barriers to opportunity, helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.

The government will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. By April 2026, the department estimates that 60% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England will be covered by an MHST, up from 52% in April 2025.

The government will also recruit 8,500 mental health staff to treat children and adults, and open new Young Futures Hubs with access to mental health support.

To support education staff, the department provides a range of guidance and practical resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing, such as a resource hub for mental health leads and a toolkit to help schools choose evidence-based early support for pupils.

We are committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any transitions well-planned and supported. Where a change to a child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their personal education plan should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.

The government is introducing measures, including through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, to rebalance the market, improve regulation and commissioning of placements, and bring greater visibility to the prices local authorities are paying. This includes a focus on addressing the barriers that prevent homes from being established where they are needed.

Through our Plan for Change, we are also investing £2 billion over this Parliament to give more children a safe, loving home, including expanding the children’s home estate, delivering more foster care placements and helping keep families together by providing targeted support before problems escalate.

These measures will provide greater placement availability, stability and ensure that, where it is in a child's best interests, they are placed closer to home.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outline the information for England only.

The Department for Education are joint funding with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology fibre upgrades to 833 schools in England, due to be completed this year, to ensure that rural schools in England are not left disconnected.

The department has also published digital and technology standards to help schools make informed decisions about technology, leading to safer and more cost-efficient practices. These standards cover critical areas such as connectivity, cyber security, and filtering and monitoring. We launched a consultation on narrowing the digital divide in schools and colleges, which included proposals on the future of these standards, and we will publish our response to this consultation in due course.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026.

It will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.

Department for Work and Pensions data shows that 3,500 children in the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency will be eligible for FSM from September 2026.

Providing over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day will also lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.

Mobile phones have no place in our schools. Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance, published in 2024.

The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.

New research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, 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.

Skills England, and its predecessor the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), has worked with employers to develop apprenticeships covering a range of occupations in the care services sector. These are designed to enable an individual to acquire full competence in an occupation whilst undertaking paid work and provide a progression route in the sector. These products are available for both public and private sector employers to use, with funding to support the training from the Growth and Skills Levy.

In addition, a Health and Social Care foundation apprenticeship has been developed and will be available for delivery from autumn this year. This is specifically aimed at young people who are not yet ready for work, and will provide the individual with a mix of employability and sectoral skills designed to provide a good grounding for a career in the health or adult social care sector.

To support the awareness of careers in adult social care, the National Careers Service, a free, government funded careers information, advice and guidance service, uses a range of labour market information to support and guide individuals. The Service website gives customers access to a range of digital tools and resources, including ‘Explore Careers’ which includes more than 130 industry areas and more than 800 job profiles including a range of construction and health and social care roles, describing what the roles entail, qualifications needed and entry routes.