Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of multi‑agency information‑sharing protocols between local authorities, schools and health bodies in the EHC needs assessment process.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) code of practice sets out the importance of information sharing across education, health and social care to support effective needs assessments and planning processes.
The department is determined to restore confidence in the system of support for children and young people with SEND and ensure they get the chance to achieve and thrive in their education and beyond, as set out in the recently published SEND reform consultation document, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first.
We are committed to co-designing the future needs assessment process with parents, local authorities and experts to make sure we get it right. We continue to monitor and work closely with local authorities that have issues with their education, health and care plan processes. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we help the local authority to identify the problems and put in place an effective recovery plan.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what statutory time limits will apply when SEND Tribunals quash local authority decisions under the proposed Specialist Provision Package framework; and what safeguards will be put in place to prevent cycles of reconsideration impacting on provision.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government set out its proposals for reforming the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Tribunal in its ‘SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First’ consultation document.
The department proposes that the SEND Tribunal will make binding judgments on local authority decisions to not undertake an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, whether a child or young person meets the threshold for a specialist provision package or whether the package(s) offered is suitable. The Tribunal will also consider whether a local authority’s decision about the placement named in an EHC plan is reasonable and, if they find against the local authority, it will have the power to require the decision to be retaken.
The SEND reform proposals are subject to consultation and further details will be set out in the government’s response to the consultation.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the government has conducted any assessment of the efficacy of SEND reforms in Wales whilst developing the Schools White paper.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has already consulted with colleagues in the Welsh government on analysis published in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) consultation document comparing rates of special education needs across both nations. The use of data to assess the efficacy of the Welsh SEND reforms introduced in 2021 was not feasible due to variation at school and local authority level.
We will continue to work with the devolved governments as we progress the proposals set out in the SEND consultation document, as well as preparations for future legislation, to ensure that legislative impacts are fully understood and addressed.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of capacity considerations in class sizes for Key Stage 1 and 2 in schools with high levels of SEND; and whether she will consider a needs‑weighted pupil cap to reflect the additional time and support required.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 limits the size of an infant class to 30 pupils per teacher. An infant class is one in which the majority of children will reach the age of 5, 6 or 7 during the school year, i.e. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.
Through the reforms outlined in the Schools White Paper, we will ensure that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) get the right support at every stage of their education.
We are also committed to supporting local areas to create high-quality places that are suitable to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, by investing at least £3.7 billion in high needs capital funding between 2025/26 and 2029/30. This is to support local authorities to provide places for children and young people with SEND, or who require alternative provision, across early years settings, schools, and colleges.
As well as this, we are providing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and Integrated Care Boards, to work together to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer. This is designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to professionals such as educational psychologists and speech and language or occupational therapists, providing earlier intervention and support for young people.
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional funding schools and colleges will receive as a result of the announced special educational needs and disabilities reforms in (1) 2026–27, (2) 2027–28, (3) 2028–29, and (4) 2029–30.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In every year of this Parliament, core funding for schools and special educational needs and disabilities is expected to increase, subject to future spending reviews. The government is committed to prioritising early intervention and is making a major increase in investment, with £4 billion over the three years of the Spending Review. This will reverse the trend of late intervention and escalation in needs.
Within this total, the Inclusive Mainstream Fund will provide over £500 million per financial year, over three years, to schools, colleges and early years settings to develop and embed improved inclusion practice. On Wednesday 25 March, the department published methodology documents explaining how funding will be allocated for the Inclusive Mainstream Fund. Details on the funding for schools and mainstream 16-19 provision are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mainstream-fund-2026-to-2027. Details on the Inclusive Early Years Fund are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-early-years-fund-2026-to-2027. Funding from 2029 to 2030 onwards is subject to future spending reviews.
Also on 25 March, we announced further details on the allocation of £860 million of high needs capital funding as part of the landmark £3.7 billion announced to deliver 60,000 more specialist places. This funding will drive a transformative expansion of inclusion bases across the country, as well as adaptations to improve the inclusivity and accessibility of mainstream settings as well as supporting special school place creation where needed.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of, a) pupils recorded as young carers and, b) pupils not recorded as young carers were eligible for Free School Meals in the January school census returns for 2023 to 2025.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department holds data on young carers and pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM), which is published in the ‘Schools, pupils and characteristics’ publication. The most recent version was published in June 2025 and the next is scheduled for summer 2026.
Below is a table showing the proportion of pupils who are identified as young carers and known to be eligible for FSM, and the proportion of pupils who are not identified as young carers but are known to be eligible for FSM.
Year | Proportion of young carers known to be eligible for free schools meals (%) | Proportion of pupils not recorded as a young carer but known to be eligible for free school meals (%) |
2024/25 | 56.90 | 25.50 |
2023/24 | 56.80 | 24.40 |
2022/23 | 56.40 | 23.70 |
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the terms of reference are of the Break Down Barriers to Opportunity Mission Board; and whether the terms of reference have been amended since the Mission Board was established.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Opportunity Mission Board provides a forum for external challenge and cross-government discussion on priorities and delivery for the Opportunity Mission. The Board is chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. The Board does not have a fixed list of attendees. Ministers from relevant government departments and external experts are invited to attend meetings depending on the issues under discussion. The Board has been reformed since it was established to be a more delivery focused forum benefiting from external and sector expertise.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to respond to calls from more than 100 organisations for a Good Food Bill to help improve access to healthy and affordable food.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever and breaking down barriers to opportunity.
We are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. We are taking decisive action to drive down poverty by ensuring that over half a million disadvantaged children receive the support they need in school to be healthy, get the most out of their education, and enjoy lifelong success. This action will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets.
The government is committed to delivering a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England. Free breakfast clubs remove barriers to opportunity by offering primary school children, no matter their circumstance, a supportive start to the school day.
These meals must be compliant with the School Food Standards. To ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history, we are revising the School Food Standards and are engaging with stakeholders.
Additionally, we are working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to add support for the outcomes of their Government Food Strategy.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to explicitly recognise the role of school milk provision within the revised School Food Standards.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever and are continuing our work to revise the School Food Standards. We are engaging experts across the sector and are developing our plans to consult on the changes.
We know milk is excellent for children’s growth and development. Regulation 9 of the School Food Standards states that lower fat milk or lactose reduced milk must be available to children who want it for drinking at least once a day during school hours. Under Section 512ZB (3) of the Education Act 1996, it is also a legislative requirement that milk is provided free of charge to pupils who meet the free school meal criteria.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices the Department recruited in 2015 compared to (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The number of apprentices that enrolled onto apprenticeship programmes within the department in each calendar year is as follows:
Note: this is a combination of new apprentices joining the department and existing staff embarking on apprenticeship programmes as part of their career development.
The department does not hold data for 2015. For comparison purposes we can confirm that in 2016 the department had 32 apprentices enrol onto apprenticeship programmes. In 2017, the department had 54 apprentices enrol onto apprenticeship programmes.