Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of kinship care preventing children entering the statutory care system on Bedford Borough Council; and how this informs funding policy for kinship carers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.
The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.
The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.
The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.
While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's timeline is for national implementation of kinship care financial support; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken on kinship carers in Bedford Borough.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.
The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.
The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.
The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.
While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that kinship carers in Bedford Borough and other local authority areas do not wait for financial reform while kinship care pilot schemes are evaluated.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.
The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.
The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.
The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.
While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with Bedford Borough Council on the financial support needs of kinship carers; and whether Bedford has been considered for inclusion in kinship care pilot schemes.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.
The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.
The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.
The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.
While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that evidence gathered from kinship care pilot areas is representative of kinship carers, including in Bedford Borough and neighbouring local authorities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.
The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.
The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.
The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.
While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the definition of anti-Muslim hatred will be taught as part of the religious education national curriculum.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Religious education is a mandatory subject but not part of the national curriculum.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps with Cabinet colleagues to (a) maintain funding for all 16 to 24 year olds enrolled in further education and training, (b) extend VAT reimbursement to further education colleges and (c) lift the cap on the Adult Skills Fund for 18 to 24 year old learners who are not in education, employment or training.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has made significant increases to the average funding per student since the 2024/25 academic year, an expected per student increase of 10.5%. We expect that the average per student funding in 2026/27 will stand at £6,874, compared to £6,219 in the 2024/25 academic year. We will continue to fund the demographic increase in 16 to 19-year-olds, providing significant investment to ensure there are valuable and high-quality post-16 places for every student that wants one.
My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister has committed to looking into VAT reimbursement to further education colleges. The Government does keep all taxes under review, and any changes would be announced at a fiscal event.
We are committed to investing in education and skills training for adults and are investing over £1.4 billion in the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) this academic year. The ASF supports a range of learners, including young people who are unemployed.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the decision to allocate £126 million to kinship care pilot schemes.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.
The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.
The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.
The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.
While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to footnote 7 to Table 5.2 of the 2025 Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses, if she will set out a timeline and completion date for improving the recording of central government academy expenditure between primary and secondary phases of education.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Spend data for academies is reported at academy trust level. Allocating trust expenditure by phase remains challenging due to both the continuing increase in the number of academies combined with a decreasing number of academy trusts and the ability of academy trusts to incur spend on their schools’ behalf. Many academy trusts with multiple academies amalgamate funding for its academies to form one central fund. This practice can enhance a trust’s ability to allocate resources in line with improvement priorities and running costs across the trust’s constituent academies but makes apportionment of that spending by phase more challenging.
The department is exploring whether a spending apportionment using pupil numbers would provide more reliable and relevant information. If this methodology meets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value required of accredited official statistics, we will seek to implement this for the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2027.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support joined up working in the development of skills in the environmental health sector.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper set out reforms to the skills system to ensure skills provision is aligned to the needs of the Industrial Strategy and support people to train in sectors which support growth and meet priority skills needs. The department is working across government to achieve these aims.
Several universities deliver Environmental Health provision spanning BScs, MScs, and degree apprenticeships. All courses are professionally regulated by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and support people to access careers in this occupation.
The Environmental Health Practitioner apprenticeship allows individuals to develop the knowledge and skills needed to work in areas such as environmental protection, food safety, housing standards and public health.
Skills England works with employers to ensure that apprenticeship content is relevant and up to date. It will soon be updating the Environmental Health Practitioner assessment plan in line with new Apprenticeship Assessment Principles to ensure that the assessment is proportionate, timely and efficient while retaining rigour and validity.
These reforms and polices are applicable in England. Skills policy in Scotland is devolved and is a matter for the Scottish Government.