Asked by: Lauren Edwards (Labour - Rochester and Strood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will give an update on her progress of appointment of an expert advisory group for the development of CCTV guidance for the early years sector.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The ‘Early years foundation stage’ statutory framework requires early years providers to have safeguarding policies that address the use of mobile phones, cameras, and other electronic devices with imaging and sharing capabilities. Decisions about installing and using CCTV are for individual providers, subject to safeguarding and data protection requirements.
As part of the department’s ongoing review of safeguarding requirements in early years settings, an expert advisory panel will be appointed to inform sector guidance on the safe and effective use of digital devices and CCTV within safeguarding. This guidance will consider whether CCTV should be mandated and will set out best practice, technical advice and clear expectations.
The department is working at pace to establish the expert advisory panel and ensure we have the most suitable experts and groups represented to ensure that the guidance is high quality and evidence informed. We will provide more details in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues to local Government on safeguarding procedures for drivers transporting pupils to and from school.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Local authorities are responsible for arranging free home-to-school travel for eligible children. The department publishes statutory guidance to assist local authorities in meeting their duties.
The statutory guidance makes clear that local authorities must ensure the arrangements they make are suitable for the needs of the children concerned. They should ensure drivers and passenger assistants have undergone an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check with a check of the children’s barred list, and that they have received training in safeguarding and any other training they need to meet the specific needs of the children travelling.
In addition, health and safety law requires local authorities to assess risk and put in place reasonably practicable control measures to protect their employers and others, including the children for whom they arrange travel, from harm.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help tackle educational underachievement.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, but too many face barriers holding them back, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The government’s Plan for Change sets our intention to give every child the best start in life, setting a milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn, backed by investment close to £1.5 billion over the next three years, subject to the spending review.
High and rising standards are the key to strengthening outcomes for every child. The department is driving standards in every school through regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, a refreshed high quality curriculum and assessment system, and recruiting an additional 6,500 additional teachers.
The Schools White Paper will build on our existing work to drive school standards and improve outcomes for all children.
This is alongside wider work to improve outcomes for all children, including tackling child poverty and our Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her expected timeline is for publishing the Schools White Paper including the SEND reform package.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department will publish the Schools White Paper early this year. It will set out our proposed reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, underpinned by our belief that high standards and inclusion are two sides of the same coin.
To ensure these reforms are as effective as possible, and building on conversations to date, we launched a public engagement campaign spanning every region of the country. This put families at the heart of plans to create a reformed SEND system that will stand the test of time.
As part of this campaign, I have hosted regional face-to-face events across the country, run in partnership with the Council for Disabled Children. The department also set up a number of online events, including a panel of experts, in discussions covering the department’s five principles of reform. Further details can be found at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-reform-national-conversation/.
The experiences and insights shared during these engagement opportunities will be vital in ensuring that our proposals effectively deliver meaningful reforms for families.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional funding for Ofsted to (a) increase the duration of inspections in early years settings and (b) use CCTV as part of the inspection process.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Giving young children the best start in life is the foundation of the government’s opportunity mission. From April, the department is funding Ofsted to inspect all new early years providers within 18 months of opening and move towards inspecting all providers at least once every four years, compared to the current six-year window. This means standards will be reviewed more regularly and parents will have more up-to-date information to help them choose the right setting for their child. We will continue to work collaboratively with Ofsted as inspection reforms are implemented.
The Secretary of State has announced that she will be appointing an expert panel to inform guidance for the sector on the effective and safe use of digital devices and CCTV in relation to safeguarding. The panel will consider the question of whether CCTV should be mandated and will set out best practice, technical information and clear expectations on CCTV and digital device usage.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were entitled to free school meals in each of the last three years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department publishes data on free school meal (FSM) eligibility and the number of eligible pupils taking FSMs on school census day in the annual Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics accredited official statistics, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25.
The latest figures were published in June 2025, and the next figures will be published in summer 2026.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 the £100,000 earnings threshold for free childcare on incentives to work.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
The working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. The minimum income threshold rises in line with National Minimum Wage increases at the beginning of the financial year.
The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Parents who earn over the maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for three and four-year-olds in England.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review the policy of automatic off-rolling to ensure a formal review and hearing occurs before any decision is made.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is clear that off-rolling in any form is unacceptable, and we will continue to work closely with Ofsted to tackle it.
Pupils may leave a school roll for many reasons, including permanent exclusion, transfer to another school or change of circumstances. All schools are legally required to notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is removed from the admissions register.
The law is clear a pupil’s name can only be deleted from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in Regulation 9 of the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the transparency data entitled the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for July to September 2025 for all departments, published on 25 December 2025, whether the KPI of 0% gender pay gap for the contract entitled Approach Social Work C24 - C26 supplied by The Frontline Organisation applies to all aspects of her Department's work.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The performance data for July to September 2025, published on 25 December 2025, for the contract titled ‘Approach Social Work C24 - C26 (con_20840)’, and specifically in relation to the ‘Key Performance Indicator con_20840-KPI-SV’ supplied by The Frontline Organisation reporting a 0% gender pay gap, is only in relation to this contract and is not for all aspects of the department.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Question 103540 answered on 13 January, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on potential impact of the extension of the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain on the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
In developing the Child Poverty Strategy, the Child Poverty Taskforce considered all children across the UK, including migrant children and children in families subject to the No Recourse to Public Funds condition.
The earned settlement model is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026. Details of the earned settlement scheme will be finalised following that consultation.