Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to educate children on the safe use of social media.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As part of statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE), pupils are taught about online safety and harms, including the implications of sharing private or personal data online, and the risks associated with over-reliance on social media.
The department published updated RSHE guidance in July 2025, including new content on artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and how social media can escalate conflicts. Pupils should be taught how to identify when social media is used as part of bullying, harassment and other forms of abusive and/or illegal behaviour, and how to recognise and manage peer influence on social media in relation to risk-taking behaviour and personal safety. The department’s guidance on teaching online safety covers how to teach about all aspects of internet safety.
In response to the recently published Curriculum and Assessment Review, we are committed to strengthening digital and media literacy in the updated national curriculum. Full details of the final report are accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-final-report.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on special measures for local authorities not meeting statutory requirements for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department publishes annual SEN2 data on education, health and care (EHC) plans and assessments, including timeliness. This informs performance monitoring and targeted support. Where a council does not meet its duties, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement, including through issuing improvement notices or statutory directions to drive urgent improvements.
The department works with NHS England, to support and intervene in areas of poor performance following inspection.
Recent changes to the Area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) framework conducted by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, in consultation with the department and the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, include specifying which member of the partnership should take forward areas for improvement or areas for priority action. This would include areas for improvement and priority action being directed specifically to health where appropriate.
We will work together with all stakeholders to understand the impact of any SEND reforms on Area SEND inspections and changes needed as a result of these reforms.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve education on (a) sexual consent and (b) relationships.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department published updated relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance in July 2025. It focuses on building healthy relationships skills from the start of primary school. It sets out that secondary schools should cover how to recognise, respect and communicate consent and boundaries in both platonic and romantic relationships.
Pupils should be taught the law about the age of consent and that they have a choice about whether to have sex. Pupils should also be taught about their capacity to give, withhold or remove consent at any time, even if initially given.
This government, in December 2025, has published a new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. We want to protect young people and drive forward education on healthy relationships and will be investing £11 million to pilot the best interventions in schools over the next three years.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when updated guidance on electric car salary sacrifice schemes for multi-academy trusts will be published; and whether interim measures will be provided to allow trusts to implement schemes in the meantime.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
New electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes in the public sector are currently paused whilst a cross-government review on these schemes is undertaken by HMT. Academy trusts with existing schemes can keep them in place but not expand them by adding new members. The department will inform academy trusts when a decision has been made, and the Academy Trust Handbook will be updated accordingly.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce risks of suicide, self-harm and depression among care-experienced young people; and what plans she has to ensure continuity of mental health and wellbeing support for care-experienced young people beyond the age of 18.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to reviewing the shockingly high number of early deaths amongst care-experienced young people. As I stated in the House of Commons, at the beginning of the first ever National Care Leavers Month in November 2025, suicide and early death are, tragically, part of the care experience for too many. To start to solve a problem, we must first confront it.
As we progress this review, we will carefully consider how to improve the support that care leavers receive across a range of aspects of their lives, including mental and physical health, housing, education, employment and training, and relationships.
We are already taking action through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, including placing a new duty on local authorities to provide Staying Close support to care leavers up to the age of 25, to help care leavers find and keep suitable accommodation and to access services relating to health and wellbeing, relationships, education, training and employment.
In addition, we are reviewing guidance on ‘Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children’ and extending it to cover care leavers up to age 25.
In December 2025, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and I announced that, in a boost for mental health support, the government will trial a 3-year pilot to make sure children in care have access to the support they need sooner. This will build on existing work across the country, bringing together social workers and NHS health professionals to work together to provide direct mental health support to children and families when they need it most.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to question 91065, for what identified needs is she considering whether Artificial Intelligence approaches to British Sign Language might form a solution.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is currently assessing what artificial intelligence tools have been developed in this space. Once we have assessed the landscape, we will reach out to relevant stakeholders to discuss whether the tools we have identified can solve those problems.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to question 91065, what engagement she has undertaken with BSL signers regarding Artificial Intelligence approaches to British Sign Language.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We are currently researching the artificial intelligence tools that are available on the market and what they can provide for users. Once this research has concluded, we will engage with British Sign Language signers which will help inform next steps.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide additional (a) guidance and (b) professional development for primary teachers on incorporating learning through play into classroom.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements that all early years settings must follow to ensure every child has the best start in life and is clear that play is essential for children’s development.
The department is committed to supporting settings to deliver the EYFS for the benefit of all children and provides a range of resources, including written and online guidance on curriculum and pedagogy, to assist early years teachers.
The department provides free guidance and training in delivering developmentally appropriate, play based learning. Our early years child development training, developed with sector experts, offers practical advice and materials for those working with Reception-aged children, including content about how play supports early learning and development.
It reflects an emphasis on active, exploratory, play based learning as the foundation for children’s cognitive, language, social and emotional development.
Finally, we have committed in our strategy for improving child development to a new training course for classroom teachers in reception and enhancing the National Professional Qualification for Headship with more content on effective Reception practice.
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 ending compulsory collective worship in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Collective worship remains an important part of school life, supporting pupils to reflect on the concept of belief and the role it plays in our country’s traditions and values.
Schools in England already have flexibility in how they meet this requirement and can deliver collective worship or assemblies in ways that reflect the diverse needs of their pupils and local communities. Students over 16 and parents of younger pupils also retain the right of withdrawal from collective worship.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of levels in smartphone usage on children's (a) level of reading comprehension and (b) average time spent reading per week.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department knows that reading for pleasure is hugely important and brings a range of benefits, yet just 1 in 3 children aged 8-18 say they enjoy reading in their free time, and a recent omnibus survey found that 31% of parents of primary-aged children and 40% of parents of secondary-aged children said their child prefers spending time online or playing video games, citing this as a barrier to encouraging reading in their free time.
The department has launched the National Year of Reading 2026, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, to address long-term declines in reading enjoyment through engaging new audiences, reshaping public attitudes and building the systems needed to embed lasting, meaningful change.
The National Year of Reading encourages everyone to see how reading, in all its forms, can unlock more of our existing passions and interests, from reading a story in a print book or on an e-reader, to reading a magazine article or an online blog, to listening to an audio book on a phone or tablet. Recognising that, digital technology is not incompatible with the National Year of Reading.