Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has made to (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) the Secretary of State for Education on (i) uprating the level of funding for the Music and Dance Scheme in line with inflation, and (ii) providing a multi-year settlement for the Scheme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup to the answer of 3 November 2025 to Question 82566.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to (a) uprate the level of funding for the Music and Dance Scheme by at least the rate of inflation each financial year and (b) provide a multi-year funding settlement for the Music and Dance Scheme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup to the answer of 3 November 2025 to Question 82566.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on (a) increasing funding for the Music and Dance Scheme and (b) committing to a multiple-year settlement.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government fully supports the arts and the development of a skills pipeline into the creative industries.
The department is providing £36.5 million for the Music and Dance Scheme this academic year.
Funding beyond the current academic year, including any introduction of multi-year funding agreements, will be considered in due course.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Independent - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing to local authorities to meet the ongoing costs of SEND provision until the announcement of reforms in 2026.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has allocated high needs funding of over £12 billion to help with the ongoing costs of supporting children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the 2025/26 financial year.
The funding announced at the 2025 spending review, which provided an increase of £4.2 billion, over the next three years, will help to facilitate reform of the SEND system. We are continuing to engage with children, parents and experts as we develop plans to ensure all children get the outcomes and life chances they deserve and will be setting out more detail in the Schools White paper in the new year.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has issued guidance to schools on ensuring that classroom discussions involving people who have entered the UK illegally do not (a) compromise safeguarding standards and (b) expose pupils to political messaging.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.
The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.
Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had correspondence with Wandsworth Council on external-speaker sessions in local schools on (a) migration and (b) asylum since January 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.
The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.
Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to schools on obtaining parental consent before children participate in classroom sessions involving external speakers discussing their personal experiences of (a) irregular and (b) illegal migration.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.
The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.
Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with the Quality First Education Trust regarding (a) classroom sessions and (b) external speaker events addressing (i) migration and (ii) asylum issues in the 2024/25 academic year.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.
The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.
Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what oversight her Department exercises over academy trusts that invite external speakers to address pupils on politically sensitive issues.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.
To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.
The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.
Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contingency plans his Department has in place to support schools during the transition period from the Turing Scheme to Erasmus+.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The UK and EU have agreed to work towards association to the Erasmus+ programme, on mutually agreed financial terms. Negotiations are underway and the terms of any association will be subject to further discussions. The department will have to consider the implications for other programmes, following the outcome of those discussions.
Details on the Turing Scheme for future years will be shared in due course.