Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools with provisions for wraparound care.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to providing a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. So far, we have delivered 2.6 million breakfasts and offered places to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. Following the success of the early adopters, and as the first phase of national rollout, we are investing a further £80 million into the programme to fund an additional 2,000 schools between April 2026 and March 2027. Since September 2024, over 50,000 additional full childcare places have also been made available to families through the National Wraparound Programme.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the (a) number and (b) availability of nursery places in (i) North Shropshire constituency and (ii) Shropshire.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is the government’s 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. In 2025/26 alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements.
The government has committed to working with the sector to better support parents in poorer and rural areas. We have awarded £37 million of capital funding in the first phase to 300 primary phase schools which we expect will deliver up to 6,000 nursery places, with schools reporting over 5,000 available from September 2025 to support the childcare expansion.
There are approximately 121 Ofsted registered nurseries listed in Shropshire.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking and, where needed, support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
We also continue to help people discover rewarding early years careers through the ‘Do Something Big’ national recruitment campaign, building on our pilot of delivering financial incentives in 38 local authorities this year.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of the removal of art and design teacher bursaries on the future supply of teachers in creative subjects; and on the wider creative industries skills pipeline.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. The department reviews the bursaries annually to take account of ITT recruitment to date, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. Whether a bursary is offered or not, student trainee teachers can access a tuition fee loan, maintenance loan and additional support dependent on their circumstances, such as the Childcare Grant.
Between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, postgraduate ITT recruitment for art and design increased by 95%, the largest increase of all subjects. Acceptances for ITT courses starting in the 2025/26 academic year indicate a further improvement. At the same time, demand for art and design trainee teachers has fallen due to this higher ITT recruitment and more favourable teacher retention forecasts. As a result, the postgraduate ITT target in art and design reduced by 38% for courses starting in 2025/26. The department will publish the ITT census for 2025/26 this December.
As part of our Opportunity Mission, we want high-quality arts education for every child in all state funded schools, which is why we announced our intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education to deliver excellent continuing professional development for teachers in all the arts subjects, including in art and design.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they have removed financial support for Initial Teacher Training bursaries in art and design for the 2026–27 academic year.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. The department reviews the bursaries annually to take account of ITT recruitment to date, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. Whether a bursary is offered or not, student trainee teachers can access a tuition fee loan, maintenance loan and additional support dependent on their circumstances, such as the Childcare Grant.
Between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, postgraduate ITT recruitment for art and design increased by 95%, the largest increase of all subjects. Acceptances for ITT courses starting in the 2025/26 academic year indicate a further improvement. At the same time, demand for art and design trainee teachers has fallen due to this higher ITT recruitment and more favourable teacher retention forecasts. As a result, the postgraduate ITT target in art and design reduced by 38% for courses starting in 2025/26. The department will publish the ITT census for 2025/26 this December.
As part of our Opportunity Mission, we want high-quality arts education for every child in all state funded schools, which is why we announced our intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education to deliver excellent continuing professional development for teachers in all the arts subjects, including in art and design.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her department holds on the number of pupils in England requiring gluten free meal provision in schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department does not hold data on requirements for gluten-free meal provision in schools. The government sets out required minimum standards for school food in the School Food Standards. Headteachers, governors and their caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies that take into account local circumstances and pupil needs, including the provision of gluten-free meals.
Additionally, Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academies and management committees of pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils at their school with medical conditions, which may be food-related. Schools must therefore take appropriate action in supporting such pupils to access food provision.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to increase funding for support for parents in disadvantaged areas.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government has committed to provide funding for all local authorities to deliver Best Start Family Hubs, backed by over £500 million, to help families in every part of the country. The rollout will deliver up to 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs nationwide by 2028, reaching an estimated additional 500,000 children. Hubs will be open to all families but located in disadvantaged communities where support is most needed.
The government understands the distinct challenges faced by parents and, ahead of the publication of our Child Poverty Strategy, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty. This includes establishing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact) through the Spending Review period to replace the Household Support Fund. This longer-term funding approach will enable local authorities to provide preventative support to families and communities.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of students who no longer have access to assistive software following the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance funding.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather feedback on the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) funding. While there have been no recent direct discussions with students, the department conducted an Equality Impact Assessment to consider potential impacts and appropriate mitigations. This policy applies to new DSA recipients only and does not affect any spelling and grammar software already awarded to existing students.
The decision followed a detailed review which found that there are now free to access versions available with the required spelling and grammar support functionality to meet students’ disability-related support needs. DSA will continue to fund such software in exceptional cases where a robust disability-related justification is provided.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department will use to determine the locations of new Defence Technical Colleges of Excellence.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
A £182 million defence skills package was announced at the start of September in the Defence Industrial Strategy. This aims to make defence an engine for national renewal and economic growth, harnessing the skills needed for the future, from submarine engineers to specialist welders. The package centres on establishing five Defence Technical Excellence Colleges (DTECs), training people in the skills needed to secure new defence jobs in this growing industry.
Exact locations are yet to be determined, and colleges will be appointed through a fair and transparent application process. The selection process for these DTECs will start by the end of 2025, with delivery planned to begin from April 2026. Further details will be published in due course.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average waiting time was to receive an EHCP assessment in (a) England and (b) Surrey during the latest 12 months for which data is available.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued within the statutory 20 week deadline, with and without statutory exceptions to that deadline applying, is published as part of the statistical release, Education, Health and Care Plans – Reporting year 2024, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025. The latest published figures relate to the 2024 calendar year and were published on 26 June 2025. Information for the 2025 calendar year will be published in summer 2026.
The number and proportion of plans issued within, and over, the statutory 20 week deadline, for England and Surrey during the 2024 calendar year can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3512e185-e65b-4cd7-f98d-08de0724494a.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will introduce a national (a) training and (b) accreditation programme to allow the recognition of school staff with automated external defibrillator responsibilities as competent persons for equipment governance.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Defibrillators are designed so they can be used safely with no prior training. Users are prompted to follow step-by-step instructions on the device at the time of use. Suggesting only trained individuals can use defibrillators can unintentionally deter use in an emergency, where every minute is critical.
As defibrillators are designed to be used with no prior training, the department does not believe an accreditation programme is necessary.
Schools must ensure they comply with their first aid equipment responsibilities. The department provides defibrillator guidance to supports schools. The guidance is not intended to be read in isolation but provides schools with clear, practical, and accessible advice that supports the widespread adoption of defibrillators, including maintenance, as part of school first aid provision.
Schools can access additional support in managing their defibrillator by registering it on the British Heart Foundation’s national defibrillator network, The Circuit. The Circuit provides schools with regular reminders to check their device. More information can be found here: www.thecircuit.uk.