Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of academic exchange programmes between UK and Australian universities; and whether she plans to increase levels of bilateral cooperation in higher education.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to providing enriching opportunities for students and young people to experience other countries and cultures, including through trips and exchanges with key partners such as Australia.

The department monitors participation in schemes such as the Turing Scheme, the UK government’s global programme for students to study and work abroad. The scheme has helped tens of thousands of UK students to study and work abroad, including in Australia, and is now in its fifth year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on opening Technical Excellence Colleges in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is introducing technical excellence colleges (TECs) to specialise in training skilled workforces which industry needs in growth-driving priority sectors. Ten construction TECs were appointed in August 2025, with one in each of the nine English regions and the tenth with a cross-regional remit. The department has engaged with North East Mayoral Combined Authority and Tees Valley Combined Authority throughout the process of appointing Sunderland College as the CTEC for the North East. Additionally, officials have engaged more widely with strategic authorities, trade bodies such as the Construction Industry Training Board, and membership organisations such as the Association of Colleges. The department will take a similar approach with the selection of the next wave of TECs in defence, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and digital and technologies.

The selection process for these TECs will start by the end of 2025, with delivery planned to begin from April 2026. Further details will be published in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Department for Education has issued any guidance, formal or informal, to further education colleges or local authorities encouraging them to restrict direct applications from electively home educated students aged 14–16 to avoid any administrative burdens which might be placed on them by the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill; and if not, what steps they are taking to ensure that public statements by such institutions do not misrepresent government policy.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

​​The department has not issued any guidance, formal or informal, to further education colleges or local authorities encouraging them to restrict direct applications from electively home educated children.

​Home educating parents can supplement their child’s education through attendance at part-time further education courses, as part of securing an efficient, full-time and suitable education for their child. The department supports parents’ right to exercise this choice, and this position will not change with the implementation of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

​Decisions regarding the availability of such courses are at the discretion of each college, who may make decisions based on factors such as available capacity and resources, and may liaise with their local authority as part of this. Funding for part-time courses below level 3 is available to colleges so long as the 14-16 funding arrangements detailed in the funding rates and formula guidance are followed.

​To support implementation of Bill measures, the department will issue statutory guidance to aid local authorities and parents.​

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an impact assessment of proposals to increase charges payable by independent schools for Ofsted inspections; and if so, whether they will publish that assessment.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The department launched an 8 week consultation on 25 September 2025 on the subject of reducing the subsidy for Ofsted inspection fees. The consultation document is publicly available and sets out how Ofsted-inspected private schools will be affected by the proposed fee increases.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with (a) Surrey County Council and (b) Surrey Police on child safeguarding following the conviction of Stephen Ireland.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Child sexual abuse is an abhorrent crime that no child should ever have to endure. We recognise the lifelong impact it can have on victims and survivors and remain committed to strengthening our response to this abuse.

The department holds regular meetings with Surrey County Council to discuss a wide range of topics including child protection and safeguarding. While we do not comment on if individual cases have been raised, we are aware of the serious concerns raised following the conviction of Stephen Ireland and continue to work closely with local authorities to ensure robust safeguarding practices are in place.

In addition, the government published its progress update on tackling child sexual abuse on 9 April, which responds to the 20 recommendations from the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. Work is underway on several key recommendations, including legislating for mandatory reporting and establishing a child protection authority with a consultation set to be published before the end of 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support young people into education in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

On 20 October, we published the Post-16 education and skills white paper, outlining reforms to build a world-class skills system and support young people into education and training. This includes a target for two-thirds of young people to participate in higher-level learning (academic, technical, or apprenticeships) by age 25.

A new Youth Guarantee will support young people to access to education, training, or provide help into work or an apprenticeship. Eight trailblazer areas are testing ways to help those at risk of becoming not in education, employment, or training.

The department will invest nearly £800 million more in 16 to 19 education in 2026/27, helping support high quality teacher recruitment and retention. We will also pilot an automatic guaranteed provider place for all 16-year-olds.

We will introduce targeted, means-tested maintenance grants before the end of this parliament to help students from low-income backgrounds progress onto higher education courses that support our missions and Industrial Strategy.

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 falling birth rates on the sustainability of small rural primary schools; and what steps she is taking to ensure that these schools are (a) protected and (b) supported.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

​​The department recognises the essential role that small, rural schools play in their communities. The national funding formula (NFF) accounts for the particular challenges faced by small schools in rural areas, namely, the impact of falling rolls, through the lump sum and sparsity factors. The NFF lump sum for the 2025/26 financial year is set at £145,100 and provides a fixed amount of funding that is unrelated to pupil-led factors. In addition, eligible primary schools attract up to £57,400, and eligible secondary or all-through schools attract up to £83,400, in sparsity funding in 2025/26 through the NFF.

​Local authorities hold the statutory place planning function, ensuring there are sufficient schools in their area to meet the needs of pupils. It is for local authorities, in collaboration with academy trusts and other local partners, to balance the supply and demand of school places, in line with changing demographics, as they have done for many years. ​

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the under-registration of eligible children for free school meals following the extension of entitlement to all children in households receiving Universal Credit; and whether they plan to introduce free school meal auto-enrolment to ensure all eligible children receive the support to which they are entitled.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We are extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, lifting 100,000 children across England out of poverty and putting £500 back in families’ pockets.

We want to ensure that all families who need it are able to claim the support they are eligible for. Expanding FSM to all children in households claiming Universal Credit will make it easier for parents to know whether they are entitled to receive free meals.

To support take-up of free meals, we are also rolling out improvements to the checking system that we make available to all local authorities to help verify eligibility for free meals. This will make the process of claiming free meals more seamless for families by allowing them to directly check whether they can receive this entitlement.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of children that were not accessing their entitlement to free childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024-25 academic year.

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 latest January 2025 statistics relating to funded early education and childcare were published on 11 July 2025. These are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025.

Statistics at constituency level are not readily available. Figures on the number of children registered for the families receiving additional support, universal and working parent entitlement in Salford can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/26af6f8f-ac9d-4ccb-94e3-08de11382822.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were in receipt of funded childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024-25 academic year.

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 latest January 2025 statistics relating to funded early education and childcare were published on 11 July 2025. These are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025.

Statistics at constituency level are not readily available. Figures on the number of children registered for the families receiving additional support, universal and working parent entitlement in Salford can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/26af6f8f-ac9d-4ccb-94e3-08de11382822.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what transport support is available for SEND families (a) in cases where a child is placed in a specialist setting but is not yet of compulsory school age and (b) in other instances.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

​​The Education Act 1996 requires local authorities to arrange free home to school travel for eligible children. A child is eligible if they are of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. There are extended rights to free travel for children from low-income families.

​Local authorities have the discretion to arrange travel for other children, such as those below compulsory school age attending a specialist setting, but are not required to do so. It is for each local authority to decide whether and how to exercise their discretionary power.​

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received from teachers on the adequacy of support for pupils with SEND.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. That is why we are continuing to engage closely with the teaching workforce, children, parents and experts including through regular Improving Education Together SEND subgroup meetings, which bring together employer representative organisations, unions and government, and the department’s teacher, headteacher and support staff reference groups as we develop plans to ensure all children get the outcomes and life chances they deserve.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the size of the waiting list for accessing early years childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024-25 academic year.

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.

We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life.

We do not retain data on school-based nursery places available in the Worsley and Eccles constituency. However, according to the department’s latest Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey for the reporting year 2024, there were 52,200 registered nursery class childcare places available in the North West region of England. The median hourly parent-paid fee for childcare in the region was £5.75 per hour for children under two, £5.60 per hour for two year-olds, and £5.50 per hour for three and four year-olds.

We do not have an estimate of the size of the waiting list for accessing early years childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024/25 academic year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the employment rate for graduates under the age of 25.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

In September, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced plans aimed at ensuring young people gain the skills needed in the job market, with a target of two thirds of young people in higher education by age 25.

The Post-16 education and skills white paper sets out our plans to ensure higher education equips graduates with the technical skills needed in the economy, including by developing new higher technical qualification awarding powers.

It also sets out our plans to reform the Strategic Priorities Grant to align funding with future skills needs.

One of the primary objectives of the Office for Students is to ensure all students are able to progress into employment or further study. It is currently consulting on proposals to broaden the employment indicators it uses to assess higher education providers’ quality ratings, to incentivise more focus on supporting students to achieve positive employment outcomes.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what responsibility her Department has for ensuring media literacy.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the member for Oxford East, to the answer of 1 May 2025 to Question 47185.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will have discussions with Ofqual on the potential merits of requiring exam boards to give special consideration to students who are absent from school during the academic year due to exceptional circumstances.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Special consideration is any adjustment given to a student who has temporarily experienced an illness, injury, or other event outside of their control, which significantly affects their ability to either take or demonstrate what they can do in an assessment.

Special consideration can only be given for things that happen immediately before or during an exam or assessment. To be eligible for special consideration, students must have been fully prepared for the assessment and have covered the whole course. Special consideration does not apply where students miss a course due to absence, if they enrolled part way through, or if their education was disrupted.

As the exams regulator, Ofqual is clear that qualifications must represent what a student knows, understands, and can do. This is important so that qualifications maintain their value and users of qualifications, including universities and employers, have trust in the grades awarded.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department will make an assessment of the level of contingency capacity of (a) schools and (b) colleges in the event of other school settings being forced to close.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department engages with councils on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, we support them to find solutions as quickly as possible.

As with schools, the duty is also with local authorities to have a strategic overview of the 16-19 provision available in the area and to identify and resolve gaps in provision so that each young person receives an offer of a suitable place.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in Lincolnshire were waiting for an Education, Health and Care plan as of October 2025.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

​​The latest published figures that show the number of children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan as at January 2025 are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/4ed35aab-4605-47d4-0c1d-08de07233b94. Figures are published as at January each year. Information for January 2026 will be published in summer 2026.

​The department does not hold information on the number of children waiting for an EHC plan.

​The number of requests for an EHC needs assessment which were outstanding at the end of the 2024 calendar year in Lincolnshire local authority is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e64ee712-b7aa-4ff8-f961-08de0724494a.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children had an Education, Health and Care plan in Lincolnshire as of October 2025.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

​​The latest published figures that show the number of children and young people with an education, health and care (EHC) plan as at January 2025 are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/4ed35aab-4605-47d4-0c1d-08de07233b94. Figures are published as at January each year. Information for January 2026 will be published in summer 2026.

​The department does not hold information on the number of children waiting for an EHC plan.

​The number of requests for an EHC needs assessment which were outstanding at the end of the 2024 calendar year in Lincolnshire local authority is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e64ee712-b7aa-4ff8-f961-08de0724494a.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider adding bicycle training onto the national curriculum.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Schools are best placed and have the flexibility to decide on the activities they provide to deliver a rounded and enriching education to suit their pupils’ needs. This includes cycling training programmes such as Bikeability. Physical education is a foundation subject in the national curriculum and compulsory at all four key stages.

The department welcomes the opportunity for continued collaboration with Bikeability to create sustainable improvements in physical activity for young people. For example, through active travel and promoting the overall wellbeing benefits of physical activity, including through cycling.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the final report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review will be published.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report and recommendations will be published imminently. The government’s response will be published alongside this.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) status and (b) timeline for completion of the (i) Greensands, South Cambridgeshire and (ii) Lime Academy, Fenland new special school is.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department is working at pace through these decisions to try and give all local authorities updates as soon as possible. We continue to be committed to ensuring that all children with special educational needs and disabilities receive the support they need to achieve and thrive.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the placement of children with new foster parents does not have a disruptive impact on their education.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government recognises the importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life.

Under the care planning, placement and case review guidance and regulations, and Section 22c of the Children Act 1989, social workers, with the support of the local authority’s virtual school head, must minimise disruption to a child’s education. School changes should be minimised, and necessary transitions carefully planned and supported. Where change is unavoidable, their Personal Education Plan should outline arrangements to minimise disruption to education, especially during exam periods.

The department is supporting local authorities to recruit foster carers and committed an additional £25 million, on top of a previously announced £15 million, to support further recruitment. We also recognise the need to support foster carers properly, in order to retain the carers we already have. Ensuring foster carer sufficiency is vital to enabling local authorities to provide local fostering homes, and keep children close to their school and community.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure young people with SEND can access the Youth Guarantee.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The ‘Get Britain Working’ White Paper introduced the Youth Guarantee, ensuring every 18 to 21 year-old in England can access education, training, an apprenticeship, supported internships or help to find work. The department is working to make this inclusive for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The Youth Guarantee trailblazer scheme is providing £45 million funding for eight mayoral combined authorities from spring 2025. The Youth Guarantee trailblazers are testing focused support for vulnerable groups such as care leavers, young people with SEND and young people educated in alternative provision settings. This focused support includes mentoring, confidence building, coaching and financial management skills. This testing will inform the future rollout of the Youth Guarantee.

The department is taking several other steps to help those with SEND access the Youth Guarantee, including:

• Introducing a new Foundation Apprenticeship and shorter more flexible apprenticeships to reduce entry barriers for young people with SEND.
• Increased wraparound and personalised support to improve mental health and employability support for school leavers.
• Continuing to invest to build the capacity and quality of Supported Internships by providing up to £12 million to March 2026. This includes a pilot testing supported internships with young people with SEND but who do not have education, health and care plans.

The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper commits to ‘building a system that leaves no learner behind’ by joining up skills and employment systems, expanding flexible training options, and guaranteeing access to education or work pathways for all, including those at risk of becoming not in education, employment, or training.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to promote parity of esteem for T Level qualifications in university admissions processes.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department regularly engages with the higher education (HE) sector to ensure T Levels are recognised as excellent preparation for higher study. We encourage the sector to accept T Levels on an equivalent basis to A levels by assigning them UCAS points in line with three A levels. For example, the highest overall T Level grade, Distinction*, is awarded the same number of points as three A*s at A level. T Level progression into HE is increasing year on year, as we are seeing more subjects become accessible to T Level graduates, with prestigious courses such as medicine now open to T Level learners in some institutions. Whilst thousands of T Level students go on to HE each year, not all providers give full clarity on their entry requirements. We are working closely with the sector to address this and continue to inform the sector on the merits of T Levels as a qualification of choice.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure T level qualifications are (a) recognised and (b) accepted for university admissions on an equivalent basis to A Levels.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department regularly engages with the higher education (HE) sector to ensure T Levels are recognised as excellent preparation for higher study. We encourage the sector to accept T Levels on an equivalent basis to A levels by assigning them UCAS points in line with three A levels. For example, the highest overall T Level grade, Distinction*, is awarded the same number of points as three A*s at A level. T Level progression into HE is increasing year on year, as we are seeing more subjects become accessible to T Level graduates, with prestigious courses such as medicine now open to T Level learners in some institutions. Whilst thousands of T Level students go on to HE each year, not all providers give full clarity on their entry requirements. We are working closely with the sector to address this and continue to inform the sector on the merits of T Levels as a qualification of choice.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of funding for (a) schools and (b) colleges in North West Norfolk constituency.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government has increased school funding by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, a 6% increase on 2024/25 levels, and committed to a further increase of £4.2 billion through the 2025 Spending Review. This additional funding will provide an above real terms per pupil increase on the core schools budget and support us to transform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system.

With regards to colleges, £8.5 billion of 16 to 19 programme funding has been invested during the 2025/26 academic year. Published allocations show that 16 to 19 funded institutions in Norfolk have been allocated approximately £112 million in 16 to 19 total programme funding.

In North West Norfolk, mainstream school funding per pupil through the dedicated schools grant averages £6,343 (excluding growth and falling rolls funding) in the 2025/26 financial year. The precise funding individual schools receive will depend on how Norfolk local authority decide to distribute the funding they receive.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department plans to provide to schools that are not eligible for funding under the Connect the classroom programme for upgrading essential IT infrastructure.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department is committed to supporting all schools to harness the transformative potential of technology. By setting digital and technology standards, developing support services, including our plan technology for your school service, and investing in connectivity, we aim to help all schools to have essential digital infrastructure in place.

Funding under the Connect the Classroom programme is targeted at schools in greatest need, ensuring public investment delivers the most impact.

The department is currently finalising internal budgeting processes and will announce any updates on future funding via GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help further education colleges support young people who are not in education, employment or training through (a) flexible funding arrangements and (b) supporting collaborative working with local authorities.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Through the Post-16 education and skills white paper, the department is committed to enabling local and strategic authorities, schools, and further education (FE) providers to more effectively identify, track and share data about young people. These measures aim to prevent young people falling out of education/training and becoming not in education, employment, or training, and look to ensure that those without a post-16 study plan are automatically allocated a place at a local college or FE provider.

We will provide £1.2 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028-2029. This investment will enable us to support 1.3 million learners each year. This significant investment will ensure there is increased funding to colleges and other 16-19 providers to maintain real terms per-student funding in the next academic year to respond to the demographic increase in 16 to 19-year-olds. This will enable the recruitment and retention of expert teachers in high value subject areas, and interventions to retain top teaching talent.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the system of fining parents for taking their children out of school.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Tackling absence is central to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Thanks to the efforts of schools and local authorities, attendance is moving in the right direction. Children attended over 5.3 million additional days in the 2024/25 school year compared to the 2022/23 school year, with over 140,000 fewer pupils persistently absent.

The ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance sets out a support-first approach, ensuring penalty notices are used only when appropriate.

The national framework for penalty notices, introduced in August 2024 following national consultation, is designed to improve consistency and fairness across the country. Penalty notices must be considered on an individual basis, preventing schools from having blanket rules. Schools or local councils may choose to issue a ‘notice to improve’ instead of a penalty notice as a further offer of support before a penalty notice is issued.

The department is monitoring the impact of these reforms alongside wider attendance measures, including regional improvement for standards and excellence Attendance and Behaviour Hubs and Attendance Mentors, which are helping to drive improvements.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to include children from low-income families not currently in receipt of free school meals in the eligibility criteria for the Holiday Activities and Food programme.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Through our Plan for Change, the government is committed to giving every child the best start in life. On 28 August 2025, we confirmed over £600 million for the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme for the next three financial years. This equates to just over £200 million each year.

This multi-year commitment gives parents and providers certainty that clubs will be available over what can otherwise be an expensive holiday period, ensuring that children and young people continue to benefit from enriching holiday experiences and nutritious meals. The programme also opens up work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families.

We will be releasing further details about the HAF programme by the end of the year, including updated local authority guidance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) colleges and (b) schools will be able to offer appropriate post-16 pathways in the (i) 2026-2027 and (ii) 2027-2028 academic years.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department published the Post-16 education and skills white paper on 20 October 2025. This sets out comprehensive reforms to build a world-leading skills system that break down barriers to opportunity, meets student and employers’ needs, widens access to high quality education and training, supports innovation, research and development, and improves people’s lives.

We are investing nearly £800 million extra in 2026/27 in funding for 16 to 19-year-old education, helping to enable the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. We will also pilot an automatic guaranteed provider place for all 16-year-olds, to ensure no one is left behind after year 11.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the average annual cost of childcare for parents in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024-25 academic year.

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.

We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life.

We do not retain data on school-based nursery places available in the Worsley and Eccles constituency. However, according to the department’s latest Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey for the reporting year 2024, there were 52,200 registered nursery class childcare places available in the North West region of England. The median hourly parent-paid fee for childcare in the region was £5.75 per hour for children under two, £5.60 per hour for two year-olds, and £5.50 per hour for three and four year-olds.

We do not have an estimate of the size of the waiting list for accessing early years childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024/25 academic year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school-based nursery places were available in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024-25 academic year.

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.

We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life.

We do not retain data on school-based nursery places available in the Worsley and Eccles constituency. However, according to the department’s latest Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey for the reporting year 2024, there were 52,200 registered nursery class childcare places available in the North West region of England. The median hourly parent-paid fee for childcare in the region was £5.75 per hour for children under two, £5.60 per hour for two year-olds, and £5.50 per hour for three and four year-olds.

We do not have an estimate of the size of the waiting list for accessing early years childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024/25 academic year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to Question 76247, due for answer on 15 September 2025.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The response to Written Parliamentary Question 76247 was published on 16 October 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the Fourth Report of Session 2024-25 of the Education Committee, Children’s Social Care, published on 10 July 2025, HC 430; and whether she plans to accept the recommendation on the development of a national foster care strategy.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department responded to the Fourth Report of the Session 2024-25 of the Education Committee, Children’s Social Care in September 2025. This includes our response to recommendation 29: ‘The Department for Education must put in place a national fostering strategy to complement the existing strategies for adoption and kinship care. As part of this, it should consult on introducing a national register of foster carers and review the financial support available to ensure that it is adequate to meet their needs.’

Foster care is one of my top priorities as Minister for Children and Families, and we need to go further and faster with recruiting and retaining more carers. We are prioritising fostering in our reform of children’s social care, as demonstrated by the announcement of an additional £40 million investment over this financial year and the next two financial years. This will bring benefits to thousands of fostered children. We will set out more detail on our planned investments and reforms for fostering in due course.

The Education Select Committee published the findings on 17 October 2025, the findings can be found here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/49799/documents/266904/default/.

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 childcare support for PhD researchers on the demographics of people who take up studentships.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Student parents are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education which is available to all 3 and 4-year-olds regardless of family circumstances. Students who work in addition to studying may be eligible for 30 hours free childcare if they meet the income requirements.

The government recognises the value of parents continuing in education and provides a range of support for students in higher education to support them with childcare. Further information on the childcare offers available to parents can be found at: https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/.

The government introduced new support packages for students starting postgraduate master’s degree courses from the 2016/17 academic year onwards and postgraduate doctoral degree courses from 2018/19 onwards. These loans are not based on income and are intended as a contribution to the cost of study. They can be used by students according to their personal circumstances to cover the costs of fees and living costs including childcare. The new support packages have provided a significant uplift in support for postgraduate students while ensuring the student support system remains financially sustainable.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available to PhD researchers with the costs of childcare.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Student parents are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education which is available to all 3 and 4-year-olds regardless of family circumstances. Students who work in addition to studying may be eligible for 30 hours free childcare if they meet the income requirements.

The government recognises the value of parents continuing in education and provides a range of support for students in higher education to support them with childcare. Further information on the childcare offers available to parents can be found at: https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/.

The government introduced new support packages for students starting postgraduate master’s degree courses from the 2016/17 academic year onwards and postgraduate doctoral degree courses from 2018/19 onwards. These loans are not based on income and are intended as a contribution to the cost of study. They can be used by students according to their personal circumstances to cover the costs of fees and living costs including childcare. The new support packages have provided a significant uplift in support for postgraduate students while ensuring the student support system remains financially sustainable.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2025 to Question 72845 on City of Sanctuary UK, on which dates officials from her Department met with Schools of Sanctuary since July 2024; and what was discussed at each meeting.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Three meetings have taken place between officials and Schools of Sanctuary during the 2024/25 academic year. One meeting was to discuss school admissions policy and processes, and two were to hear about the work of the organisation.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy for schools to (a) appoint a designated young carers lead and (b) implement a (i) flagging and (ii) registration scheme for young carers.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The statutory guidance 'Keeping Children Safe in Education' states that all school staff should be alert to the potential need for early help for young carers and requires designated safeguarding leads to be trained to understand and respond to their needs, ensuring young carers are supported to thrive in school.

We have no plans to introduce a registration scheme for young carers. Local authorities have a statutory duty to identify young carers who may need support and undertake a needs assessment where support may be needed, or upon request.

To further improve visibility and support, young carers were added to the school census as a distinct group in 2022/23. This has increased their visibility in the school system, providing valuable demographic data and insights into their educational outcomes.

Further, Ofsted’s new education inspection framework references young carers when assessing the impact of a school’s work on attendance, behaviour, personal development and wellbeing of disadvantaged pupils.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reliance on international students on the higher education sector.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government welcomes international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK and enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK.

Higher education (HE) providers in the UK received an estimated £12.1 billion in tuition fee income from international students in the 2023/24 academic year, which supported the provision of places for domestic students and research and development.

Our world class HE sector attracts high quality students from across the globe and can offer a fulfilling and enjoyable experience to international students from around the world.

The Post-16 education and skills white paper sets out the government’s commitment to building a world-class skills system, one that breaks down the barriers to opportunity, meets the needs of students and employers, drives economic growth, and improves lives across the country.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to section 58 of the Children Act 2004, if she will take legislative steps to remove the defence of reasonable punishment for parents.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The landmark Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, a key part of the government’s Plan for Change, represents the most transformative piece of child protection legislation in a generation, including wholesale reform of the children’s social care system and the introduction of measures to improve information sharing between education, police, health, justice and social workers to stop vulnerable children falling through the cracks.

While the department is looking closely at the impact of the legal changes made in Wales and Scotland in relation to reasonable punishment, we have no plans to legislate at this stage.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of making care experience a protected characteristic on (a) inequities and (b) levels of discrimination against (i) children in care and (ii) care leavers.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to tackling the stigma, discrimination, and poor outcomes experienced by care-experienced young people. We believe the most effective way to address this is by raising awareness of the challenges they face, which will be achieved through introducing corporate parenting responsibilities across government departments and relevant public bodies.

By placing a duty on government departments and relevant public bodies, the corporate parenting duty will create a culture shift to support improved outcomes for young people in the care system and those with care experience.

The legislation captures the bodies that we believe have the biggest impact on the lives of children in care and care leavers, including departments and bodies linked to educational attainment, employment support, and the criminal justice system. The government does not have plans to amend legislation to make care experience a protected characteristic.

The impact of the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on business, equalities and child rights has been evaluated and is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of making care experience a protected characteristic on care leavers within the (a) workplace and (b) criminal justice system.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to tackling the stigma, discrimination, and poor outcomes experienced by care-experienced young people. We believe the most effective way to address this is by raising awareness of the challenges they face, which will be achieved through introducing corporate parenting responsibilities across government departments and relevant public bodies.

By placing a duty on government departments and relevant public bodies, the corporate parenting duty will create a culture shift to support improved outcomes for young people in the care system and those with care experience.

The legislation captures the bodies that we believe have the biggest impact on the lives of children in care and care leavers, including departments and bodies linked to educational attainment, employment support, and the criminal justice system. The government does not have plans to amend legislation to make care experience a protected characteristic.

The impact of the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on business, equalities and child rights has been evaluated and is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of making care experience a protected characteristic on care leavers' quality of life.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to tackling the stigma, discrimination, and poor outcomes experienced by care-experienced young people. We believe the most effective way to address this is by raising awareness of the challenges they face, which will be achieved through introducing corporate parenting responsibilities across government departments and relevant public bodies.

By placing a duty on government departments and relevant public bodies, the corporate parenting duty will create a culture shift to support improved outcomes for young people in the care system and those with care experience.

The legislation captures the bodies that we believe have the biggest impact on the lives of children in care and care leavers, including departments and bodies linked to educational attainment, employment support, and the criminal justice system. The government does not have plans to amend legislation to make care experience a protected characteristic.

The impact of the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on business, equalities and child rights has been evaluated and is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of making care experience a protected characteristic on the educational attainment of children in care.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to tackling the stigma, discrimination, and poor outcomes experienced by care-experienced young people. We believe the most effective way to address this is by raising awareness of the challenges they face, which will be achieved through introducing corporate parenting responsibilities across government departments and relevant public bodies.

By placing a duty on government departments and relevant public bodies, the corporate parenting duty will create a culture shift to support improved outcomes for young people in the care system and those with care experience.

The legislation captures the bodies that we believe have the biggest impact on the lives of children in care and care leavers, including departments and bodies linked to educational attainment, employment support, and the criminal justice system. The government does not have plans to amend legislation to make care experience a protected characteristic.

The impact of the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on business, equalities and child rights has been evaluated and is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to implement (a) foster care reforms, (b) initiatives to improve the (i) recruitment and (ii) retention of foster carers and (c) other measures outlined in the Government’s response to the Education Select Committee’s report on Children’s Social Care published on 17 October 2025.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

We must take urgent action to substantially increase foster care numbers. The government is delivering a regional programme for fostering recruitment and retention to streamline the process for prospective carers. There are ten regional fostering recruitment hubs, covering over 60% of local authorities in England. The hubs will continue to rollout the Mockingbird Programme, which offers peer-support to foster carers and children in their care.

Foster care is one of my top priorities as Minister for Children and Families, and we will need to go further and faster with recruiting and retaining more carers. We are prioritising fostering in our reform of children’s social care, as evidenced by the announcement of an additional £40 million investment over the next two financial years. This will benefit thousands of fostered children. We will set out more detail on our planned investments and reforms for fostering in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children there were in each year since 1994 by reason the episode of care ceased.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Information on children looked after, including those ceasing care, for the latest five years is published in the annual statistical release: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions/2024.

Data on placements with foster carers, for the last five years, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/769dd855-b3f1-4884-95dc-08de11382822. Information is not collected on the specific relationship to the child, so we are not able to distinguish between friends, relatives or parents as the responsible person(s).

Information for the latest five years, as at 31 March, on children looked after by legal status can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f866f48d-beea-4067-95e8-08de11382822.

Information for the latest five years on the children who ceased care, by reason episode ceased and age on ceasing, can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e784faaa-438e-4d3e-7abd-08de11c58191.

Figures for years from 2006 are contained in previous years’ releases at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-looked-after-children.

Figures for years 1995 to 2003 can be found in the statistical release children looked after by local authorities, year ending 31 March: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130107105354/http:/www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/Statisticalsocialcare/DH_4086766.

Similarly data for 2003/04 can be located at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20110906154947/http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000533/index.shtml.

Data for 2004/05 can be found at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20110906153807/http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000615/index.shtml.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will commission an independent audit to confirm that no structural materials are present that pose risks to the (a) safety and (b) integrity of all school and college buildings.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

It is the responsibility of those who run our schools, such as academy trusts and local authorities, to collect and record information about their buildings and to ensure they are safe, well-maintained and comply with relevant regulations. The department provides guidance on this in the ’Good estate management for schools’ guidance, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools.

The department has undertaken extensive work to address risks associated with structural materials in the estate. We have removed Intergrid and Laingspan buildings and have committed to removing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, or starting rebuilding schemes to replace affected buildings, by the end of this parliament.

The department is continuing this work through a £5 million research programme by leading material and engineering experts. This will identify if there are emerging structural safety risks in the post-war estate. We have regular discussions with relevant professional bodies and material specialists about evidence regarding the safety of construction types and materials.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure equal access to higher education for deaf students.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Support for people with hearing impairments in higher education (HE) is guided by legal duties under the Equality Act 2010, with tailored provisions depending on the setting and the needs of the individual.

All education and training providers, including HE, and other related service providers, have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, including those with hearing impairments, so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students.

Reasonable adjustments can include adapting teaching methods (providing materials in accessible formats or using assistive technology), modifying assessments (offering extra time or alternative formats), ensuring physical accessibility (ramps or accessible accommodation), and offering personalised support services (including note takers, interpreters, or mental health support).

In addition, Disabled Students’ Allowance is available for eligible HE students for the provision of more specialist support. This might include specialist equipment, travel costs and non-medical helpers such as British Sign Language interpreters or specialist notetakers for students who are deaf or have hearing loss.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children there were (a) in foster placement with (i) relatives and (ii) friends, (b) placed with (A) parents and (B) other persons with parental responsibility, (c) placed for adoption and (d) in total as of 31 March in each year since 1994.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Information on children looked after, including those ceasing care, for the latest five years is published in the annual statistical release: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions/2024.

Data on placements with foster carers, for the last five years, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/769dd855-b3f1-4884-95dc-08de11382822. Information is not collected on the specific relationship to the child, so we are not able to distinguish between friends, relatives or parents as the responsible person(s).

Information for the latest five years, as at 31 March, on children looked after by legal status can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f866f48d-beea-4067-95e8-08de11382822.

Information for the latest five years on the children who ceased care, by reason episode ceased and age on ceasing, can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e784faaa-438e-4d3e-7abd-08de11c58191.

Figures for years from 2006 are contained in previous years’ releases at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-looked-after-children.

Figures for years 1995 to 2003 can be found in the statistical release children looked after by local authorities, year ending 31 March: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130107105354/http:/www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/Statisticalsocialcare/DH_4086766.

Similarly data for 2003/04 can be located at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20110906154947/http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000533/index.shtml.

Data for 2004/05 can be found at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20110906153807/http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000615/index.shtml.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children there were subject to (a) a care order and (b) voluntary agreements under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 as of 31 March in each year since 1994.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Information on children looked after, including those ceasing care, for the latest five years is published in the annual statistical release: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions/2024.

Data on placements with foster carers, for the last five years, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/769dd855-b3f1-4884-95dc-08de11382822. Information is not collected on the specific relationship to the child, so we are not able to distinguish between friends, relatives or parents as the responsible person(s).

Information for the latest five years, as at 31 March, on children looked after by legal status can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f866f48d-beea-4067-95e8-08de11382822.

Information for the latest five years on the children who ceased care, by reason episode ceased and age on ceasing, can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e784faaa-438e-4d3e-7abd-08de11c58191.

Figures for years from 2006 are contained in previous years’ releases at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-looked-after-children.

Figures for years 1995 to 2003 can be found in the statistical release children looked after by local authorities, year ending 31 March: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130107105354/http:/www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/Statisticalsocialcare/DH_4086766.

Similarly data for 2003/04 can be located at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20110906154947/http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000533/index.shtml.

Data for 2004/05 can be found at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20110906153807/http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000615/index.shtml.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children there were in each year since 1994 by age of the child on ceasing to be looked after.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Information on children looked after, including those ceasing care, for the latest five years is published in the annual statistical release: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions/2024.

Data on placements with foster carers, for the last five years, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/769dd855-b3f1-4884-95dc-08de11382822. Information is not collected on the specific relationship to the child, so we are not able to distinguish between friends, relatives or parents as the responsible person(s).

Information for the latest five years, as at 31 March, on children looked after by legal status can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f866f48d-beea-4067-95e8-08de11382822.

Information for the latest five years on the children who ceased care, by reason episode ceased and age on ceasing, can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e784faaa-438e-4d3e-7abd-08de11c58191.

Figures for years from 2006 are contained in previous years’ releases at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-looked-after-children.

Figures for years 1995 to 2003 can be found in the statistical release children looked after by local authorities, year ending 31 March: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130107105354/http:/www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/Statisticalsocialcare/DH_4086766.

Similarly data for 2003/04 can be located at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20110906154947/http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000533/index.shtml.

Data for 2004/05 can be found at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20110906153807/http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000615/index.shtml.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on how to equip parents with the knowledge to ask appropriate safeguarding questions when choosing extracurricular activities.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government is committed to safeguarding children across all education settings, including extracurricular providers outside the statutory education and childcare system, referred to as out-of-school settings (OOSS).

All OOSS have a legal duty of care to ensure the safety of children attending their settings. To support providers to meet this duty, the department has published guidance and free accompanying e-learning outlining the safeguarding standards we expect them to meet.

The department has also published guidance for parents and carers to help them make informed decisions when choosing OOSS, which includes potential issues to watch out for and steps to take if concerns arise. These resources are regularly reviewed, including with key stakeholders such as safeguarding partners, sector representatives, and parent groups.

Whilst the department believes most OOSS offer enriching education in a safe environment, we want this to be true for all. That’s why the government launched a call for evidence on 29 May to better understand safeguarding practices in the sector and invite views on approaches for further strengthening safeguarding, including potential regulation. This closed on 21 September, and we are currently analysing responses. We will publish our response, including next steps, in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to take legislative steps to put safeguarding in extracurricular settings on the same statutory footing as (a) schools and (b) statutory services.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government is committed to safeguarding children across all education settings, including extracurricular providers outside the statutory education and childcare system, referred to as out-of-school settings (OOSS).

All OOSS have a legal duty of care to ensure the safety of children attending their settings. To support providers to meet this duty, the department has published guidance and free accompanying e-learning outlining the safeguarding standards we expect them to meet.

The department has also published guidance for parents and carers to help them make informed decisions when choosing OOSS, which includes potential issues to watch out for and steps to take if concerns arise. These resources are regularly reviewed, including with key stakeholders such as safeguarding partners, sector representatives, and parent groups.

Whilst the department believes most OOSS offer enriching education in a safe environment, we want this to be true for all. That’s why the government launched a call for evidence on 29 May to better understand safeguarding practices in the sector and invite views on approaches for further strengthening safeguarding, including potential regulation. This closed on 21 September, and we are currently analysing responses. We will publish our response, including next steps, in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff were involved in conducting the Equality Impact Assessment of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, published in March 2025; and how many hours were spent by (a) Departmental staff and (b) external consultants in its preparation.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department published an equality impact assessment for the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill upon introduction of the Bill to Parliament. This was last updated 21 March 2025, to reflect changes to the Bill during its Commons passage.

This assessment was prepared by officials responsible for the measures in the Bill. Given the broad scope of this Bill, it is not possible to provide the number of hours spent preparing this document.

No external consultants were involved in the preparation of the equality impact assessment.

The department will continue to monitor the equalities impact of all policies as the Bill progresses through Parliament and update the published impact assessment.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the safeguarding risks posed by extracurricular activity providers who fall outside statutory safeguarding requirements.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government is committed to safeguarding children across all education settings, including extracurricular providers outside the statutory education and childcare system, referred to as out-of-school settings (OOSS).

All OOSS have a legal duty of care to ensure the safety of children attending their settings. To support providers to meet this duty, the department has published guidance and free accompanying e-learning outlining the safeguarding standards we expect them to meet.

The department has also published guidance for parents and carers to help them make informed decisions when choosing OOSS, which includes potential issues to watch out for and steps to take if concerns arise. These resources are regularly reviewed, including with key stakeholders such as safeguarding partners, sector representatives, and parent groups.

Whilst the department believes most OOSS offer enriching education in a safe environment, we want this to be true for all. That’s why the government launched a call for evidence on 29 May to better understand safeguarding practices in the sector and invite views on approaches for further strengthening safeguarding, including potential regulation. This closed on 21 September, and we are currently analysing responses. We will publish our response, including next steps, in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made in reducing delays in issuing Education, Health and Care Plans.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department knows that parents have struggled to get the right support for their children, particularly through long and difficult education, health and care (EHC) plan processes. We want to ensure that local authorities complete EHC needs assessments promptly, and high quality plans are issued in line with statutory deadlines, so that children and young people can access the support they need.

The department continues to monitor and work closely with local authorities that have issues with EHC plan timeliness. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make required improvements, the department will help them identify barriers and develop an effective recovery plan, including support from special educational needs and disabilities advisers where needed.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase substitute funding for schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department does not specifically fund substitute provision. However, the overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year. Each school has the autonomy to allocate its budget to best meet the needs of its pupils and ensure they have the best opportunities in life. This may involve decisions concerning the hiring of supply staff, since schools, academies and local authorities are responsible for staff recruitment.

The department is also committed to helping schools get better value for their money when hiring supply staff. We are working closely with the Crown Commercial Service on their agency supply deal, which supports schools to obtain value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. The deal has established a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which will be transparent with schools about the rates they charge.

The department continues to conduct policy research into the supply market.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to continue to provide funding to eight specialist music and dance schools through the Music and Dance Scheme.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer my noble Friend to the answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 79113.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of an International Student Levy on the ability for universities to deliver (a) high-priority and (b) high-cost courses.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to attend higher education. We must, therefore, reform the higher education system to better support disadvantaged students. That is why the government will reintroduce targeted maintenance grants before the end of this Parliament. The grants will support students from low-income households studying courses aligned with the government’s missions and the Industrial Strategy, funded by a levy on international student fees.

We will set out further details on the levy and targeted means-tested maintenance grants at Autumn Budget.

The government provides funding through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) on an annual basis to support teaching of expensive-to-deliver subjects. For the 2025/26 academic year, more than two thirds of the £1.3 billion SPG recurrent budget allocated to providers will support the provision of high-cost subjects, for example medicine, dentistry, science, engineering and technology.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of an International Student Levy on the ability for universities to deliver on the Industrial Strategy.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

In the Industrial Strategy we recognised the critical role of universities as engines for innovation and skills and announced that the Strategic Priorities Grant will be more effectively targeted towards provision which supports future skills needs in the Industrial Strategy.

On the International Student Levy, we will set out further details including an impact analysis in the Autumn Budget. This will include setting out the amount of the levy and the way in which proceeds will be reinvested into our higher education and skills system through targeted means-tested maintenance grants for students studying courses that support our missions and Industrial Strategy.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to issue guidance to schools, colleges and universities about the provision of single sex-spaces.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government.

The department is currently reviewing the draft non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges on gender questioning children. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance and, as such, the government is looking carefully at the consultation responses, discussing with stakeholders and considering the relevant evidence, including the final report of the Cass Review which was published post-consultation, before setting out next steps.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department had with teachers on the removal of the application window for the 2024–25 Student Finance England teacher student loan reimbursement scheme to March 2026, and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of this change on teachers’ (a) cash flow and (b) financial wellbeing.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

In September 2025, the department communicated to eligible teachers that the application window for the Teacher Student Loan Reimbursement (TSLR) scheme was being rescheduled from autumn 2025 to March 2026, so that eligible teachers commit to teaching for the full academic year before they can claim this incentive.

Eligible teachers have always claimed TSLR payments retrospectively, as the policy allows teachers to claim back the student loan repayments they made in the previous financial year if they remain teaching in eligible schools. The rescheduling of the application window to 2 March 2026 is consistent with the policy intent of incentivising teacher retention.

TSLR provides a one-off annual incentive payment on top of the teacher’s salary, which eligible teachers will continue to receive.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published in June 2025, what progress her Department has made on implementing recommendation nine.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Baroness Casey’s Audit into Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse highlighted a decline in child sexual abuse and exploitation within the department’s children in need data, which is published annually. We are undertaking work to better understand how children who experience child sexual abuse and exploitation are represented in both child in need assessment data and child protection data and will publish analysis by the end of the year.

This will include analysis of demographics, outcomes, trends, local area variation over time and analysis of serious incident notifications.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to remove interest rates on student loans.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Student loans are subject to interest to ensure that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree. To consider both students and taxpayers, and ensure the real value of the loans over the repayment term, interest rates are linked to inflation.

Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers. Student loan repayments are based on a borrower’s monthly or weekly income, not the interest rate or the amount borrowed. Regular repayments are based on a fixed percentage of earnings above the applicable student loan repayment threshold.

No repayments are made for earnings below the relevant student loan repayment threshold. For lower earners who will not repay much of their loan, any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is cancelled after the loan term ends or in case of death or disability, at no detriment to the borrower.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of an International Student Levy on the ability for universities to deliver on the Post-16 Skills White Paper.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper sets out how the department intends to work with the sector to achieve our vision for the future of higher education (HE).This includes the introduction of a tuition fee escalator to put the sector on a more sustainable footing, and the reintroduction of targeted means-tested maintenance grants, alongside a commitment to increase maintenance loans in line with inflation every academic year to widen access. We are also strengthening the Office for Students’ powers to tackle pockets of low quality provision and protect value for public money.

The levy on international student fees will fund the means-tested maintenance grants. We will set out further details on both measures at the Autumn Budget.

HE providers are independent from government and as such must continue to make the necessary and appropriate financial decisions to ensure their long-term sustainability.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders on steps to improve vocational skills teaching in schools in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East, and (e) England.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department’s careers framework, the Gatsby Benchmarks, encourages teachers to use industry and career pathways as a context for teaching the national curriculum and qualifications. We also fund the Careers and Enterprise Company to help schools and colleges deliver high quality careers programmes. To boost skills and work readiness, every young person will receive two weeks’ worth of work experience during their secondary education.

Technical awards are the main vocationally focused pre-16 offer and play an important role in supporting a broad curriculum at key stage 4 and progression to post-16 pathways.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has her Department has made of the adequacy of provision of school uniform for children with physical disabilities.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Decisions regarding school uniform policies are the responsibility of school governing boards and they should consider the needs of all pupils when developing their policies on school uniform. To support schools, the department has published non-statutory guidance on developing and implementing their school uniform policy, which includes advice on meeting their equality obligations. This guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform/school-uniforms.

The guidance states that a school uniform should be inclusive, and we expect schools to be considerate when implementing their policy so that their uniform can be worn by all pupils.

The guidance also states that schools should be willing to allow for some individual variations to their uniform policy, where necessary, to avoid indirect discrimination. For instance, reasonable adjustments must be made, as appropriate, for pupils with a disability.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2025 to Question 82981 on PE and sport premium grant funding, what alternative funding streams her Department provides that are available to primary schools for capital expenditure on sports equipment.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Schools, including primary schools, are allocated devolved formula capital (DFC) to spend on capital projects and capital purchases that meet their own priorities.

Further information and DFC allocations for the 2025/26 financial year are published here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools reported deepfake intimate image abuse in 2024-25.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Schools are under no obligation to report data on deepfake intimate image abuse to the department.

The department’s statutory safeguarding guidance, 'Keeping children safe in education', which supports schools and colleges to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, includes robust advice on how to protect pupils online. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the criteria for additional summer holiday support to include all (a) kinship carers and (b) low-income families.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Through our Plan for Change, the government is committed to giving every child the best start in life. On 28 August 2025, we confirmed over £600 million for the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme for the next three financial years, from 2026/27. This equates to just over £200 million each year.

This multi-year commitment gives parents and providers certainty that clubs will be available over what can otherwise be an expensive holiday period, ensuring that children and young people continue to benefit from enriching holiday experiences and nutritious meals. The programme also provides work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families.

The department will be releasing further details about the HAF programme by the end of the year, including updated local authority guidance.

Found: DepartmentforEducationSanctuaryBuildings20GreatSmithStreetLondonSW1P3BT tel:03700002288www.education.gov.uk/contactus/dfe

Found: (DfE) to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Found: • 4 are currently or soon to be vacant (DfE has an interim CDIO in post) with recruitment processes

Found: Letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education relating to Treasury Minute Response

Found: We welcome the recommendations published by the Department for Education on 5 November 2025 to improve

Found: this approach, there needs to be a joined-up approach across all statutory bodies including DHSC, DfE

Found: For example, while the Department for Education promotes apprenticeship uptake, Treasury-led wage and

Found: Coordinating central, mayoral and local action SME-relevant levers are scattered across Treasury, DBT, DfE

Found: A coherent strategy requires alignment between DBT, DLUHC, DfE, and regional authorities.

Found: compelling case for more coordinated support across government bodies – particularly the Department for Education

Found: establishing a National SME Growth Board, comprising representatives from key departments (DBT, HMT, DfE

Found: There must be better coordination across DBT, HMRC, DfE (for apprenticeships), BEIS, and enforcement

Found: .  Foster cross-departmental collaboration: Coordinate DCMS, DBT and DfE to deliver joined-up support

Found: employees vs. 94 per cent among companies with 250 or more employees (Employer Skills Survey 2022, DfE

Found: How many times have you raised this with the Department for Education?

Found: Do you think there should be guidance from the health service or the Department for Education that says

Found: is responding to the skills needs of the moment, you will see that AI skills have been moved out of DFE

Found: Media literacy, immersive technology and the future. 45 Department for Education, March 2025.

Found: Multiplied by average class size (27 – Department for Education, school census)8 37.

Found: www.productionservices.sky/article/fyi-investigates-special- disability-me-wins-bafta- 24 Department for Education

Found: responsibility between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Health, and Department for Education

Found: and Public Funding (Screen) Agencies,  Include investment from a range of Government Departments (DfE

Found: In Adelle’s words “I asked the DfE, how is it that I can safeguard a social influencer (based on if

Found: A 2024 DfE EdTech survey found 74 % of primary teachers and 61 % of secondary teachers use video in

Found: the importance of supporting children develop healthy physical activity habits, and so the Department for Education

Found: importance of supporting children develop healthy physical activity habits, and so the Department for Education

Found: funded through the growth and skills levy, and Skills England has a role in advising the Department for Education

Found: The Department for Education should:  Introduce SEND reform that upskills the workforce supporting disabled

Found: autism into employment 13 Renaisi-TSIP, (2024) Learning from funding Connected Futures 14 DWP, HMT, DfE

Found: The Department for Education did not really want us to do a graduate review, because the risk was that

Found: It must be a legitimate expectation that if one asks a question of the Department for Education, you

Found: There are many intentions in the system to try to change that—including the DFE reforms that are on

Found: There are many intentions in the system to try to change that—including the DFE reforms that are on

Found: I have worked closely with the Department for Education and NHS England to prepare a response to the

Found: You were alluding to young people; we are working closely with our colleagues across the Department for Education

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of children that are able to swim 25 metres confidently.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Swimming and water safety is a vital life skill, which is why it is a mandatory part of the primary PE National Curriculum.

All schools must provide swimming instruction in either key stage 1 or 2. In particular, pupils should be taught to: swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres; use a range of strokes effectively; and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

Primary schools can use their PE and sport Premium funding to provide top-up swimming and water safety lessons for those pupils that do not meet national curriculum requirements after they have completed core swimming and water safety lessons.

The Department for Education is also funding the ‘Inclusion 2028’ grant at up to £300,000 per year to improve opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities to participate in school sport, including swimming and water safety.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, which (a) Department and (b) Minister will lead on the online guidance hub for parents and carers on children and young people’s online safety and the Media Literacy Vision Statement.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DSIT is the policy lead for media literacy and is committed to improving media literacy through coordinated cross-government work and collaboration with Ofcom and civil society. Minister Narayan is responsible for media literacy strategy, ensuring clear leadership and co-operation across departments. The Media Literacy Vision Statement will set out a clear direction and a joined-up approach across government, including how to empower parents and carers to better support young people online.

DSIT is working in close collaboration with the Department for Education to develop a dedicated ‘parent hub’ providing guidance on media literacy and online safety for parents and carers.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Education and (b) other Cabinet colleagues on the UK's position on proposals at the UN to negotiate an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to strengthen the right to education.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Officials in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Education worked together closely to determine the UK's position on the Optional Protocol, as set out in the answer provided on 3 November to Question 84390.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) monitoring and (b) reporting arrangements his Department has put in place to ensure that repeated non-compliance by local authorities in the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) is escalated to (i) the Department for Education, (ii) the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, (iii) Ofsted, (iv) the Care Quality Commission and (v) other relevant oversight bodies; and where this information is published.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Data about whether any barring orders have been made by the First Tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) in each of the last three years could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Data on non-compliance, following a decision made by the Tribunal is not held centrally. The Tribunal does not have powers of enforcement over local authorities. Escalation of non-compliance of a Tribunal’s decision is to the Local Authority. If the decision is still not been complied with, this could be escalated to the Local Authority Ombudsman. Guidance about this is provided to appellants.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total amount of unspent funds from the Apprenticeship Levy returned to the Treasury for each of the past five years.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions, and prior to that the Department for Education, has responsibility for apprenticeships in England only. The annual English apprenticeships budget is agreed at key fiscal events and ring-fenced. This budget is distinct from the total levy receipts collected by HM Treasury and the funds in employers’ apprenticeship service accounts.

The English apprenticeship budget covers the spend drawn down by all levy-paying employers, as well as apprenticeships for those who do not pay the levy, the costs of English and maths tuition for apprentices, and additional payments to employers, training providers and apprentices. It also covers the administrative costs of running the apprenticeships programme.

Over the past two financial years the English apprenticeships budget has been almost fully spent. The table below provides details of the English apprenticeships budget. As is usual practice, any underspends in overall departmental budgets by the end of the financial year are returned to HMT as per the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.

*The 2023-24 annual apprenticeship budget was revised in-year from £2,585 million to £2,525 million, as £60 million was surrendered in-year.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of 30 hours free childcare on (a) Job Centre operations and (b) levels of returns to employment.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Education 30 hours free childcare is one of several government childcare offers, including the Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit childcare.

DWP has not made an assessment of the impact of the Department for Education’s 30 hours free childcare on job centre operations or returns to employment. In March 2023, when the government announced the extension of 30 hours of free childcare for working age parents of nine-month to two-year-olds, the OBR assessed as a result they would expect around 60,000 parents of young children to enter employment by 2027/28.

Economic and fiscal outlook - March 2023

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to continue to support creative industries, including through the Music and Dance Scheme.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The creative industries are one of this government’s priority sectors for growth, as set out in our Industrial Strategy. The Creative Industries Sector Plan aims to make the UK the top destination for creativity and innovation by 2035. The Plan includes targeted packages for high-growth subsectors, including film, TV, video games, advertising, music, visual and performing arts. The Plan focuses on helping creative businesses access finance, export and innovate, and to develop a high quality workforce.

As part of this, the Government fully supports the arts and the skills pipeline into the creative industries, with the Department for Education providing £36.5 million for the Music and Dance Scheme this academic year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on improving consistency in identification of child victims of modern slavery by introducing a statutory definition of child criminal exploitation; and whether she will include a definition in an updated edition of the Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office is working closely with the Department for Education to improve the identification and response to victims of child criminal exploitation (CCE).

As committed to in the Government’s manifesto, we are introducing a new offence of child criminal exploitation in the Crime and Policing Bill. The offence itself already defines CCE.

In addition, we will include a definition of child criminal exploitation in the statutory guidance that the Government will issue to the police in relation to the new offence. The CCE definition in this statutory guidance will set out in layman’s terms the conduct captured by the offence as well as additional information for police and practitioners on how the offence should be applied and victims identified by the police. This will promote awareness and ensure there is a shared understanding of child criminal exploitation so that victims are better identified and receive the protection they need.

We will also review existing guidance, including Working Together to Safeguard Children and consider what amendments to such guidance may be needed as a result of introducing this new offence.

A public Call for Evidence on how the Government can improve the process of identifying victims of modern slavery, human trafficking and exploitation closed on 8th October, and the Home Office is analysing the responses received.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help remove barriers to work faced by young disabled people with complex needs in Birmingham Perry Barr constituency.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group. Access to the right support, in the right place, at the right time, is crucial.

Jobcentre Plus provides tailored, person-centred support to young disabled people, focusing on their individual needs. Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs) provide personalise support for people with health conditions and disabilities to enable them to achieve appropriate and sustainable employment. DEAs work closely with Youth Employability Coaches (YECs), who deliver longer-term support, specifically for young people facing with complex to work. Both DEAs and YECs work with partner organisations to ensure access to expert advice.

The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education continue to work closely with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) on the design and delivery of their Youth Guarantee Trailblazer. WMCA has actively engaged its seven Local Authorities, which includes Birmingham, to co-develop and test place-based solutions aimed at tackling high youth unemployment, economic inactivity, and declining apprenticeship opportunities. Examples of programmes being delivered through the Trailblazer include work experience placements, pre-apprenticeship training, and NEET prevention. This locally tailored support is also accessible to young people with health conditions and disabilities. Insights from the Trailblazer will inform future national policy and delivery.

In addition, young people with health conditions and disabilities can benefit from other locally delivered programmes such as Connect to Work and Workwell. Connect to Work, is a voluntary, high-fidelity programme, connecting work, health and skills support for people with challenges to employment, including health and disability. Workwell, provides a light touch intervention which focuses on prevention and support for people in work to sustain employment. It also supports people who have fallen out of work due to health and disability to return to the workplace.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate how the target of 80 percent employment will be supported via the co-ordination of (i) employment support and (ii) skills services.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Our Get Britain Working strategy set out plans to increase participation and progression in the workforce by transforming Jobcentre Plus into the Jobs & Careers Service, introducing a new Youth Guarantee, and increasing activity to tackle health and disability related inactivity, including through the new Pathways to Work guarantee set out in the March Green Paper.

Coordination of employment support and skills services is key to delivering these plans and meeting the Government’s long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. The Get Britain Working White Paper set the blueprint for joined up work, health and skills services to tackle inactivity at a local level and built on national models such as the Sector Based Work Academy Programmes, which help employers with their workforce needs by upskilling benefit claimants to fill local job vacancies, and Skills Bootcamps for sector-specific training.

We have published our Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper which includes plans to address priority skills gaps and reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training through joined up employment and skills support. We have also brought adult skills into the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to maximise the opportunities of aligning employment and skills support, with the Minister for Skills retaining oversight of skills across DWP and DfE.

We will report on our progress towards reaching our 80% employment rate ambition through a range of metrics annually. Our first report was released in April 2025 with the first update planned for next year. We will measure our success through the following metrics:

• Regional employment rate
• Health-related inactivity
• Disability employment rate gap
• Female employment rate
• Parental employment

DWP published its Evidence and Evaluation Strategy in July 2025 Evidence and Evaluation Strategy 2025 - GOV.UK', with Goal 1 covering how DWP will evaluate its labour market agenda. The strategy details both current and planned research and evaluation activities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published in June 2025, what progress her Department has made on implementing recommendation seven.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office has been working closely with the Department for Education to understand how the proposed Unique Identifier will operate in order to plan for upgrades to police IT systems.

In June we conducted a Preliminary Market Engagement to understand how the market could support the need to better integrate data across policing. We are currently evaluating those responses against the existing policing landscape to determine the best way forwards.

We also awarded a contract to deliver a Police Technology Strategy and Roadmap.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on anti-violence education programmes in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Halving knife crime over the next decade is a central priority for this Government. Reducing youth-related violence, including in the North East of England, will be critical to achieving this goal.

Home Office officials hold monthly discussions with the Northumbria Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) on delivery of early intervention and prevention programmes, including anti-violence education.

For 2025/26, Northumbria VRU has been allocated £2,140,937, including funding for a range of interventions. These include educational programmes for professionals to raise awareness of the impact of knife crime; active bystander training; and mentoring initiatives and sports programmes to provide positive engagement and help to steer young people away from violence.

The Home Office also engages regularly with a wider network of Violence Reduction Units and Serious Violence Duty partnerships in England to discuss their progress in embedding a public health approach to violence prevention.

The Home Office also meets regularly with Department for Education colleagues to discuss the inclusion of related issues in the curriculum.

As part of the updated Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, primary school pupils will learn how to manage relationship challenges and seek help when concerned about violence. At secondary level, the focus will be on developing social and emotional skills to avoid conflict, understanding the law on knives and violence, and knowing which trusted adults to approach.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase defibrillator training in schools in North Shropshire constituency.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department for Education has published guidance on automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for schools, including on maintenance and registration with The Circuit. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67936b102de28ea2d392f35b/Automated_External_Defibrillators__AEDs__guidance_for_schools.pdf

NHS England provides training sessions on first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and the use of AEDs both in the community and in schools, under the under Restart a Heart initiative. NHS England has trained over 35,800 adults and children in CPR and defibrillation.

Found: Autism Act 2009 Committee, Oral evidence, 2 June 2025, Q101 34 HC Deb 27 October 2025 c19 35 DWP/HMT/DfE

The Government should officially recognise purple instead of indigo in the traditional
ROYGBIV colour sequence taught in schools and used in public educational materials.Indigo is outdated and extremely confusing, it no longer reflects how colour is perceived in modern education, design or science.

Found: We urge the Department for Education to replace indigo with purple, forming the clearer ROYGPV Spectrum

We urge the Department for Education to act:
Make National Kindness Day a fixture in every school’s calendar. Embed kindness, empathy, and inclusion into PSHE and RSE curriculum guidance. Equip schools with the resources and training they need to deliver kindness-based education

Found: We urge the Department for Education to act: Make National Kindness Day a fixture in every school’s

Found: Topics: Education, training and skills, Further and higher education Departments: Department for Education

Found: individual support from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy or the Department for Education

Found: individual support from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy or the Department for Education

Found: perspective, whilst there is a lack of sector specific data on costs of cyber attacks, the Department for Education

Found: - DfE 18261 E5033 E09000005 Brent LB LB yes DFE Department for Education - DfE 246 E5033 E09000005

Found: Last year the Office worked with the Department for Education, secondary schools and the Education Authority

Found: The ongoing joint Department for Education/ Ministry of Defence Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP) aims

Found: ƒ Support new work with the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Found: ƒ Support new work with the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Found: considered as part of the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review commissioned by the Department for Education

Found: individual support from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy or the Department for Education

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Found: The Department for Education sets the curriculum for the new GCSE in BSL while Ofqual ensures the assessments

Found: The DfE document, “Basic need allocations 2026-27 and 2027-28: Explanatory note on methodology”, refers

Found: Supply metrics: share of vacancies by occupation hard to fill due to skills shortages (DfE, Employer

Found: DfE media enquiries Central newsdesk - for journalists 020 7783 8300

Found: The Department for Education has today announced the appointment of Professor Chris Millward as Interim

Found: ‘Get information about schools’ (GIAS); d) information available on the websites of the Department for Education

Found: The DfE document, “Basic need allocations 2026-27 and 2027-28: Explanatory note on methodology”, refers

Found: (DfE); and g. the DfE document “Guidance on handling admission requests for summer born

Found: This falls in line with DFE guidance on “Basic need allocations 2026-27 and 2027-28: Explanatory note

Found: railways in the future. 91 At the time of the accident, there were no requirements from the Department for Education

Found: workout series Activate, which was supported by a cross-section of government departments including DCMS, DfE

Found: answered ‘yes’ to the question: ‘Are you subject to any conditions or prohibitions placed on you by the DfE

Found: Last year the Office worked with the Department for Education, secondary schools and the Education Authority

Found: discuss expanding educational provision and support for careers in fire engineering with the Department for Education

Found: discuss expanding educational provision and support for careers in fire engineering with the Department for Education

Found: Examples of insurance and contingent liabilities clients include: NHS Resolution, Department for Education

Found: railways in the future. 91 At the time of the accident, there were no requirements from the Department for Education

Found: Religious character and ethos are sourced from Get Information About Schools, maintained by the Department for Education

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Found: The response was developed in collaboration with the Youth Custody Service, Department for Education,

Found: In particular, we have worked alongside NHS England, the Department for Education, and the Youth Custody

Found: ƒ Support new work with the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Found: ƒ Support new work with the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Found: colleagues continue to engage with UKG colleagues, including a call with the responsible Director in DfE

Found: Awarding Examination Bodies in the UK Executive NDPB’s Other Organisations: · DFE