Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 25 of the Modern Industrial Strategy: Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, published on 23 June 2025, what steps her Department is taking to support access to (a) skills courses and (b) technical colleges for food and drink manufacturers.

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

Our Post-16 education and skills white paper sets out plans to equip people with the skills and knowledge to succeed, drive growth, and support national renewal. We are introducing rigorous new qualifications so that all learners have access to high quality study pathways and can progress to employment or further study. Apprenticeships are being transformed with a new growth and skills offer, including new foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors launched in August, shorter apprenticeships available, and short, flexible training courses starting April 2026 to meet business needs.

We are also establishing technical excellence colleges (TECs) in the Industrial Strategy growth-driving sectors. This includes 4 advanced manufacturing TECs, with delivery beginning from April 2026. Advanced Manufacturing TECs will help secure a skilled workforce pipeline and will focus on skills provision for key subsector specialisms such as agri-tech, which may include supporting improvements to the efficiency and productivity of food production, ultimately benefiting the food and drink manufacturing industry.

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 repeated external investigations on staff (a) wellbeing and (b) retention in small special educational needs schools in Surrey Heath constituency.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Across mainstream and special schools, the department is committed to improving the wellbeing and mental health of school staff and creating a supportive culture in schools and colleges. That is why we encourage all schools and colleges to sign the education staff wellbeing charter which sets out shared commitments to protect and promote the wellbeing of staff in schools and colleges. The charter can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter.

Recruiting and retaining excellent teachers and leaders will support the government to transform the education system so that all young people get the skills, care and opportunities they deserve. Full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in special schools and pupil referral units in Surrey increased by 21 (3.6%) in 2024.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Home Office’s policy paper entitled Restoring order and control: a statement on the Government’s asylum and returns policy, published on 17 November 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Home Office’s proposed legislation on the duty for public bodies to prioritise vulnerable children, as set out in the Children Act 1989.

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

The department will work with the Home Office as they carefully consider the appropriate pathways and wider provision for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and asylum-seeking families with children. We will continue to focus on ensuring vulnerable children are protected and their welfare safeguarded.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the fairness of calculating student loan interest at RPI rather than CPI.

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

Interest rates are set in legislation in reference to the Retail Price Index (RPI) from the previous March, not the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and are applied annually on 1 September until 31 August. This ensures that over a period of years, interest rates on student loans have been consistently linked to a widely recognised and adopted measure of inflation.

The Office for National Statistics has undertaken a substantial programme of work over the past two years to enhance how inflation is measured. The Office for Budget Responsibility has confirmed that, from 2030 at the earliest, movements in RPI will be aligned with CPI as viewed here: https://obr.uk/box/the-long-run-difference-between-rpi-and-cpi-inflation/.

A full equality impact assessment of how the student loan reforms may affect graduates, including detail on changes to average lifetime repayments under Plan 5, was produced and published in February 2022 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current interventions aimed at reducing the attainment gap between boys and girls at a) primary and b) secondary school.

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

All children and young people should have every opportunity to achieve and thrive. However, the department knows that on average attainment for boys is lower than girls.

Although the gap between boys and girls at both primary and secondary has narrowed from 2024, there is more to do, and the department continues to monitor this at all key stages.

High and rising standards across education are key to strengthening outcomes and closing these gaps.

The department is driving improvements through new regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, a refreshed high quality curriculum and assessment system, and recruiting 6,500 additional teachers in schools and colleges over the course of this parliament. We have also committed £27.7 million to drive standards in reading and writing and will launch the National Year of Reading 2026 with a focus on teenage boys.

Building on this, the upcoming Schools White Paper will set out the department’s vision for a school system that drives educational excellence for every child regardless of background or circumstance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking with the national literacy trust to deliver the national year of reading 2026.

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

This government has committed to strong foundations in reading and writing for all children and the National Year of Reading 2026 is an important part of our strategy for delivering on this commitment.

The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign to address the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults. It is a department led initiative, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, who will lead the delivery of the campaign, working alongside a range of partners.

It includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, resources and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year.

More information will be added to the website in the coming months. Anyone interested in the campaign can sign up to the website: www.goallin.org.uk.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote multimodal literacy as part of the new curriculum rollout.

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

This government’s ambition is for every child and young person to receive a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative education.

The department agrees with the Curriculum and Assessment Review that building the skills for young people to critically engage with and assess information from a range of sources, including multi-modal texts, is increasingly important.

The reformed English programme of study and English language GCSE will expose students to the study of a wider range of text types and genres, including transient texts, supporting them to analyse and challenge arguments, building media literacy.

Media literacy is an increasingly important skill to enable young people to identify “fake news” and to spot different types of mis- and disinformation, especially online.

Secure, well-founded knowledge is essential for students to understand how arguments are constructed across different types of media and to recognise the various ways in which language can be used to persuade.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposed international student levy on universities’ capacity to support artificial intelligence research, skills development and commercialisation, and the Government's ambitions for AI-driven economic growth.

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

The government will set out further details on the international student levy at 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 (HE) and skills system through targeted means-tested maintenance grants for students studying courses that support our missions and Industrial Strategy.

The department has engaged with many HE providers and representative bodies regarding the levy since the publication of the Immigration White Paper, and we will set out our plans for further engagement on the levy in due course.

We will also publish an impact analysis of the levy in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks of Baroness Smith of Malvern on 22 May (HL Deb col 393) and the publication in July of Families first for children pathfinder: implementation and process evaluation report, when the evaluation of the impact of multi-agency child protection teams will be published.

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

The department is running an evaluation of the families first for children pathfinder programme until 2028, with the next publication scheduled for 2027. This report will assess the aggregate impact of the full reform package, which includes multi-agency child protection teams, and will highlight progress on indicators such as multi-agency collaboration, information sharing, and decision making.

Alongside formal evaluation, the department continues to monitor progress and extract learning more broadly, including through data returns, local monitoring and working closely with the ten pathfinder areas.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2025 to Question 88105, how many 16 to 19 year olds are enrolled on each of the 900 non-A level Level 3 qualifications referenced in the Department’s consultation document on Post-16 Level 3 and Below Pathways.

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

The government’s vision for the 16-19 education system is to create a clear and coherent system with distinct pathways leading to further study, training or employment, including apprenticeships.

At level 3, this includes introducing V Levels, a new pathway alongside A levels and T Levels, as recommended in the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report. These reforms are currently under consultation.

Despite removing qualifications with sustained low or no enrolments ahead of this academic year, there remain 872 level 3 qualifications that are still available for 16–19-year-olds. Further analysis shows there were circa. 494,300 16-19 study programme enrolments in academic year 2022/23.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have had with trust chief executives on the (i) recruitment and (ii) role of regional improvement for standards and excellence advisors.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Regional improvement for standards excellence (RISE) teams have already paired over 350 schools with RISE advisers and supporting organisations, including some of our strongest trusts with a record of turning around struggling schools, to share expertise and boost standards.

Departmental officials engaged with trust chief executives during the autumn 2024 term, ahead of launching recruitment for RISE advisers in November. The department also sought views from key stakeholder groups, including representative bodies and unions.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what number students eligible for the 16-19 large programme uplift funding in the last five academic years studied the International Baccalaureate Level 3 programme and pursued STEM-related subjects.

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

The information requested is not held by the department. The department does not hold information on the constituent subjects that make up the International Baccalaureate as this information is not provided by awarding organisations.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in the last academic year, what (a) percentage and (b) number of pupils were eligible for the Pupil Premium and received the 16-19 large programme uplift funding for studying a T Level and at least one A Level alongside.

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

The Pupil Premium is not available for post-16 students. Therefore, no students were eligible in the last academic year for the Pupil Premium and received the Large Programme Uplift for studying four or more A levels or a T Level and at least one A level alongside.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether a teacher is authorised to use a pupils' prescribed Adrenaline Auto-Injector device on a different pupil in the event of an anaphylactic emergency.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Regulations allow, but do not mandate, schools to obtain and hold spare adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs). Since 1 October 2017, the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 has allowed all schools to purchase AAI devices without a prescription, for use in an emergency situation. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published non-statutory guidance to accompany this legislative change, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/using-emergency-adrenaline-auto-injectors-in-schools. This guidance gives advice to schools on the recognition and management of an allergic reaction and anaphylaxis, and outlines when and how an AAI should be administered. The guidance states that children at risk of anaphylaxis should have their prescribed AAIs at school for use in an emergency, and that any AAIs held by a school should be considered a spare device, and not a replacement for a pupil’s own AAIs.

The department is working with DHSC and NHS England to consider how we might extend the availability of adrenaline auto-injectors in schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her department has consulted with a) NSPCC, b) Women's Aid, and c) other charities, on the potential implications of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on children who have been victims of abuse from a parent.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

​​The department has engaged with a number of charities on policies where they have a direct interest, as part of wider consideration of the Bill’s impact on children and families.

We have spoken to the NSPCC on multiple occasions about the Bill and have engaged closely with the Domestic Abuse commissioner on Family Group Decision Making.

Moreover, as part of their consideration of the Bill in the House of Commons, the Public Bill Committee invited written evidence from outside organisations and members of the public and took oral evidence from relevant stakeholders. The NSPCC and a number of other charities provided evidence, which has informed Parliamentary debate and ongoing thinking on the Bill’s measures.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to carry out a data privacy impact assessment for the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department is ensuring that measures outlined in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill align with data protection principles, as set out in the Data Protection Act 2018, UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.

The department has met its obligation under Article 36(4) of UK GDPR to consult with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on relevant measures involving the use of personal data, such as the Children Not in School registers.

The department is engaging with the ICO to ensure that any data protection risks identified are properly mitigated and is carrying out data protection impact assessments, where relevant.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in the last academic year, what (a) percentage and (b) number of pupils were eligible for the Pupil Premium and received the 16-19 large programme uplift funding for studying four or more A Levels.

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

The Pupil Premium is not available for post-16 students. Therefore, no students were eligible in the last academic year for the Pupil Premium and received the Large Programme Uplift for studying four or more A levels or a T Level and at least one A level alongside.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the timeline is for delivering (1) the new primary oracy framework, and (2) the combined secondary oracy, writing and reading framework.

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

The department welcomes the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s focus on oracy. Expressing oneself fluently and communicating well is crucial for life and work, and an important vehicle for social justice.

We will make sure that communication skills are more clearly expressed through revised programmes of study. We will also create a primary oracy framework and a combined secondary oracy, writing and reading framework to be published following the revised national curriculum.

The primary oracy framework will support teachers to help their pupils become confident, fluent speakers by the end of key stage 2. This will build on our primary frameworks for reading and writing.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many state school students took four A levels including maths, further maths, and at least one subject qualifying for the high value course premium in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those students were female.

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

The data requested is below.

Notes about the data:

1. Includes state-funded students who ended 16-18 study in the reported year (for example, 2023/24).

2. Includes students who entered for at least four A levels, one being A level mathematics, one being A level further mathematics and at least one other A level being eligible for the high value courses premium.

3. Discounting rules apply (in other words, where students have multiple entries in the same subject, the best result is included).

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 22 May (HL Deb col 427), whether the planned user testing to identify key safeguarding practitioner information happened; and, if so, what the main themes were that emerged.

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

Between May and September 2025, the department consulted nearly 500 practitioners from children’s social care, education, health, police, and probation. Key findings included:

• Regardless of role, practitioners experience the same barriers when trying to share and receive information.
• Practitioners spend a disproportionate amount of time finding and gathering information which can result in less time for decision making.
• Regardless of sector, practitioners view social care and education information as highest priority.
• Practitioners have three core needs: a) ensuring they are talking about the same child/family, b) understanding who holds information about that child/family and c) having a secure way to share relevant information quickly.
• Practitioners also raised a desire to be able to view core data in one place.

We are using these insights to inform future work, ensuring that design and development align with practitioner needs. User research will continue to maintain a user-centred approach throughout.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the history of Britain's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism is accurately and thoroughly taught in schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The history curriculum includes a statutory time period at key stage 3 titled “ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901” which includes the non-statutory example of Britain’s transatlantic slave trade. Due to the flexibility of the history curriculum, these topics can also be taught, where relevant, across the three key stages.

Schools can access resources from bodies such as Oak National Academy, the Historical Association and others to ensure their teaching is accurate and thorough.

In reforming the curriculum following the Curriculum and Assessment Review, we are clear that all pupils should have a robust understanding of our nation’s history.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the proportion of young people who wish to study A-levels and are unable to do so due to transport or distance barriers in Knowsley constituency.

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

The department does not collect this information. It is possible that some schools in Knowsley have gathered anecdotal information on this via information and guidance sessions with students. However, this is not recorded for submission to the department.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of screening tests to identify early difficulties with numeracy.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) code of practice is clear that meeting the needs of a child with special educational needs does not require a diagnostic label or test. Instead, the department expects teachers to monitor the progress of all pupils and put support in place where needed.

To support settings to identify need early, we are strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve early identification in mainstream settings.

Recently published evidence reviews from University College London will help to drive inclusive practices as they highlight what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective tools, strategies and approaches.

In addition, the ‘What Works in SEND’ research programme, led by a research team from the University of Warwick and supported by SEND academics from the University of Birmingham, is researching tools that settings can use to identify the needs of neurodivergent children and young people.

Both initiatives aim to strengthen teaching for children with special educational needs, including dyscalculia.

The funding announced at the 2025 Spending Review, which will provide an increase of £4.2 billion over the next three years, will help to facilitate reform of the SEND system. We are continuing to engage with children, parents and experts as we develop plans to ensure all children get the outcomes and life chances they deserve and will be setting out more detail in the Schools White Paper in the new year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of funding for dyscalculia.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) code of practice is clear that meeting the needs of a child with special educational needs does not require a diagnostic label or test. Instead, the department expects teachers to monitor the progress of all pupils and put support in place where needed.

To support settings to identify need early, we are strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve early identification in mainstream settings.

Recently published evidence reviews from University College London will help to drive inclusive practices as they highlight what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective tools, strategies and approaches.

In addition, the ‘What Works in SEND’ research programme, led by a research team from the University of Warwick and supported by SEND academics from the University of Birmingham, is researching tools that settings can use to identify the needs of neurodivergent children and young people.

Both initiatives aim to strengthen teaching for children with special educational needs, including dyscalculia.

The funding announced at the 2025 Spending Review, which will provide an increase of £4.2 billion over the next three years, will help to facilitate reform of the SEND system. We are continuing to engage with children, parents and experts as we develop plans to ensure all children get the outcomes and life chances they deserve and will be setting out more detail in the Schools White Paper in the new year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the alignment between the proposed international student levy and their wider objectives for economic growth, innovation and skills.

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

The government will set out further details on the international student levy at 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 (HE) and skills system through targeted means-tested maintenance grants for students studying courses that support our missions and Industrial Strategy.

The department has engaged with many HE providers and representative bodies regarding the levy since the publication of the Immigration White Paper, and we will set out our plans for further engagement on the levy in due course.

We will also publish an impact analysis of the levy in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the methodology, data sources and modelling assumptions used in any Treasury impact assessment on the proposed international student levy.

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

The government will set out further details on the international student levy at 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 (HE) and skills system through targeted means-tested maintenance grants for students studying courses that support our missions and Industrial Strategy.

The department has engaged with many HE providers and representative bodies regarding the levy since the publication of the Immigration White Paper, and we will set out our plans for further engagement on the levy in due course.

We will also publish an impact analysis of the levy in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to consult the higher education and business sectors on the proposed international student levy.

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

The government will set out further details on the international student levy at 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 (HE) and skills system through targeted means-tested maintenance grants for students studying courses that support our missions and Industrial Strategy.

The department has engaged with many HE providers and representative bodies regarding the levy since the publication of the Immigration White Paper, and we will set out our plans for further engagement on the levy in due course.

We will also publish an impact analysis of the levy in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Supreme Court's ruling in JR87 [2025] UKSC 40, what assessment they have made of the statutory requirements on collective worship in schools in England and Wales.

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

Education is a devolved matter and as such this reply relates to England only.

The legislative framework for providing collective worship is different in England than in Northern Ireland. The Supreme Court ruling has only recently been published and the department will consider it carefully.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied migrant children reported missing have been found in each of the past five years.

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

The information requested is shown in the below table. The footnotes for the missing data table should be reviewed as they explain some of the limitations to this data.

Data on looked after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in England is published in the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions’. The latest data is for year ending 31 March 2025 and has been available since 20 November 2025.

In these statistics, ‘missing’ is defined as a looked after child who is not at their placement or a place they are expected to be and their whereabouts is not known. A child may have had multiple missing incidents during a year that may have been resolved only to conclude with a further incident that results in the child being missing again on 31 March. Any missing incident is concerning but the vast majority (91%) of incidents, where a child who is looked after and reportedly goes missing, last for two days or less.

The department holds responsibility for the collection and publication of statistics for children looked after by local authorities in England only. Similar statistics for other countries in the UK are the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

Children missing on 31 March who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC), 2021 to 2025, England

Footnotes

1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements.

2. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. However, users looking for a longer time series may wish to check for the equivalent table in earlier releases.

3. Missing is defined as a looked after child who is not at their placement or a place they are expected to be and their whereabouts is not known.

4. Since 2017 a growing number of local authorities informed the department that they do not record incidents as 'away without authorisation', but instead report all incidents as 'missing' to maintain consistency with local police reporting. We estimate this could mean an overestimate of missing incidents of up to 13% in 2021, 10% in 2022, 11% in 2023, 13% in 2024 and 12% in 2025; suggesting the true figures could be more like 9,600, 11,100, 11,500, 11,500 and 11,300. There is a corresponding estimate of an undercount of away without authorisation incidents of up to 32% in 2021, 30% in 2022, 32% in 2023, 36% in 2024 and 32% in 2025; suggesting the true figures could be more like 3,800, 3,600, 3,900, 4,300 and 4,300. However some of these local authorities submitted some 'away without authorisation' information and this can be found in the away from placement without authorisation table.

5. Figures for 2021 exclude data for Hackney.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied migrant children are currently reported missing.

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

The information requested is shown in the below table. The footnotes for the missing data table should be reviewed as they explain some of the limitations to this data.

Data on looked after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in England is published in the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions’. The latest data is for year ending 31 March 2025 and has been available since 20 November 2025.

In these statistics, ‘missing’ is defined as a looked after child who is not at their placement or a place they are expected to be and their whereabouts is not known. A child may have had multiple missing incidents during a year that may have been resolved only to conclude with a further incident that results in the child being missing again on 31 March. Any missing incident is concerning but the vast majority (91%) of incidents, where a child who is looked after and reportedly goes missing, last for two days or less.

The department holds responsibility for the collection and publication of statistics for children looked after by local authorities in England only. Similar statistics for other countries in the UK are the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

Children missing on 31 March who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC), 2021 to 2025, England

Footnotes

1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements.

2. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. However, users looking for a longer time series may wish to check for the equivalent table in earlier releases.

3. Missing is defined as a looked after child who is not at their placement or a place they are expected to be and their whereabouts is not known.

4. Since 2017 a growing number of local authorities informed the department that they do not record incidents as 'away without authorisation', but instead report all incidents as 'missing' to maintain consistency with local police reporting. We estimate this could mean an overestimate of missing incidents of up to 13% in 2021, 10% in 2022, 11% in 2023, 13% in 2024 and 12% in 2025; suggesting the true figures could be more like 9,600, 11,100, 11,500, 11,500 and 11,300. There is a corresponding estimate of an undercount of away without authorisation incidents of up to 32% in 2021, 30% in 2022, 32% in 2023, 36% in 2024 and 32% in 2025; suggesting the true figures could be more like 3,800, 3,600, 3,900, 4,300 and 4,300. However some of these local authorities submitted some 'away without authorisation' information and this can be found in the away from placement without authorisation table.

5. Figures for 2021 exclude data for Hackney.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 10 November (HL Deb cols 35-7), what modelling they have done of the impact of the absence of the English Baccalaureate on the uptake of (1) modern foreign languages, (2) history, and (3) geography.

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

The Curriculum and Assessment Review found that English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measures have unnecessarily constrained subject choice, affecting student engagement and achievement, and that uptake of EBacc subjects has not translated into increased study of them at 16 to 19. Although the EBacc was intended to support GCSE entries of modern foreign languages, history and geography, full EBacc entry was just 41% in 2024/25.

The new model protects the important place of humanities and modern foreign languages. Under our proposed model, students will have to take at least one humanity or language whilst currently schools can satisfy expectations of Progress 8 without pupils taking any of these subjects.

The department will consult on the improved Progress 8 and Attainment 8 measures.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 29 October (HL Deb cols 1378-79), how long they estimate it will take to address concerns raised following a referral of a university to the Office for Students under the new E6 condition.

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

This is a matter for the Office for Students (OfS), which has dedicated resources to investigate potential breaches of its conditions.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many unaccompanied migrant children are being cared for in the UK.

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

The information requested is shown in the below table. The footnotes for the missing data table should be reviewed as they explain some of the limitations to this data.

Data on looked after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in England is published in the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions’. The latest data is for year ending 31 March 2025 and has been available since 20 November 2025.

In these statistics, ‘missing’ is defined as a looked after child who is not at their placement or a place they are expected to be and their whereabouts is not known. A child may have had multiple missing incidents during a year that may have been resolved only to conclude with a further incident that results in the child being missing again on 31 March. Any missing incident is concerning but the vast majority (91%) of incidents, where a child who is looked after and reportedly goes missing, last for two days or less.

The department holds responsibility for the collection and publication of statistics for children looked after by local authorities in England only. Similar statistics for other countries in the UK are the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

Children missing on 31 March who were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC), 2021 to 2025, England

Footnotes

1. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Figures exclude children looked after under a series of short-term placements.

2. Historical data may differ from older publications which is mainly due to amendments made by local authorities after the previous publication. However, users looking for a longer time series may wish to check for the equivalent table in earlier releases.

3. Missing is defined as a looked after child who is not at their placement or a place they are expected to be and their whereabouts is not known.

4. Since 2017 a growing number of local authorities informed the department that they do not record incidents as 'away without authorisation', but instead report all incidents as 'missing' to maintain consistency with local police reporting. We estimate this could mean an overestimate of missing incidents of up to 13% in 2021, 10% in 2022, 11% in 2023, 13% in 2024 and 12% in 2025; suggesting the true figures could be more like 9,600, 11,100, 11,500, 11,500 and 11,300. There is a corresponding estimate of an undercount of away without authorisation incidents of up to 32% in 2021, 30% in 2022, 32% in 2023, 36% in 2024 and 32% in 2025; suggesting the true figures could be more like 3,800, 3,600, 3,900, 4,300 and 4,300. However some of these local authorities submitted some 'away without authorisation' information and this can be found in the away from placement without authorisation table.

5. Figures for 2021 exclude data for Hackney.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 12 November (HL11389 and HL11390), how many qualifications were approved as Higher Technical Qualifications as of (1) September 2023, and (2) September 2024.

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

In September 2023 there were 154 qualifications awarded the Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) quality mark, and in September 2024 there were 227 qualifications awarded the HTQ quality mark.

The department’s data on learner enrolments does not distinguish between HTQs that were approved but had not yet started delivery, and those that were live and available but attracted no student enrolments. The department does not therefore have sufficient data to specify how many live HTQs had no students enrolled in any given academic year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will legislate to require all private tutors working with children to hold enhanced DBS clearance and be subject to formal safeguarding regulation.

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

The government is committed to safeguarding children across all education settings, including out-of-school settings, such as private tuition.

All out-of-school settings, including tutors, have a legal duty of care to keep children safe and protect them from harm. To support this, the department has published guidance and free e-learning for providers, outlining the safeguarding standards we expect them to meet. We also offer guidance for parents and carers to help them make informed decisions when choosing providers.

Whilst the department believes most out-of-School Settings offer enriching education in a safe environment, we want this to be true for all. That’s why the government held a Call for Evidence regarding sector safeguarding practices and invited views on approaches for further strengthening safeguarding, including potential regulation. This closed on 21 September and analysis is ongoing. We will respond in due course.

The government has also just laid legislation, due to come into effect in January, which will enable self-employed people, including private tutors, to access enhanced DBS checks.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 12 November (HL11389 and HL11390), how many of the qualifications approved as Higher Technical Qualifications in September had no students enrolled in the 2023–24 academic year.

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

In September 2023 there were 154 qualifications awarded the Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) quality mark, and in September 2024 there were 227 qualifications awarded the HTQ quality mark.

The department’s data on learner enrolments does not distinguish between HTQs that were approved but had not yet started delivery, and those that were live and available but attracted no student enrolments. The department does not therefore have sufficient data to specify how many live HTQs had no students enrolled in any given academic year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many meetings the departmental board of the Department of Education has had since 4 July 2024.

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

The department has had eight meetings since 4 July 2024, which will rise to nine by the end of this calendar year (2025).

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 17 November (HL Deb col 537), on what evidence their decision not to implement the Curriculum and Assessment Review's recommended Year 8 diagnostic maths test is based.

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

The government has considered the Curriculum and Assessment Review panel’s recommendations carefully and supports their recommendations for a renewed focus on assessment in key stage 3. We will expect schools to undertake formative assessments in maths and writing during the key stage, supporting them to identify high quality materials.

While strong foundations in both literacy and numeracy are important for children to achieve and thrive, reading unlocks the wider curriculum. If a child cannot read, they cannot succeed in other subjects including, for example, maths, science and history. It is critical we focus on ensuring children and young people have strong foundations in reading in the first instance and this is why we will develop and deliver a new statutory assessment in reading in year 8.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential (a) merits of calculating maintenance loans through net rather than gross household income and (b) impact of that change on single parental income households.

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

Entitlement to partially means-tested undergraduate loans for living costs is based on the income of the student’s household.

The income used is the total income on which a person is charged income tax at step 1 of the calculation in Section 23 of the Income Tax Act 2007, before the deductions made by HMRC from step 2 onwards of Section 23.

The use of income charged to tax in the household income assessment applies a standard measure of income to calculate a student’s entitlement to living costs support and allows all students to be assessed consistently and fairly. It also ensures that the most support is paid to students from the lowest income families, including those with single parents, who need it most and who are historically under-represented in higher education. It is not intended to be an exact calculation of disposable income for each household.

Information on income is available from HMRC and allows around 1.3 million assessments a year to be carried out quickly and efficiently each year by Student Finance England.

Maximum grants and loans for living and other costs for the 2025/26 academic year have been increased by forecast inflation, 3.1%, based on the RPIX inflation index.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a Technical Excellence College in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes constituency.

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.

The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper confirmed that the government is expanding the TEC programme to a further four sectors: clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, and defence. These new TECs, backed by £175 million, will secure the pipeline of skilled workers into these areas.

The selection process for these TECs will start by the end of 2025, with delivery planned to begin from April 2026. Exact locations are yet to be determined, and colleges will be appointed through a fair and transparent application process. Further details will be published in due course.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage more young men into education.

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

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

The department recognises that participation statistics indicate females generally have lower not in employment, education or training (NEET) rates than males in most years.

In the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, we set out a comprehensive NEET prevention package to reduce NEET numbers.

Local authorities are required to offer all young people aged 16–19 support to encourage, enable or assist them to effectively participate in education or training.

The government has introduced a new Youth Guarantee to ensure that every young person has a clear pathway into education, training, or work. We have allocated £45 million for Trailblazers in the 2025/26 financial year, with a further £45 million in 2026/27, to develop and test innovative ways to bring together local leadership and support.

The department will support the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, regardless of their background and personal characteristics.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 17 November (HL11448), why the School Workforce Census does not report specialist teacher numbers for citizenship.

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

The school workforce census collects information on subject teachers in a large sample of state-funded secondary schools. Specialist teachers are identified by comparing the subject they teach with their qualifications.

For subjects such as citizenship, personal, social, health and economic education, careers and key skills, and general studies, qualifications are often broad and not specific to these subjects, making it difficult to determine whether a teacher is a specialist. As a result, the School workforce in England statistical release reports the total number of teachers and teaching hours for these subjects, rather than the number of teachers holding a relevant qualification. The report is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.

Figures for the number of citizenship teachers and hours taught are reported here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/eed2fc61-5d0f-48c8-eae3-08de29d3af56.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many primary teachers they plan to train to teach citizenship as a statutory subject at Key Stages 1 and 2, and whether additional funded training routes are planned to meet that need.

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

Recruitment to citizenship initial teacher training courses is unrestricted, enabling providers to recruit to increased demand. All trainees on a tuition fee-funded course can apply for a tuition fee loan and maintenance loan to support their living costs. Additional funding is available depending on individual circumstances, such as the Childcare Grant.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report was published on 5 November 2025. In line with the Review’s recommendation, the government will look for the earliest opportunity to make citizenship a new statutory requirement for key stages 1 and 2, and ensure that the programme of study is tightly focused on the essential content pupils should know at primary and secondary. The secondary curriculum will both mirror and follow from this core content, encompassing the vital threads of government, law and democracy, climate education, financial and media literacy.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the recommendations in the Curriculum and Assessment Review published on 5 November, what steps they are taking to increase the number of specialist citizenship teachers in England.

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

Recruitment to citizenship initial teacher training courses is unrestricted, enabling providers to recruit to increased demand. All trainees on a tuition fee-funded course can apply for a tuition fee loan and maintenance loan to support their living costs. Additional funding is available depending on individual circumstances, such as the Childcare Grant.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report was published on 5 November 2025. In line with the Review’s recommendation, the government will look for the earliest opportunity to make citizenship a new statutory requirement for key stages 1 and 2, and ensure that the programme of study is tightly focused on the essential content pupils should know at primary and secondary. The secondary curriculum will both mirror and follow from this core content, encompassing the vital threads of government, law and democracy, climate education, financial and media literacy.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote agricultural (a) careers and (b) skills development among young people in rural constituencies.

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

In October, the department published the Post-16 education and skills white paper, setting out a strategy to build a world-class skills system aligned with student and employer needs. Central to these reforms is Skills England, which provides expert insight into current and future skills needs.

The department funds the Careers & Enterprise Company to increase young people’s exposure to industry. They work with sector bodies, such as the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture to embed employer insight within careers education.

Through a network of careers hubs, the Careers & Enterprise Company connects careers provision in schools and colleges to the needs of local economies through strategic partnerships with local government. Several careers hubs covering rural constituencies work in line with local skills improvement plans by supporting young people’s career readiness and delivering application and interview support.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 September (HL Deb col 2115), when they will announce the outcome of the review of 44 new free schools whose approval have been paused for over a year.

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

The review of mainstream free schools is necessary to ensure we provide sufficient high quality school places, whilst offering value for money and ensuring projects will not have a detrimental impact on local schools. An update will be provided as soon as possible.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy and availability of therapeutic support for adoptive families; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy and effectiveness of signposting to support services available for adoptive families.

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

This financial year, the department has invested £50 million into the adoption and special guardianship support fund. We have approved applications for nearly 14,000 children since April for both therapy and specialist assessments. We continue to review the impact of the changes to funding made in April 2025.

The department continues to work closely with stakeholders to ensure clear and effective communication. This commitment is reflected in the fund’s growth, with applications increasing by around 10% annually since its inception and over 55,000 individual children supported to date.

Regional adoption agencies serve as central hubs for advice, connecting families to local services, training opportunities, peer support groups, and providing direct referrals to specialist services.

In addition, we work in collaboration with Adoption England to identify and promote best practice across the sector.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of new fee paying and charity run religious schools on community cohesion and social mixing among young people from different religious and ethnic backgrounds.

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

Faith schools have played a longstanding role in, and remain an important element of, our education system. However, we are not expecting an increase in the number of new faith schools. In the current context of falling rolls, we expect there to be less demand for new school places and fewer new schools overall.

Departmental guidance on establishing new state funded schools sets out expectations on considering the impact of new schools on community cohesion. Where proposals for new independent schools are submitted, approvals are needed from the department and Ofsted

All schools have a vital role in promoting cohesion and are required to actively promote fundamental British values, which include mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs, essential for building a strong, cohesive society.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many teachers were funded and training as citizenship specialists in England in 2024–25, and whether they plan to increase that number.

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

The department is working with the sector to re-establish teaching as an attractive profession across all subjects, including citizenship, and as a first step this government has increased teacher pay by almost 10% over two years.

Our Plan for Change is committed to recruiting 6,500 new teachers across secondary and special schools, and our colleges, over the course of this parliament to ensure sufficient teachers across all subjects. We are making good progress, with the workforce growing by 2,346 full-time equivalent between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools, where it is needed most.

Whilst we do not hold data on the number of trainees for citizenship, recruitment to citizenship initial teacher training courses is unrestricted, enabling providers to recruit to increased demand. All trainees on a tuition fee-funded course can apply for a tuition fee loan and maintenance loan to support their living costs. Additional funding, such as the childcare grant, is available depending on individual circumstances.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her department plans to provide Local Authorities with extra funding to support training of social workers and council workers to improve understanding of home education.

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

The department ran a public consultation on the proposed duties and measures for Children Not in School in 2019. The consultation was open to all to contribute, including academic experts in educational pedagogy, and the department responded in 2022. We have continued to engage with home education experts since then as part of development of the measures for inclusion in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and on plans for implementation of these post-Royal Assent.

Funding and training will be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her department consulted academic experts in pedagogy in home education on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

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

The department ran a public consultation on the proposed duties and measures for Children Not in School in 2019. The consultation was open to all to contribute, including academic experts in educational pedagogy, and the department responded in 2022. We have continued to engage with home education experts since then as part of development of the measures for inclusion in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and on plans for implementation of these post-Royal Assent.

Funding and training will be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on mainstream schools of the number of SEND pupils placed in these schools due to a lack of available places in specialist settings.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government has been clear that a more inclusive education system is needed to provide children and young people with the opportunities they need to achieve and thrive.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, sits with local authorities. To support local authorities with this duty, the department has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26. Of this funding, Thurrock council has been allocated just under £2 million.

This funding is intended to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs. It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their high needs capital funding to address local priorities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of specialist school places for pupils with SEN and disabilities.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government has been clear that a more inclusive education system is needed to provide children and young people with the opportunities they need to achieve and thrive.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, sits with local authorities. To support local authorities with this duty, the department has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26. Of this funding, Thurrock council has been allocated just under £2 million.

This funding is intended to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs. It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their high needs capital funding to address local priorities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of differences in teacher qualification requirements by multi-academy trusts and local authority-maintained schools on the consistency of educational standards.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Evidence shows that high quality teaching is the most important in-school factor that improves outcomes for children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) is the professional qualification for primary and secondary teachers and underpins high quality teaching by ensuring teachers meet the Teachers’ Standards. It is right that we expect teachers to be professionally qualified and the department is taking steps to ensure consistency in educational standards across all state funded primary and secondary schools. Teachers in local authority-maintained schools and special schools are already required to have QTS.

Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are seeking to extend the requirement to academies, so all pupils, including those with SEND, benefit from well-trained, professionally qualified teachers. This change will ensure that teachers too benefit from the knowledge and training that underpins QTS across both local authority-maintained schools and academies.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to provide additional funding to mainstream schools that are accommodating higher numbers of SEND pupils due to shortages in specialist placements.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The government has been clear that a more inclusive education system is needed to provide children and young people with the opportunities they need to achieve and thrive.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, sits with local authorities. To support local authorities with this duty, the department has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26. Of this funding, Thurrock council has been allocated just under £2 million.

This funding is intended to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs. It is ultimately up to local authorities to determine how to best prioritise their high needs capital funding to address local priorities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of trends in the use of qualified supply teachers by academy trusts.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department values the work that supply teachers do and the important contribution they make to the smooth running of schools. The department has not made any assessments relating to academy trusts alone, but we have considered the school sector as a whole.

The department knows that the use of supply teachers, particularly in the secondary phase, has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and that this is having an impact on school budgets. Details of our work on helping schools to maximise value from their budgets will be announced shortly.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out whether (a) primary, (b) secondary, and (c) post-16 schools are required to conduct immigration checks when adding new children to their admissions register.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The law requires children of compulsory school age living in England, including foreign nationals, to receive a suitable full-time education.

If a school has concerns about an individual’s age and lack documentation, they should refer this to the local authority, which may conduct an assessment. Age assessment is the responsibility of local authorities and the Home Office. The local authority may liaise with the Home Office age dispute team and may also seek support from the National Age Assessment Board.

The department does not hold the data requested.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many child refugees have attended (a) primary, (b) secondary, and (c) post-16 schools in England since 2015, broken down by (i) local authority, and (ii) year.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The law requires children of compulsory school age living in England, including foreign nationals, to receive a suitable full-time education.

If a school has concerns about an individual’s age and lack documentation, they should refer this to the local authority, which may conduct an assessment. Age assessment is the responsibility of local authorities and the Home Office. The local authority may liaise with the Home Office age dispute team and may also seek support from the National Age Assessment Board.

The department does not hold the data requested.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what reporting mechanism is in place for (a) primary, (b) secondary, and (c) post-16 schools when they find an adult asylum seeker impersonating a child.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The law requires children of compulsory school age living in England, including foreign nationals, to receive a suitable full-time education.

If a school has concerns about an individual’s age and lack documentation, they should refer this to the local authority, which may conduct an assessment. Age assessment is the responsibility of local authorities and the Home Office. The local authority may liaise with the Home Office age dispute team and may also seek support from the National Age Assessment Board.

The department does not hold the data requested.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many adult asylum seekers have been found attending (a) primary, (b) secondary, and (c) post-16 schools by local authority annually since 2015.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The law requires children of compulsory school age living in England, including foreign nationals, to receive a suitable full-time education.

If a school has concerns about an individual’s age and lack documentation, they should refer this to the local authority, which may conduct an assessment. Age assessment is the responsibility of local authorities and the Home Office. The local authority may liaise with the Home Office age dispute team and may also seek support from the National Age Assessment Board.

The department does not hold the data requested.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to prevent adult asylum seekers from impersonating children in (a) primary, (b) secondary, and (c) post-16 schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The law requires children of compulsory school age living in England, including foreign nationals, to receive a suitable full-time education.

If a school has concerns about an individual’s age and lack documentation, they should refer this to the local authority, which may conduct an assessment. Age assessment is the responsibility of local authorities and the Home Office. The local authority may liaise with the Home Office age dispute team and may also seek support from the National Age Assessment Board.

The department does not hold the data requested.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the provision of non-partisan political and democratic education in schools prior to the introduction of the forthcoming Elections Bill.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Teaching about democracy and elections already forms a central part of the secondary national curriculum for citizenship and can be taught as a non-statutory topic in primary schools.

Education is a vital part of implementing the government's commitment to extend the right to vote to 16 and 17 years olds. The government takes empowering and equipping young people with the knowledge and skills they need seriously, and wants to break down barriers and drive participation in our democracy.

Following the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review recommendations, the department has committed to make citizenship compulsory in primary schools and to publish revised programmes of study to ensure that all pupils receive an essential grounding in a range of topics including democracy, government and law. We will consult on programmes of study next year and the new national curriculum will be published in 2027 for first teaching in 2028.

The department’s guidance on political impartiality supports schools with teaching about political issues in line with their statutory duties.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received from (a) headteachers, (b) applicant groups and (c) local authorities on the 44 free school applications that have been placed on hold since 22 October 2024.

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

The department is reviewing 44 projects as part of the mainstream free school pipeline review, to ensure they continue to meet localised need for places, consider whether they provide a unique educational offer and are not to the detriment of the other schools locally. These projects would provide approximately 30,000 additional places at capacity.

The National Audit Office set out in 2017 that planned free schools would lead to an estimated 57,500 spare places, and that there is a cost both to the taxpayer and to other local schools via impact on pupil numbers at existing schools.

Since the review was launched, the department has paused development of the sites. Any funding has been in line with managing public money. The department will publicly communicate the outcomes of the review as soon as possible.

We have engaged with trusts, local authorities and other stakeholders in relation to individual projects in scope of the review, including reviewing the evidence they have provided.

As would be expected from a review of this scale, there have been a significant number of meetings, including meetings between ministers and MPs, where local MPs have requested them.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has given to the 44 free school applications that have been placed on hold since 22 October 2024, broken down by funding stream.

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

The department is reviewing 44 projects as part of the mainstream free school pipeline review, to ensure they continue to meet localised need for places, consider whether they provide a unique educational offer and are not to the detriment of the other schools locally. These projects would provide approximately 30,000 additional places at capacity.

The National Audit Office set out in 2017 that planned free schools would lead to an estimated 57,500 spare places, and that there is a cost both to the taxpayer and to other local schools via impact on pupil numbers at existing schools.

Since the review was launched, the department has paused development of the sites. Any funding has been in line with managing public money. The department will publicly communicate the outcomes of the review as soon as possible.

We have engaged with trusts, local authorities and other stakeholders in relation to individual projects in scope of the review, including reviewing the evidence they have provided.

As would be expected from a review of this scale, there have been a significant number of meetings, including meetings between ministers and MPs, where local MPs have requested them.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of pausing the implementation of the new Clause 4 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill until comprehensive public consultation and impact assessments have been completed.

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

An assessment of the potential impact on parental rights and informed consent is included in the Bill ECHR impact assessment, available here: https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/59867/documents/6253. Conditions for processing are a matter for local data controllers now, and that will remain the case under this new duty.

To clarify, clause 4 introduces an information sharing duty and makes provision for a consistent identifier to be used across organisations that have safeguarding and welfare functions to support record linkage. Its use has therefore been limited to safeguarding and welfare. Safeguards have been built into this provision, and data protection principles still apply meaning information may only be shared where it is necessary and proportionate. In addition, both measures are clear that any benefits of sharing must outweigh any potential detriment to the child.

As required under Article 36(4) of the UK General Data Protection Regulations, the department has formally consulted the Information Commissioner’s Office. A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is not required by the department for the information sharing duty element of clause 4 because personal data will be processed locally. For the consistent identifier element of clause 4, it is currently the position that the department will not be a processor of personal data, so a DPIA is not required as it stands. We will keep this position under review and, should it ever be the case that the department will process personal data as part of either element of clause 4, we would conduct and publish a DPIA.

During the passage of the Bill, the department has committed to undertake public consultation, including with parents, and will comply with requirements for impact assessments.

Clause 4 will be commenced at a later date, rather than immediately upon Royal Assent, to allow for consultation on statutory guidance, further consideration of impact, as well as ongoing piloting and technical design of the consistent identifier. The department will only proceed when we are confident in the benefits, cost, security, and governance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to undertake a consultation with parents, schools, and child protection experts on the new Clause 4 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

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

An assessment of the potential impact on parental rights and informed consent is included in the Bill ECHR impact assessment, available here: https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/59867/documents/6253. Conditions for processing are a matter for local data controllers now, and that will remain the case under this new duty.

To clarify, clause 4 introduces an information sharing duty and makes provision for a consistent identifier to be used across organisations that have safeguarding and welfare functions to support record linkage. Its use has therefore been limited to safeguarding and welfare. Safeguards have been built into this provision, and data protection principles still apply meaning information may only be shared where it is necessary and proportionate. In addition, both measures are clear that any benefits of sharing must outweigh any potential detriment to the child.

As required under Article 36(4) of the UK General Data Protection Regulations, the department has formally consulted the Information Commissioner’s Office. A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is not required by the department for the information sharing duty element of clause 4 because personal data will be processed locally. For the consistent identifier element of clause 4, it is currently the position that the department will not be a processor of personal data, so a DPIA is not required as it stands. We will keep this position under review and, should it ever be the case that the department will process personal data as part of either element of clause 4, we would conduct and publish a DPIA.

During the passage of the Bill, the department has committed to undertake public consultation, including with parents, and will comply with requirements for impact assessments.

Clause 4 will be commenced at a later date, rather than immediately upon Royal Assent, to allow for consultation on statutory guidance, further consideration of impact, as well as ongoing piloting and technical design of the consistent identifier. The department will only proceed when we are confident in the benefits, cost, security, and governance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to introduce safeguards to help ensure that the digital identity system introduced under Clause 4 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill protects children’s privacy and data protection rights.

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

An assessment of the potential impact on parental rights and informed consent is included in the Bill ECHR impact assessment, available here: https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/59867/documents/6253. Conditions for processing are a matter for local data controllers now, and that will remain the case under this new duty.

To clarify, clause 4 introduces an information sharing duty and makes provision for a consistent identifier to be used across organisations that have safeguarding and welfare functions to support record linkage. Its use has therefore been limited to safeguarding and welfare. Safeguards have been built into this provision, and data protection principles still apply meaning information may only be shared where it is necessary and proportionate. In addition, both measures are clear that any benefits of sharing must outweigh any potential detriment to the child.

As required under Article 36(4) of the UK General Data Protection Regulations, the department has formally consulted the Information Commissioner’s Office. A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is not required by the department for the information sharing duty element of clause 4 because personal data will be processed locally. For the consistent identifier element of clause 4, it is currently the position that the department will not be a processor of personal data, so a DPIA is not required as it stands. We will keep this position under review and, should it ever be the case that the department will process personal data as part of either element of clause 4, we would conduct and publish a DPIA.

During the passage of the Bill, the department has committed to undertake public consultation, including with parents, and will comply with requirements for impact assessments.

Clause 4 will be commenced at a later date, rather than immediately upon Royal Assent, to allow for consultation on statutory guidance, further consideration of impact, as well as ongoing piloting and technical design of the consistent identifier. The department will only proceed when we are confident in the benefits, cost, security, and governance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has (a) conducted or (b) plans to conduct a risk assessment on the implications of the new Clause 4 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill for data security and the protection of sensitive family information.

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

An assessment of the potential impact on parental rights and informed consent is included in the Bill ECHR impact assessment, available here: https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/59867/documents/6253. Conditions for processing are a matter for local data controllers now, and that will remain the case under this new duty.

To clarify, clause 4 introduces an information sharing duty and makes provision for a consistent identifier to be used across organisations that have safeguarding and welfare functions to support record linkage. Its use has therefore been limited to safeguarding and welfare. Safeguards have been built into this provision, and data protection principles still apply meaning information may only be shared where it is necessary and proportionate. In addition, both measures are clear that any benefits of sharing must outweigh any potential detriment to the child.

As required under Article 36(4) of the UK General Data Protection Regulations, the department has formally consulted the Information Commissioner’s Office. A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is not required by the department for the information sharing duty element of clause 4 because personal data will be processed locally. For the consistent identifier element of clause 4, it is currently the position that the department will not be a processor of personal data, so a DPIA is not required as it stands. We will keep this position under review and, should it ever be the case that the department will process personal data as part of either element of clause 4, we would conduct and publish a DPIA.

During the passage of the Bill, the department has committed to undertake public consultation, including with parents, and will comply with requirements for impact assessments.

Clause 4 will be commenced at a later date, rather than immediately upon Royal Assent, to allow for consultation on statutory guidance, further consideration of impact, as well as ongoing piloting and technical design of the consistent identifier. The department will only proceed when we are confident in the benefits, cost, security, and governance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has her Department made of the potential impact of Clause 4 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on parental rights and the principle of informed consent.

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

An assessment of the potential impact on parental rights and informed consent is included in the Bill ECHR impact assessment, available here: https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/59867/documents/6253. Conditions for processing are a matter for local data controllers now, and that will remain the case under this new duty.

To clarify, clause 4 introduces an information sharing duty and makes provision for a consistent identifier to be used across organisations that have safeguarding and welfare functions to support record linkage. Its use has therefore been limited to safeguarding and welfare. Safeguards have been built into this provision, and data protection principles still apply meaning information may only be shared where it is necessary and proportionate. In addition, both measures are clear that any benefits of sharing must outweigh any potential detriment to the child.

As required under Article 36(4) of the UK General Data Protection Regulations, the department has formally consulted the Information Commissioner’s Office. A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is not required by the department for the information sharing duty element of clause 4 because personal data will be processed locally. For the consistent identifier element of clause 4, it is currently the position that the department will not be a processor of personal data, so a DPIA is not required as it stands. We will keep this position under review and, should it ever be the case that the department will process personal data as part of either element of clause 4, we would conduct and publish a DPIA.

During the passage of the Bill, the department has committed to undertake public consultation, including with parents, and will comply with requirements for impact assessments.

Clause 4 will be commenced at a later date, rather than immediately upon Royal Assent, to allow for consultation on statutory guidance, further consideration of impact, as well as ongoing piloting and technical design of the consistent identifier. The department will only proceed when we are confident in the benefits, cost, security, and governance.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school places would be created at the 44 free school applications that have been placed on hold since 22 October 2024, broken down by each individual project.

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

The department is reviewing 44 projects as part of the mainstream free school pipeline review, to ensure they continue to meet localised need for places, consider whether they provide a unique educational offer and are not to the detriment of the other schools locally. These projects would provide approximately 30,000 additional places at capacity.

The National Audit Office set out in 2017 that planned free schools would lead to an estimated 57,500 spare places, and that there is a cost both to the taxpayer and to other local schools via impact on pupil numbers at existing schools.

Since the review was launched, the department has paused development of the sites. Any funding has been in line with managing public money. The department will publicly communicate the outcomes of the review as soon as possible.

We have engaged with trusts, local authorities and other stakeholders in relation to individual projects in scope of the review, including reviewing the evidence they have provided.

As would be expected from a review of this scale, there have been a significant number of meetings, including meetings between ministers and MPs, where local MPs have requested them.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a list of meetings (a) ministers, and (b) officials have had since 22 October 2024 regarding the 44 free school applications that have been placed on hold.

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

The department is reviewing 44 projects as part of the mainstream free school pipeline review, to ensure they continue to meet localised need for places, consider whether they provide a unique educational offer and are not to the detriment of the other schools locally. These projects would provide approximately 30,000 additional places at capacity.

The National Audit Office set out in 2017 that planned free schools would lead to an estimated 57,500 spare places, and that there is a cost both to the taxpayer and to other local schools via impact on pupil numbers at existing schools.

Since the review was launched, the department has paused development of the sites. Any funding has been in line with managing public money. The department will publicly communicate the outcomes of the review as soon as possible.

We have engaged with trusts, local authorities and other stakeholders in relation to individual projects in scope of the review, including reviewing the evidence they have provided.

As would be expected from a review of this scale, there have been a significant number of meetings, including meetings between ministers and MPs, where local MPs have requested them.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to make a decision on the future of the 44 free school applications that have been placed on hold since 22 October 2024.

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

The department is reviewing 44 projects as part of the mainstream free school pipeline review, to ensure they continue to meet localised need for places, consider whether they provide a unique educational offer and are not to the detriment of the other schools locally. These projects would provide approximately 30,000 additional places at capacity.

The National Audit Office set out in 2017 that planned free schools would lead to an estimated 57,500 spare places, and that there is a cost both to the taxpayer and to other local schools via impact on pupil numbers at existing schools.

Since the review was launched, the department has paused development of the sites. Any funding has been in line with managing public money. The department will publicly communicate the outcomes of the review as soon as possible.

We have engaged with trusts, local authorities and other stakeholders in relation to individual projects in scope of the review, including reviewing the evidence they have provided.

As would be expected from a review of this scale, there have been a significant number of meetings, including meetings between ministers and MPs, where local MPs have requested them.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, to list the 44 free school applications accepted by her Department but placed on hold since 22 October 2024.

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

The department is reviewing 44 projects as part of the mainstream free school pipeline review, to ensure they continue to meet localised need for places, consider whether they provide a unique educational offer and are not to the detriment of the other schools locally. These projects would provide approximately 30,000 additional places at capacity.

The National Audit Office set out in 2017 that planned free schools would lead to an estimated 57,500 spare places, and that there is a cost both to the taxpayer and to other local schools via impact on pupil numbers at existing schools.

Since the review was launched, the department has paused development of the sites. Any funding has been in line with managing public money. The department will publicly communicate the outcomes of the review as soon as possible.

We have engaged with trusts, local authorities and other stakeholders in relation to individual projects in scope of the review, including reviewing the evidence they have provided.

As would be expected from a review of this scale, there have been a significant number of meetings, including meetings between ministers and MPs, where local MPs have requested them.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of SEND pupils placed in mainstream schools due to a lack of available places in specialist settings.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Information on the number of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) by the setting they attend is shown in the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/abcb598c-d065-4db8-960d-08de29f25240. Information is not held on the number of pupils with SEN attending mainstream schools due to a lack of available places in specialist settings.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary schools in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire do not have a school library.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings to the answer of 22 October 2025 to Question 81502.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the current timescales for members of the Teachers Pension Scheme, who have submitted their remedial service statement and are awaiting payment of funds owed, to be paid those funds.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

​​As the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme administrator, Capita are processing Remediable Service Statement (RSS) choices and aim to complete payments as quickly as possible. The relevant regulations provide for a member’s RSS choice to be put into payment as soon as is reasonably practicable. As part of the implementation arrangements for payments, it was not possible to start payments until June 2025 as time was needed to allow for recruitment, training, development of instructions, and IT enhancements to be made and implemented.

​Members’ original pension benefits will continue to be paid until their choice has been implemented, at which point backdated interest will be applied to their payment.

​Payment of members’ RSS choices is a high priority, and the department is continually exploring ways to improve payment and processing times with Capita, which includes providing further funding for additional staff and automating payment and processing functions.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Policy Exchange report entitled In absentia parentis, published on 24 August 2025, the Cass Review's final report, published in April 2024, and the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025, what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities to protect the welfare of gender-questioning children who are children in care.

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

Local authorities and social care practitioners are required to support children in a way that meets their needs and best interests. This support will look different on an individual case basis. In considering their safeguarding policies and how best to support children questioning their gender, leaders and practitioners should be led by the guidance and regulations most relevant to their setting or role. They can also be informed by the evidence and principles set out in the Cass Review.

Further resources on support for children questioning their gender can be found via the NHS here: https://www.genderreferralservice.nhs.uk/.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Policy Exchange report entitled In absentia parentis, published on 24 August 2025, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that local authorities have up-to-date safeguarding policies for gender-questioning children who are children in care.

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

Local authorities and social care practitioners are required to support children in a way that meets their needs and best interests. This support will look different on an individual case basis. In considering their safeguarding policies and how best to support children questioning their gender, leaders and practitioners should be led by the guidance and regulations most relevant to their setting or role. They can also be informed by the evidence and principles set out in the Cass Review.

Further resources on support for children questioning their gender can be found via the NHS here: https://www.genderreferralservice.nhs.uk/.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure parents of children with SEND are informed of (a) their rights and (b) the protections available to them.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to publish a Local Offer, setting out in one place information about provision they expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people in their area who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those without an education, health and care plan.

Every local authority must have a SEND information, advice and support service. These provide free and impartial advice to children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers.

The department works with national organisations such as Contact, IPSEA and the National Network of Parent Carer Forums. We also fund local parent carer forums across England who gather the views and experiences of local SEND families to help shape and inform policy and provision and offer a valuable peer support network for parents and carers navigating the SEND system.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 83833 on Schools: Employers' Contributions, what estimate she has made of the proportion of the £3.7 billion increase in school funding for 2025-26 that will be used to meet additional costs associated with increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

As part of the £3.7 billion increase in funding for schools in the 2025/26 financial year, the department is providing mainstream schools and high needs settings with over £930 million to support them with the increases to employer national insurance contributions (NICs) from April 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether funding is available for schools to purchase (a) defibrillators and (b) CPR training equipment.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department provided over 20,000 defibrillators to almost 18,000 schools, ensuring that all state-funded schools in England have access to a device.

The programme is now closed; however, schools who wish to purchase defibrillators are able to buy them through the NHS Defibs4Schools programme, which provides defibrillators of a suitable specification. Defibs4Schools can be contacted at: defibs4schools@supplychain.nhs.uk.

Schools have the autonomy to decide how they teach first aid, including teaching additional topical content and which resources to use.

It is for schools to decide what training equipment may be suitable to facilitate the delivery of CPR training at their school, based on their individual circumstances. The department provides advice on free resources in its defibrillator guidance to schools, including the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) RevivR CPR training and BHF CPR training pack for secondary schools. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-external-defibrillators-aeds-in-schools.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to ensure that children with SEND have access to a GCSE curriculum irrespective of their educational setting.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Every child in our country deserves the best possible school experience; one that is academically stretching, where every child feels like they belong, and that sets them up for life and work.

As part of the department’s Plan for Change, we are determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and restore the trust of parents. We will do this by strengthening accountability on mainstream settings to be inclusive including through Ofsted; support the mainstream workforce to increase their SEND expertise and encourage schools to set up Resourced Provision or special educational needs units to increase capacity in mainstream schools. This will enable children to receive specialist support whilst learning alongside their friends and wider community.

On 5 November, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review published its final report which includes recommendations for a refreshed curriculum and assessment system in England. ​In the government’s response to the report, the department made a clear commitment to supporting a high-quality curriculum, including for children with SEND.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to issue guidance to schools on how to access training resources to help deliver the CPR Smart programme.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

All state funded schools are required to teach first aid as part of the statutory health education set out in the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. Independent schools are required to cover health education as part of their responsibility to provide personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education.

The statutory RSHE guidance includes basic first aid for primary school children, for example dealing with common injuries, such as head injuries, whilst pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid, for example how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators and how to use them.

The guidance sets out that it is for schools to decide how they teach RSHE topics, including how to draw on expertise available to them locally, such as that provided by the CPR Smart programme.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to teach young people from disadvantaged backgrounds about (a) finance, (b)employment and (c) other life skills.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

On 5 November, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review published its final recommendations for a refreshed curriculum and assessment system in England.

The government’s response to the report includes a commitment to commits to strengthening pupils’ foundational understanding of financial education in maths and citizenship, with digital resources to support teaching. New statutory citizenship at key stages 1 and 2 will also ensure that primary aged children are introduced to key content on media literacy, financial literacy, law and rights, democracy and government and climate education. These principles will be extended to the secondary core content to reflect the age range of pupils and will focus on more complex content, particularly digital elements of financial literacy.

The department expects schools to develop and improve their careers provision to be inclusive for all young people in line with the world-class Gatsby Benchmarks, including benchmark 3, which focuses on addressing the individual needs of each pupil.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on improving waiting lists for Education, Health and Care plan assessments in (a) Northumberland and (b) the North East.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Data on the number of requests for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, the number of assessments carried out and assessments outstanding is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025. This includes data for the North East. The latest data was published on 26 June 2025. ​​​

Following the above publication of EHC plan statistics, departmental officials met with all North East local authorities during July and August 2025, including Northumberland County Council. Officials discussed the published data including the overall timeliness of assessments and actions each local area was taking to improve services and reduce wait times for children, young people and their families undergoing an EHC needs assessment.

The department will continue to work with North East local area partnerships to monitor the delivery of special educational needs and disabilities services and offer support when required.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of levels of provision for blind and partially sighted students in further education (a) with and (b) without education, health and care plans (i) during the transition from school to further education and (ii) at other times; and what steps she is taking to improve accountability for ensuring (A) timely and (B) effective reasonable adjustments are (1) identified, (2) funded and (3) implemented.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Support for people with visual impairments in and transitioning into, further education is guided by legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice, with tailored provisions depending on the needs of the individual. This applies to those with or without education, health and care plans (EHCPs).

All education and training providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, including those with visual impairments, so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students. Reasonable adjustments can include adapting teaching methods, using assistive technology, modifying assessments, and offering personalised support services.

Ensuring that support is provided in a timely and effective manner is the responsibility of the local authority.

The new Ofsted handbook requires further education providers to embed inclusion across all aspects of provision. Providers must identify their learners’ needs and demonstrate measurable impact on progress and wellbeing.

The department tracks the progress and attainment of learners with SEND and participation and retention rates for learners with EHCPs or special educational needs support and are determined that our reforms to the system should improve experiences and outcomes for learners and their families.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that blind and partially sighted students in further education (a) with and (b) without education, health and care plans are able to access (i) specialist vision impairment support and (ii) associated (A) trained professionals and (B) appropriate assistive technology; and what guidance her Department has to ensure that students without education, health and care plans are able to access that support.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Support for people with visual impairments in and transitioning into, further education is guided by legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice, with tailored provisions depending on the needs of the individual. This applies to those with or without education, health and care plans (EHCPs).

All education and training providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, including those with visual impairments, so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students. Reasonable adjustments can include adapting teaching methods, using assistive technology, modifying assessments, and offering personalised support services.

Ensuring that support is provided in a timely and effective manner is the responsibility of the local authority.

The new Ofsted handbook requires further education providers to embed inclusion across all aspects of provision. Providers must identify their learners’ needs and demonstrate measurable impact on progress and wellbeing.

The department tracks the progress and attainment of learners with SEND and participation and retention rates for learners with EHCPs or special educational needs support and are determined that our reforms to the system should improve experiences and outcomes for learners and their families.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of Health and Social Care on the potential merits of introducing heart screening for young people participating in physical education in (a) schools and (b) universities.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department has not held specific discussions with the Department for Health and Social Care on heart screening for young people participating in physical education.

All pupils attending compulsory education are required to take part in physical education as part of the national curriculum. We expect schools to be aware of the risks associated with sporting activities and to provide a safe environment for pupils. The government recognises the value of physical activity in enhancing the health and wellbeing of young people.

Universities are autonomous institutions and are responsible for decisions about the welfare and health of their students.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to restore the academy conversion support grant.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department has no plans to restore the academy conversion support grant. Voluntary conversion is a choice for schools and trusts to make.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what definition of inclusive education her Department uses.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department believes every child in our country deserves an education that meets their needs - one that is academically stretching, where every child feels like they belong, and that sets them up for life and work.

We want to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting all children and young people to achieve and thrive in mainstream settings, through early identification, access to the right support at the right time, high-quality adaptive teaching and effective allocation of resources.

This government is determined to deliver reform that stands the test of time and rebuilds the confidence of families which is why the department is holding a further period of listening and engagement, gathering information and views from parents, teachers and experts in every region of the country.

We will set out our full vision for an inclusive education system in the Schools White Paper in the new year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Henley and Thame dated 10 October 2025 on the handling of the transitional protection remedy by teachers’ pensions.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I can confirm that a response to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Henley and Thame dated 10 October 2025 was sent on 8 December 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 17 June (HL Deb col 1926), whether they have published the interim evaluation led by Ecorys UK of the Regional Care Co-operative pathfinders; and, if so, what the evaluation shows in terms of the impact on the commissioning and placements of children and their outcomes.

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

The independent Phase 1 report from the evaluation of the Regional Care Co-operative (RCC) pathfinders to understand early implementation, led by Ecorys UK, has been completed and is currently undergoing final departmental clearance. The department expects to publish it imminently.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures are being undertaken to recruit speech and language therapists.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. This includes extending the Early Language and Support for Every Child programme, trialling new ways of working to better identify and support children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs in early years settings and primary schools.

In addition to the undergraduate degree route, speech and language therapists can also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is now in its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 17 June (HL Deb col 1963), and following the publication on 17 November of updated guidance for placing children in secure accommodation, whether they still intend to extend the powers that the Secretary of State already has to make regulations in relation to secure accommodation to children deprived of their liberty.

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

As part of changes introduced by Clause 11 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which will amend Section 25 of the Children Act 1989 (CA 1989) to allow for authorisation of a deprivation of liberty in ’Relevant Accommodation’ under the CA 1989, the department can confirm that the same regulation making powers that exist currently for the Secretary of State in relation to Secure Accommodation will also be available for ’Relevant Accommodation’.

It will be made clear in regulations that Secretary of State approval will be required to deprive children under the age of 13 of their liberty via Section 25 of the CA1989 in Relevant Accommodation. As per updated guidance published on 17 November, there is no such regulatory requirement regarding Secretary of State approval for applications to the High Court under its inherent jurisdiction for a deprivation of liberty order – this does not amend the requirements or guidance on the use of Section 25.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has given to (a) headteachers and (b) school governors on the use of artificial intelligence in schools.

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

The department has published clear guidance to support schools in using artificial intelligence (AI) safely and effectively. This includes the Generative AI policy paper, which sets out opportunities, risks and legal responsibilities, and online support materials developed with sector experts. These resources provide practical advice for headteachers and governors on integrating AI into digital strategies, safeguarding pupil data, and ensuring compliance with data protection and intellectual property law. Toolkits for educators and leaders outline safe use cases, risk management and how AI can reduce workload without replacing teacher judgment. The guidance emphasises that AI should enhance teaching, not diminish human oversight, and schools must take care when considering pupil-facing AI.

Materials are available on GOV.UK under “Using AI in education settings: support materials”, alongside the policy paper “Generative artificial intelligence in education”, updated June 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) financial sustainability of early years providers and (b) capacity of schools to deliver wraparound care in areas experiencing long waiting lists.

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

In 2025/26, this government plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements, increasing to over £9 billion in 2026/27, and we have increased the early years pupil premium by over 45%. On top of this we have provided further supplementary funding of £75 million for the Early Years Expansion Grant.

At Spending Review 2025, the government announced it will provide an additional £1.6 billion per year by 2028/29. We will also spend over £400 million over the next four years to deliver school-based nurseries across England.

The free breakfast clubs programme has delivered more than 5 million breakfasts and offered places to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. We are investing a further £80 million into the programme to fund an additional 2,000 schools between April 2026 and March 2027. Since September 2024, the National Wraparound Programme has also provided over 50,000 additional full childcare places. In 2026/27, we are providing local authorities with £12.9 million to sustain these places, ensuring sufficiency of school-age childcare and supporting national rollout of free breakfast clubs.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has provided towards supplying schools with (a) tablets, (b) laptops and (c) other electronic devices to children since 2015, broken down by (i) local authority area and (ii) year.

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

Schools, trusts and local authorities can use their budgets at their discretion to purchase technology for their pupils. The department does not mandate a specific device to pupil ratio or recommend how much funding should be allocated for devices.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the department delivered over 1.95 million laptops and tablets to schools, academy trusts and local authorities in England through the ‘Get Help With Technology’ programme, launched in March 2020, which supported remote learning for disadvantaged children. The last devices were delivered by March 2022 and the service closed in June 2022.

The programme represented an investment of approximately £400 million, covering procurement and distribution of devices, alongside connectivity support for families without internet access.

Data on dispatched devices is published in statistical releases via the Explore Education Statistics portal here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data/2022-april.

The department monitors pupil access to devices via the Technology in Schools Survey here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technology-in-schools-survey-report-2022-to-2023.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) help reduce exam stress and (b) support pupils with exam stress.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department recognises that it is normal for young people to experience some stress around exams. It is important that this stress is identified early and the right support is in place to help young people manage it in a healthy and constructive way. Schools play a key role in supporting students through this, and mental health charities such as YoungMinds have published guidance on staying well during revision and exams. Their guidance is available at:

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/media/mqljrydj/staying-well-during-revision-and-exams.pdf.

The department is providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding Mental Health Support Teams (MHST), so every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. By April 2026, we estimate that 60% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England will be covered by an MHST, up from 52% in April 2025.

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review carefully considered evidence on wellbeing and found that many factors can impact student mental health. The Review recommended reducing exam volume to help improve the overall student experience. We will work closely with Ofqual and exam boards to reduce GCSE exam time by 2.5 to 3 hours for the average student, while maintaining high standards and protecting the integrity and validity of the qualifications system.

Found: Spending of the Ministry of Justice on criminal justice • Helen Hayes: Spending of the Department for Education

Found: but also places significant financial burdens on the police, businesses, the NHS, the Department for Education

Found: The conclusion that we and the DFE have reached is that forcing them to produce those two full sets of

Found: highlighted that some key departments appeared to be absent from discussions, in particular, the Department for Education

Found: highlighted that some key departments appeared to be absent from discussions, in particular, the Department for Education

Found: Can I have your assurance, please, that you will properly fund both the Department for Education and

Found: The Department for Education is also developing new accommodation options that will provide placement

Found: I am in regular dialogue with both the DfE and the Student Loans Company to try to resolve it.

Found: time today talking about access, for example, but also working with our colleagues at the Department for Education

Found: highlighted that some key departments appeared to be absent from discussions, in particular, the Department for Education

Found: Personal travel budgets 9 Department for Education, Home to school transport: LA data collection.Written

Found: In particular, we are waiting for the DfE to release funding for a new specialist free school in Bristol

Found: Our specialist helpline, which receives funding from the Department for Education, regularly hears from

Found: As previously mentioned, DfE is already developing guidance for schools to deliver a high-quality enrichment

Found: Local authority home-to-school online transport policies: Accessibility and accuracy. 7 Department for Education

Found: Demand now outpaces both DfE high-needs funding and local authority budgets. 3.2 Local Context Medway

Found: Some schools in the early adopter scheme have been able to work with the Department for Education to

Found: PAC in advance of the oral evidence session on this topic with Juliet Chua CB and Nico Heslop of the DfE

Found: DCC’s Education transport policy is regularly reviewed and takes into account Department for Education

Found: The DfE should make provision within its targets and metrics to cater for young children with SEND,

Found: .  There is an opportunity for the Department for Education and the Department for Transport to develop

Found: Contrary to public perception, the recent figures published by the Department for Education show that

Found: Following some delay, the DfE published its guidance, Travel to school for children of compulsory school

Found: Available at: part-1-ten- important-facts-about-ehcp.pdf (accessed 13.08.25). xiv Department for Education

Found: even despite recent welcome updates to the guidance over the past couple of years by the Department for Education

Found: local authorities that need to continue to meet statutory duties under the constraints of a Department for Education

Found: A Department for Education (DfE) data exercise in Feb–Mar 2025 estimates ~520,000 children and learners

Found: SEND-related CPD for professionals in mainstream settings across the FE and skills sector and is a DfE-funded

Found: Department for Education, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Department for Education

Found: (DfE).6 4.

Found: To MOD and Department for Education (DfE): Will at least one DTEC be located in Scotland in 2026, and

Found: Buildings 20 Great Smith Street London SW1P 3BT tel: 0370 000 2288 www.education.gov.uk/contactus/dfe

Found: There is information that DFE will have, to a degree, about that.

Found: We are working very closely with DfE colleagues, in particular Josh MacAlister, to look at how we can

Found: It was conducted by outstanding people at the DFE who held roundtables; they were very thorough, tracked

Found: on these priorities following the transfer of responsibility for Skills England from the Department for Education

Found: (18+) 244 days10. 1 British Medical Association (BMA) (2020) Autism spectrum disorder 2 Department for Education

Found: therap ies, mental health services and autism assessment. 7 We are continuing to work with DfE

Found: They fall between the gap; they are not funded by DSIT, the Department for Education or the Department

Found: Correspondence to the Department for Education relating to its approach to rural proofing policies, dated

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to ensure Mental Health Support Teams in schools are trained in Speech and Language therapy.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We currently have no plans to train the education mental health practitioners, who are the primary workforce of mental health support teams (MHSTs), in speech and language therapy.

We are expanding MHSTs in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029, and 900,000 more children and young people will have access to support from MHSTs in 2025/26.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Education and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

In addition to the undergraduate degree route, speech and language therapists can now also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is going into its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 14 November 2025, to Question 86767, on Counter-terrorism: expenditure, what is the methodology by which local authorities are threat-rated for the purposes of Prevent funding; and what is the methodology by which the Prevent funding to individual councils is calculated.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Each year the Home Office conducts an annual prioritisation exercise to understand which Local Authorities (LAs) are facing the highest threat from radicalisation to terrorism. The model is data-led and incorporates both quantitative and qualitative elements. It is regularly reviewed and adapted to ensure that it provides a sound basis to make effective evidence-based decisions.

The quantitative element of the model draws on counter-terrorism investigations data and arrests data for terrorism and terrorism-related offences; the number of cases that have been discussed at a Channel multi-agency panel or are being managed separately under the police-led process; community tension reports; hate crime data; Indices of Multiple Deprivation; and annual employment statistics.

As part of the qualitative element, we hold a series of regional roundtables with key Prevent delivery partners, which allows us to sense check the preliminary rankings and make adjustments by drawing on the knowledge and experience of front-line Prevent practitioners from across a range of sectors, including CT Policing; Department for Education; Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government; Health; and HM Prisons and Probation.

Funding for posts and dedicated projects is allocated as part of an annual bidding process, with funding allocations informed by factors including the amount of funding available, the level of threat, the level of funding provided for Prevent posts in the previous financial year, and inflation-related increases.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the trends in insourcing in adult social care and children social care in England.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government works closely with both the Department for Health and Social Care and Department for Education on the provision of, and funding for, social care services. Local Authorities are responsible for delivering adults and children’s social care services, and it is for them to decide how to deliver them locally and ensure there is adequate provision in their communities. The government is taking specific steps to ensure the delivery of quality care services that secure better outcomes whilst achieving value for money for the taxpayer; for example, investment in children’s residential care that includes creating 200 new placements in high-quality council-run children’s homes and powers through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to ensure financial oversight of the children’s care home market.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 3 September 2025, to Question 70509, on Government Departments: Buildings, what is the current ownership and freehold, leasehold or rental status, of the Department for Education building on Great Smith Street, London.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The property occupied by the Department for Education on Great Smith Street, London is known as Sanctuary Buildings. GPA, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, holds the leasehold interest in the property and pays the rent. The freehold interest is held by Legal and General Assurance (Pensions Management) Limited.

Information on property registered in England and Wales is available to the public by following the following link to HM Land Registry - Search for land and property information

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Department has to expand opportunities for schools to access cultural and creative learning programmes.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

In addition to the cultural and creative learning programmes set out in response to your question at UIN93270, DCMS, in strategic partnership with DfE, will invest £22.5 million across 3 years to support up to 400 schools to provide a better youth-voice led, tailored enrichment offer. This will give pupils access to high-quality out of school enrichment opportunities—including arts, cultural activities and sport— with a particular focus on disadvantaged and underserved pupils. This will align with the benchmarks and support wellbeing, personal development, and essential life skills around the school day, as set out in Enrichment Framework.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the safeguarding implications for children who have a parent in prison; and whether he plans to introduce a national statutory mechanism to identify those children, including a requirement for prisons and probation services to notify local authorities and schools when a parent is incarcerated.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

We recognise that more can be done to ensure children with a parent in prison are identified so that they get the support they need. This is why the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education are working together to determine the best mechanism to identify these children.

We will continue to engage with those with those who have direct experience of having a parent in prison and with the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector to inform our approach. For example, 25 November marked the first-ever National Day to recognise children with a parent in prison. This provided a powerful opportunity for Ministers and officials from both Departments to attend a conference hosted by the charity Children Heard and Seen to hear directly from children and young people with lived experience of parental imprisonment. This demonstrates our commitment to putting children’s voices at the heart of our policymaking.

HMPPS has a statutory duty under section 11 of the Children Act (2004) to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. HMPPS staff are required to check if prisoners received into custody have caring responsibilities for any children, to make enquiries with children’s services and record known safeguarding concerns. HMPPS works in partnership with police forces, children’s services and other relevant agencies to fulfil its safeguarding responsibilities. Where HMPPS professionals are concerned about the welfare of a child of a prisoner, they must consider whether a referral to local authority children’s social care is required and should always refer immediately if there is a concern that the child is suffering, or likely to, suffer significant harm. Additionally, HMPPS provides a comprehensive range of staff training and learning opportunities for staff, including an annual “Think Child” campaign, aimed at promoting children’s safety.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps with the Secretary of State for Education to encourage schools in urban areas to visit farms and learn about farming, food and the environment.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are clear benefits of schools in urban areas arranging farm visits for their students to learn about farming, food and the environment. With our educational access actions, farmers and land managers can be funded to host educational visits to their farms and woodland at a rate of £363 per visit, subject to a maximum number of 25 paid visits per year. Officials will continue to engage with Department for Education, including on how we can support schools and farms to promote this. Between 2022 and 2024, the Rural Payments Agency paid for 11,404 instances of educational visits across 1,754 agreements under Countryside Stewardship.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that rural areas in Northern Ireland have equitable access to 5G and next-generation broadband.

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

The government wants all areas of the UK, including rural areas in Northern Ireland, to benefit from reliable and high-quality mobile coverage, and this is reflected in our ambition for all populated areas of the UK to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030.

My department continues to work closely with the mobile network operators to deliver on this ambition, ensuring the investment committed by operators delivers benefits to such communities, including by removing barriers to deployment where they exist and it is practical to do so.

Regarding next-generation broadband access, Project Stratum received £199 million of UK government funding and delivered gigabit-capable broadband to almost 81,100 premises in Northern Ireland. This project, delivered by Fibrus, completed delivery in June 2025.

The Northern Ireland Department for the Economy (DfE) is currently undertaking a Project Gigabit procurement to help fill remaining gaps in gigabit broadband coverage predominantly targeting rural and hard to reach areas.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will outline how his Department monitors delivery and outcomes of the Neurodiversity Action Plan across the prison and probation service.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to improving support for neurodivergent individuals in the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity Action Plan

The Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan, along with subsequent progress updates published in January and September 2023 set out how the department, working alongside health and justice partners, has made progress and monitored delivery and outcomes across the criminal justice system. We are committed to publishing a final update to the Action Plan shortly, which will set out the significant improvements made in improving support for those with neurodiverse needs and next steps.

Cross-Government Collaboration

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons, including the provision of clinical interventions. We continue to work closely with partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the Health and Justice National Neurodiversity Programme Board to improve support for neurodiverse individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Youth Custody Service operates under the Framework of Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) co-commissioned by NHS England. Young Offender Institutions have Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs), and qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinators and psychologists to meet the needs of children. Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are requested from the community, and we work closely with Department for Education and DHSC to ensure effective delivery.

Funding

We do not hold data centrally on the funding allocated to interventions for neurodivergent people in prison or on probation. HMPPS provides a range of interventions, including educational interventions delivered as part of the Prisoner Education Service, therapeutic interventions specifically for neurodivergent individuals and tailoring of interventions, including Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes, to be inclusive of neurodivergence.

Screening

HMPPS screens all prisoners as part of the induction process following entry into prison to identify any needs that may affect their ability to engage with the regime and navigate its environment and opportunities.

To improve prison screening practices, a new Additional Learning Needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new Prisoner Education Service. This tool identifies individual strengths, and any additional learning needs they may have as well as what adjustments might help support them.

Reasonable adjustments differ at each stage and therefore, a universal screening tool would not be practical to identify individual needs across the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity leads

NSMs have been successfully rolled out across the prison service. As of November 2025, there are NSMs in 116 prisons across England and Wales, with seven sites recruiting. NSMs use a range of methods to ensure that sufficient support for neurodiversity is available in their prisons, including introducing Neurodiversity Staff Champions or Neurodiversity Peer mentors. Regular networking and training opportunities are provided to NSMs, providing them with ongoing support and development.

As of September 2025, 99 prisons had reported progress on implementing this support. 45 reported having Neurodiversity Support Champions and 66 (two-thirds) reported having Neurodiversity Reps or Peer mentors.

Training and support for staff

We do not hold data centrally on the proportion of staff who have completed neurodiversity training. However, a key priority for NSMs is to provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals. This includes training on neurodiversity supportive practice and ensuring that all staff members have the support, and resources they need to facilitate reasonable adjustments as required.

In probation, HMPPS offer neurodiversity learning packages for all staff as part of the Probation Learning and Development curriculum, and new Probation Service Officers and those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation are required to undertake learning that includes neurodiversity.

Easy Reads

We aim for all prisoner-facing documents to be written in clear, simple English. When our staff write new or revised policies, or other documents which prisoners need to read, we require them to use plain language, keep text brief, spell out acronyms on first use, and avoid unnecessary words or jargon.

NSMs have received training on creating easy-read documents. As part of their role in making prison environments more supportive of neurodivergence, many have produced easy-read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will provide an update on the 2022 Neurodiversity Action Plan.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to improving support for neurodivergent individuals in the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity Action Plan

The Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan, along with subsequent progress updates published in January and September 2023 set out how the department, working alongside health and justice partners, has made progress and monitored delivery and outcomes across the criminal justice system. We are committed to publishing a final update to the Action Plan shortly, which will set out the significant improvements made in improving support for those with neurodiverse needs and next steps.

Cross-Government Collaboration

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons, including the provision of clinical interventions. We continue to work closely with partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the Health and Justice National Neurodiversity Programme Board to improve support for neurodiverse individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Youth Custody Service operates under the Framework of Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) co-commissioned by NHS England. Young Offender Institutions have Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs), and qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinators and psychologists to meet the needs of children. Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are requested from the community, and we work closely with Department for Education and DHSC to ensure effective delivery.

Funding

We do not hold data centrally on the funding allocated to interventions for neurodivergent people in prison or on probation. HMPPS provides a range of interventions, including educational interventions delivered as part of the Prisoner Education Service, therapeutic interventions specifically for neurodivergent individuals and tailoring of interventions, including Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes, to be inclusive of neurodivergence.

Screening

HMPPS screens all prisoners as part of the induction process following entry into prison to identify any needs that may affect their ability to engage with the regime and navigate its environment and opportunities.

To improve prison screening practices, a new Additional Learning Needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new Prisoner Education Service. This tool identifies individual strengths, and any additional learning needs they may have as well as what adjustments might help support them.

Reasonable adjustments differ at each stage and therefore, a universal screening tool would not be practical to identify individual needs across the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity leads

NSMs have been successfully rolled out across the prison service. As of November 2025, there are NSMs in 116 prisons across England and Wales, with seven sites recruiting. NSMs use a range of methods to ensure that sufficient support for neurodiversity is available in their prisons, including introducing Neurodiversity Staff Champions or Neurodiversity Peer mentors. Regular networking and training opportunities are provided to NSMs, providing them with ongoing support and development.

As of September 2025, 99 prisons had reported progress on implementing this support. 45 reported having Neurodiversity Support Champions and 66 (two-thirds) reported having Neurodiversity Reps or Peer mentors.

Training and support for staff

We do not hold data centrally on the proportion of staff who have completed neurodiversity training. However, a key priority for NSMs is to provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals. This includes training on neurodiversity supportive practice and ensuring that all staff members have the support, and resources they need to facilitate reasonable adjustments as required.

In probation, HMPPS offer neurodiversity learning packages for all staff as part of the Probation Learning and Development curriculum, and new Probation Service Officers and those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation are required to undertake learning that includes neurodiversity.

Easy Reads

We aim for all prisoner-facing documents to be written in clear, simple English. When our staff write new or revised policies, or other documents which prisoners need to read, we require them to use plain language, keep text brief, spell out acronyms on first use, and avoid unnecessary words or jargon.

NSMs have received training on creating easy-read documents. As part of their role in making prison environments more supportive of neurodivergence, many have produced easy-read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made in producing Easy-Read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to improving support for neurodivergent individuals in the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity Action Plan

The Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan, along with subsequent progress updates published in January and September 2023 set out how the department, working alongside health and justice partners, has made progress and monitored delivery and outcomes across the criminal justice system. We are committed to publishing a final update to the Action Plan shortly, which will set out the significant improvements made in improving support for those with neurodiverse needs and next steps.

Cross-Government Collaboration

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons, including the provision of clinical interventions. We continue to work closely with partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the Health and Justice National Neurodiversity Programme Board to improve support for neurodiverse individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Youth Custody Service operates under the Framework of Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) co-commissioned by NHS England. Young Offender Institutions have Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs), and qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinators and psychologists to meet the needs of children. Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are requested from the community, and we work closely with Department for Education and DHSC to ensure effective delivery.

Funding

We do not hold data centrally on the funding allocated to interventions for neurodivergent people in prison or on probation. HMPPS provides a range of interventions, including educational interventions delivered as part of the Prisoner Education Service, therapeutic interventions specifically for neurodivergent individuals and tailoring of interventions, including Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes, to be inclusive of neurodivergence.

Screening

HMPPS screens all prisoners as part of the induction process following entry into prison to identify any needs that may affect their ability to engage with the regime and navigate its environment and opportunities.

To improve prison screening practices, a new Additional Learning Needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new Prisoner Education Service. This tool identifies individual strengths, and any additional learning needs they may have as well as what adjustments might help support them.

Reasonable adjustments differ at each stage and therefore, a universal screening tool would not be practical to identify individual needs across the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity leads

NSMs have been successfully rolled out across the prison service. As of November 2025, there are NSMs in 116 prisons across England and Wales, with seven sites recruiting. NSMs use a range of methods to ensure that sufficient support for neurodiversity is available in their prisons, including introducing Neurodiversity Staff Champions or Neurodiversity Peer mentors. Regular networking and training opportunities are provided to NSMs, providing them with ongoing support and development.

As of September 2025, 99 prisons had reported progress on implementing this support. 45 reported having Neurodiversity Support Champions and 66 (two-thirds) reported having Neurodiversity Reps or Peer mentors.

Training and support for staff

We do not hold data centrally on the proportion of staff who have completed neurodiversity training. However, a key priority for NSMs is to provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals. This includes training on neurodiversity supportive practice and ensuring that all staff members have the support, and resources they need to facilitate reasonable adjustments as required.

In probation, HMPPS offer neurodiversity learning packages for all staff as part of the Probation Learning and Development curriculum, and new Probation Service Officers and those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation are required to undertake learning that includes neurodiversity.

Easy Reads

We aim for all prisoner-facing documents to be written in clear, simple English. When our staff write new or revised policies, or other documents which prisoners need to read, we require them to use plain language, keep text brief, spell out acronyms on first use, and avoid unnecessary words or jargon.

NSMs have received training on creating easy-read documents. As part of their role in making prison environments more supportive of neurodivergence, many have produced easy-read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what percentage of prisons have introduced Neurodiversity Rep jobs.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to improving support for neurodivergent individuals in the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity Action Plan

The Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan, along with subsequent progress updates published in January and September 2023 set out how the department, working alongside health and justice partners, has made progress and monitored delivery and outcomes across the criminal justice system. We are committed to publishing a final update to the Action Plan shortly, which will set out the significant improvements made in improving support for those with neurodiverse needs and next steps.

Cross-Government Collaboration

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons, including the provision of clinical interventions. We continue to work closely with partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the Health and Justice National Neurodiversity Programme Board to improve support for neurodiverse individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Youth Custody Service operates under the Framework of Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) co-commissioned by NHS England. Young Offender Institutions have Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs), and qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinators and psychologists to meet the needs of children. Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are requested from the community, and we work closely with Department for Education and DHSC to ensure effective delivery.

Funding

We do not hold data centrally on the funding allocated to interventions for neurodivergent people in prison or on probation. HMPPS provides a range of interventions, including educational interventions delivered as part of the Prisoner Education Service, therapeutic interventions specifically for neurodivergent individuals and tailoring of interventions, including Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes, to be inclusive of neurodivergence.

Screening

HMPPS screens all prisoners as part of the induction process following entry into prison to identify any needs that may affect their ability to engage with the regime and navigate its environment and opportunities.

To improve prison screening practices, a new Additional Learning Needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new Prisoner Education Service. This tool identifies individual strengths, and any additional learning needs they may have as well as what adjustments might help support them.

Reasonable adjustments differ at each stage and therefore, a universal screening tool would not be practical to identify individual needs across the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity leads

NSMs have been successfully rolled out across the prison service. As of November 2025, there are NSMs in 116 prisons across England and Wales, with seven sites recruiting. NSMs use a range of methods to ensure that sufficient support for neurodiversity is available in their prisons, including introducing Neurodiversity Staff Champions or Neurodiversity Peer mentors. Regular networking and training opportunities are provided to NSMs, providing them with ongoing support and development.

As of September 2025, 99 prisons had reported progress on implementing this support. 45 reported having Neurodiversity Support Champions and 66 (two-thirds) reported having Neurodiversity Reps or Peer mentors.

Training and support for staff

We do not hold data centrally on the proportion of staff who have completed neurodiversity training. However, a key priority for NSMs is to provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals. This includes training on neurodiversity supportive practice and ensuring that all staff members have the support, and resources they need to facilitate reasonable adjustments as required.

In probation, HMPPS offer neurodiversity learning packages for all staff as part of the Probation Learning and Development curriculum, and new Probation Service Officers and those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation are required to undertake learning that includes neurodiversity.

Easy Reads

We aim for all prisoner-facing documents to be written in clear, simple English. When our staff write new or revised policies, or other documents which prisoners need to read, we require them to use plain language, keep text brief, spell out acronyms on first use, and avoid unnecessary words or jargon.

NSMs have received training on creating easy-read documents. As part of their role in making prison environments more supportive of neurodivergence, many have produced easy-read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps are being taken to strengthen cross-government collaboration on neurodiversity in the criminal justice system, particularly with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to improving support for neurodivergent individuals in the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity Action Plan

The Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan, along with subsequent progress updates published in January and September 2023 set out how the department, working alongside health and justice partners, has made progress and monitored delivery and outcomes across the criminal justice system. We are committed to publishing a final update to the Action Plan shortly, which will set out the significant improvements made in improving support for those with neurodiverse needs and next steps.

Cross-Government Collaboration

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons, including the provision of clinical interventions. We continue to work closely with partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the Health and Justice National Neurodiversity Programme Board to improve support for neurodiverse individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Youth Custody Service operates under the Framework of Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) co-commissioned by NHS England. Young Offender Institutions have Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs), and qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinators and psychologists to meet the needs of children. Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are requested from the community, and we work closely with Department for Education and DHSC to ensure effective delivery.

Funding

We do not hold data centrally on the funding allocated to interventions for neurodivergent people in prison or on probation. HMPPS provides a range of interventions, including educational interventions delivered as part of the Prisoner Education Service, therapeutic interventions specifically for neurodivergent individuals and tailoring of interventions, including Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes, to be inclusive of neurodivergence.

Screening

HMPPS screens all prisoners as part of the induction process following entry into prison to identify any needs that may affect their ability to engage with the regime and navigate its environment and opportunities.

To improve prison screening practices, a new Additional Learning Needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new Prisoner Education Service. This tool identifies individual strengths, and any additional learning needs they may have as well as what adjustments might help support them.

Reasonable adjustments differ at each stage and therefore, a universal screening tool would not be practical to identify individual needs across the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity leads

NSMs have been successfully rolled out across the prison service. As of November 2025, there are NSMs in 116 prisons across England and Wales, with seven sites recruiting. NSMs use a range of methods to ensure that sufficient support for neurodiversity is available in their prisons, including introducing Neurodiversity Staff Champions or Neurodiversity Peer mentors. Regular networking and training opportunities are provided to NSMs, providing them with ongoing support and development.

As of September 2025, 99 prisons had reported progress on implementing this support. 45 reported having Neurodiversity Support Champions and 66 (two-thirds) reported having Neurodiversity Reps or Peer mentors.

Training and support for staff

We do not hold data centrally on the proportion of staff who have completed neurodiversity training. However, a key priority for NSMs is to provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals. This includes training on neurodiversity supportive practice and ensuring that all staff members have the support, and resources they need to facilitate reasonable adjustments as required.

In probation, HMPPS offer neurodiversity learning packages for all staff as part of the Probation Learning and Development curriculum, and new Probation Service Officers and those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation are required to undertake learning that includes neurodiversity.

Easy Reads

We aim for all prisoner-facing documents to be written in clear, simple English. When our staff write new or revised policies, or other documents which prisoners need to read, we require them to use plain language, keep text brief, spell out acronyms on first use, and avoid unnecessary words or jargon.

NSMs have received training on creating easy-read documents. As part of their role in making prison environments more supportive of neurodivergence, many have produced easy-read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to (a) publish an updated progress report on delivery of the Neurodiversity Action Plan and (b) replace it with a new plan.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to improving support for neurodivergent individuals in the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity Action Plan

The Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan, along with subsequent progress updates published in January and September 2023 set out how the department, working alongside health and justice partners, has made progress and monitored delivery and outcomes across the criminal justice system. We are committed to publishing a final update to the Action Plan shortly, which will set out the significant improvements made in improving support for those with neurodiverse needs and next steps.

Cross-Government Collaboration

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons, including the provision of clinical interventions. We continue to work closely with partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the Health and Justice National Neurodiversity Programme Board to improve support for neurodiverse individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Youth Custody Service operates under the Framework of Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) co-commissioned by NHS England. Young Offender Institutions have Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs), and qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinators and psychologists to meet the needs of children. Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are requested from the community, and we work closely with Department for Education and DHSC to ensure effective delivery.

Funding

We do not hold data centrally on the funding allocated to interventions for neurodivergent people in prison or on probation. HMPPS provides a range of interventions, including educational interventions delivered as part of the Prisoner Education Service, therapeutic interventions specifically for neurodivergent individuals and tailoring of interventions, including Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes, to be inclusive of neurodivergence.

Screening

HMPPS screens all prisoners as part of the induction process following entry into prison to identify any needs that may affect their ability to engage with the regime and navigate its environment and opportunities.

To improve prison screening practices, a new Additional Learning Needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new Prisoner Education Service. This tool identifies individual strengths, and any additional learning needs they may have as well as what adjustments might help support them.

Reasonable adjustments differ at each stage and therefore, a universal screening tool would not be practical to identify individual needs across the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity leads

NSMs have been successfully rolled out across the prison service. As of November 2025, there are NSMs in 116 prisons across England and Wales, with seven sites recruiting. NSMs use a range of methods to ensure that sufficient support for neurodiversity is available in their prisons, including introducing Neurodiversity Staff Champions or Neurodiversity Peer mentors. Regular networking and training opportunities are provided to NSMs, providing them with ongoing support and development.

As of September 2025, 99 prisons had reported progress on implementing this support. 45 reported having Neurodiversity Support Champions and 66 (two-thirds) reported having Neurodiversity Reps or Peer mentors.

Training and support for staff

We do not hold data centrally on the proportion of staff who have completed neurodiversity training. However, a key priority for NSMs is to provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals. This includes training on neurodiversity supportive practice and ensuring that all staff members have the support, and resources they need to facilitate reasonable adjustments as required.

In probation, HMPPS offer neurodiversity learning packages for all staff as part of the Probation Learning and Development curriculum, and new Probation Service Officers and those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation are required to undertake learning that includes neurodiversity.

Easy Reads

We aim for all prisoner-facing documents to be written in clear, simple English. When our staff write new or revised policies, or other documents which prisoners need to read, we require them to use plain language, keep text brief, spell out acronyms on first use, and avoid unnecessary words or jargon.

NSMs have received training on creating easy-read documents. As part of their role in making prison environments more supportive of neurodivergence, many have produced easy-read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding has been allocated to support specialist interventions for neurodivergent individuals in custody and in the community.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to improving support for neurodivergent individuals in the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity Action Plan

The Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan, along with subsequent progress updates published in January and September 2023 set out how the department, working alongside health and justice partners, has made progress and monitored delivery and outcomes across the criminal justice system. We are committed to publishing a final update to the Action Plan shortly, which will set out the significant improvements made in improving support for those with neurodiverse needs and next steps.

Cross-Government Collaboration

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons, including the provision of clinical interventions. We continue to work closely with partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the Health and Justice National Neurodiversity Programme Board to improve support for neurodiverse individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Youth Custody Service operates under the Framework of Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) co-commissioned by NHS England. Young Offender Institutions have Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs), and qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinators and psychologists to meet the needs of children. Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are requested from the community, and we work closely with Department for Education and DHSC to ensure effective delivery.

Funding

We do not hold data centrally on the funding allocated to interventions for neurodivergent people in prison or on probation. HMPPS provides a range of interventions, including educational interventions delivered as part of the Prisoner Education Service, therapeutic interventions specifically for neurodivergent individuals and tailoring of interventions, including Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes, to be inclusive of neurodivergence.

Screening

HMPPS screens all prisoners as part of the induction process following entry into prison to identify any needs that may affect their ability to engage with the regime and navigate its environment and opportunities.

To improve prison screening practices, a new Additional Learning Needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new Prisoner Education Service. This tool identifies individual strengths, and any additional learning needs they may have as well as what adjustments might help support them.

Reasonable adjustments differ at each stage and therefore, a universal screening tool would not be practical to identify individual needs across the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity leads

NSMs have been successfully rolled out across the prison service. As of November 2025, there are NSMs in 116 prisons across England and Wales, with seven sites recruiting. NSMs use a range of methods to ensure that sufficient support for neurodiversity is available in their prisons, including introducing Neurodiversity Staff Champions or Neurodiversity Peer mentors. Regular networking and training opportunities are provided to NSMs, providing them with ongoing support and development.

As of September 2025, 99 prisons had reported progress on implementing this support. 45 reported having Neurodiversity Support Champions and 66 (two-thirds) reported having Neurodiversity Reps or Peer mentors.

Training and support for staff

We do not hold data centrally on the proportion of staff who have completed neurodiversity training. However, a key priority for NSMs is to provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals. This includes training on neurodiversity supportive practice and ensuring that all staff members have the support, and resources they need to facilitate reasonable adjustments as required.

In probation, HMPPS offer neurodiversity learning packages for all staff as part of the Probation Learning and Development curriculum, and new Probation Service Officers and those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation are required to undertake learning that includes neurodiversity.

Easy Reads

We aim for all prisoner-facing documents to be written in clear, simple English. When our staff write new or revised policies, or other documents which prisoners need to read, we require them to use plain language, keep text brief, spell out acronyms on first use, and avoid unnecessary words or jargon.

NSMs have received training on creating easy-read documents. As part of their role in making prison environments more supportive of neurodivergence, many have produced easy-read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons currently have dedicated neurodiversity leads or champions in place.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to improving support for neurodivergent individuals in the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity Action Plan

The Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan, along with subsequent progress updates published in January and September 2023 set out how the department, working alongside health and justice partners, has made progress and monitored delivery and outcomes across the criminal justice system. We are committed to publishing a final update to the Action Plan shortly, which will set out the significant improvements made in improving support for those with neurodiverse needs and next steps.

Cross-Government Collaboration

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons, including the provision of clinical interventions. We continue to work closely with partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the Health and Justice National Neurodiversity Programme Board to improve support for neurodiverse individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Youth Custody Service operates under the Framework of Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) co-commissioned by NHS England. Young Offender Institutions have Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs), and qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinators and psychologists to meet the needs of children. Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are requested from the community, and we work closely with Department for Education and DHSC to ensure effective delivery.

Funding

We do not hold data centrally on the funding allocated to interventions for neurodivergent people in prison or on probation. HMPPS provides a range of interventions, including educational interventions delivered as part of the Prisoner Education Service, therapeutic interventions specifically for neurodivergent individuals and tailoring of interventions, including Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes, to be inclusive of neurodivergence.

Screening

HMPPS screens all prisoners as part of the induction process following entry into prison to identify any needs that may affect their ability to engage with the regime and navigate its environment and opportunities.

To improve prison screening practices, a new Additional Learning Needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new Prisoner Education Service. This tool identifies individual strengths, and any additional learning needs they may have as well as what adjustments might help support them.

Reasonable adjustments differ at each stage and therefore, a universal screening tool would not be practical to identify individual needs across the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity leads

NSMs have been successfully rolled out across the prison service. As of November 2025, there are NSMs in 116 prisons across England and Wales, with seven sites recruiting. NSMs use a range of methods to ensure that sufficient support for neurodiversity is available in their prisons, including introducing Neurodiversity Staff Champions or Neurodiversity Peer mentors. Regular networking and training opportunities are provided to NSMs, providing them with ongoing support and development.

As of September 2025, 99 prisons had reported progress on implementing this support. 45 reported having Neurodiversity Support Champions and 66 (two-thirds) reported having Neurodiversity Reps or Peer mentors.

Training and support for staff

We do not hold data centrally on the proportion of staff who have completed neurodiversity training. However, a key priority for NSMs is to provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals. This includes training on neurodiversity supportive practice and ensuring that all staff members have the support, and resources they need to facilitate reasonable adjustments as required.

In probation, HMPPS offer neurodiversity learning packages for all staff as part of the Probation Learning and Development curriculum, and new Probation Service Officers and those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation are required to undertake learning that includes neurodiversity.

Easy Reads

We aim for all prisoner-facing documents to be written in clear, simple English. When our staff write new or revised policies, or other documents which prisoners need to read, we require them to use plain language, keep text brief, spell out acronyms on first use, and avoid unnecessary words or jargon.

NSMs have received training on creating easy-read documents. As part of their role in making prison environments more supportive of neurodivergence, many have produced easy-read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure all front-line staff receive training to support neurodivergent people in custody and under supervision.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to improving support for neurodivergent individuals in the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity Action Plan

The Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan, along with subsequent progress updates published in January and September 2023 set out how the department, working alongside health and justice partners, has made progress and monitored delivery and outcomes across the criminal justice system. We are committed to publishing a final update to the Action Plan shortly, which will set out the significant improvements made in improving support for those with neurodiverse needs and next steps.

Cross-Government Collaboration

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons, including the provision of clinical interventions. We continue to work closely with partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the Health and Justice National Neurodiversity Programme Board to improve support for neurodiverse individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Youth Custody Service operates under the Framework of Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) co-commissioned by NHS England. Young Offender Institutions have Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs), and qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinators and psychologists to meet the needs of children. Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are requested from the community, and we work closely with Department for Education and DHSC to ensure effective delivery.

Funding

We do not hold data centrally on the funding allocated to interventions for neurodivergent people in prison or on probation. HMPPS provides a range of interventions, including educational interventions delivered as part of the Prisoner Education Service, therapeutic interventions specifically for neurodivergent individuals and tailoring of interventions, including Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes, to be inclusive of neurodivergence.

Screening

HMPPS screens all prisoners as part of the induction process following entry into prison to identify any needs that may affect their ability to engage with the regime and navigate its environment and opportunities.

To improve prison screening practices, a new Additional Learning Needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new Prisoner Education Service. This tool identifies individual strengths, and any additional learning needs they may have as well as what adjustments might help support them.

Reasonable adjustments differ at each stage and therefore, a universal screening tool would not be practical to identify individual needs across the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity leads

NSMs have been successfully rolled out across the prison service. As of November 2025, there are NSMs in 116 prisons across England and Wales, with seven sites recruiting. NSMs use a range of methods to ensure that sufficient support for neurodiversity is available in their prisons, including introducing Neurodiversity Staff Champions or Neurodiversity Peer mentors. Regular networking and training opportunities are provided to NSMs, providing them with ongoing support and development.

As of September 2025, 99 prisons had reported progress on implementing this support. 45 reported having Neurodiversity Support Champions and 66 (two-thirds) reported having Neurodiversity Reps or Peer mentors.

Training and support for staff

We do not hold data centrally on the proportion of staff who have completed neurodiversity training. However, a key priority for NSMs is to provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals. This includes training on neurodiversity supportive practice and ensuring that all staff members have the support, and resources they need to facilitate reasonable adjustments as required.

In probation, HMPPS offer neurodiversity learning packages for all staff as part of the Probation Learning and Development curriculum, and new Probation Service Officers and those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation are required to undertake learning that includes neurodiversity.

Easy Reads

We aim for all prisoner-facing documents to be written in clear, simple English. When our staff write new or revised policies, or other documents which prisoners need to read, we require them to use plain language, keep text brief, spell out acronyms on first use, and avoid unnecessary words or jargon.

NSMs have received training on creating easy-read documents. As part of their role in making prison environments more supportive of neurodivergence, many have produced easy-read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on improving screening and identification of neurodivergent individuals at the point of entry into the criminal justice system.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to improving support for neurodivergent individuals in the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity Action Plan

The Cross-Government Neurodiversity Action Plan, along with subsequent progress updates published in January and September 2023 set out how the department, working alongside health and justice partners, has made progress and monitored delivery and outcomes across the criminal justice system. We are committed to publishing a final update to the Action Plan shortly, which will set out the significant improvements made in improving support for those with neurodiverse needs and next steps.

Cross-Government Collaboration

NHS England is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons, including the provision of clinical interventions. We continue to work closely with partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) through the Health and Justice National Neurodiversity Programme Board to improve support for neurodiverse individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Youth Custody Service operates under the Framework of Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) co-commissioned by NHS England. Young Offender Institutions have Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs), and qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinators and psychologists to meet the needs of children. Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are requested from the community, and we work closely with Department for Education and DHSC to ensure effective delivery.

Funding

We do not hold data centrally on the funding allocated to interventions for neurodivergent people in prison or on probation. HMPPS provides a range of interventions, including educational interventions delivered as part of the Prisoner Education Service, therapeutic interventions specifically for neurodivergent individuals and tailoring of interventions, including Accredited Offending Behaviour Programmes, to be inclusive of neurodivergence.

Screening

HMPPS screens all prisoners as part of the induction process following entry into prison to identify any needs that may affect their ability to engage with the regime and navigate its environment and opportunities.

To improve prison screening practices, a new Additional Learning Needs tool was introduced in October 2025 as part of the new Prisoner Education Service. This tool identifies individual strengths, and any additional learning needs they may have as well as what adjustments might help support them.

Reasonable adjustments differ at each stage and therefore, a universal screening tool would not be practical to identify individual needs across the criminal justice system.

Neurodiversity leads

NSMs have been successfully rolled out across the prison service. As of November 2025, there are NSMs in 116 prisons across England and Wales, with seven sites recruiting. NSMs use a range of methods to ensure that sufficient support for neurodiversity is available in their prisons, including introducing Neurodiversity Staff Champions or Neurodiversity Peer mentors. Regular networking and training opportunities are provided to NSMs, providing them with ongoing support and development.

As of September 2025, 99 prisons had reported progress on implementing this support. 45 reported having Neurodiversity Support Champions and 66 (two-thirds) reported having Neurodiversity Reps or Peer mentors.

Training and support for staff

We do not hold data centrally on the proportion of staff who have completed neurodiversity training. However, a key priority for NSMs is to provide training and guidance to prison staff to equip them to better support neurodivergent individuals. This includes training on neurodiversity supportive practice and ensuring that all staff members have the support, and resources they need to facilitate reasonable adjustments as required.

In probation, HMPPS offer neurodiversity learning packages for all staff as part of the Probation Learning and Development curriculum, and new Probation Service Officers and those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation are required to undertake learning that includes neurodiversity.

Easy Reads

We aim for all prisoner-facing documents to be written in clear, simple English. When our staff write new or revised policies, or other documents which prisoners need to read, we require them to use plain language, keep text brief, spell out acronyms on first use, and avoid unnecessary words or jargon.

NSMs have received training on creating easy-read documents. As part of their role in making prison environments more supportive of neurodivergence, many have produced easy-read versions of key prison documents, including a Prison Induction Handbook for prisoners with low literacy.

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