Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the net financial impact of international students to the economy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
International students make a very significant contribution to the UK economy. Departmental statistics on education-related exports, published in June, estimated that international students contributed £21.06 billion to the UK economy in 2022 through their tuition fees and living expenditure.
Asked by: Mike Martin (Liberal Democrat - Tunbridge Wells)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the contracted suppliers for the Disabled Students' Allowance are transparent with students on pricing.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Non-medical help hourly rates, together with any awards for travel, accommodation, or other costs, are supplied in the student’s entitlement letter, which outlines approved support. Additionally, the full breakdown of equipment costs is detailed in the needs assessment report, and students are entitled to request a copy of this report at any time. This means that students can see the costs associated with each element of their Disabled Students' Allowance support.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry of 30 May 2025.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I can confirm that a response to the hon. Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry’s letter of 30 May was issued on 26 June 2025.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which services are set to be delivered by the Government’s new Best Start Family Hubs.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Best Start Family Hubs programme will fund all local authorities in England to deliver services to support ages 0 to 5, with more funding for parent and home learning environment evidence-based interventions for ages 3 to 4, while retaining support for ages 0 to 19. Funding will improve outreach and introduce a new role to identify children with special educational needs and disabilities. Hubs will involve parents in decision-making, be open to all, and focus on disadvantaged communities. Professionals across local teams will collaborate, and a new digital hub will be created to support all parents. The initiative aims to strengthen early years support and accessibility nationwide.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to uphold free speech in universities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom in universities. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, confirmed to Parliament on 15 January the government’s plans for the future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which will create a more proportionate, balanced and less burdensome approach to protecting academic freedom and freedom of speech.
On 28 April, the Secretary of State for Education signed commencement regulations, bringing the following provisions into force on 1 August 2025:
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with industry bodies on strengthening (a) apprenticeships and (b) training routes in the hospitality sector to support small and medium-sized businesses in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government offers a range of training options, including apprenticeships and BTECs, to support employers of all sizes in the hospitality sector to benefit from and develop the skilled workforces they need.
Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) give small and medium businesses a stronger role in identifying local skills issues and working collaboratively with skills providers and other local stakeholders to resolve them. From October, Business West and Somerset Chamber of Commerce will begin the process of developing a new 3-year LSIP for Somerset, which includes the Yeovil constituency.
The department and Skills England engage regularly with the hospitality sector, including industry bodies such as UK Hospitality, regarding training for the sector and the government’s plans for skills.
To support apprenticeships in small and medium-sized enterprises the government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been, or are, in local authority care, when they undertake apprenticeships with non-levy paying employers.
The government also continues to pay £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16 to 18, and for apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been, or are, in local authority care.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has a budget for retraining programmes for adult workers transitioning from oil and gas to renewable energy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Green skills are essential to driving economic growth and achieving the UK’s net zero target by 2050. Clean energy and advanced manufacturing have been identified as priority sectors in the Industrial Strategy.
To support this, the government will invest an additional £1.2 billion annually in skills by 2028/29, expanding opportunities across high-growth industries. As part of this, over £100 million will be directed toward engineering skills development through education, apprenticeships, and the establishment of Technical Excellence Colleges in key sectors like advanced manufacturing.
The government will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund in the 2025/26 academic year. This includes funding the Free Courses for Jobs offer, which gives eligible adults the chance to access a high value level 3 qualification for free, helping support them to gain higher wages or a better job in key sectors, for example in heat pump installation.
The government will also support adult learners through our technical education offer, including through a range of apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Best Start Family Hubs are planned for the West Midlands.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ensuring every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive are the foundation stones of the government’s Opportunity Mission.
The department will spend close to £1.5 billion over the next three years on improving family services and early years education to begin the hard work needed to deliver these changes.
We will fund Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority to ensure that children and families who need support the most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities, can access it. These hubs will be open to all families but will be located in disadvantaged communities where support is most needed.
Local authorities will identify family hub sites and the numbers of hubs and services delivered will vary depending on local needs.
The department will be providing guidance to local authorities in time to support service delivery from April 2026.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will hold discussions with (a) universities and (b) students' unions on introducing (i) safety frameworks, (ii) standardised risk assessments, (iii) training and (iv) a duty to report incidents in relation to student-led outdoor activities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for North Cornwall to the answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 54501.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the repayment threshold of student loans on plan five in line with those on plan two.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Where government reforms lead to the introduction of a new student loan plan type, the terms of the new loan, such as repayment threshold, interest rates and length of the loan are considered as a whole. They are then set in legislation to apply to that specific loan type, such as for Plan 5 which was introduced in 2023.
Comparing only one element, such as the threshold, of a historic plan to a new plan does not provide a balanced assessment. Though the Plan 5 repayment threshold is lower than for Plan 2, the Plan 5 interest rate is lower (RPI+0%) when compared with Plan 2 Plan (RPI+3% during study and varies with earnings post-study).
In 2022, the department conducted a government consultation to assess the impact of policy reforms on higher education funding and finance, including changes to repayment thresholds from Plan 2 to Plan 5. Details on the consultation are available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62223cfb8fa8f549071fc82c/Higher_education_policy_statement_reform_consultation_-_Equality_analysis.pdf.