Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government who attended the first meeting of the early years screen time advisory group on 22 January; and what was discussed in that meeting.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The early years screen time advisory group is comprised of the following members:
All members of the group attended the first meeting of the early years screen time advisory group on 22 January, alongside officials from the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England.
This introductory meeting focused on agreeing ways of working, including delivery timelines and approaches to evidence gathering, and the scope of the early years screen time guidance. The group also discussed the dissemination of the guidance.
Minutes of the meeting will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the membership is of the early years screen time advisory group.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The early years screen time advisory group is comprised of the following members:
All members of the group attended the first meeting of the early years screen time advisory group on 22 January, alongside officials from the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England.
This introductory meeting focused on agreeing ways of working, including delivery timelines and approaches to evidence gathering, and the scope of the early years screen time guidance. The group also discussed the dissemination of the guidance.
Minutes of the meeting will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of variations between local education authorities in England in the levels of funding per student for specialist provision for students with education, health and care plans.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Although funding allocated to local authorities through the high needs block of their dedicated schools grant is mainly for specialist provision, a significant proportion is allocated locally to schools outside their area who have students with education, health and care (EHC) plans, to mainstream provision for those students with EHC plans and for those without EHC plans who require special educational needs support. It is therefore impossible to compare local authorities’ per-student funding for specialist provision on any like-for-like measure using the data available.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding per student is provided in England for specialist provision for students with education, health and care plans, broken down by local education authority.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Although funding allocated to local authorities through the high needs block of their dedicated schools grant is mainly for specialist provision, a significant proportion is allocated locally to schools outside their area who have students with education, health and care (EHC) plans, to mainstream provision for those students with EHC plans and for those without EHC plans who require special educational needs support. It is therefore impossible to compare local authorities’ per-student funding for specialist provision on any like-for-like measure using the data available.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what funding per student is provided in Cumbria for specialist provision for students with education, health and care plans, broken down by local education authority.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Although funding allocated to local authorities through the high needs block of their dedicated schools grant is mainly for specialist provision, a significant proportion is allocated locally to schools outside their area who have students with education, health and care (EHC) plans, to mainstream provision for those students with EHC plans and for those without EHC plans who require special educational needs support. It is therefore impossible to compare local authorities’ per-student funding for specialist provision on any like-for-like measure using the data available.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to extend the fruit and vegetables initiative for schools to nursery schools and other early years settings.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is available to pupils in key stage 1 attending fully state‑funded primary schools. The scheme entitles schools to claim a free piece of fruit or vegetable for all children aged 4 to 6 for each school day. The government has no current plans to extend the scheme.
However, we remain committed to deliver on our pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. This will ensure that every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day, including access to a healthy breakfast which includes fruit. So far, we have delivered over 5 million breakfasts and, following the success of our early adopter scheme, we are rolling out to an additional 2,000 schools between April 2026 and March 2027. This will benefit around half a million more children.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the additional cost required to extend the fruit and vegetable initiative for schools to nursery schools and other early years settings.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is available to pupils in key stage 1 attending fully state‑funded primary schools. The scheme entitles schools to claim a free piece of fruit or vegetable for all children aged 4 to 6 for each school day. The government has no current plans to extend the scheme.
However, we remain committed to deliver on our pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. This will ensure that every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day, including access to a healthy breakfast which includes fruit. So far, we have delivered over 5 million breakfasts and, following the success of our early adopter scheme, we are rolling out to an additional 2,000 schools between April 2026 and March 2027. This will benefit around half a million more children.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made about the effectiveness of the Early years foundation stage statutory framework in offering sufficient guidance on safe sleep for babies.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, which all early years providers are required to follow, includes a requirement for babies to be placed down to sleep in line with the latest government safety guidance
The Early Years qualification requirements and standards document sets out the minimum qualification requirements that staff must meet to work within early years settings. Both the Level 2 and Level 3 qualification criteria include knowledge of rest and sleep provision. This document is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-qualification-requirements-and-standards.
In September 2024, the department worked in collaboration with The Lullaby Trust to produce guidance, which is available on the Foundation Years platform. This covers unsuitable sleeping products, suitable sleeping surfaces and the safe use of blankets. This guidance can be found at: https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/2024/09/safer-sleeping-practices-for-early-years-educators/.
To make the existing requirements clearer for all, we plan to add further detail to the EYFS frameworks. We have worked with safer sleep experts, including The Lullaby Trust, on proposed new wording and plan to introduce these changes as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government has plans to increase levels of safe sleep regulations for babies in the Early years foundation stage statutory framework.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, which all early years providers are required to follow, includes a requirement for babies to be placed down to sleep in line with the latest government safety guidance
The Early Years qualification requirements and standards document sets out the minimum qualification requirements that staff must meet to work within early years settings. Both the Level 2 and Level 3 qualification criteria include knowledge of rest and sleep provision. This document is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-qualification-requirements-and-standards.
In September 2024, the department worked in collaboration with The Lullaby Trust to produce guidance, which is available on the Foundation Years platform. This covers unsuitable sleeping products, suitable sleeping surfaces and the safe use of blankets. This guidance can be found at: https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/2024/09/safer-sleeping-practices-for-early-years-educators/.
To make the existing requirements clearer for all, we plan to add further detail to the EYFS frameworks. We have worked with safer sleep experts, including The Lullaby Trust, on proposed new wording and plan to introduce these changes as soon as possible.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her expected timeline is for publishing the Schools White Paper including the SEND reform package.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department will publish the Schools White Paper early this year. It will set out our proposed reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, underpinned by our belief that high standards and inclusion are two sides of the same coin.
To ensure these reforms are as effective as possible, and building on conversations to date, we launched a public engagement campaign spanning every region of the country. This put families at the heart of plans to create a reformed SEND system that will stand the test of time.
As part of this campaign, I have hosted regional face-to-face events across the country, run in partnership with the Council for Disabled Children. The department also set up a number of online events, including a panel of experts, in discussions covering the department’s five principles of reform. Further details can be found at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-reform-national-conversation/.
The experiences and insights shared during these engagement opportunities will be vital in ensuring that our proposals effectively deliver meaningful reforms for families.