Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the average waiting time for SEND assessments in each local authority in England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued within the statutory 20 week deadline, with and without statutory exceptions to that deadline applying, is part of the latest statistical release published on 26 June 2025 at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025.
The table linked below shows the number and proportion of plans issued within, and over, the statutory 20-week deadline, excluding where statutory exceptions to that deadline apply, for each local authority in England during the 2024 calendar year: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/adbf152d-5d22-42d2-c78b-08de38576300.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures will be put in place to prevent any widening of attainment gaps between students with differing levels of access to digital technology when on-screen assessments are introduced.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Ofqual is consulting on a controlled approach to any further adoption of on-screen assessment that protects standards, fairness and teachers’ ability to prepare students effectively. Under its proposals, most GCSEs, AS and A levels will continue to be assessed with pen and paper. Each exam board would be limited to introducing a maximum of two new on-screen specifications, but not in the most popular subjects.
It will be entirely optional for schools and colleges to offer on-screen assessments if they are confident in their ability to deliver them fairly. To support fairness, Ofqual is proposing that exam boards must offer separate specifications for paper-based and on-screen qualifications and maintain standards to ensure that it is no easier or harder to achieve a given grade, regardless of which specification is taken.
Students will not be permitted to use their own laptops for exams to prevent unfairness arising from differences in device quality or access. Ofqual has published an equality impact assessment alongside the consultation and will refine it following analysis of consultation responses.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the level of compliance of Multi Academy Trusts with statutory guidance on charging for school-time activities, including WOW days, curriculum-required trips and transport to compulsory swimming lessons.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Education Act 1996 prohibits schools from charging for education provided during school hours, subject to very limited exceptions. The department publishes guidance to assist schools to comply with the law on charging for school activities. Parents who have concerns about their school’s charging policy should raise this with the school. They may be able to complain to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, if they remain unsatisfied once they have exhausted the school’s complaints procedure.
The department has a strong policy presumption against the disposal of school playing fields and has a set of criteria used to assess applications for consent. These include assessing whether the school can continue to meet its curriculum needs. The department gives consent only if the criteria are met, and where the proceeds from sales are to be reinvested in improvements to sports and education facilities.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the incidence of academy trusts undertaking new capital projects on school playing fields while requesting parental contributions for curriculum activities that schools are not permitted to charge for.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Education Act 1996 prohibits schools from charging for education provided during school hours, subject to very limited exceptions. The department publishes guidance to assist schools to comply with the law on charging for school activities. Parents who have concerns about their school’s charging policy should raise this with the school. They may be able to complain to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, if they remain unsatisfied once they have exhausted the school’s complaints procedure.
The department has a strong policy presumption against the disposal of school playing fields and has a set of criteria used to assess applications for consent. These include assessing whether the school can continue to meet its curriculum needs. The department gives consent only if the criteria are met, and where the proceeds from sales are to be reinvested in improvements to sports and education facilities.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has provided for programmes that support the mental health of teachers and school staff in the last 12 months.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is funding the charity, Education Support, to deliver free mental health and wellbeing support to school and college leaders. Professional supervision enables leaders to work with qualified and experienced supervisors to develop strategies to support their mental wellbeing.
A new three-year contract was awarded to Education Support to deliver this support from April 2024 to March 2027 at a value of up to £1.5 million with the aim of supporting approximately 2,500 leaders. Over 1,300 leaders have been supported since April 2024.
Funding figures for the last 12 months are not available. For the 2025/26 financial year, approximately £500,000 is expected to be spent.
Asked by: Natalie Fleet (Labour - Bolsover)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with Derbyshire County Council on the adequacy of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities in Bolsover constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
A joint local area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspection was undertaken by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in September 2024, which found widespread and systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND.
An improvement notice was issued on 14 January 2025. Ofsted and the CQC approved the priority action plan submitted by the local area partnership (LAP), and a monthly, independently chaired, assurance board monitor’s progress.
The department has put in place systems to track outcomes against the LAPs plan. This includes commissioning a SEND adviser to work collaboratively with an NHS England adviser to challenge, support and monitor progress. Additional support is provided through an intervention support fund, and training through a consortium led by the Council for Disabled Children. Council leaders have written to the department setting out their progress and confirming their commitment to making the improvements necessary.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of encouraging the use of school grounds by communities to increase access to sports; and what plans she has to provide funding for upgrades to facilities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 4 December, the department launched a new programme, ‘Maximising Value for Pupils’, which will support schools and trusts maximise value from the investment in the school system, so every pound is delivering for children. A key pillar of the programme will be to make the most of financial and physical assets and we have committed to engage schools and trusts to understand how we can best support them to do so.
Many schools and trusts are already using their assets for community benefit, which may include making school grounds and facilities available for local sports clubs. We want to ensure this social value is maintained while also supporting opportunities to maximise value from their assets. We are investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance and renewal to improve the condition of school and college buildings and grounds, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
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 the decision to reduce the therapy limit for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund on children using that fund.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government made the difficult decision to cut the fair access limit in April to ensure that the fund remained financially sustainable and available to help as many children and their families as possible. As a result, this year the department has helped 14,000 children. This financial year we have 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.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review the (a) age and (b) quality of school buildings in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings to the answer of 31 October 2025 to Question 83935.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support she is providing to local authorities to help ensure they have a sufficient number of foster carers to meet local demand.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Foster care is one of my top priorities as Minister. The department is already investing £25 million of transformation funding for foster care, which is additional to the £15 million announced at the Autumn Budget covering the 2025/26 financial year. We are already working with over 60% of local authorities in England to transform the way they recruit and retain foster carers. The Spending Review also set aside funding for renovating and extending foster care homes.
However, we know we need to go further and faster with recruiting and retaining more carers and we will set out more detail on our planned investments and reforms for fostering in due course.