Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Table 4.1 entitled Budget 2025 policy decisions’ in the Budget Red Book, line item 42, National Year of Reading: Fund state-funded secondary schools in England to increase book supplies, whether these funds will be supplemented by funding from Dormant Assets.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of the National Year of Reading, state-funded secondary schools in England will receive funding to purchase books to support and encourage reading enjoyment amongst their pupils.
Funding will be distributed by the Department for Education, during the National Year of Reading 2026. This separate from the Dormant Assets Fund which will be used to fund libraries in primary schools and is administered by the Department for Culture Media and Sport.
Details about the allocation of funds will be communicated in the coming months.
This £5 million funding for books will accompany new continuous professional development training for secondary schools. The ‘Unlocking Reading’ programme starts in January 2026 and will equip schools with assessment tools and evidence-based strategies to support pupils with reading.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Table 4.1 entitled Budget 2025 policy decisions in the Budget Red Book, line item 42, National Year of Reading: Fund state-funded secondary schools in England to increase book supplies, which Department will disburse these funds.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of the National Year of Reading, state-funded secondary schools in England will receive funding to purchase books to support and encourage reading enjoyment amongst their pupils.
Funding will be distributed by the Department for Education, during the National Year of Reading 2026. This separate from the Dormant Assets Fund which will be used to fund libraries in primary schools and is administered by the Department for Culture Media and Sport.
Details about the allocation of funds will be communicated in the coming months.
This £5 million funding for books will accompany new continuous professional development training for secondary schools. The ‘Unlocking Reading’ programme starts in January 2026 and will equip schools with assessment tools and evidence-based strategies to support pupils with reading.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what analysis her Department has undertaken of the the potential economic and social benefits of sustained funding in school-aged wraparound childcare.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is investing in a modern childcare system that supports families. When developing our programmes, we look at previous schemes, including internationally, as well as receiving representations from families and providers.
In February 2024, 24% of parents of primary-aged pupils reported that the availability of wraparound childcare affected the working patterns or hours of their household. The government is committed to rolling out free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. So far, we have delivered 2.6 million breakfasts in 750 early adopter schools and an additional 2,000 schools will join the programme next year.
Since September 2024, the National Wraparound Programme has provided over 50,000 additional full childcare places, allowing more parents to access opportunities for work and study. In the 2026/27 financial year, we are providing local authorities with £12.9 million of funding to continue to sustain these places to ensure sufficiency of school-age childcare and facilitate national rollout of free breakfast clubs.
Eligible parents can access government subsidies, such as Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit Childcare, to support them with their childcare costs.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of levels of consistency of safeguarding protocols in multi-academy trusts in relation to unauthorised adult access to school premises.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The safety and wellbeing of children in our schools is the department’s highest priority. We recognise the importance of robust safeguarding measures and take concerns about unauthorised adult access to school premises very seriously. The produced non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges in respect of developing a security policy. The department expects security in schools to be considered alongside statutory safeguarding responsibilities and the legal obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations. The department also issues the statutory ‘Keeping children safe in education’ guidance, including guidance on the use of school premises for non-school activities.
When the department has concerns regarding the safeguarding policies of any MATs, they can then enforce compliance through the MAT’s funding agreement, in line with our published statutory guidance.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the recommendations set out in the Law Commission's review of disabled children’s social care law, published on 16 September 2025.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 16 September 2025, the Law Commission published its final report following an extensive review of the legal framework governing social care for disabled children in England, commissioned by the department in April 2023. The report sets out 40 recommendations aimed at improving how the law operates, with a focus on simplifying and strengthening the system to better support disabled children and their families.
In line with the Protocol agreed between the Lord Chancellor and the Law Commission, the department is expected to provide an initial response to these recommendations within six months of publication, and a full response within one year. This full response will set out which recommendations have been accepted, rejected or will be accepted in a modified form. It may also include a timeline for implementation. We will have regard to the views outlined in the report and we will engage relevant stakeholders at appropriate points as we consider our response.
Asked by: Charlie Maynard (Liberal Democrat - Witney)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to increase capacity and resources in community schools, to accommodate pupils transferring from the private to comprehensive school sector in the last year.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the hon. Member for Witney to the answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 81701.
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, how many knives and other weapons were confiscated in schools in England in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Every child must be safe and the government is committed to making schools safer places for every child by tackling the root cause of serious violence.
The department does not hold data on the number of knives and other weapons confiscated in schools in England. Confiscations are operational matters managed at school level and are not part of statutory data returns to the department. Guidance on searching, screening and confiscation is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62d1643e8fa8f50bfbefa55c/Searching__Screening_and_Confiscation_guidance_July_2022.pdf.
However, findings from the School and College Panel survey indicate that in March 2024, 27% of secondary school leaders noted a known incident of weapon possession by a pupil on school premises since the beginning of the year, compared to only 2% of primary school leaders.
The department also monitors a range of data related to children’s risk of violence, including education, social care and police national computer data. Our published dashboard can be accessed at: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/childrens-social-care-and-offending/.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, to provide a breakdown in the total value of student loan repayments received by (i) non-UK nationals and (ii) UK nationals in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The following table gives the Student Loan Company (SLC) payments in millions for the 2020/21 to 2024/25 financial years and covers Fee Loans and Maintenance Loans (full time and part time) for undergraduates only domiciled in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the EU (Scotland's applications are not administered by SLC). These figures are split by the UK National indicator on the application form. Student support eligibility is determined by residency and not nationality and the UK National indicator field on the application form can be left blank by the applicant.
| Payments (£ million) | |||
|
|
| ||
Financial Year | UK National indicator | Non-UK National | Unknown | Grand Total |
2020/21 | 16,358.5 | 2,395.3 | 341.8 | 19,095.7 |
2021/22 | 16,832.2 | 2,798.7 | 442.7 | 20,073.6 |
2022/23 | 16,690.2 | 3,069.9 | 551.7 | 20,311.8 |
2023/24 | 16,534.0 | 3,360.9 | 643.2 | 20,538.1 |
2024/25 | 16,605.7 | 3,770.5 | 706.2 | 21,082.4 |
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what response she has to the recommendation of the October 2025 final report of the Poverty Strategy Commission for Government to consult with parents and childcare providers on increasing payment rates to providers to ensure that they do not have to introduce optional charges for meals or other aspects of care to top up state funding of free hours.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
In financial year 2025/26 alone, the government has provided over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, increasing to over £9 billion in 2026/27. We have announced the largest ever increase to early years pupil premium since its introduction and have delivered a significant tranche of supplementary funding of £75 million through the early years expansion grant.
Government funding for the entitlements does not cover consumables like meals so providers are able to ask parents to pay for these things. However, the statutory guidance is clear that these charges must not be mandatory or a condition of accessing an entitlements place.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ban the use of smart phones in schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Phones have no place in our schools, and leaders already have the power to ban phones. The department’s guidance on mobile phones in schools, published in February 2024, is clear that schools should prohibit the use of devices with smart technology throughout the school day, including during lessons, transitions and breaks. The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.
Research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.