Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of derelict school buildings on children’s education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts, and voluntary aided bodies, have a vital obligation in ensuring the safety and condition of school buildings. The department supports local authorities, academy trusts and other bodies responsible for keeping school buildings safe and operational by providing condition funding, guidance and advice.
Where there is a significant safety issue with a school building, which cannot be managed with local resources, the department provides additional support on a case-by-case basis.
With effective maintenance, most buildings continue to perform long after their intended design life and the department produces the ‘Managing Older Buildings’ guidance for settings to support them in relation to their care and management.
The Good Estate Management for Schools guidance contains a range of information that can help organisations to manage their school estate. The resource contains a range of information including strategic estate management, maintenance and health and safety compliance.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to (a) monitor and (b) shorten the fostering approval process to meet the Government’s pledge for getting vulnerable children into foster homes.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We have announced an ambitious reform programme to urgently address the sharp decline in foster carers and modernise fostering. The reforms establish a clear direction built on relationships, stability and trust: simplifying outdated rules, strengthening national recruitment, expanding regional collaboration and improving support and respect given to carers.
Our primary metric will be the number of approved fostering places in local authorities and third sector providers, with a target of 10,000 more approved fostering places by the end of this Parliament. We will also monitor wider trends such as conversion from enquiry to approval, assessment timeliness, placement stability, and reduced reliance on residential care.
We will improve the approval process by strengthening expectations on timeliness and reducing bureaucracy. We are also consulting on removing fostering panels for initial approvals while retaining strong oversight. For fostering recruitment hubs, we will introduce a new performance framework so that hubs are both clear on expectations on data collection and accountable for outcomes and continuous improvement.
The department does not hold data centrally on the number of fostering placements at constituency level. Nationally, placement sufficiency remains under strain, which is why reforms are essential to renewing fostering and improving support for carers and children.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children in care that are unable to access stable fostering placements in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We have announced an ambitious reform programme to urgently address the sharp decline in foster carers and modernise fostering. The reforms establish a clear direction built on relationships, stability and trust: simplifying outdated rules, strengthening national recruitment, expanding regional collaboration and improving support and respect given to carers.
Our primary metric will be the number of approved fostering places in local authorities and third sector providers, with a target of 10,000 more approved fostering places by the end of this Parliament. We will also monitor wider trends such as conversion from enquiry to approval, assessment timeliness, placement stability, and reduced reliance on residential care.
We will improve the approval process by strengthening expectations on timeliness and reducing bureaucracy. We are also consulting on removing fostering panels for initial approvals while retaining strong oversight. For fostering recruitment hubs, we will introduce a new performance framework so that hubs are both clear on expectations on data collection and accountable for outcomes and continuous improvement.
The department does not hold data centrally on the number of fostering placements at constituency level. Nationally, placement sufficiency remains under strain, which is why reforms are essential to renewing fostering and improving support for carers and children.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what metrics her Department will use to assess the potential impact of additional investment on fostering support models.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We have announced an ambitious reform programme to urgently address the sharp decline in foster carers and modernise fostering. The reforms establish a clear direction built on relationships, stability and trust: simplifying outdated rules, strengthening national recruitment, expanding regional collaboration and improving support and respect given to carers.
Our primary metric will be the number of approved fostering places in local authorities and third sector providers, with a target of 10,000 more approved fostering places by the end of this Parliament. We will also monitor wider trends such as conversion from enquiry to approval, assessment timeliness, placement stability, and reduced reliance on residential care.
We will improve the approval process by strengthening expectations on timeliness and reducing bureaucracy. We are also consulting on removing fostering panels for initial approvals while retaining strong oversight. For fostering recruitment hubs, we will introduce a new performance framework so that hubs are both clear on expectations on data collection and accountable for outcomes and continuous improvement.
The department does not hold data centrally on the number of fostering placements at constituency level. Nationally, placement sufficiency remains under strain, which is why reforms are essential to renewing fostering and improving support for carers and children.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to answer Question 100240, tabled by the hon. Member for Poole on 15 December 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The response to Written Parliamentary Question 100240 was published on 4 February 2026.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Adoption and Permanence entitled Adoptee Voices, published on 28 January 2026, if she will take steps to provide (a) a safe space in school and colleges for adoptees and (b) a teacher in each school to support adoptees.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All children and young people should have every opportunity to achieve and thrive, but too many face barriers holding them back. The upcoming Schools White Paper will set out our vision for a system that delivers educational excellence for every child and young person, no matter their background or circumstance.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of previously looked-after children, including children adopted from state care, and must appoint a Virtual School Head to discharge this duty. All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher to provide advice and expertise on the needs of previously looked-after children on their roll. Previously looked-after children have highest priority in school admissions and attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,630 per child per year to support improved educational outcomes.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are committed to updating statutory guidance for Virtual School Heads, including strengthening sections on promoting the educational outcomes of previously looked-after children. In doing so, we will consider the findings of the report to ensure guidance reflects the experiences and needs raised by adoptees. This will support greater consistency and ensure good practice is shared across the system.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Adoption and Permanence entitled Adoptee Voices, published on 28 January 2026, if she will take steps to provide additional support for adoptees in schools.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All children and young people should have every opportunity to achieve and thrive, but too many face barriers holding them back. The upcoming Schools White Paper will set out our vision for a system that delivers educational excellence for every child and young person, no matter their background or circumstance.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of previously looked-after children, including children adopted from state care, and must appoint a Virtual School Head to discharge this duty. All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher to provide advice and expertise on the needs of previously looked-after children on their roll. Previously looked-after children have highest priority in school admissions and attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,630 per child per year to support improved educational outcomes.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are committed to updating statutory guidance for Virtual School Heads, including strengthening sections on promoting the educational outcomes of previously looked-after children. In doing so, we will consider the findings of the report to ensure guidance reflects the experiences and needs raised by adoptees. This will support greater consistency and ensure good practice is shared across the system.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times have schools been rejected for Condition Improvement Funding in Surrey in the last 20 years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) was established in 2015.
From 2015/16 to 2025/26, 133 CIF-eligible schools and sixth form colleges in Surrey local authority have submitted 991 CIF applications. Of these, 110 schools secured funding for 378 projects.
Further information regarding successful CIF applications, including schools receiving funding, is available for the 2015/16 to 2025/26 rounds and is published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools have received Condition Improvement Funding in Surrey in the last 20 years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) was established in 2015.
From 2015/16 to 2025/26, 133 CIF-eligible schools and sixth form colleges in Surrey local authority have submitted 991 CIF applications. Of these, 110 schools secured funding for 378 projects.
Further information regarding successful CIF applications, including schools receiving funding, is available for the 2015/16 to 2025/26 rounds and is published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many training places were available for educational psychologists at universities in England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is investing £21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists over two cohorts who started their studies in 2024 and 2025 as part of the Educational Psychology Funded Training scheme. This is in addition to the £10 million already being invested in the training of more than 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency does not collect information on places available on courses but publishes data on student entrants across UK higher education (HE) providers. This includes data on students entering courses in different subjects, categorised using the HE Classification of Subjects system. Counts of entrants across all subjects from the 2019/20 to 2023/24 academic years are published in Table 52 of HESA’s student data for all UK providers, which are detailed below.
This data was published in January 2026.
Entrants to UK higher education providers studying Educational Psychology (all modes and levels of study) | ||||||
Subject | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Educational Psychology | 645 | 680 | 710 | 755 | 760 | 695 |
HE providers are autonomous institutions independent from government. This means they are responsible for the decisions that they make regarding which courses they deliver.