Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reform funding for special educational needs and disabilities provision in mainstream and specialist schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department has published the ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper, alongside a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) consultation, which set out our plans for reform, including those relating to funding. We have also published additional information on SEND Reform for those leading and working in mainstream schools, and a summary of what the SEND reforms mean for specialist provision, including special schools, which are available on GOV.UK.
In taking forward these plans, our aim is both to establish a fair mainstream school funding system that directs funding to where it is needed, enabling improved support for children with SEND, and to create a fair, transparent system that gives specialist schools stable, predictable funding to deliver high-quality education and integrated support for children with the most complex needs. We will consult on proposals for specific funding changes as these plans are further developed.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial sustainability of the private school sector.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government has not made any assessment of the financial sustainability of the private school sector. It is for private schools, as private businesses, to ensure their businesses remain viable.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of restoring the 24 Gigawatts target for nuclear energy.
Answered by Baroness Curran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As we enter the new golden age of nuclear, this government has committed almost £17 billion across the Spending Review period to the most ambitious nuclear new build programme for a generation, including Sizewell C and the Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) small modular reactor programme.
The government is focused on enabling nuclear projects to support the UK's long-term energy needs, including through the Advanced Nuclear Framework, to support private sector-led advanced nuclear projects.
Furthermore, GBE-N has been tasked with identifying other suitable sites that could host a potential further large-scale nuclear project.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had regarding the devolution of education and skills powers to mayoral combined authorities.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department engages regularly with Mayoral Strategic Authorities on a wide range of issues, including the devolved skills powers and funding they hold, and their role as leaders in their local skills systems. Skills devolution is an important mechanism for enabling more responsive and locally tailored provision that meets the needs of learners, employers and regional economies.
The government recognises the value of empowering Strategic Authorities to shape skills provision in line with local priorities. Through ongoing engagement, the department will continue to explore opportunities to build on existing devolution arrangements, ensuring that skills investment supports local growth and delivers outcomes that reflect the needs of communities across England.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 December 2025 (HL Deb col 645), whether the 6.5 per cent pay increase over three years that they recommended to the School Teachers’ Review Body will be met through existing budgets or whether cost savings will be required.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We expect that pay awards over the next three years will be covered through a combination of the funding announced at the Spending Review and from schools making a sustained contribution using the support we are making available to maximise value from their budgets.
This is a shared endeavour. We know that the government has a role to play to tackle systemic challenges at a national level, and we have established the Maximising Value for Pupils programme to help schools and groups. The new programme will provide an expanded level of support in the form of benchmark data, toolkits, commercial offers, capability building, case studies, and investment in areas such as technology.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 17 June (HL Deb col 1926), whether they have published the interim evaluation led by Ecorys UK of the Regional Care Co-operative pathfinders; and, if so, what the evaluation shows in terms of the impact on the commissioning and placements of children and their outcomes.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The independent Phase 1 report from the evaluation of the Regional Care Co-operative (RCC) pathfinders to understand early implementation, led by Ecorys UK, has been completed and is currently undergoing final departmental clearance. The department expects to publish it imminently.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 17 June (HL Deb col 1963), and following the publication on 17 November of updated guidance for placing children in secure accommodation, whether they still intend to extend the powers that the Secretary of State already has to make regulations in relation to secure accommodation to children deprived of their liberty.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As part of changes introduced by Clause 11 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which will amend Section 25 of the Children Act 1989 (CA 1989) to allow for authorisation of a deprivation of liberty in ’Relevant Accommodation’ under the CA 1989, the department can confirm that the same regulation making powers that exist currently for the Secretary of State in relation to Secure Accommodation will also be available for ’Relevant Accommodation’.
It will be made clear in regulations that Secretary of State approval will be required to deprive children under the age of 13 of their liberty via Section 25 of the CA1989 in Relevant Accommodation. As per updated guidance published on 17 November, there is no such regulatory requirement regarding Secretary of State approval for applications to the High Court under its inherent jurisdiction for a deprivation of liberty order – this does not amend the requirements or guidance on the use of Section 25.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 16 September (HL Deb col 2115), when they will announce the outcome of the review of 44 new free schools whose approval have been paused for over a year.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The review of mainstream free schools is necessary to ensure we provide sufficient high quality school places, whilst offering value for money and ensuring projects will not have a detrimental impact on local schools. An update will be provided as soon as possible.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks of Baroness Smith of Malvern on 22 May (HL Deb col 393) and the publication in July of Families first for children pathfinder: implementation and process evaluation report, when the evaluation of the impact of multi-agency child protection teams will be published.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department is running an evaluation of the families first for children pathfinder programme until 2028, with the next publication scheduled for 2027. This report will assess the aggregate impact of the full reform package, which includes multi-agency child protection teams, and will highlight progress on indicators such as multi-agency collaboration, information sharing, and decision making.
Alongside formal evaluation, the department continues to monitor progress and extract learning more broadly, including through data returns, local monitoring and working closely with the ten pathfinder areas.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 22 May (HL Deb col 427), whether the planned user testing to identify key safeguarding practitioner information happened; and, if so, what the main themes were that emerged.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Between May and September 2025, the department consulted nearly 500 practitioners from children’s social care, education, health, police, and probation. Key findings included:
We are using these insights to inform future work, ensuring that design and development align with practitioner needs. User research will continue to maintain a user-centred approach throughout.