Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure disadvantaged children from Yeovil constituency will be able to access the Safe Artificial Intelligence tutoring tools that will be available by the end of 2027.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department will work with educators, experts and developers to co-create and trial artificial intelligence (AI) tutoring tools. These tools will be aligned to the curriculum and safe by design, ensuring they support pupils’ learning. Educators from across the country will have opportunities to contribute to this co‑creation and testing to ensure tools meet classroom needs.
Our ambition is that pupils, including those who would not usually be able to access private tuition, can benefit from high quality, individualised support. Evidence from these trials will help schools to make informed choices and ensure solutions are effective, inclusive and grounded in national teaching practice.
Alongside this, we are developing new sovereign education benchmarks, to ensure AI tools used in schools reflect national expectations for pedagogy and safety. Further details on the programme will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will include educators from Yeovil constituency in the co-creation of Artificial Intelligence tutoring tools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department will work with educators, experts and developers to co-create and trial artificial intelligence (AI) tutoring tools. These tools will be aligned to the curriculum and safe by design, ensuring they support pupils’ learning. Educators from across the country will have opportunities to contribute to this co‑creation and testing to ensure tools meet classroom needs.
Our ambition is that pupils, including those who would not usually be able to access private tuition, can benefit from high quality, individualised support. Evidence from these trials will help schools to make informed choices and ensure solutions are effective, inclusive and grounded in national teaching practice.
Alongside this, we are developing new sovereign education benchmarks, to ensure AI tools used in schools reflect national expectations for pedagogy and safety. Further details on the programme will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Storm Chandra on children’s education in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is working closely with Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to monitor the impacts of Storm Chandra on education.
School closures are reported at local authority level, rather than at a constituency level. On 28 January 2026, Somerset Council reported on nine school closures in the county, none of which were in the Yeovil area. In addition, the local authority reported only one school closure due to flooding, in Taunton. The school reopened on 3 February 2026.
We provide guidance to schools and other childcare settings on how to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including severe weather.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of school absence fines on (a) neurodiverse children and (b) their families.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The statutory guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ promotes a 'support first' approach, which sets clear expectations about how schools, local authorities and wider services should work together with families to address attendance barriers. This includes where a pupil's attendance is affected by their neurodiversity.
The guidance is clear that schools should work in partnership with families, establish strategies to remove any in-school barriers these pupils face, and consider support or reasonable adjustments.
The department has also introduced a national framework for issuing fixed penalty notices which strengthens protections for parents with an expectation that attendance support will have been provided before a penalty notice can be used.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the level of funding available through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund on therapeutic support for (a) adopted children and (b) people in kinship care in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. This included reviewing the equalities impact assessment, which was deposited in the House Libraries in July. The funding available through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) still enables children in Yeovil to access a significant package of support, tailored to meet their individual needs. The department’s delivery partner is routinely processing ASGSF applications within a few days of receipt, including those relating to children in Yeovil.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help tackle delays in funding allocated through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund to services in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. This included reviewing the equalities impact assessment, which was deposited in the House Libraries in July. The funding available through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) still enables children in Yeovil to access a significant package of support, tailored to meet their individual needs. The department’s delivery partner is routinely processing ASGSF applications within a few days of receipt, including those relating to children in Yeovil.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to strengthen guidance for schools in (a) Yeovil Constituency and (b) England on Individual Healthcare Plans for children with Epilepsy.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Governing bodies must ensure that the arrangements they put in place are sufficient to meet their statutory responsibilities, and that policies, plans, procedures and systems are properly and effectively implemented. This includes the duty under Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions and the duties under the Equality Act 2010.
The statutory guidance, ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’, recommends the use of individual healthcare plans as good practice. They can help schools support pupils with medical conditions, providing clarity about what needs to be done, when and by whom. The school, healthcare professionals and parents should agree, based on evidence, when a healthcare plan would be appropriate. The guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ce6a72e40f0b620a103bd53/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf.
The government has committed to reviewing this statutory guidance. Our aim is to ensure that schools are better equipped to support all pupils with medical conditions as part of our wider ambition to create more inclusive schools through the forthcoming Schools White Paper.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with parent-led organisations in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) Somerset on the planned Special Educational Needs and Disabilities white paper.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department funds the Participation and Family Support programme, which ensures we can gather lived experience and insights from children, young people, parents and carers within the special educational needs and disabilities system from across England. A key aim of the work is to strengthen the involvement of parent carers and improve communication between local authorities and families, which is why we fund annual grants to all parent carer forums (PCFs) across England.
The National Network of Parent Carer Forums is the strategic voice of PCFs across England. The steering group is made up of 9 regional PCF leads, which includes the south west, working strategically in co-production with government departments.
The department is continuing to engage closely with children, parents and experts as we develop plans to ensure all children get the outcomes and life chances they deserve.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking improve the experience of parents and carers when using the Special Educational Needs and Disability system in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
A local area inspection of Somerset’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services, undertaken by Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) in March 2020, identified nine areas of significant weakness. They revisited in November 2022 and confirmed that seven had made sufficient progress. To address the remaining two areas, Somerset developed an accelerated progress plan, supported by the department and NHS England (NHSE) SEND Advisors. Progress was closely monitored and, by February 2025, the plan was stepped down following sufficient improvement.
The department and NHSE continue to engage with the Somerset SEND Partnership to discuss the local SEND system. Somerset Parent Carer Forum (PCF) representatives are valued strategic members at these meetings, which ensures their voices are heard, support to families continues, their issues are addressed, and true co-production takes place. We also engage with the regional and national PCF Networks to share information, escalate concerns and celebrate success.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 withdrawal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software for university students receiving Disabled Students' Allowance support.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Yeovil to the answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 71715.