Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a Skills Bootcamp course to support the attainment of Category D coach licences.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government is giving local areas greater control of Skills Bootcamps in line with its commitment to devolution.
As national contracts come to an end, the government will fund Skills Bootcamps entirely through funding Mayoral Strategic Authorities and local areas directly.
Local areas will be able to choose which Skills Bootcamps they offer based on the needs of their local employers and economy. This could include Skills Bootcamps to support the attainment of Category D coach licences.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many families will be impacted by the reduction in the number of compulsory branded items of school uniform in (a) Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency, (b) Bedfordshire and (c) the East of England.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department published its latest research on the cost of school uniform in September 2024, which surveyed parents and carers of children aged 4 to 16 attending state-funded schools in England. The research is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms-survey-2023.
The data were sampled to be representative of the population at primary and secondary level. Nationally, the department estimates that the new limit on compulsory branded uniform will reduce school uniform costs for around 4.2 million children. The aggregate savings to parents with children in primary school is around £21 million per year, and for those with children in secondary school is around £52 million per year. We estimate that some families will save over £50 per child on the back to school shop.
The sample size was not large enough to make robust comparisons at a regional or local level.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of exam marking for public qualifications.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is the independent regulator of qualifications, exams and assessments in England. Ofqual is responsible for ensuring that regulated qualifications reliably indicate the knowledge, skills and understanding students have demonstrated in their exams and assessments, including through marking and standard setting. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member directly, and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of SEND provision in schools in (a) Bedfordshire and (b) the East of England.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Bedford Borough was inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November 2024 and received the strongest possible outcome: “the local area partnership’s special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) arrangements typically lead to positive experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND”.
In 2022, Ofsted and CQC revisited the area of Central Bedfordshire to decide whether sufficient progress had been made in addressing the areas of significant weakness detailed in its 2019 inspection. They found sufficient progress in three of six significant weaknesses.
The department and NHS England continue to support and challenge the local area by assessing progress and providing advice through a SEND expert advisor.
Since the introduction of the current Ofsted and CQC Area SEND inspection framework in January 2023, five local areas in the East of England have undergone inspections. Suffolk and Hertfordshire were found to have systemic failings, while Southend-on-Sea exhibited typically inconsistent outcomes. In contrast, Bedford Borough, as stated above, demonstrated generally positive outcomes. Cambridgeshire was inspected in January 2025, but the report has not yet been published.
The department issued improvement notices to Hertfordshire and Suffolk and is working with NHS England to continue to assess progress against priority and strategic action plans.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review the decision to end the Union Learning Fund.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department recognises the role that the Union Learning Fund (ULF) played in encouraging greater take up of learning in the workplace. Government funding for ULF ceased in March 2021.
The Adult Skills Fund is now 60% devolved to Combined Authorities. Devolving adult skills funding provides these authorities, working alongside key stakeholders, including trade unions, with the ability to direct funding to best meet their local skills needs.
The department and Skills England are committed to working with employers, providers, trade unions and Combined Authorities to ensure that high-quality qualification and training pathways are meeting skills needs, but there are no current plans to reintroduce funding for the ULF.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds data on the number of coaches booked by schools for (a) cultural and (b) sports trips in (i) 2024 to date and (ii) the last five years.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department does not hold data on the number of coaches booked by schools, including for (a) cultural and (b) sports trips.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will commission research on the potential impact of room temperature during examinations on student performance.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department is not currently considering commissioning research on the effect of room temperature during examinations on student performance, although we continue to keep abreast of research in this area. The department has provided advice for schools about how they can manage the learning environment during hot weather.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of teaching were lost as a result of (a) extreme heat and (b) flooding in 2024.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
From the start of the 2024/25 academic year, schools have had a duty to provide daily attendance data to the department. Attendance data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-attendance-in-schools.
The department does not specifically collect data on teaching hours lost due to extreme heat and flooding.
It is for individual settings and responsible bodies to determine their approach to closure based on their own risk assessment. Closures should be considered a last resort and the imperative is for settings to remain open, where it is safe to do so.
Where a school was planning to be open for a session, but then has to close unexpectedly, for example, due to adverse weather, the attendance register is not taken as usual because there is no session. For statistical purposes this is counted as a not possible attendance.
Where settings are temporarily closed they should consider providing remote education for the duration of the closure in line with the department’s guidance. Providing remote education does not change the imperative to remain open or to reopen as soon as possible. As set out in the department’s guidance on providing remote education, pupils who are absent from school and receiving remote education still need to be recorded as absent using the most appropriate absence code. Schools should keep a record of, and monitor, pupil’s engagement with remote education, but this is not formally tracked in the attendance register. The guidance on providing remote education is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providing-remote-education-guidance-for-schools/providing-remote-education-guidance-for-schools.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to allow local leaders to use Skills Bootcamp funding to support training for coach drivers.
Answered by Janet Daby
Skills Bootcamps are an important offer in the skills landscape, and the department continues to support the delivery of Skills Bootcamps through funding Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and local areas directly. We continue to keep the sectors eligible for Skills Bootcamps funding under review.
MCAs and the Greater London Authority have the flexibility to use up to 50% of their grants to test Skills Bootcamps in additional sectors. As of the 2024/25 financial year, two trailblazer areas, the West Midlands Combined Authority and Greater Manchester Combined Authority can use 100% of their grants to this effect.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department made available for school transport for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in academic years (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22, (c) 2022-23, (d) 2023-24 and (e) 2024-25.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Most central government funding for home to school travel is provided through the local government finance settlement (LGFS), which is administered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This funding is non-ringfenced, giving local authorities the flexibility to make the best decisions for their local area. In total, the LGFS for the 2024/25 financial year makes available up to £64.7 billion for local authorities in England. Further details on the settlement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2024-to-2025.