Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for (a) Sure Start centres and (b) other early-years childcare support.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give every child the best start in life. Progress on this commitment will be measured by assessing whether 75% of five-year-olds are reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment, which looks at children’s development across areas such as language, personal, social and emotional development, and mathematics and literacy, by 2028.
Delivering this will require strengthening and co-ordinating family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood. This includes continuing to invest in and build up Family Hubs and Start for Life programmes, which build on the lessons from Sure Start.
75 local authorities with some of the highest levels of deprivation have received funding and there are now more than 400 Family Hubs open across those local authorities. The department is investing a further £126 million in the 2025/26 financial year to give every child the best start in life and deliver on the Plan for Change. Future funding decisions are subject to the multi-year spending review.
Data on the number of Sure Start children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools (GIAS) database portal, which can be accessed here: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
Based on information supplied by local authorities in the Greater Manchester area, 39 children’s centres have closed since 2010. Local authorities in Greater Manchester have converted a further 62 children’s centres into children’s centre linked sites. ‘Children’s centre linked sites’ are formerly children's centres in their own right, but they no longer meet the statutory definition of a children’s centre. They offer some early childhood services on behalf of another children's centre.
The information on numbers of children’s centres that have closed or converted to linked sites since 2010 is based on data supplied by the local authorities in Greater Manchester as of 2 June 2025. These figures could change again in future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to increase levels of Sure Start provision in the most disadvantaged areas.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give every child the best start in life. Progress on this commitment will be measured by assessing whether 75% of five-year-olds are reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment, which looks at children’s development across areas such as language, personal, social and emotional development, and mathematics and literacy, by 2028.
Delivering this will require strengthening and co-ordinating family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood. This includes continuing to invest in and build up Family Hubs and Start for Life programmes, which build on the lessons from Sure Start.
75 local authorities with some of the highest levels of deprivation have received funding and there are now more than 400 Family Hubs open across those local authorities. The department is investing a further £126 million in the 2025/26 financial year to give every child the best start in life and deliver on the Plan for Change. Future funding decisions are subject to the multi-year spending review.
Data on the number of Sure Start children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools (GIAS) database portal, which can be accessed here: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
Based on information supplied by local authorities in the Greater Manchester area, 39 children’s centres have closed since 2010. Local authorities in Greater Manchester have converted a further 62 children’s centres into children’s centre linked sites. ‘Children’s centre linked sites’ are formerly children's centres in their own right, but they no longer meet the statutory definition of a children’s centre. They offer some early childhood services on behalf of another children's centre.
The information on numbers of children’s centres that have closed or converted to linked sites since 2010 is based on data supplied by the local authorities in Greater Manchester as of 2 June 2025. These figures could change again in future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to implement auto-enrolment of all eligible children for free school meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
All children in households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals (FSM) from September 2026. This unprecedented step will put around £500 back into families’ pockets each year and lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty, breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling the scar of child poverty across our country.
Giving children access to a nutritious meal during the school day also leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes. This will enable children to get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life. That is why this government is taking action to make it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities to get children signed up for FSM. Improvements we are making to the process for checking eligibility for meals will make it simpler than ever to receive this entitlement.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many eligible children are not claiming free school meals for the latest period for which data is available; and what steps she is taking to increase free school meals uptake amongst eligible children.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
All children in households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals (FSM) from September 2026. This unprecedented step will put around £500 back into families’ pockets each year and lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty, breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling the scar of child poverty across our country.
Giving children access to a nutritious meal during the school day also leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes. This will enable children to get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life. That is why this government is taking action to make it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities to get children signed up for FSM. Improvements we are making to the process for checking eligibility for meals will make it simpler than ever to receive this entitlement.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 56745 on Free School Meals, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of per-pupil funding for free school meals in providing food that meets nutritional guidelines approved by her Department.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. It will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.
The new entitlement will be fully funded. The department has set aside over £1 billion in funding over the multi-year spending review period to cover the additional meal costs. This is new money as opposed to funding within existing school budgets. This will support schools to deliver nutritious and high-quality meals which meet the school food standards to over half a million additional pupils.
Schools fund benefits-related free school meals from core funding, at a rate set by the national funding formula at £495 per eligible pupil for the academic year 2025/26. The current meal rate for universal infant free school meals and further education free meals is increasing to £2.61 for 2025/26. As with all programmes, we will continue to keep funding for free school meals under review.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle disparities in (a) financial allowances, (b) access to legal aid and (c) other forms of support available to kinship carers arising from (i) different kinship care arrangements, (ii) the level of social services involvement and (iii) levels of kinship care support between local authorities.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government announced a £40 million package to trial a new kinship allowance, which will begin in autumn 2025. We will evaluate the pilot to build an evidence base on how best to deliver financial support for kinship families.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and School’s Bill, we are enshrining the first definition of kinship care in law and mandating local authorities to publish their kinship local offer, increasing their accountability for ensuring all kinship families are getting the information they need.
As set out in statutory guidance, local authorities must publish the support and services available to kinship families in a clear, accessible way. This includes the legal support that may be available to kinship carers and potential kinship carers, including the eligibility and extent of that support.
The government also created the National Kinship Care Ambassador role to advocate for kinship families. The appointee, Jahnine Davis, works with local authorities to help them improve their kinship practice and local policies and ensure they are following national guidance.
The department funds the charity ‘Kinship’ to deliver over 140 peer support groups and a training package that all kinship carers across England can access for free.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of (a) the current Free School Meal eligibility criteria and (b) the per-pupil funding available for Free School Meals.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. It will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.
Providing over half a million additional children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day will also lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.
It is important that these meals follow the latest nutritional guidance. We are currently engaging with stakeholders on revising the School Food Standards, to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) schools and (b) school leaders have engaged with A whole-school approach to food e-learning module that was launched 28 October 2024; and whether her Department is collecting data to measure the effectiveness of this training.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Since its launch, 903 users have engaged with the ‘A whole-school approach to food’ e-learning module.
The department receives evaluation data of the training from post-completion user-assessments. 99% of users said they were satisfied with the module and 87% of users felt their knowledge had increased as a result of completing the training.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to increase pre-school support for children living in disadvantaged areas.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life. Low income families, children with education, health and care plans and looked after children are eligible for 15 hours funded early education from age 2. In addition, eligible disadvantaged children can get early years pupil premium (EYPP). This additional funding supports the delivery of high-quality early education improving disadvantaged children’s outcomes. In December 2024, we announced an unprecedented 45% increase to EYPP.
School-based nurseries are a key part of this government’s Opportunity Mission. We have awarded 300 primary schools £37 million to repurpose spare space for new or expanded nursery provision, which will be opening from September 2025.
In addition, from September 2026, every pupil whose household is in receipt of Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals.
This means that over half a million children from the most disadvantaged households will become eligible for a free nutritious lunchtime meal every school day. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 a year per child back in parents’ pockets to support parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.
We are also investing an additional £126 million in 2025/26 to build up the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. The 75 local authorities on the programme have already opened more than 400 family hubs in some of the most deprived areas in the country.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to help reduce the number of children starting school without basic early-years skills.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The government’s Plan for Change set out our ambition for a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn in the classroom. We will measure our progress through 75% of children reaching a good level of development in the early years foundation stage profile assessment by 2028. The department will use a number of strategies to achieve this.
Firstly, we will roll out government-funded childcare support to improve access. We are delivering the expansion to 30 funded hours and have awarded 300 schools £37 million in the first phase towards 3,000 new and expanded school-based nurseries, increasing the availability of high-quality childcare places where they are needed most.
The department will also work in partnership with the sector, reforming training and support for the workforce to drive up standards. We will ensure that the reception year sets children up for success, by increasing schools’ access to evidence-based programmes that boost early literacy and numeracy skills. We are hosting a series of regional conferences focused on reception year quality starting later this month.
In addition, the department is working to strengthen and join-up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood. This includes continuing to invest in and build up Family Hubs and Start for Life programmes to support early child health, parenting and home learning programmes, and strengthening health visiting services for all families, as well as improved early identification of special educational needs and disabilities.