Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on supply teacher recruitment and retention of not requiring agencies operating under the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework to pay in accordance with the national teacher pay scale.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework will remove excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.

It will not affect pay for supply teachers employed through agencies. This will continue to be set by agencies in the first 12 weeks of an assignment, and supply teachers are free to register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances. The Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments exceeding 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12^th week.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to mitigate variations in pay and employment conditions arising from individual school negotiations with agencies under the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework will remove excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.

It will not affect pay for supply teachers employed through agencies. This will continue to be set by agencies in the first 12 weeks of an assignment, and supply teachers are free to register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances. The Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments exceeding 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12^th week.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she made an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework to require supply teachers to be paid in line with the national teacher pay scale.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework will remove excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.

It will not affect pay for supply teachers employed through agencies. This will continue to be set by agencies in the first 12 weeks of an assignment, and supply teachers are free to register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances. The Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments exceeding 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12^th week.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she plans to ensure consistency in pay and conditions for supply teachers when participation in the new Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework is on an opt-in basis.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework will remove excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.

It will not affect pay for supply teachers employed through agencies. This will continue to be set by agencies in the first 12 weeks of an assignment, and supply teachers are free to register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances. The Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments exceeding 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12^th week.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to schools on gambling-like features in video games, including loot boxes and in-game spending, as part of online safety education.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

Statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) supports children and young people to manage risk and make informed decisions in relation to their mental wellbeing and online behaviour.

The updated RSHE statutory guidance is clear that children and young people should be taught the risks relating to online gaming, video game monetisation, scams, fraud and other financial harms, and that gaming can become addictive.

Curriculum content also includes the risks related to online gambling and gambling-like content within gaming, including the accumulation of debt.

The departments online safety guidance covers how to teach about all aspects of internet safety and includes content on gaming and gambling, and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools.

As with other aspects of the curriculum, schools have flexibility over how they deliver important topics and use their autonomy and local community knowledge to do this.

Found: Danny Beales (Labour; Uxbridge and South Ruislip) Ben Coleman (Labour; Chelsea and Fulham) Dr Beccy Cooper

Found: Representations made I: Daniel Francis II: Phil Brickell III: Cameron Thomas IV: Alex Ballinger and Dr Beccy Cooper

Found: Letter dated 07/01/2026 from Sir Ian Bauckham, Chief Regulator, Ofqual to Beccy Cooper MP in response