Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to p.45 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth (CP 1388), where the five new Defence Technical Excellence Colleges will be located.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
A £182 million defence skills package was announced at the start of September 2025 in the Defence Industrial Strategy, which aims to make defence an engine for national renewal and economic growth, harnessing the skills needed for the future, from submarine engineers to specialist welders. The package centres on establishing five Defence Technical Excellence Colleges (DTECs), training people in the skills needed to secure new defence jobs in this growing industry.
DTECs will be in England. The exact locations are yet to be determined and will be appointed through a fair and transparent application process. All further education (FE) colleges that are part of the statutory FE sector in England will be able to apply, subject to meeting specific eligibility criteria, to be released in due course. The selection process for these Technical Excellence Colleges will start by the end of 2025, with delivery planned to begin from April 2026. Further details will be published in due course.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has taken recent steps to expand the Data Futures Project.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Data Futures Programme is led by the Office for Students (OfS) in collaboration with sector partners. The programme is primarily focused on enhancing data collection and reporting within the higher education sector.
The programme is not directly managed by the department, and its scope and development are matters for the OfS. The department maintains an interest in its progress and continues to engage with relevant stakeholders as appropriate.
Decisions regarding system changes or replacements in relation to the programme fall under the remit of the OfS and its delivery partners. The department does not hold specific information on system decommissioning linked to the programme. Any consideration of its relevance to operational data, including border movements, would be subject to further engagement with the OfS and other responsible bodies.
The OfS, in collaboration with delivery partners including Jisc, are working to implement recommendations highlighted in the Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) review published in January 2025.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what subset of border movements are affected by the Data Futures Project.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Data Futures Programme is led by the Office for Students (OfS) in collaboration with sector partners. The programme is primarily focused on enhancing data collection and reporting within the higher education sector.
The programme is not directly managed by the department, and its scope and development are matters for the OfS. The department maintains an interest in its progress and continues to engage with relevant stakeholders as appropriate.
Decisions regarding system changes or replacements in relation to the programme fall under the remit of the OfS and its delivery partners. The department does not hold specific information on system decommissioning linked to the programme. Any consideration of its relevance to operational data, including border movements, would be subject to further engagement with the OfS and other responsible bodies.
The OfS, in collaboration with delivery partners including Jisc, are working to implement recommendations highlighted in the Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) review published in January 2025.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many independent schools have been bought by Chinese-registered companies since 5 July 2025.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department does not hold data on investment in or ownership of private schools.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release entitled Government delivers thousands more school-based nursery places, published on 4 September 2025, how many and what proportion of the extra school-based nursery places will be in Huntingdon constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity, give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. The government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, supporting school led provision and private, voluntary and independent providers and childminders operating from school sites.
Phase 1 is already delivering results, with £37 million successfully awarded to 300 primary phase schools creating up to 6,000 new childcare places. Applications were assessed based on a range of factors.
No applications for Huntingdon were awarded. However, building on phase 1, phase 2 of the school-based nursery programme launched on September 4, with a stronger focus on supporting families from disadvantaged areas. Primary schools and maintained nursery schools, including those in Huntingdon, have until 5pm on 11 December to apply for up to £150,000 from a £45 million fund, with capacity to deliver at least another 300 new or expanded school-based nurseries, offering up to 7,000 more places from September 2026.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 October 2025 to Question 73402 on Schools: Huntingdon, when applications will reopen for the expansion of the school rebuilding programme.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department plans to set out further details about the selection process for the additional 250 schools to be selected for the school rebuilding programme later this year.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing specific funding for Hinchingbrooke School to maintain Hinchingbrooke House.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has given a long-term commitment for capital investment through to the 2034/35 financial year to improve the condition of schools and colleges across England. We are investing almost £3 billion per year by the 2034/35 financial year in capital maintenance and renewal to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
The Aces Academies Trust, the responsible body for Hinchingbrooke School, has been allocated £761,926 in capital funding for the 2025/26 financial year to decide how to invest across its schools, based on their own prioritisation of need. Future allocations will be confirmed in due course.
The government has also announced almost £20 billion of investment for the School Rebuilding Programme through to the 2034/35 financial year, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years. We plan to set out further details about the process for selecting additional schools later this year.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 88 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what progress she has made on working with the Ministry of Defence to develop understanding of the Armed Forces among young people in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Huntingdon to the answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57466.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 including travel to swimming lessons within the scope of the sport premium.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools receive core funding for activities within the curriculum, including delivery and travel for swimming and water safety lessons. After pupils have completed their core curriculum swimming and water safety lessons, it is permissible to use the physical education and sport premium for top-up lessons, including transport costs for pupils who have not met national curriculum requirements.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made in delivering the Early Years Childcare Reform Programme.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
From 1 September, hundreds of thousands of families are better able to balance work and family life, with parents who use their full entitlement saving an average of £7,500 a year, and more children getting the high quality early education that will give them the best start in life.
To support the expansion of childcare, the government has supported early years workforce recruitment through the ‘Do Something Big’ campaign, financial incentives and new routes into the profession. We have invested over £8 billion into early years entitlements in 2025/26 and created thousands more places through the school-based nurseries programme. Workforce has grown significantly, with 18,200 more staff delivering entitlements in private, voluntary and independent providers in 2025, a 7.2% rise from the previous year.
There are over 5,800 more providers delivering childcare entitlements this year, the first increase in five years, and the biggest increase since data became available in 2018.