Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in national illiteracy levels; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that groups at high risk of illiteracy receive adequate education.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading and writing, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.
The government has committed £28.3 million this financial year to support and drive high and rising standards in reading. This includes supporting the teaching of phonics, early language and reading for pleasure via our English Hubs, including the Reading Ambition for All programme, which aims to improve reading outcomes for children that need additional support, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. We are also building secondary schools' capacity to support students with reading needs by providing new reading training.
We are setting an ambition for 90% of children to meet the expected standard in the Phonics Screening Check by the end of year 1, through an improved focus on the children that struggle in the earliest years. We are also introducing a reading check for all pupils in year 8, to ensure that schools are identifying and providing support to pupils who need it at the beginning of secondary school.
This is alongside launching the National Year of Reading 2026, which will have a targeted focus on certain priority groups including boys aged 10 to 16, parents from disadvantaged communities, and early years children.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) the Music and Dance Scheme and (b) other school funding schemes in the context of current levels of inflation.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government fully supports the arts and the development of a skills pipeline into the creative industries.
The department is providing £36.5 million for the Music and Dance Scheme this academic year.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that termly cut-off dates do not disadvantage families whose children are born mid-term resulting in the parent’s statutory maternity concluding after the 30 September leaving them ineligible for free care in the autumn term; and whether her Department plans to provide additional transitional support or flexibility to parents whose return to work is after the deadline.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.
Children become eligible for an early education and childcare place from 1 September, 1 January or 1 April, the term after they reach the relevant age and meet relevant eligibility criteria.
Depending on when a child is born and when the eligibility criteria are met, there will be differing periods to wait until the relevant termly date.
Termly deadlines enable local authorities and childcare providers to better plan and ensure sufficient early years places are available for parents each term, as there are clear periods for when children are likely to enter into a place.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many fines were issued to parents for unauthorised school absence in (a) Bromsgrove constituency and (b) Worcestershire in the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information is not held by the department at constituency level.
Information on penalty notices for unauthorised absence is collected at local authority level. The latest available data, covering the 2023/24 academic year is available in the parental responsibility measures statistical release here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures/2023-24.
The number of penalty notices issued in Worcestershire in the 2023/24 academic year is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e0dc750b-0698-49dc-a884-08ddb31391cd.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 29183 on Smartphones, what research she refers to.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Mobile phone and smartphone development and social media use has increased (Ofcom, 2024) alongside increasing mental health problems in children and young people (NHS England, 2023), which has raised concerns amongst academics that the two are linked. The cited publications can be found here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/children/children-media-use-and-attitudes-2024/childrens-media-literacy-report-2024.pdf?v=368229; https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2023-wave-4-follow-up.
Several recent reviews have explored the negative correlations between mobile phones and children’s wellbeing:
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2025 to Question 29762 on Cross sector partnerships, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of cooperation between state and private schools on state schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Around 70% of private schools affiliated with the Independent Schools Council hold charitable status. As charities, they are required to demonstrate public benefit and one way in which they do that is through partnerships with state schools. This activity should continue.