Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what communication her Department has had with academy trusts in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency on attendance improvement plans.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department engages regularly with academy trusts on attendance improvement through a range of channels.
In the last academic year, we hosted 12 regional conferences for secondary school and trust leaders focusing solely on the attendance challenge through our regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) programme. The conferences covered data analysis and shared practical strategies. Feedback from school and trust leaders was strong, and was supported by increased engagement with our data tool.
The department also provides targeted communications through webinars, newsletters and direct correspondence to school and trust leaders. This includes updates on new resources such as the Attendance Improvement Toolkit and support available through our RISE Attendance and Behaviour Hubs.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press notice entitled World-leading UK higher education sector expands in India and bolsters growth at home, published on 9 October 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the expansion of higher education partnerships in India on the economy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, is pleased that 14 university Vice Chancellors and representatives joined my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, in his recent trip to India in recognition of the increased demand for higher education (HE) in India, which has created an opportunity for UK universities seeking new funding streams. HE is one of the UK’s greatest exports, and international education was worth £32 billion in export revenue in 2022. The UK’s HE sector is set to bring in a £50 million boost over the next five years to the economy as part of a major expansion of British universities in India.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding under the reading initiative has been allocated for teacher training in (a) Milton Keynes and (b) Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government has committed £27.7 million to support and drive high and rising standards in reading in the 2025/26 financial year. This funding will deliver a range of support for schools, including new training for primary schools, delivered through the 34 English Hubs, to help children progress from the early stages of phonics through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school; and new support and training for secondary schools to support reading at key stage 3.
Milton Keynes is served by Whiteknights English Hub. The department does not provide specific funding to local authorities under the English Hubs programme.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that Early Years Pupil Premium funding is aligned with the Government’s quality improvement objectives in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government is taking coordinated steps to ensure that early years pupil premium (EYPP) aligns with broader quality improvement objectives in early years education.
Through the department’s Best Start in Life strategy, we are ensuring families across the country can access affordable, high-quality early education and family support services that support them to thrive.
In April 2025, we increased funding for EYPP by an unprecedented 45%, to a maximum of £570 per year per child in all local authorities across England.
The government’s new early years strategy, ‘Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life’, explicitly links EYPP with its wider goals of reducing inequalities early in life, improving early years provision, strengthening transitions into primary school and enhancing workforce development through training and professional recognition. This includes additional EYPP funding targeted at high-need areas and the creation of published guidance to drive quality of spend.
From 2026, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education wants to provide additional funding to extend EYPP in areas most in need, and test different approaches to using this funding to understand how best to maximise its impact, ensuring that the children most at risk of falling behind receive high-quality evidence-informed support.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many small businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors have accessed apprenticeship support schemes in the last three years in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s Apprenticeships by Industry Characteristics publication contains apprenticeship starts figures, including by sector, constituency, and size of businesses. This data has been available since 29 May 2025 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics/2022-23.
Apprenticeship starts by constituency are available in the apprenticeships statistics publication. This data has been available since 17 July 2025 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate her Department has made of the average annual training cost per apprentice borne by small businesses in the personal services sector.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold a breakdown of apprenticeships data for the personal services sector.
The government offers a range of financial support to support small businesses across all sectors to take on apprentices. The government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16-21, and for apprentices aged 22-24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been, or are, in local authority care, when they under-take apprenticeships with non-levy paying employers.
For all other apprentices, employers that do not pay the levy are required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs.
The government also pays £1,000 to both employers and providers for apprentices aged 16-18, and for apprentices aged 19-24 who have an EHC plan or have been, or are, in local authority care.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the capacity of childcare providers in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes to meet demand for free childcare from September 2025.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Local authorities are legally responsible for securing sufficient childcare to meet the needs of parents in their area, under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006. The Early Education and Childcare Statutory Guidance (Part B) further requires them to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting this duty and to make these reports accessible to parents.
The department provides local authorities with a range of tools and data to complement local assessments and help them plan strategically for sufficiency. This includes:
There are over 5,800 more providers delivering childcare entitlements than last year, the first increase in five years, and the biggest increase since data became available in 2018. This comes alongside an 18,000 increase in the number of staff delivering the entitlements in private, voluntary and independent providers. This is backed by significant government investment totalling over £8 billion for early years entitlements in 2025/26.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate her Department has made of the availability of childcare places for children under two years of age in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Local authorities are legally responsible for securing sufficient childcare to meet the needs of parents in their area, under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006. The Early Education and Childcare Statutory Guidance (Part B) further requires them to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting this duty and to make these reports accessible to parents.
The department provides local authorities with a range of tools and data to complement local assessments and help them plan strategically for sufficiency. This includes:
There are over 5,800 more providers delivering childcare entitlements than last year, the first increase in five years, and the biggest increase since data became available in 2018. This comes alongside an 18,000 increase in the number of staff delivering the entitlements in private, voluntary and independent providers. This is backed by significant government investment totalling over £8 billion for early years entitlements in 2025/26.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of families are unable to access family support services in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department does not currently hold data to determine the proportion of families who are unable to access family support services at constituency level. However, a 2024 survey by UNICEF UK and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children found that one in four families with children under five cannot access local children’s centres or Family Hubs, rising to one in three low-income families.
On 7 July 2025, the government published ‘Giving every child the Best Start in Life’. This outlines our commitment to deliver a new Best Start Family Service to bring together parenting, healthcare and education support services, as well as creating and funding Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority. Local authorities not currently receiving funding for the programme this year will receive a development grant to support their preparations, ahead of national rollout of Best Start Family Hubs from April 2026.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to (a) pilot and (b) test Best Start digital services in (i) Buckinghamshire and (ii) Milton Keynes.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department will launch a new Best Start in Life campaign in autumn which will guide parents, from pregnancy through their child's journey to starting school and beyond. It will be followed by a new Best Start digital parenting hub. Discussions around design and timelines for launch are ongoing. We are committed to ensuring it meets parents' needs and will share further updates as the work progresses.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. Through local commissioning, we will ensure that Neighbourhood Health Services work in partnership with family hubs, schools, nurseries, childminders and colleges, ensuring support for young children’s health and development is available and accessible in communities.