Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to encourage businesses in Bristol North East to partner with education providers to deliver vocational training and Post-16 skills programmes to local young people.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government works with employer representative bodies (ERBs) and local partners to strengthen collaboration between businesses and education providers. Through ERB-led Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), we encourage employers to help shape the local post-16 technical education offer, so training meets labour market needs. Statutory guidance for the development of these plans was published on 18 November.
Business West is leading the development of the local LSIP working with the West of England Combined Authority, local businesses and delivery partners. The plan will be published in Summer 2026. Businesses are supported to partner with colleges and training providers to deliver vocational programmes, apprenticeships, and national initiatives such as Skills Bootcamps and T Levels.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to address gaps in Post-16 education and skills training provision in Bristol North East.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy sets out our vision for a world-leading skills system which breaks down barriers to opportunity, meets student and employers’ needs; widens access to high-quality education and training; supports innovation, research, and development; and improves people’s lives.
The government has established Skills England to ensure we have the highly trained workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade.
Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) are employer-led strategies designed to ensure post-16 technical education and vocational training align with local labour market needs. Business West is leading the development of the local LSIP working with the West of England Combined Authority, local businesses and delivery partners. The plan will be published in Summer 2026. Businesses are supported to partner with colleges and training providers to deliver vocational programmes, apprenticeships, and national initiatives such as Skills Bootcamps and T Levels.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure parents of children with SEND are informed of (a) their rights and (b) the protections available to them.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to publish a Local Offer, setting out in one place information about provision they expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people in their area who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those without an education, health and care plan.
Every local authority must have a SEND information, advice and support service. These provide free and impartial advice to children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers.
The department works with national organisations such as Contact, IPSEA and the National Network of Parent Carer Forums. We also fund local parent carer forums across England who gather the views and experiences of local SEND families to help shape and inform policy and provision and offer a valuable peer support network for parents and carers navigating the SEND system.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing introducing compulsory first aid training for teachers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The provision of first aid training is a matter for early years, schools and colleges as employers who are best placed to make decisions about the training and development required to meet the needs of their staff and pupils.
The department publishes guidance to support settings to carry out their duties relating to first aid issues both on their premises and off-site.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has for the Holiday activities and food programme after 31 March 2026.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Bristol North East to the answer of 3 October 2025 to Question 73205.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of taking (a) one and (b) two week holidays with family during school term time on the long-term educational performance of primary school children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Research by the Children’s Commissioner in 2023 found that any amount of term-time holiday is associated with lower GCSE results. This research is accessible here: https://assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wpuploads/2023/11/CC-REPORT-_-Attendance-and-Attainment-_-Oct-23.pdf.
Recent research conducted by the department in 2025 found that at both key stage 2 and key stage 4, attending an extra two weeks of school is associated with a 30% higher chance of achieving the expected outcome at key stage 2 and a 10% higher chance at key stage 4. This research is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67c96d7dd0fba2f1334cf2ed/The_link_between_attendance_and_attainment_in_an_assessment_year_-_March_2025.pdf.
Absence does not just affect the child missing school, it also increases teacher workload. Research published by the National Foundation for Educational Research in 2019 shows that school absence disrupts learning for the whole class. The research is accessible here: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED594391.pdf.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to support children with complex needs whose therapeutic support requirements exceed the maximum funding available for each child specified in the guidance entitled Adoption and special guardianship support fund, last updated on 24 April 2025.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Bristol North East to the answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 53958.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities on the provision of independent travel training for young people with SEND.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department publishes statutory guidance to assist local authorities in meeting their home to school travel duties. The guidance says that wherever possible, local authorities should offer independent travel training to children with special educational needs or disabilities who are eligible for free travel to school and who they think will be able to complete the programme. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transport-guidance.
Departmental officials engage regularly with local authorities and host bi-monthly online meetings, to which all local authority school travel officers are invited, to share good practice and seek advice from one another and the department.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve access to therapy services for children in care.
Answered by Janet Daby
Children in care and care leavers are significantly more likely to have poor mental health. The department’s latest data shows that two thirds of children become looked after due to abuse or neglect and we know that care experienced adults are at 4 to 5 times greater risk of suicide attempt than their peers. Providing effective support is crucial given the significant trauma that many of these children and young people have experienced and its lasting impact.
To support looked after children, looked after children attract pupil premium plus funding of £2,570 per year. This is managed by the local authority’s virtual school head and can be used to facilitate a wide range of educational support including additional mentoring, tuition, and therapeutic services.
Given our significant concerns for the health and wellbeing of children in care and care leavers, the department is working alongside the Department of Health and Social Care to review and update current statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children. This guidance sets expectations on local authorities, Directors of Public Health, commissioners of health services for children, NHS England and others, for the promotion of physical, emotional and mental health.
Regulations require an assessment of physical, emotional and mental health needs for every child when they enter care and a plan to be developed to address their needs.
As part of the department’s statutory guidance review, we will consider what changes are needed to further ensure that children in care and care leavers receive the support they need for their physical and mental health and wellbeing, including access to any needed treatment or therapy.
In addition to the statutory guidance review, the department is also undertaking a programme of work specific to children with complex needs. Children with complex needs and multiple needs are some of our most vulnerable children in the care system. The outcomes for these children can often be very poor, with neither children’s social care nor health services alone capable of meeting their needs, and services not working effectively together for these children.
Since July 2023, the department and NHS England have jointly led a Task and Finish Group to consider how to improve the way system partners work together to support and improve outcomes for children and young people who are deprived of their liberty and who are in the most complex situations.
Drawing on the best evidence, including the voice of children, input from professionals and commissioned research, the department will, in collaboration with NHS England, test a new, community-based approach to pathways and provision which provides treatment and care, bringing in professionals from children’s social care, health, justice and education. This will enable the system to deliver specialist care and accommodation for children who have complex needs.
We have also recently commissioned independent research on how the system works, its current impacts and how we could do things differently to achieve better outcomes for children and young people. We plan to publish this research in summer 2025. We will draw on these reports to support the development and testing of evidence-based models of safe, therapeutic care that delivers integrated, consistent, and collaborative practices for these children and young people.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the levels of teacher recruitment and retention.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Bristol North East, to the answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 35471.