Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the level of interest rates on student loans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Student loans are subject to interest to ensure that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree.
Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers. Regular repayments are based on a borrower’s monthly or weekly income, not on interest rates or the amount borrowed. Outstanding debt, including interest built up, is cancelled after the loan term ends (or in case of death or disability) at no detriment to the borrower.
A full equality impact assessment of how the student loan reforms may affect graduates under Plan 5, was produced and published in February 2022 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reform-equality-impact-assessment.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of financial literacy and basic life skills education in secondary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to strengthening pupils’ foundational understanding of financial education in mathematics and citizenship following publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review final report in November 2025. The department will engage with sector experts and young people in how best to reflect this, and life skills content, in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on updated curriculum programmes of study in 2026, seeking views on the content before they are finalised.
Oak National Academy, an independent arm’s length body, provides high quality curriculum materials to support financial literacy.
The government is determined that every child has access to enriching activities that develop their essential skills. We have set out an enrichment offer schools and colleges should aim to provide for all children, including civic engagement; arts and culture; nature, outdoor and adventure; sport and physical activities; and developing wider life skills.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to include financial literacy and life skills education as a mandatory and assessed part of the secondary school curriculum.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to strengthening pupils’ foundational understanding of financial education in mathematics and citizenship following publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review final report in November 2025. The department will engage with sector experts and young people in how best to reflect this, and life skills content, in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on updated curriculum programmes of study in 2026, seeking views on the content before they are finalised.
Oak National Academy, an independent arm’s length body, provides high quality curriculum materials to support financial literacy.
The government is determined that every child has access to enriching activities that develop their essential skills. We have set out an enrichment offer schools and colleges should aim to provide for all children, including civic engagement; arts and culture; nature, outdoor and adventure; sport and physical activities; and developing wider life skills.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce the level of school absences among working class students.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Absence is a key barrier to opportunity. Children need to be in school to achieve and thrive. The government recognises that some pupils, including those eligible for free school meals, face additional barriers to regular attendance. This is why the department is rolling out free breakfast clubs in all primary schools from April 2026. Schools can also use Pupil Premium to fund evidence‑based attendance and behaviour support.
Our statutory ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ guidance supports the attendance of all children, including those families on lower incomes.
We provide real‑time data and attendance toolkits so schools, trusts and local authorities can diagnose drivers of absence and adopt practice, including bespoke attendance targets, personalised roadmaps back to pre‑pandemic levels, and benchmarking against statistically similar schools.
This month, the regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) attendance and behaviour hubs will launch fully with support reaching 4500 schools nationally with intensive one-to-one support for up to 500 schools every year.
Our attendance mentoring programme is supporting 10,000 persistently absent children in ten areas with some of the worst attendance rates.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to include measures to support children in the deepest poverty in the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Heywood and Middleton North, to the answer of [DATE] to Question 82529.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce class sizes and (b) provide focused support in maintained special schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Special schools are specially organised to support pupils with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The provision required will be specified in the pupils’ education, health and care plans, which the responsible local authority is statutorily required to secure.
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review, working with parents, young people and providers.
Decisions about how to organise provision within a special school is for the headteacher to determine. Special schools will use a variety of staff deployment and grouping models based on the varied needs of their children.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support local authorities in the North West to (a) process and (b) issue education, health and care plans for SEND children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is working with a number of local authorities in the North West that have issues with education, health and care (EHC) plan timeliness. This involves working closely with NHS England and other partners to support improvement, including deploying special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) advisers, coordinating targeted interventions, and aligning efforts with other inspection frameworks.
Where a local authority does not meet its duties, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement. We offer universal, targeted and intensive support through Department for Education-managed programmes, including our sector-led improvement partners which provides peer-to-peer tailored support.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission introduced a strengthened area SEND inspection framework in January 2023 leading to a greater emphasis on children and young people’s outcomes. It is the primary tool to maintain a focus on high standards in the SEND system across all partners.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that education, health and care plans for SEND children are issued by local authorities within five weeks.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department wants to ensure that education, health and care (EHC) assessments are progressed promptly and, if needed, high quality plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they need.
The overall time it takes from a local authority receiving a request for an EHC needs assessment and the final plan being issued, if one is required, must not take longer than 20 weeks unless specific exceptions apply.
The department continues to monitor, challenge and work closely with local authorities that have issues with EHC plan timeliness. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we ensure that the cause of these problems is identified with the local authority and that an effective recovery plan is implemented. Where needed, the department deploys specialist special educational needs and disabilities advisors to help identify the barriers to carrying out the EHC plan process in a timely way and to address these through practical plans for recovery, alongside addressing other areas of weakness in provision.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that recommendations made by the School Support Staff Negotiating Body are implemented.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) is being established in primary legislation through the Employment Rights Bill, which was introduced in Parliament within the first 100 days of government on 10 October 2024. The Bill is currently in the House of Lords. Due to the uncertainties of Parliamentary business and scheduling, we cannot confirm at this stage when the Bill will receive Royal Assent. After Royal Assent, secondary legislation will be required to constitute the body.
The department’s current estimate is that once the SSSNB has been established and is operational, the earliest the body will be in a position to start making pay related recommendations is in the 2027/28 academic year, to ensure a smooth transition from the current National Joint Council process.
The SSSNB will bring together employers and employee representatives to reach agreements on pay and terms and conditions which may then be ratified by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. It is important that the department strikes an appropriate balance between the SSSNB having sufficient independence to reach agreements and make recommendations, whilst ensuring that any agreements in relation to remuneration, terms and conditions or advice in relation to training and career progression are practicable before being ratified or published as statutory guidance by the Secretary of State for Education. As a negotiating body, employee and employer representatives will be able to meaningfully negotiate on pay and conditions as well as advise on training and career progression, with a clear process for the Secretary of State for Education to decide on the course of action based on the agreements reached or recommendations made.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure the independence of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) is being established in primary legislation through the Employment Rights Bill, which was introduced in Parliament within the first 100 days of government on 10 October 2024. The Bill is currently in the House of Lords. Due to the uncertainties of Parliamentary business and scheduling, we cannot confirm at this stage when the Bill will receive Royal Assent. After Royal Assent, secondary legislation will be required to constitute the body.
The department’s current estimate is that once the SSSNB has been established and is operational, the earliest the body will be in a position to start making pay related recommendations is in the 2027/28 academic year, to ensure a smooth transition from the current National Joint Council process.
The SSSNB will bring together employers and employee representatives to reach agreements on pay and terms and conditions which may then be ratified by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. It is important that the department strikes an appropriate balance between the SSSNB having sufficient independence to reach agreements and make recommendations, whilst ensuring that any agreements in relation to remuneration, terms and conditions or advice in relation to training and career progression are practicable before being ratified or published as statutory guidance by the Secretary of State for Education. As a negotiating body, employee and employer representatives will be able to meaningfully negotiate on pay and conditions as well as advise on training and career progression, with a clear process for the Secretary of State for Education to decide on the course of action based on the agreements reached or recommendations made.