Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending entitlement to free school milk on a child’s fifth birthday rather than at the end of the reception year on children, and if she will consider extending eligibility to cover all children in reception.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
I refer the hon. Member for Leeds North East to the answer of 23 June 2026 to Question 9524.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the Primary PE and Sport Premium on (a) schools' ability to deliver high-quality physical education, (b) participation in competitive school sport and (c) access to specialist coaching and local school sport partnerships; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that primary schools do not experience a reduction in sporting opportunities during the transition to the new funding arrangements.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Leeds North East to the answer of 26 June 2026 to Question 11062.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made towards issuing a formal public apology to those affected by historic forced adoption practices in England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 2 July, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister issued a formal apology on behalf of the state for historical forced adoption practices in England.
The government recognises that these practices caused deep and lasting harm to many mothers, adopted people and families. The apology acknowledged the role of the state and some public institutions in systems that failed to protect and support mothers, children and families, and recognised the many women were denied genuine choice.
On the same day, the government responded to the Education Select Committee’s recommendations, setting out practical action to support those affected. This includes improving access to adoption records, strengthening intermediary and reconnection services, improving recognition and signposting within health services, and ensuring lived experience continues to inform delivery.
The department will take this work forward with the care, respect and seriousness it deserves.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools, parents and pupils have clear information on whether schools are meeting the School Food Standards once the updated standards are introduced.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for maintained schools, academies and free schools.
The department is strengthening accountability by making school food more transparent to parents and the community, and by proposing a named lead governor responsible for holding leadership to account where standards are not met.
The department is working with a range of stakeholders on appropriate standards of accountability as we develop the final standards.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support she is providing to adoptive families when attempting to return a child to care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Returning a child to care should only ever be a last resort. We recognise the significant emotional and practical strain adoptive parents can face, particularly when managing complex needs and trauma. Our priority is to keep families together wherever possible by providing timely tailored support for parents in crisis.
We are investing £50 million into the adoption and special guardianship support fund this year to provide therapeutic services to support children with complex needs to help prevent families reaching crisis. In addition, we have provided Adoption England with £8.8 million so that families can access high quality support provision at all stages of their adoption journey.
When a child must return to care, adoption agencies should maintain a non-judgemental approach and remain actively involved to ensure the process is handled with sensitivity and support. This includes working closely with the adoptive parents to understand the circumstances, providing emotional and practical assistance, and facilitating access to therapeutic services when appropriate.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support adoptive families from being subject to legal action when attempting to return a child to care.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department knows that some adoptive families do not get the support they need when in crisis. Rather than being supported, they experience blame and criticism of their parenting approach.
Adoption England are working with their local authority partner safeguarding teams to improve the support families receive when they are in crisis. The aim of this work is to develop a national protocol which can be used for all adoption support service teams and local authority front door safeguarding services. This will help ensure that parents are supported when they need it most.
We are also investing £50 million into the adoption and special guardianship support fund this year to provide therapeutic services to support children with complex needs to help prevent families reaching crisis, and £8.8 million into Adoption England so that families can access high quality support provision at all stages of their adoption journey.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to reform specialist provision for children with SEND.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that every child or young person in our country deserves the best possible educational experience, one that is academically stretching, where every child or young person feels like they belong, and that sets them up for life and work. There will always be a legal right to the additional support that children with SEND need.
This government is determined to deliver reform that stands the test of time and rebuilds the confidence of families, which is why we are launching a further period of listening and engagement, testing our proposals with parents, teachers and experts in every region of the country, so that lived experience and partnership are at the heart of our solutions.
We know that families need change, and that is exactly why it is critical we get this right. The department will set out the full Schools White Paper in the new year, building on existing work to create a system rooted in inclusion, where children receive high-quality support early on and can thrive at their local school.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to regulate the use of supply teacher agencies by schools, including (a) measures to ensure fair pay, (b) pension access, and (c) transparency in agency fees.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are responsible for recruiting supply teachers, which includes deciding whether to use supply teacher agencies.
The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools to obtain value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. The deal has established a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which will be transparent about the rates they charge.
The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) Regulations 2014, which set out the rules for the TPS, determine that for teachers to be eligible, their employment must be with an accepted employer, usually a school. Where supply teachers are self-employed, or employed by a supply agency and their services are provided under a contract for services, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS. This is because there is no organisation to undertake the employer role, including remitting contributions to the scheme.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the forthcoming Schools White Paper will include specific measures to improve access to speech and language support in schools in line with the Government’s commitment to early language interventions.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The forthcoming Schools White Paper will set out an ambitious vision for improving outcomes for all pupils. The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
As the department sets out in ‘Giving every child the best start in life’, we will continue to ensure every reception class in state-funded schools benefits from fully funded access to proven programmes such as the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI). In July 2025, the department announced that funded support for the 11,000 schools registered for the NELI programme would continue for a further four academic years until the end of the 2028/29 academic year. Reception staff will also be able to access specialist early language leads.
In addition, the department has extended the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme, in partnership with NHS England, to trial new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings and primary schools.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the report by Bite Back entitled Fuel us, don't fool us, published in July 2025; and what steps she is taking to strengthen compliance with the School Food Standards across all education settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
To ensure the quality and nutrition of school meals, the department is working with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.
We are aware of Bite Back’s ‘Fuel Us, Don’t Fool Us,’ School Food report. We are engaging with stakeholders, including Bite Back, on revising the school food standards, to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.
School governors and trustees have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the school food standards and should work with the headteacher and senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations.
In November 2024, the department and the National Governance Association launched an online training course on school food for governors and trustees. This training is designed to improve understanding of the school food standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account on their-whole school approach to food.
As with all aspects of the school food standards review, we will keep our approaches to compliance under consideration.