Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) colleges and (b) schools will be able to offer appropriate post-16 pathways in the (i) 2026-2027 and (ii) 2027-2028 academic years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department published the Post-16 education and skills white paper on 20 October 2025. This sets out comprehensive reforms to build a world-leading skills system that break 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.
We are investing nearly £800 million extra in 2026/27 in funding for 16 to 19-year-old education, helping to enable the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. We will also pilot an automatic guaranteed provider place for all 16-year-olds, to ensure no one is left behind after year 11.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure sustainable funding linked to inflation for the Holiday Activities and Food programme.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Through our Plan for Change, the government is committed to giving every child the best start in life. On 28 August 2025, the department confirmed over £600 million for the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme for the next three financial years, from 2026/27. This equates to just over £200 million each year.
This multi-year commitment gives parents and providers certainty that clubs will be available over what can otherwise be an expensive holiday period, ensuring that children and young people continue to benefit from enriching holiday experiences and nutritious meals. The programme also opens work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families.
The department will be releasing further details about the HAF programme by the end of the year.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of misogynist attitudes amongst young people at (a) primary and (b) secondary level.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Through compulsory relationships education, all pupils should learn how to form positive and respectful relationships and develop an understanding of the concepts and laws around misogyny, sexual harassment and sexual violence.
The relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance has been reviewed and updated, with the final guidance published on 15 July. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
The guidance is clear that schools should provide pupils with the knowledge and skills they need to recognise sexism and misogyny and report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse, as well as to build empathy and promote respect for all. Positive action should be taken to build a culture where misogynistic attitudes and behaviour are not tolerated, and any occurrences are identified and tackled.
To help support the sector implement changes following the publication of the revised RSHE guidance, we are piloting a teacher training grant, starting in early 2026.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools in low-income communities can recruit and retain high-quality teachers.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every young person.
For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for secondary teachers in shortage subjects in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. In Leigh and Atherton Constituency, two out of five schools are eligible for this retention payment.
The High Potential Initial Teacher Training Programme, currently delivered by Teach First, also recruits high quality candidates specifically for placement in schools serving low-income communities to help improve outcomes for pupils.
Our investment is starting to deliver: the workforce has grown by 2,346 full time employed staff between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools and vacancies have fallen to their lowest since 2020.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support supply teachers in (a) Leigh and Atherton constituency and (b) nationally.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Supply teachers make an important contribution to the smooth running of schools across the country by filling posts on a temporary basis and covering teacher absences.
Schools and local authorities are currently responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers. There are various approaches to providing supply teachers, such as using private 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. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to monitor private supply teacher agencies.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Supply teachers make an important contribution to the smooth running of schools across the country by filling posts on a temporary basis and covering teacher absences.
Schools and local authorities are currently responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers. There are various approaches to providing supply teachers, such as using private 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. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a new Pupil Premium subcategory for persistently disadvantaged pupils.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department recognises that there are disparities in outcomes for children attracting pupil premium and we are committed to doing more to improve the life chances of our most disadvantaged children, breaking the link between background and future success.
The department is reviewing how we allocate pupil premium and related funding to schools and local authorities to ensure it is targeted to those who need it most, and we will provide more information in due course.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increases in numbers of pupils with SEND on (a) budgets, (b) teacher workloads and (c) quality of provision for schools serving disadvantaged communities.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to children and young people with the most complex needs. We will strengthen accountability and inclusivity through Ofsted, support the mainstream workforce to increase their SEND expertise, and encourage schools to set up resourced provision or special educational needs units to increase capacity in mainstream schools.
The department’s mainstream schools funding formula, and the formula that allocates funding for children and young people with complex needs, both include disadvantage factors that provide higher levels of funding to help schools support their pupils with SEND. Overall school funding is £64.8 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, of which over £12 billion is being allocated for young people with complex needs, including those with SEND.
Supporting our expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child, as the in-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcomes is high-quality teaching, particularly for those with SEND and who are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND. All trainees who achieve qualified teacher status must demonstrate that they can adapt teaching to respond to the needs of all pupils.
For 2024/25 and 2025/26, we have doubled the targeted retention incentive, now worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of trends in levels of teacher shortages on SEND provision in schools serving communities with higher levels of disadvantage.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to children and young people with the most complex needs. We will strengthen accountability and inclusivity through Ofsted, support the mainstream workforce to increase their SEND expertise, and encourage schools to set up resourced provision or special educational needs units to increase capacity in mainstream schools.
The department’s mainstream schools funding formula, and the formula that allocates funding for children and young people with complex needs, both include disadvantage factors that provide higher levels of funding to help schools support their pupils with SEND. Overall school funding is £64.8 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, of which over £12 billion is being allocated for young people with complex needs, including those with SEND.
Supporting our expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child, as the in-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcomes is high-quality teaching, particularly for those with SEND and who are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND. All trainees who achieve qualified teacher status must demonstrate that they can adapt teaching to respond to the needs of all pupils.
For 2024/25 and 2025/26, we have doubled the targeted retention incentive, now worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that schools serving communities with higher levels of disadvantage are adequately supported to provide for the needs of SEND pupils.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to children and young people with the most complex needs. We will strengthen accountability and inclusivity through Ofsted, support the mainstream workforce to increase their SEND expertise, and encourage schools to set up resourced provision or special educational needs units to increase capacity in mainstream schools.
The department’s mainstream schools funding formula, and the formula that allocates funding for children and young people with complex needs, both include disadvantage factors that provide higher levels of funding to help schools support their pupils with SEND. Overall school funding is £64.8 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, of which over £12 billion is being allocated for young people with complex needs, including those with SEND.
Supporting our expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child, as the in-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcomes is high-quality teaching, particularly for those with SEND and who are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND. All trainees who achieve qualified teacher status must demonstrate that they can adapt teaching to respond to the needs of all pupils.
For 2024/25 and 2025/26, we have doubled the targeted retention incentive, now worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.