Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders in the Hexham constituency regarding the potential merits of outdoor education for children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department believes all children and young people should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum and a variety of enrichment opportunities at school.
The National Education Nature Park is a whole-school environmental education programme that encourages teachers to take students outside and use their grounds to learn in and about nature. OASES (Outdoor and Sustainability Education Specialists), based in County Durham, were involved in discussions around the development of this initiative.
The value of outdoor learning is also being recognised and promoted in the department’s upcoming Enrichment Framework, which will include 'Nature, outdoors and adventure' as one of five categories of enrichment. We are engaging with national organisations who support outdoor learning and are happy to hear from local and regional organisations with relevant expertise.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders in Northumberland regarding the potential merits of outdoor education for children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department believes all children and young people should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum and a variety of enrichment opportunities at school.
The National Education Nature Park is a whole-school environmental education programme that encourages teachers to take students outside and use their grounds to learn in and about nature. OASES (Outdoor and Sustainability Education Specialists), based in County Durham, were involved in discussions around the development of this initiative.
The value of outdoor learning is also being recognised and promoted in the department’s upcoming Enrichment Framework, which will include 'Nature, outdoors and adventure' as one of five categories of enrichment. We are engaging with national organisations who support outdoor learning and are happy to hear from local and regional organisations with relevant expertise.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders in the North East regarding the potential merits of outdoor education for children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department believes all children and young people should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum and a variety of enrichment opportunities at school.
The National Education Nature Park is a whole-school environmental education programme that encourages teachers to take students outside and use their grounds to learn in and about nature. OASES (Outdoor and Sustainability Education Specialists), based in County Durham, were involved in discussions around the development of this initiative.
The value of outdoor learning is also being recognised and promoted in the department’s upcoming Enrichment Framework, which will include 'Nature, outdoors and adventure' as one of five categories of enrichment. We are engaging with national organisations who support outdoor learning and are happy to hear from local and regional organisations with relevant expertise.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with Northumberland County Council on the adequacy of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities in Hexham constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Departmental officials meet with Northumberland County Council regularly, both individually and as part of North East regional meetings to discuss the delivery of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services both strategically and operationally across the local area partnership.
In July 2025, departmental officials met Northumberland County Council following the publication of education, health and care plan statistics. Officials discussed the published data and the support for children with SEND in Northumberland including in Hexham constituency.
In December 2025, officials will meet with Northumberland County Council to discuss the local authority’s high needs place planning, the use of their capital allocation and how this will improve services and support children and young people with SEND.
The department will continue to work with Northumberland County Council to monitor the delivery of SEND services and offer support when required.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, what discussions her Department has had on support for young people in the North East to attend universities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is determined that opportunity is available to all who have the aspiration and talent to succeed in higher education (HE), regardless of where they live.
To inform the development of the Post-16 education and skills white paper, the department engaged with a range of stakeholders, including HE providers, representative bodies, and Mayoral Strategic Authorities across England.
The department will introduce targeted maintenance grants to support students from low-income households studying courses at Levels 4 to 6, including technical qualifications and degrees, aligned with the government’s missions and the Industrial Strategy.
Professor Kathryn Mitchell of the University of Derby has agreed to chair the Access and Participation Task and Finish Group. This will consist of sector experts and charities, with representation from across different regions of the country. It will focus on developing options to address regional disparities in access to HE and tackling the most systemic barriers to access for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents with three and four- year-olds from (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle and (d) the North East have used their entitlement to 15 hours of free childcare in each of the last three years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The latest Accredited Official Statistics release ‘Funded early education and childcare’ for January 2025 was published on 17 July 2025. Statistics are not readily available at constituency level. Figures on the number of three and four-year-old children registered for the universal entitlement in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, and the North East between January 2023 and 2025 are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/b250b87d-7a41-4383-6814-08de1ade192d.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support children in kinship care arrangements in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not collect local authority level data on the number of children in all types of kinship care placements. As such, we are unable to provide figures for Hexham constituency, Northumberland, Newcastle, or the North East. Some local authorities may publish their own data online, which can be found through individual local authorities websites or direct contact requests for more detailed local information.
Nationally, the department does collect data on children in formal kinship care arrangements, such as those placed with family or friends foster carers. This data is published annually in the Children Looked After statistics.
Local authorities in England are responsible for setting out a Kinship Local Offer, which outlines the support available to kinship carers and the children they care for. This offer should cover all types of kinship care arrangements, both formal and informal, and can include information on financial support, legal advice, training and peer support and educational and emotional wellbeing services.
Support is available to kinship carers through peer to peer support groups and a programme of training, delivered by the charity Kinship. This includes free workshops, events and access to free support and advice, as well as support from virtual school heads, who promote the education of children in kinship care and help schools better support their needs.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many kinship carers are registered in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not collect local authority level data on the number of children in all types of kinship care placements. As such, we are unable to provide figures for Hexham constituency, Northumberland, Newcastle, or the North East. Some local authorities may publish their own data online, which can be found through individual local authorities websites or direct contact requests for more detailed local information.
Nationally, the department does collect data on children in formal kinship care arrangements, such as those placed with family or friends foster carers. This data is published annually in the Children Looked After statistics.
Local authorities in England are responsible for setting out a Kinship Local Offer, which outlines the support available to kinship carers and the children they care for. This offer should cover all types of kinship care arrangements, both formal and informal, and can include information on financial support, legal advice, training and peer support and educational and emotional wellbeing services.
Support is available to kinship carers through peer to peer support groups and a programme of training, delivered by the charity Kinship. This includes free workshops, events and access to free support and advice, as well as support from virtual school heads, who promote the education of children in kinship care and help schools better support their needs.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many kinship carers are registered in Hexham constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not collect local authority level data on the number of children in all types of kinship care placements. As such, we are unable to provide figures for Hexham constituency, Northumberland, Newcastle, or the North East. Some local authorities may publish their own data online, which can be found through individual local authorities websites or direct contact requests for more detailed local information.
Nationally, the department does collect data on children in formal kinship care arrangements, such as those placed with family or friends foster carers. This data is published annually in the Children Looked After statistics.
Local authorities in England are responsible for setting out a Kinship Local Offer, which outlines the support available to kinship carers and the children they care for. This offer should cover all types of kinship care arrangements, both formal and informal, and can include information on financial support, legal advice, training and peer support and educational and emotional wellbeing services.
Support is available to kinship carers through peer to peer support groups and a programme of training, delivered by the charity Kinship. This includes free workshops, events and access to free support and advice, as well as support from virtual school heads, who promote the education of children in kinship care and help schools better support their needs.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support the recruitment of teachers that have a background in industry to enhance (a) vocational and (b) technical education in (i) Hexham constituency, (ii) Northumberland, (iii) Newcastle, (iv) the North East, and (v) England.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to strengthening the pipeline of industry expertise into teaching across the country, particularly in the further education (FE) sector.
The 'Teach in Further Education' marketing campaign and online platform provides support to those interested in teaching, with a focus on industry professionals changing career. The ‘Taking Teaching Further’ programme offers early career support and training to those industry professionals entering teaching with the relevant knowledge and experience. To boost retention of early career FE teachers in priority technical and vocational subjects, we offer retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax. In the 2024/25 academic year, almost 6,000 FE teachers received these payments. As announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, we are investing £20 million to support partnerships between construction employers and FE providers, and promote industry expertise in the classroom.
In schools, we offer several pathways into teaching, including postgraduate salaried courses like apprenticeships, which can support industry career-changers into teaching. Similar targeted retention incentives are also available.