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.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on financial education in schools in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle and (d) the North East.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
On 5 November, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review published its final report which includes recommendations for a refreshed curriculum and assessment system in England.
The Review was informed by a wealth of perspectives from experts, stakeholders and the public, including over 7,000 responses to the call for evidence, and a range of research and polling. Its final report includes a section on stakeholder engagement, which sets out the details of regional public events and roundtables that were held as part of the Review’s evidence gathering.
As part of the response to the Review’s report the government has made a commitment to strengthen pupils’ foundational understanding of financial education in mathematics and citizenship, with digital resources to support teaching. From budgeting to understanding credit, through our revised curriculum all children will learn about the fundamentals of money, ensuring every pupil develops the skills needed to succeed in the modern world, no matter where they went to school.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on relationships education in schools in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle and (d) the North East.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
It is compulsory for schools to teach relationships education for primary school pupils, relationships and sex education for secondary school pupils and health education for all pupils in state-funded schools.
The department held roundtables with a number of stakeholders, experts, teachers and local authorities from across the country, including from Northumberland and other areas of the North East, to discuss the revised relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance prior to its final publication on 15 July here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68b8499e11b4ded2da19fd92/Relationships_education__relationships_and_sex_education_and_health_education_-_statutory_guidance.pdf.
In addition, the department met with the North East Youth Peer Action Collective who shared their research findings on young people’s views of the RSHE curriculum.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start centres have closed in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England since May 2010.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Data on children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s ‘Get Information about Schools’ database portal, which is available at: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
The figures are based on information supplied by local authorities as of 4 November 2025. These figures could change again in future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.
Since May 2010, no children’s centres have closed in Hexham constituency but 2 have been converted into children’s centre linked sites. In Northumberland, 5 children’s centres have closed, and the local authority has converted a further 3 into children’s centre linked sites. In the North East, 50 children’s centres have closed and local authorities have converted a further 50 into children’s centre linked sites. In England, 779 children’s centres have closed and a further 686 have been converted into children’s centre linked sites.
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 improve support for families over the school holidays in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England.
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 up work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families.
The programme is delivered by all 153 local authorities in England, providing over 500,000 children per year with healthy meals and enriching activities in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays.
In Easter 2025, the latest data available, there were a total of 20,282 HAF funded attendees across the North East. We do not publish figures for individual local authorities.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that early years pupil premium funding supports her Department's quality improvement objectives in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle and (d) the North East.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government is taking coordinated steps to ensure Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) funding aligns with broader quality improvement objectives.
Through the department’s Best Start in Life strategy, we are ensuring that families can access affordable high-quality early education. In April 2025, EYPP increased by an unprecedented 45%, to a maximum of £570 per year per child in all local authorities in England.
The government’s new early years strategy, ‘Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life’, links EYPP to improving quality of early years, strengthening transitions into primary school and enhancing workforce development. This includes the EYPP uplift targeted at areas most in need and published guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-pupil-premium-guide-for-local-authorities/early-years-pupil-premium-guide-for-local-authorities.
From 2026, we aim to provide additional EYPP funding in areas most in need, ensuring that children most at risk of falling behind receive support.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated for teacher training under the reading initiative in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle and (d) the North East.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government has committed £27.7 million to support and drive high and rising standards in reading in the 2025/26 financial year. This funding will deliver a range of support for schools, including new training for primary schools delivered through the 34 English Hubs, to help children progress from the early stages of phonics through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school, and new support and training for secondary schools to support reading at key stage 3.
Hexham, Northumberland and Newcastle are served by St Michael’s English Hub. Schools can find their local English Hub on the English Hubs website: https://englishhubs.net/.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with stakeholders on the promotion of literature (a) about and (b) on the North East of England as part of the proposed National Year of Reading.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Year of Reading is a campaign to address the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults. It is a departmental initiative, in collaboration with our delivery partner, the National Literacy Trust, who are leading the delivery of the campaign.
The National Year of Reading aims to reverse long-term declines in reading for pleasure by engaging new audiences and reshaping public attitudes to embed lasting, meaningful change, beyond 2026.
The National Year of Reading 2026 will involve a huge range of events and activities in communities, including in the North East. Some will be bigger versions of well-loved events such as World Book Day and other major events are currently being planned. More information can be found on the National Year of Reading website: https://www.goallin.org.uk/.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are on waiting lists for Education, Health and Care plan assessments in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold information on the number of children waiting for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment.
Information is published on the number of requests for an EHC needs assessment and the number of assessments carried out. The number of requests for an EHC needs assessment which were outstanding at the end of the 2024 calendar year in Northumberland, Newcastle, the North East and England for the 2024 calendar year is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/99797c00-9a15-49d0-7af8-08de11c58191.
The number of EHC needs assessments which were outstanding at the end of the 2024 calendar year in Northumberland, Newcastle, the North East and England for the 2024 calendar year is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e0532abe-628f-452a-7af9-08de11c58191.
This information is not available at constituency level.
Asked by: Joe Morris (Labour - Hexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders on steps to improve vocational skills teaching in schools 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’s careers framework, the Gatsby Benchmarks, encourages teachers to use industry and career pathways as a context for teaching the national curriculum and qualifications. We also fund the Careers and Enterprise Company to help schools and colleges deliver high quality careers programmes. To boost skills and work readiness, every young person will receive two weeks’ worth of work experience during their secondary education.
Technical awards are the main vocationally focused pre-16 offer and play an important role in supporting a broad curriculum at key stage 4 and progression to post-16 pathways.