Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of pathways for children with autism and severe learning disabilities to access specialist safety equipment where this is required to prevent self-injury or other serious harm.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government recognises the importance of specialist safety equipment in meeting the needs of children and young people, including in mainstream settings. We are investing at least £3.7 billion in high needs capital funding between 2025/2026 and 2029/2030, to support local authorities to provide suitable places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. This includes investment in the physical environment, such as purchasing specialist safety equipment to support children and young people with autism and severe learning disabilities.
Our new, dedicated inclusive education estates guidance supports the sector in improving the inclusivity and accessibility of the estate in schools, colleges, and nurseries. It recognises that well-chosen furniture and equipment can assist children and young people to regulate, focus and safely participate in learning. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-education-estates.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy and affordability of childcare provision during school holidays; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that childcare costs do not prevent parents, particularly women, from remaining in employment.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Improving the cost and availability of childcare is a priority for this government. Families can receive support with costs through Tax-Free Childcare, Universal Credit Childcare and the Flexible Support Fund.
The government has committed over £600 million to the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme from 2026/27, providing children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds with free meals and enriching activities during school holidays. In a recent survey of 20,000 parents and carers, more that 90% said HAF helped them worry less about money during the holidays and made it easier for them to work.
The department has not assessed the cost of holiday childcare. This year, we are providing £12.9 million to support local authorities with school-age childcare. To monitor this, we are collecting termly data to provide us with a broad picture of the availability of holiday childcare.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schoolchildren receive adequate water safety education before the summer holiday period.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The PE national curriculum makes specific reference to swimming and water safety, stating that all primary pupils must learn to swim competently and confidently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.
The department has made changes to the statutory relationships, sex and health education guidance for schools to ensure all pupils are taught about the water safety code, supporting them to be safe in different types of water.