Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 82925 on Special Educational Needs, what recent discussions she has had with (a) children, (b) parents and (c) experts on SEND provision; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing (i) consultation portals and (ii) additional contact mechanisms for the public to share ideas.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government is determined to deliver reform that stands the test of time and rebuilds the confidence of families. To ensure lived experience and partnership are at the heart of our solutions, we are currently engaging with children, young people and their families, experts, charities and other sector organisations through our special educational needs and disabilities Ministerial development group, regional and online engagement sessions, and ministerial roundtables as well as through our online portal which can be accessed here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-reform-national-conversation/.
We want to hear from as many people as possible, from parents and young people to those working in schools, colleges and early years – building a consensus on what works to help deliver lasting reform. The experiences shared during these engagement opportunities will be vital in ensuring that our proposals effectively deliver meaningful reforms for families. We will also continue engagement as part of a formal consultation following the Schools White Paper publication, and the responses received will be carefully considered in shaping the reforms.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 82927 on Special Educational Needs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the outcomes of the Curriculum and Assessment Review feed into the forthcoming White Paper on SEND provision.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Curriculum and Assessment Review looked closely at how to break down the barriers that hold back children and young people, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
We have already accepted the Review’s recommendation to develop new evidence-based resources to support curriculum adaptation for all children and young people.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 82987 on Jobcentres: Neurodiversity and Young People, what recent discussions she has had with (a) education providers and (b) local authorities on recent trends in the performance of children and young people with SEND across the country.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Over the last year, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and the former Minister for School Standards, alongside expert advisers like Tom Rees and Dame Christine Lenehan, have listened to the voices of parents, teachers and young people to guide policy development and we have made good progress on plans to build a truly inclusive system where high quality support is provided at the earliest opportunity.
To help us deliver the most effective set of reforms we can, we have taken the decision to have a further period of engagement, with the view of bringing forward a full Schools White Paper early in the new year. Through this period of engagement with parents, educators, experts, local authorities and representative organisations, we will test policy options being considered and seek views through listening sessions in every region of the country, and Ministerial meetings with parent and expert groups.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report by the NAO entitled Home to School Transport, published on 31 October 2025, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities about the increasing demand for home to support transport; and whether she intends to include policies to support home to school transport provision as part of the forthcoming Government White Paper on SEND.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Department officials hold regular forums to which all local authority home-to-school travel teams are invited. These meetings provide the department with valuable information about the challenges local authorities face.
We have committed to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system to enable more children to thrive in local mainstream settings, whilst guaranteeing access to excellent specialist provision where needed. This will mean fewer children will need to travel long distances to access education which will reduce the financial and logistical burden on local authorities and leave the service better able to meet the needs of the children that continue to rely on it. These reforms to the SEND system will be set out in a Schools white paper early in the new year.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
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 including issues about (a) personal taxation and (b) tax codes in the financial education syllabus arising from the outcomes of the Curriculum Review.
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.
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.
The department will engage with sector experts and young people in working out how best to reflect this in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on the updated curriculum programmes of study, to seek views on the content before they are finalised.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will undertake a further consultation on the material for the financial education curriculum in advance of the publishing of the revised curriculum in 2027.
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.
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.
The department will engage with sector experts and young people in working out how best to reflect this in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on the updated curriculum programmes of study, to seek views on the content before they are finalised.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 3 October 2024 to Question 73744 on Private Education, whether the matter of the financial impact of VAT on private school fees was discussed at the meeting on 22 July 2025.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The impact of VAT changes on private schools with Independent Schools Council membership was discussed at the meeting on 22 July.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the introduction of VAT on independent school fees on the ability on non-affluent families to afford private school education.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
HM Treasury published a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) on applying VAT to independent school fees. This is a comprehensive assessment of the VAT policy, including impacts on individuals and families and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/applying-vat-to-private-school-fees#who-is-likely-to-be-affected.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when Ministers in her Department last met representatives of the independent school sector to discuss issues facing that sector.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The last meeting was held on 22 July 2025.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities on the Kinship Allowance Pilot Scheme; and when that scheme will begin.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department is ensuring that a fair and transparent process is used to identify which local authorities are best placed to deliver the Kinship Allowance Pilot, through a published expression of interest process. The application window for the expression of interest has now closed.
The department has communicated clear guidance on this process to local authorities through webinars, published expression of interest guidance and a two-week clarification window, following the launch of the expression of interest application window.
The Pilot will launch this autumn, following the announcement of successful pilot local authorities in September.