Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve SEND transport provision.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government knows that for too long, too many families have been let down by a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system that is not working. The government is determined to restore parentsā trust that their child will get the support they need to flourish, no matter their needs.
The reforms set out in our consultation, āSEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People Firstā, aim to create a more inclusive school system, enabling more children to succeed in local mainstream settings. We expect fewer children will need to travel long distances to access appropriate education. This will improve outcomes for children and reduce the financial and logistical burden on local authorities.
Ahead of these reforms we are already taking action to support local authorities with home to school transport. We have introduced a new national home to school travel data collection so councils can benchmark spending and created a bespoke home to school funding formula to direct money where it is needed most.
We will be publishing non-statutory guidance on partnership working to support joined-up decision-making to ensure travel arrangements are cost effective and meet childrenās needs.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) reduce pupilsā access to sugary drinks and (b) support provision of healthier drink options throughout the school day.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The School Food Standards set the mandatory nutritional framework for food and drink provided in stateāfunded schools in England. Since the Standards were introduced in 2014, the dietary recommendations on free sugar, fibre and sweeteners have changed and the proportion of children living with obesity is high.
The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever, so we are consulting on proposed updates to the School Food Standards in England to ensure that all food served at school better reflects current nutritional guidance and supports childrenās health, wellbeing and learning.
The consultation is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/school-food-standards-updating-the-legislative-framework.
As part of our proposals, we are consulting on removing fruit juice and combination drinks from school meal services. We are also proposing to limit available drinks to water, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, lactose free milk and certain plant-based drinks, with a restricted range of low or no sugar drinks permitted in secondary schools.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to address the rising rates in severe absence among girls in schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
Absence remains a major barrier to childrenās opportunity. To achieve and thrive, pupils need to be in school regularly. Thanks to the efforts of schools, trusts, local authorities and wider partners, attendance improved significantly in 2024/25, with children attending over 5 million more days than the previous year and 147,000 fewer children persistently absent. However, further progress is needed, particularly for severely absent pupils where barriers to attendance are often more complex due to intersecting needs and where girls have slightly higher absence than boys.
Our statutory āWorking Together to Improve School Attendanceā guidance requires schools to appoint an attendance champion, publish an attendance policy, and work closely with local authorities to identify and reduce barriers. The department guidance also recognises that for cohorts more at risk of severe absence, schools and local authorities should ensure targeted support is in place.
The department supports this through real-time attendance data tools and practical toolkits, helping schools, trusts and local authorities understand absence and act early. New regional improvements for standards and excellence (RISE) attendance and behaviour hubs will support over 3,000 schools, including enhanced support for up to 500 schools needing targeted intervention.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
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 extending ring-fenced support for (a) nutritious meals and (b) food education to all early years settings.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. Our landmark Child Poverty Strategy tackles the root causes of poverty by cutting the cost of essentials, boosting family incomes and improving local services so that every child can have the best start in life.
Removing the two-child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures, such as expanding free school meals to all children in households receiving Universal Credit from September 2026.
This will deliver the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began and will also apply to children in school-based nurseries and maintained nursery schools.
Under the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework, any meals, snacks and drinks provided must be healthy, balanced and nutritious. The department has published new EYFS nutrition guidance, and the āHelp for early years providersā website offers resources on food activities and sensory food education. The EYFS guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6839b752210698b3364e86fc/Early_years_foundation_stage_nutrition_guidance.pdf.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the number of places funded by the Educational Psychology Funded Training scheme on the number of educational psychologist staff.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Educational psychologists play a critical role in the support available to children and young people. The department is investing over Ā£21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from September 2024. This is in addition to the Ā£10 million currently supporting the training of over 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.
To support retention, trainees starting from 2024 who have had their training funded by the department will be required to remain in local authority employment for a minimum period of three years after graduation.
The department does not hold information on what proportion of assistant educational psychologists left the profession before becoming fully qualified educational psychologists.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of assistant educational psychologists left the profession before becoming fully qualified educational psychologists in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Educational psychologists play a critical role in the support available to children and young people. The department is investing over Ā£21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from September 2024. This is in addition to the Ā£10 million currently supporting the training of over 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.
To support retention, trainees starting from 2024 who have had their training funded by the department will be required to remain in local authority employment for a minimum period of three years after graduation.
The department does not hold information on what proportion of assistant educational psychologists left the profession before becoming fully qualified educational psychologists.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with local authorities to help assistant educational psychologists progress their careers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Educational psychologists play a critical role in the support available to children and young people. The department is investing over Ā£21 million to train 400 more educational psychologists from September 2024. This is in addition to the Ā£10 million currently supporting the training of over 200 educational psychologists who began their training in September 2023.
To support retention, trainees starting from 2024 who have had their training funded by the department will be required to remain in local authority employment for a minimum period of three years after graduation.
The department does not hold information on what proportion of assistant educational psychologists left the profession before becoming fully qualified educational psychologists.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to consult with occupational therapists as part of investment plans to increase the number of children with special education needs and disabilities in mainstream schools in England.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The government is committed to ensuring that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.
The department regularly consults with various experts, stakeholders and stakeholder groups, including the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. We will continue to work with the sector as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission.
The department is working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services, including occupational therapy, for children and young people with SEND. NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting lists to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services, and continues to look at actions to reduce waiting times for these services.
The Department of Health and Social Care have launched a 10 Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central part of this will be workforce and how they ensure they train and provide the staff the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to increase recruitment of specialist occupational therapists supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities; and what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for children's occupational therapy services.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The government is committed to ensuring that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.
The department regularly consults with various experts, stakeholders and stakeholder groups, including the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. We will continue to work with the sector as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission.
The department is working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services, including occupational therapy, for children and young people with SEND. NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting lists to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services, and continues to look at actions to reduce waiting times for these services.
The Department of Health and Social Care have launched a 10 Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central part of this will be workforce and how they ensure they train and provide the staff the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities within the hairdressing industry; and what support her Department provides salons to help them hire apprentices.
Answered by Janet Daby
Apprenticeships are a great way for individuals to begin, or progress in, a successful career in hairdressing. Employers in the sector have developed a level 2 Hairdressing Professional apprenticeship and a level 2 Barbering Professional apprenticeship to help them develop their workforces.
The department continues to promote the benefits that apprenticeships offer, to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme, as part of the Skills for Life campaign.
Employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, that are usually small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are important to the economy and to apprenticeships. SMEs are more likely to employ younger apprentices and apprentices from disadvantaged areas.
To support non-levy paying employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care. Employers of all sizes, including SMEs, can also benefit from Ā£1000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care.
Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employeesā National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 where they earn less than Ā£967 a week, or Ā£50,270 a year.