Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the RPI plus 3 per cent interest rate on Plan 2 student loan debt on the ability of graduates earning the UK median wage to begin to pay down their outstanding student loan debt.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Plan 2 interest rates vary with income when the borrower has left study and is in repayment. The lower interest threshold, below which borrowers are charged an interest rate of RPI+0%, is currently £28,470. Interest then increases on a sliding scale to RPI+3% for borrowers earning over the higher interest threshold (currently £51,245). This ensures that, post-study, only borrowers earning higher incomes are charged RPI+3 interest.
Student loan repayments are made based on a borrower’s monthly or weekly earnings, not the interest rate or amount borrowed. Outstanding debt, including interest accrued, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of outstanding Plan 2 student loan debt in the year the first loans become eligible to be written off; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that debt on Government finances.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The oldest Plan 2 loans will become eligible for cancellation in 2046. For the England-domiciled 2012/13 cohort, the first to receive Plan 2 loans, we forecast a total of £17,036 million in loan balances (including interest) will be cancelled at the end of their 30-year repayment periods.
These cancellations are accounted for at the point of loan outlay. The future cancelled debt is reflected in both the national accounts and the department’s accounts in the year the loan is issued and is then updated annually. It will not result in further losses when the loans reach the end of their 30-year write-off period.
The treatment of student loans in the national accounts is in line the methodology published by the Office for National Statistics and can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/methodologies/studentloansinthepublicsectorfinancesamethodologicalguide.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy will include specific measures to support children in deepest poverty.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Strategy will be published in the autumn. The publication will set out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the strategy from this year and in future years, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups. This publication will also set out how we will measure the experience of children in the most severe and acute forms of poverty.
The government has already taken action to support children in deepest poverty, for example a new £1 billion package to reform crisis support, including funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy will include targets on child poverty reduction.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty, with our ambitious Child Poverty Strategy due to be published in the autumn.
The publication will set out how we intend to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the strategy from this year and in future years, including understanding how this varies across the UK and for different groups.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of children that were not accessing their entitlement to free childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024-25 academic year.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
The latest January 2025 statistics relating to funded early education and childcare were published on 11 July 2025. These are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025.
Statistics at constituency level are not readily available. Figures on the number of children registered for the families receiving additional support, universal and working parent entitlement in Salford can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/26af6f8f-ac9d-4ccb-94e3-08de11382822.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were in receipt of funded childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024-25 academic year.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
The latest January 2025 statistics relating to funded early education and childcare were published on 11 July 2025. These are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/funded-early-education-and-childcare/2025.
Statistics at constituency level are not readily available. Figures on the number of children registered for the families receiving additional support, universal and working parent entitlement in Salford can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/26af6f8f-ac9d-4ccb-94e3-08de11382822.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the size of the waiting list for accessing early years childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024-25 academic year.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life.
We do not retain data on school-based nursery places available in the Worsley and Eccles constituency. However, according to the department’s latest Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey for the reporting year 2024, there were 52,200 registered nursery class childcare places available in the North West region of England. The median hourly parent-paid fee for childcare in the region was £5.75 per hour for children under two, £5.60 per hour for two year-olds, and £5.50 per hour for three and four year-olds.
We do not have an estimate of the size of the waiting list for accessing early years childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024/25 academic year.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the average annual cost of childcare for parents in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024-25 academic year.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life.
We do not retain data on school-based nursery places available in the Worsley and Eccles constituency. However, according to the department’s latest Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey for the reporting year 2024, there were 52,200 registered nursery class childcare places available in the North West region of England. The median hourly parent-paid fee for childcare in the region was £5.75 per hour for children under two, £5.60 per hour for two year-olds, and £5.50 per hour for three and four year-olds.
We do not have an estimate of the size of the waiting list for accessing early years childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024/25 academic year.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school-based nursery places were available in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024-25 academic year.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
We have announced over £400 million of funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the quality early education where it is needed and get the best start in life.
We do not retain data on school-based nursery places available in the Worsley and Eccles constituency. However, according to the department’s latest Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey for the reporting year 2024, there were 52,200 registered nursery class childcare places available in the North West region of England. The median hourly parent-paid fee for childcare in the region was £5.75 per hour for children under two, £5.60 per hour for two year-olds, and £5.50 per hour for three and four year-olds.
We do not have an estimate of the size of the waiting list for accessing early years childcare in Worsley and Eccles constituency in the 2024/25 academic year.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will ensure that Parliament is able to adequately scrutinise the delivery of the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy which will be published in the autumn.
The Strategy publication will set out how we intend to monitor and evaluate delivery of the Strategy from this year and in future years.