Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of Level 7 apprenticeships in helping people to attain higher-level qualifications while in paid employment.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department knows that level 7 apprenticeships can open up opportunities for young people, supporting them to begin careers as solicitors or accountants for example, and we are keen for this to continue. That is why, in line with our mission to break down barriers to opportunity, we will continue to fund level 7 apprenticeships for those under the age of 22, or those aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care plan or have been in local authority care. We are also encouraging more employers to invest in upskilling their staff over 22 to level 7 where it delivers a benefit to the business and the individual. This will enable apprenticeship opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to introduce provisions to allow British National (Overseas) visa holders access to home-rate university tuition fees prior to obtaining settled status.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire to the answer of 29 May 2025 to Question 52277.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she conducted an impact assessment on restrictions to support through the adoption and special guardianship support fund.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The new criteria for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund will enable as many children and families as possible to access the available funding. The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. This includes reviewing the equalities impact assessment, which will be made available in the House Libraries in due course.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of removing Apprenticeship Levy funding for Level 7 apprenticeships on the number of people using the apprenticeship route to obtain higher-level qualifications; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of this change on young people.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43275.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of making the adoption and special guardianship support fund permanent.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 1 April, it was announced that the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) would continue into 2025/26, with a budget of £50 million.
All future decisions regarding the ASGSF will be considered as part of the next spending review.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of schools that receive charitable funding to cover essential costs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department collects information on the total income that academy trusts and maintained schools receive from private and charitable sources, beyond their core budgets, but does not hold information on what proportion of this was charitable or how money raised through charitable funding is spent in academy trusts and maintained schools. There is no expectation that educational resources should be paid for through charity and we are working closely with schools to understand their financial pressures.
Overall core revenue funding for schools in the 2024/25 financial year totals almost £61.6 billion. At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to the 2024/25 financial year. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion in the 2025/26 financial year.
These increases, against the backdrop of a challenging fiscal picture, demonstrate the government’s commitment to enabling every child to achieve and thrive through delivery of the Opportunity Mission.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the adoption and special guardianship and support fund on looked after children's access to mental health (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment in South Cambridgeshire.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) provides trauma- and attachment-related therapy and specialist assessments for children and families, where the child has previously been in local authority care and has been adopted or is under a special guardianship order (SGO) or child arrangements order (CAO). The ASGSF has given adopted and SGO/CAO children and families in South Cambridgeshire access to a variety of therapeutic interventions designed to help them with the impact of their early life trauma. Although the department continues to assess the impact of the ASGSF on children, it does not collect information centrally to assess the impact of the ASGSF on wider mental health diagnosis or treatment.
Announcements on funding for the ASGSF will be made as soon as possible.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timetable is for an announcement on future funding for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) provides trauma- and attachment-related therapy and specialist assessments for children and families, where the child has previously been in local authority care and has been adopted or is under a special guardianship order (SGO) or child arrangements order (CAO). The ASGSF has given adopted and SGO/CAO children and families in South Cambridgeshire access to a variety of therapeutic interventions designed to help them with the impact of their early life trauma. Although the department continues to assess the impact of the ASGSF on children, it does not collect information centrally to assess the impact of the ASGSF on wider mental health diagnosis or treatment.
Announcements on funding for the ASGSF will be made as soon as possible.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of unresolved Teacher Regulation Agency teacher misconduct cases.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) is an executive agency of the department which acts on behalf of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education as regulator of the teaching profession.
Supported by the department, the TRA has taken extensive steps over the last two years to increase its capacity and help ensure that misconduct cases are concluded in a more timely manner. As reported in its latest Annual Report and Accounts, these steps enabled the Agency to deliver a record number of misconduct hearings in the 2023/24 reporting year.
The TRA aims to manage all teacher misconduct investigations and hearings in a fair and timely manner. However, factors such as case complexity and delays when seeking disclosure from third parties may impact on the timeliness of their resolution.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 level of teacher salaries on staff retention in (a) Cambridge and (b) other areas with high living costs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
High quality teaching is the within school factor that makes the biggest difference to children’s outcomes which is why this government is determined tackle staff recruitment and retention challenges, making work pay and support teachers to stay in the profession.
Fair pay is key to ensuring teaching is an attractive and respected profession, which is why this government accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s (STRB) recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for the 2024/25 academic year. This pay award was equivalent to an increase of over £2,500 for the average teacher, taking median pay to over £49,000 for 2024/25.
This also means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools have seen a combined increase of over 17%, over the last three pay awards.
The starting salary for qualified teachers is now at least £31,650 outside London, including in Cambridge. Experienced teachers can earn up to £49,084 at the top of the pay scale outside London, including in Cambridge, and earn more if they take on additional responsibilities.
The teacher pay system is set up to reward teachers as they progress through their career, encouraging retention through an annual review that can lead to increased pay. Around 40% of classroom teachers also progress each year to the next pay point, meaning even greater increases in their salary.
Teachers’ pay is reviewed, on an annual basis, by the independent STRB, which considers what is an appropriate award in the context of the wider economy and public sector finances, and the cost-of-living pressures facing households.
Final decisions on the teacher’s pay award for 2025/26 will be made following recommendations from the independent pay review body process.