Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 commencement of the socio-economic duty under the Equality Act 2010 on (a) school and (b) university admissions.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government issued a call for evidence on equality law, which included commencing the socio-economic duty under the Equality Act 2010. This closed on 30 June 2025.
All mainstream state-funded schools are required to comply with relevant legislation and the statutory School Admissions Code. It is for a school’s admission authority to decide which oversubscription criteria to include in their arrangements. They must ensure that their arrangements will not disadvantage unfairly, either directly or indirectly, a child from a particular social or racial group, or a child with a disability or special educational needs.
We will support the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, regardless of their background, where they live and their personal circumstances.
Gaps in access, completion and outcomes between disadvantaged students and others at university are unacceptably large and stubborn.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Universities have received emergency funding from the Government since 4 July 2024; and how much money has been provided as part of that process.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has not provided emergency funding to any university since 4 July 2024.
Universities are independent from government and as such must continue to make the necessary financial decisions to ensure their long-term sustainability. If a university was at risk of failure, the department would work with the Office for Students (OfS) to ensure that students are protected, recognising the significant impact university closure would have on their future. The government reserves the right to intervene to protect students’ interests, if necessary.
While the sector is autonomous, we are committed to creating a secure future for our world-leading universities.
To support universities in stabilising their financial positions, the OfS will continue dedicating significant resources to ensuring the sector's financial sustainability. The department has appointed Professor Edward Peck as the substantive Chair of the OfS, where he will play a key role in strengthening this commitment, while also expanding opportunities in higher education (HE).
Additionally, we have made the difficult decision to increase tuition fee limits by 3.1% (in line with inflation) from the 2025/26 academic year.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether appointments to the School Support Staff Negotiating Body will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair appointment will be classified as a Significant Appointment.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Chair of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body will be appointed in line with normal practice and the Governance Code on Public Appointments with guidance from the department’s Public Appointments Team.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that there is an improved transition from T-levels to (a) Level 4, (b) Level 5 and (c) Level 6 apprenticeships in the (i) creative arts, (ii) media and (iii) computing sectors.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are currently 21 T Levels available in a range of subjects, including three in the digital sector. T Levels in Craft and Design, and Media, Broadcast and Production were introduced for the first time in September last year.
T Levels are based on the same occupational standards as apprenticeships, and include industry placements of at least 45 days, making them excellent preparation for higher-level apprenticeships. Students progressing from a T Level may be able to complete an apprenticeship more quickly in recognition of their prior learning. Early data shows that T Levels are providing a particularly strong route into higher apprenticeships across a range of subjects. Among the first cohort of T Level completers doing an apprenticeship, almost three quarters (72%) had progressed to a Higher or Degree apprenticeship. This is significantly higher than the rate for all level 3 learners (24%), where the vast majority go on to do an apprenticeship at the same level (52%) or at a lower level (24%).
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many referrals made by police to Local Authority Designated Officers for concerns about people (a) working and (b) volunteering with children resulted in direct action being taken by the (i) local authority, (ii) employer and (iii) voluntary organisation in each of the last three years.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold this information. Information about referrals to Local Authority Designated Officers (LADO) is held at a local level by individual police forces and the local authorities.
The outcomes of LADO investigations are also held at local level and contained in the respective LADO annual reports. The department does not collate LADO annual reports and so does not have data on the action being taken by local authorities, employers and voluntary organisations within the last three years.
Keeping children safe could not be more important to this government and we are swiftly acting to reform the child protection and safeguarding system.
That is why the department is legislating through our Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to stop children falling through the cracks and to ensure they are not out of sight of those who can keep them safe.
The department has also introduced a new mandatory reporting duty in the Crime and Policing Bill for individuals undertaking key roles with responsibility for children in England to report sexual abuse.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) private education providers have closed and (b) early years places have been removed in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.
The department does not collect this data on a monthly basis. According to the department’s most recent Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey, approximately 1,200 private nurseries closed between 2023 and 2024. In the same period around 800 new private nurseries entered the market, giving a net closures number of approximately 400. However, recent Ofsted data shows that the number of childcare places in the UK is increasing. As of the latest survey in 2024, there were approximately 1,602,500 registered childcare places, an increase of 1,370 places from March 2023.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues to schools on identifying and supporting children whose parents are in custody; whether there is any additional guidance when no formal notification is received from other agencies.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has a key mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child, which is why we are committed to identifying children affected by parental imprisonment and ensuring they get the community support they need to thrive.
This government recognises the impact that a parent going to prison could have on a child’s learning, behaviour, mental health and wellbeing. We also recognise that support should be based on children's individual needs, which may change over time.
The department sets out in the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance for schools and colleges that staff should consider the additional needs of children with a family member or parent in prison. The guidance highlights the risk of poor outcomes including poverty, stigma, isolation and poor mental health.
Parental imprisonment is a sensitive issue, and officials from both the Department for Education and the Ministry of Justice are working with a wide range of stakeholders, including people with lived experience, to ensure that any future guidance issued sets out a child-centred, trauma-informed and age-appropriate approach. Exact details of how this will work in practice will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) reduce the potential impact of a parent's imprisonment on the educational attainment of their child and (b) ensure that children with a parent in prison are being considered in school safeguarding assessments.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has a key mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child, which is why we are committed to identifying children affected by parental imprisonment and ensuring they get the community support they need to thrive.
The department also recognises that support should be based on the individual needs of the child, not solely on having a parent in prison. That is why our approach is focussed on equipping early years settings, schools and local authorities to respond to children’s needs in a trauma-informed way, with compassionate support from trained professionals.
Improving attendance in educational settings, to enable all children to achieve and thrive, is a top priority for the government. We are providing schools and teachers with world-leading data tools, empowering them to identify quickly children who are at risk of non-attendance and put the right support in place.
The ‘Working together to safeguard children’ statutory guidance is clear that anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to local authority children’s social care. Children’s circumstances vary considerably, and local agencies are best placed to determine what support is needed.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had the (a) Ministry of Justice, (b) Home Office, (c) ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government on improving information sharing between (i) prisons, (ii) the police, (iii) courts, (iv) social services, (v) local housing authorities and (vi) schools when a parent is sentenced to custody.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Officials at the Department for Education (DfE) and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are working closely to deliver on the government’s manifesto commitment to identify children affected by parental imprisonment so as to ensure they get the support they need to achieve and thrive.
In April 2025 a Ministerial roundtable meeting brought together those with lived experience of parental imprisonment, expertise on local authority family support, safeguarding, prisons, housing, social work, courts and schools.
A cross-government workshop in June 2025 brought together officials from several other government departments. Officials from both the DfE and MoJ have visited local authorities, met with children and their families in the community, with parents and social workers in prisons, and participated in several focus groups.
The department will continue to engage external stakeholders with a broad range of expertise to help shape our policy to better identify and support children affected by parental imprisonment.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16525 on Guardianship and Parents: Prisoners, what recent progress her Department has made with the Ministry of Justice to effectively identify children of prisoners.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Officials at the Department for Education (DfE) and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) continue to work closely together to deliver on our manifesto commitment to identify children affected by parental imprisonment and ensure they get the support they need to thrive.
We recognise that our approach to identification must be a sensitive one and link to an informed, consistent and sustainable nationwide support offer.
Our departments have engaged a broad range of external stakeholders with a variety of expertise to help inform our policy development and will continue to do so as our work on this commitment progresses.
In April 2025 DfE and MoJ Ministers co-chaired a roundtable meeting and brought together those with lived experience of parental imprisonment, expertise on local authority family support, safeguarding, prisons, housing, social work, courts and schools.
A cross-government workshop in June 2025 gathered officials from a range of government departments.
Officials from both DfE and MoJ have also visited local authorities, met with children and their families in the community, with parents and social workers in prisons, and participated in several focus groups.