Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the (a) time spent in schools watching YouTube content and (b) associated revenue earned by YouTube.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department does not collect or hold data on the amount of time spent in schools watching YouTube content during lessons, nor does the department hold information or make estimates regarding any associated revenue earned by YouTube from its use in educational settings.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Google Classroom and YouTube within schools on children.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department aims to harness the benefits of digital tools to enhance learning, while placing robust safeguards at the heart of our policies. By working in partnership with educators, parents, industry experts and researchers, we are shaping a digital education landscape that prioritises evidence-based practice, inclusivity, and the best interests of children and young people.
We recognise that the wide variety of technological services used in schools, including but not limited to Google products and services, can provide both opportunities and risks for children. As set out in our core guidance, technology plays an important role in broad, rich learning experiences in classrooms across the country, and it is essential that children learn to use technology confidently and safely, so they are prepared for a rapidly evolving world of work.
Equally, we understand concerns about excessive screen use and agree that unmonitored or unlimited personal use can carry risks and recognise that we must get the balance right.
Schools are responsible for safeguarding, including ensuring appropriate filtering and monitoring systems and compliance with data protection.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the risk of behavioural data collected via Google Classroom and school-managed Google accounts being utilised to refine algorithmic profiles on consumer-facing Alphabet services, such as YouTube.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The protection of personal data is of fundamental importance, particularly as schools increasingly adopt new and emerging technologies. The department has published a data protection toolkit which helps guide schools through key data protection activity, including compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018.
The department’s Generative artificial intelligence (AI) and data protection in schools guidance supports schools with understanding their data protection responsibilities and how to use generative AI safely and lawfully, with a focus on protecting pupils’ personal data. It should be read alongside existing UK data protection law (Data (Use and Access) Act 2026, UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018) and wider safeguarding expectations.
The guidance makes clear that while AI can be useful for teaching, schools remain legally responsible for any personal data shared with or processed by these tools, including data about pupils, staff and families. Schools are advised to understand how AI and technology products handle data and avoid inputting personal or sensitive information unless risks are properly managed.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the frequency of (a) inappropriate, (b) violent and (c) age-inappropriate content encountered by teachers and pupils while using YouTube for instructional purposes during live lessons.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department takes the issue of online harms very seriously. Our ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance makes clear that schools and colleges should ensure appropriate filtering and monitoring systems are in place and that their effectiveness is regularly reviewed. This limits children’s exposure to harmful content while on school-managed devices.
The department does not hold specific data on the frequency of inappropriate, violent or age‑inappropriate content encountered by teachers or pupils when using YouTube during lessons.
We recognise that technology poses risks as well as benefits and schools need to be proactive in managing this. Schools need to have appropriate filtering and monitoring systems in place, so young people are kept safe online while in school. In response to concerns from the sector, we have published filtering and monitoring and cyber security standards which outline how schools can implement safe and secure technology.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Department has taken to monitor the progress of children whose education has been disrupted by long COVID.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department does not hold data on the number of children absent specifically due to long COVID.
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. As set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ and ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ guidance, schools and local authorities should work together to ensure that pupils at school with medical conditions, including long COVID, should be properly supported so that they have full access to education.
Both sets of guidance are available here:
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department tracks the number of children whose education has been disrupted by long COVID.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department does not hold data on the number of children absent specifically due to long COVID.
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. As set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ and ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ guidance, schools and local authorities should work together to ensure that pupils at school with medical conditions, including long COVID, should be properly supported so that they have full access to education.
Both sets of guidance are available here:
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the meal rate for Universal Free School Meals to cover the costs school face in providing them.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department spends around £600 million annually supporting the provision of free and nutritious meals to around 1.3 million infants and almost £1 billion supporting around 2.2 million of the most disadvantaged pupils. In addition to this, we have set aside over £1 billion over the multiyear spending review period to back our significant expansion of free meals support to all households on Universal Credit, taking effect from September 2026. This will benefit over half a million children.
For the 2025/26 academic year, we have allocated a meal rate of £2.61 for universal infant free school meals. As with all policies, we continue to keep free meals policy, including funding, under review to ensure that nutritious meals continue to be deliverable. Departmental officials meet regularly with the sector, including the school catering industry, and use these insights to inform our work.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty on her departmental responsibilities.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has a long-standing commitment to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant and support the education of children and young people from military families within the state-funded education system in England.
The department is supportive of the extension of the Armed Forces Covenant, and officials have liaised with the Ministry of Defence on plans to improve and extend key policies that target support for service pupils and their families.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to increase (a) the number of technical excellence colleges and (b) AI skills training to support the (i) advanced manufacturing and (ii) clean energy sectors in South Northamptonshire constituency, in the context of the skill commitments set out in the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, published on 23 June 2025.
Answered by Janet Daby
Our Industrial Strategy puts skills at the heart of economic growth. This means ensuring training opportunities match growth areas like artificial intelligence (AI).
We are introducing Technical Excellence Colleges (TECs) to specialise in training skilled workforces for priority sectors, starting with Construction TECs. The number and design of TECs will reflect sectors’ needs, and further information will be published in due course. The government will introduce short courses in England, funded through the Growth and Skills Levy, in areas such as digital, AI and engineering.
The Technology Adoption Review (June 2025) considered barriers to adoption of transformative technologies across the Industrial Strategy’s priority sectors. The AI Opportunities Action Plan (January 2025) considered barriers for AI take-up across the economy aligned with the Industrial Strategy. The government will take forward all 50 recommendations, including recommendations on AI Skills and Talent.
The Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan (June 2025) set out government’s approach to supporting AI, including via one-stop-shops to offer expert advice for businesses around technology adoption.
The Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan (June 2025) establishes actions the government is taking to integrate AI into clean energy sectors, including accepting the findings of the Technology Adoption Review.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to support the recruitment and retention of teachers in rural secondary schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
High-quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child’s educational outcome. Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s opportunity mission and boosting the life chances for every child. This is why the department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new teachers across secondary and special schools and in our colleges over the course of this Parliament.
We have announced a 4% pay award to school teachers and leaders, accepting in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s pay recommendation and two months ahead of last year.
This comes on top of the 5.5% pay award that we announced last July. We are seeing early improvements in recruitment and retention with over 2,000 more people training to become secondary school teachers this year. Recruitment is also on track to improve further for 2025/26, with 1,070 more acceptances to postgraduate and teacher degree apprenticeship initial teacher training courses in secondary subjects by the end of April 2025, compared to the same time last year. Additionally, over 2,500 more teachers are expected to stay in the profession over the next three years.
We are doing more to continue to improve recruitment and retention, including in rural secondary schools. We have increased funding for training bursaries to £233 million in 2025/26, worth up to £29,000 tax-free. We are also offering scholarships worth up to £31,000 tax free. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department is also offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including rural and coastal areas.
As part of our recruitment and retention strategy, it is vital that we improve the day-to-day experience of teachers and ensure that teaching is once again a respected and attractive profession that teachers remain and thrive in. We are supporting teachers to reduce their workload and improve their wellbeing and enabling greater opportunities for greater flexible working.