Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to help ensure that defibrillators which have reached the end of their operational life will in state-funded schools in England will be replaced and funded by her Department.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In 2023, the department provided over 20,000 defibrillators to state-funded schools in England. The programme aimed to ‘plug the gaps’ in existing provision to ensure that all schools have access to a device.
Defibrillators provided by the department are fully supported for the eight-year lifecycle of the device. New pads will be delivered automatically every two years, and replacement batteries provided four years after the initial delivery.
For schools who have existing defibrillators and for schools who wish to purchase additional defibrillators, the department has worked with the NHS to set up Defibs4Schools, which provides devices and consumables of a suitable specification. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-external-defibrillators-aeds-in-schools.
Following completion of the programme, the department will evaluate the impact of the rollout to inform future decisions.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mental health support is available to school staff who experience psychological harm as a result of witnessing or administering the use of a workplace automated external defibrillator on a pupil or colleague.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are best placed to understand what support may be most appropriate for their staff and should have standard operating procedures in place, including aftercare, should an incident occur where a member of staff witnesses or administers use of an automated external defibrillator on a pupil or a colleague. Should a rescuer need support after an incident, they may be able to request a debriefing from the local ambulance service. Alternatively, they can seek help directly from their GP.
The ‘Promoting and supporting mental health in schools and colleges’ page on GOV.UK, offers resources to build a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges. This includes information about the range of mental health support offers and training available to schools and colleges.
The charity, Education Support, also offers a free confidential 24 hour helpline dedicated to supporting staff working in education.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to raise the maximum reimbursement Student Finance England can provide for incorrect advice above £500.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Student Finance England is a service provided by the Student Loans Company (SLC).
The SLC is a non-departmental public body and therefore is issued its own delegated authority letter by the department. However, its delegated authority limits cannot exceed those delegated to the department by His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT). For consolatory payments (ex-gratia payments) to individuals, the limit is £500.
HMT are reviewing delegated authority limits for all government departments, as set out in the Office for Value for Money’s document ‘Reforming the spending control and accountability framework’, published on 26 October alongside the Budget. HMT and the department will consider any implications for the SLC’s delegations, in light of any changes which may be made to department’s delegations following this review.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing to schools that are experiencing an increase in pupils with an EHCP.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government wants all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve and thrive. We will set out our plans for SEND and alternative provision (AP) reform in a Schools White Paper this autumn.
We are increasing high needs funding by £1 billion in 2025/26, raising the total to over £12 billion to help local authorities and schools with rising costs for pupils with complex SEND.
The department has published £740 million in high-needs capital allocations for 2025/26 to expand SEND and AP places. This funding can be used to improve classroom accessibility, establish specialist facilities within mainstream schools, and create special school places for pupils with complex needs.
We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in schools, drawing on learning from programmes such as Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS).
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of publishing records of incidents and fatalities at nurseries.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The department’s priority is to grow high-quality, affordable and flexible education and care for children, whilst ensuring their safety, giving every child the best start of life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
The department is responsible for setting the standards which early years settings such as nurseries must follow, these are set out in the early years foundation stage statutory framework. The department has responsibility for policy on inspection and registration but how it is implemented is for Ofsted to decide and to be held to account by Parliament.
Given the sensitivity and quality of the information around incidents, Ofsted do not publish incident data as routine statistics. However, their annual report and accounts include some national level data on notifications that may relate to incidents. The latest is accessible at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e575d987cebda7c4ca4cde/31795_Ofsted_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2023-24_-_Accessible.pdf.
Ofsted can only commit to publishing national headline data about the number of complaints or notifications relating to incidents.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for EHCP plans in (a) the UK, (b) the West Midlands and (c) Dudley constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, following the Autumn Budget 2024. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to over £12 billion.
Of that total high needs funding, the West Midlands region is being allocated over £1,228 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of over £95 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula. Dudley Council specifically is being allocated over £62 million through the high needs funding block of the DSG, an increase of over £5 million on 2024/25.
Local authorities allocate this funding to schools, colleges and other settings, to help them with the costs of SEND provision, including for those children and young people with education, health and care plans. The department provides operational guidance for local authorities to support their allocation of high needs funding: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2025-to-2026.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she considered the potential merits of providing a higher level of funding to help support the implementation of the updated National Occupational Standards for hair and beauty qualifications.
Answered by Janet Daby
It is appreciated that over time National Occupational Standards change. The department expects providers to use the available funding to undertake any changes required.
The department uses the 16 to 19 funding formula to calculate the funding to institutions each academic year for the students they recruit. Funding rates depend on the size of students’ study programmes or T Levels, regardless of the type of institution.
In the 2025/26 academic year, the department will increase the national funding rate for students aged 16 and 17 and students aged 18 and over with high needs by 5.4%, compared with 2024/25, to £5,105. Other funding bands will increase proportionately.
For adults, the department is spending £1.4 billion on the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year, ensuring that adults can access the education and training they need to get into employment or progress in work.
Currently, 62% of the ASF is devolved to nine Mayoral Strategic Authorities and the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of ASF-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the ASF to learning providers. The department is responsible for the remaining ASF in non-devolved areas.
For the 2024/25 academic year, the department introduced five new funding rates that apply to non-devolved ASF. Under these new funding rates, 78% of qualifications have seen an increase in funding. There are a range of factors that influence the funding bands, such as skills needs and the cost of delivery.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department provides for the provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages courses in the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year to ensure that adult learners can access the education and training they need to get into employment or progress in work. The ASF supports a range of courses, including English for speakers of other languages (ESOL).
Currently, 62% of the ASF is devolved to 9 Mayoral Strategic Authorities, including West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), and the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of ASF-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the ASF to learning providers.
WMCA devolved ASF budget for the 2024/25 academic year was £133.7 million. WMCA decide what to spend their ASF budget on and this includes ESOL. By honouring the department’s commitments to combine and further devolve adult skills funding, we give those with local knowledge the power they need to make decisions that are best for their areas.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure awarding bodies for hair and beauty qualifications update their (a) guidance and (b) training to promote inclusivity for all (i) hair and (ii) skin types.
Answered by Janet Daby
This is a matter for the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to my hon. Friend, the member for Dudley directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.