Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to the reduce the financial pressures of long-term care for people ineligible for state support.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Fee rates are set by providers of adult social care, the majority of which are in the independent sector. The Department does not have powers to set or recommend the level of fees that private care homes can charge. However, all businesses are required to comply with the Consumer Rights Act 2015 by ensuring that they use fair and clear terms in their standard agreements with customers.
We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The Commission will deliver recommendations for the transformation of adult social care including how to best create a fair and affordable adult social care system.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure fair pay for teaching assistants.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.
This government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024.
The SSSNB will mean that in future years, employers and employee representatives will come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, including teaching assistants, to ensure they are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The SSSNB will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.
Most school support staff, including teaching assistants, are currently employed on National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services pay and conditions. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. Employees covered by the NJC for local government services pay and conditions have been offered a pay increase of 3.2% from 1 April 2025, which is subject to agreement by the recognised NJC unions. The government does not play a role in this process.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teaching assistants have left the profession in the last year; and what estimate her Department has made of the cost to schools of this turnover.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education in schools across the country.
The school workforce census shows that the full-time equivalent (FTE) of teaching assistants has increased each year since 2019/20, rising to 288,800 in 2024/25. This is an increase of 5,900 since 2023/24.
A December 2024 departmental survey entitled ‘School and college voice’ found that a large majority of leaders (82%) reported recruiting teaching assistants or learning support staff since January 2024. However, these roles were commonly reported as the hardest to fill.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
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 introducing (a) retention bonuses and (b) bursaries for teaching assistants.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.
This government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024.
The SSSNB will mean that in future years, employers and employee representatives will come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, including teaching assistants, to ensure they are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The SSSNB will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.
Most school support staff, including teaching assistants, are currently employed on National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services pay and conditions. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. Employees covered by the NJC for local government services pay and conditions have been offered a pay increase of 3.2% from 1 April 2025, which is subject to agreement by the recognised NJC unions. The government does not play a role in this process.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to introduce a national pay framework for teaching assistants.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.
This government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024.
The SSSNB will mean that in future years, employers and employee representatives will come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, including teaching assistants, to ensure they are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The SSSNB will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.
Most school support staff, including teaching assistants, are currently employed on National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services pay and conditions. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. Employees covered by the NJC for local government services pay and conditions have been offered a pay increase of 3.2% from 1 April 2025, which is subject to agreement by the recognised NJC unions. The government does not play a role in this process.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to standardise access to high-quality (a) training and (b) continuing professional development for teaching assistants.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.
This government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024.
The SSSNB will mean that in future years, employers and employee representatives will come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, including teaching assistants, to ensure they are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The SSSNB will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.
Most school support staff, including teaching assistants, are currently employed on National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services pay and conditions. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. Employees covered by the NJC for local government services pay and conditions have been offered a pay increase of 3.2% from 1 April 2025, which is subject to agreement by the recognised NJC unions. The government does not play a role in this process.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) pay freezes and (b) real-terms wage reductions on the teaching assistant workforce.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.
This government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024.
The SSSNB will mean that in future years, employers and employee representatives will come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, including teaching assistants, to ensure they are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The SSSNB will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.
Most school support staff, including teaching assistants, are currently employed on National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services pay and conditions. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. Employees covered by the NJC for local government services pay and conditions have been offered a pay increase of 3.2% from 1 April 2025, which is subject to agreement by the recognised NJC unions. The government does not play a role in this process.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the retention of teaching assistants who support children with SEND.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.
This government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024.
The SSSNB will mean that in future years, employers and employee representatives will come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, including teaching assistants, to ensure they are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The SSSNB will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.
Most school support staff, including teaching assistants, are currently employed on National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services pay and conditions. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. Employees covered by the NJC for local government services pay and conditions have been offered a pay increase of 3.2% from 1 April 2025, which is subject to agreement by the recognised NJC unions. The government does not play a role in this process.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teaching assistants since 2020.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education in schools across the country.
The school workforce census shows that the full-time equivalent (FTE) of teaching assistants has increased each year since 2019/20, rising to 288,800 in 2024/25. This is an increase of 5,900 since 2023/24.
A December 2024 departmental survey entitled ‘School and college voice’ found that a large majority of leaders (82%) reported recruiting teaching assistants or learning support staff since January 2024. However, these roles were commonly reported as the hardest to fill.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to extend funding for (a) free and (b) subsidised swimming for children from low-income families.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Local Authorities are responsible for swimming provision, taking decisions locally in line with local strategies and contractual positions.
Pupils have the opportunity at primary school to learn to swim and be safe in and around water. The National Curriculum for Physical Education states that all schools must provide swimming instruction in either key stage 1 or 2 and that pupils should be taught to:
swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres
use a range of strokes effectively (for example, front crawl, backstroke and breaststroke)
perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations
Primary schools can use their PE and sport Premium funding to provide top-up swimming and water safety lessons for those pupils that do not meet national curriculum requirements after they have completed core swimming and water safety lessons.
The Government believes that opportunities to play sport and get physically active should be available to everyone and we recognise that there are barriers which prevent some people from getting active. We are committed to breaking down the barriers that contribute to these persisting inequalities in participation and want to ensure that everyone can experience the physical, mental and social benefits that come with being active.
As part of this, Sport England’s long-term strategy, Uniting the Movement, prioritises tackling these longstanding inequalities, focusing on providing more support and more investment targeted towards least active groups.
Sport England also track usage of swimming pools through Moving Communities to understand usage levels by children and by a user’s home postcode, to build an evidence base on usage in areas of higher deprivation.