Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 increasing funding for early intervention in children’s social care on costs to the public purse.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local government spending on children’s social care has risen by £4.4 billion over the last decade whilst spend on non-statutory, preventative services has fallen from £3.9 billion in 2012/13 to £2.7 billion in 2022/23, which is a fall of 31% in real terms.
The department wants to shift the dial to prioritise earlier intervention, removing barriers to accessing support. Families should access the right help at the earliest opportunity, to improve outcomes for children and to reduce the need for future costly intervention.
In this financial year, over £500 million is available to local authorities to roll out Family Help, multi-agency child protection and family network reforms through the Families First Partnership (FFP) programme. The FFP programme is based on strong evidence from several programmes delivered by local partners and we expect these reforms to lead to sustained reductions in spend on children’s social care. Local authorities will be able to recruit more practitioners who can spend more time with children and families at the earliest opportunity, to avoid later costly crisis intervention. We expect to generate savings by diverting children from care and improving school attendance and attainment, directly impacting the Opportunity Mission.
The government will continue to look at this closely in the next phase of the spending review.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of closing the Internships Work project on (a) local authorities, (b) employment agencies and (c) young people.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In 2022, the department invested £18 million to improve the quality of supported internships and increase the quantity to 4,500 internships per year by March 2025. The Internships Work consortium has led this investment.
Owing to the commitment of everyone involved in the programme, indicative data shows that the department has reached its aim of doubling the number of supported internships to 4,500 across the country. The interim report from our evaluation of the programme also shows an improvement in the quality of intern placements with employers and numbers of interns progressing into employment. The full interim report can be read here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supported-internship-programme-evaluation-of-investment.
We will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will (a) re-establish and (b) extend funding for the Internships Work project.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In 2022, the department invested £18 million to improve the quality of supported internships and increase the quantity to 4,500 internships per year by March 2025. The Internships Work consortium has led this investment.
Owing to the commitment of everyone involved in the programme, indicative data shows that the department has reached its aim of doubling the number of supported internships to 4,500 across the country. The interim report from our evaluation of the programme also shows an improvement in the quality of intern placements with employers and numbers of interns progressing into employment. The full interim report can be read here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supported-internship-programme-evaluation-of-investment.
We will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) financial incentives and (b) grants are available to encourage schools to utilise solar energy.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recently announced, in partnership with GB Energy, an £80 million (£40 million from the department and £40 million from GB Energy) initiative to install solar and other technologies such as electric vehicle chargers in 200 schools and colleges, prioritising those in areas of deprivation, to start in 2025/26.
This is one element of our strategy to ensure that the school estate is sustainable. We are providing support for all schools and colleges to start on their journey towards net zero via our new online sustainability support for education platform and our climate ambassador programme. Where schools are considering the purchase of solar panels or other sustainable systems, our ‘Get help for buying’ service provides support to ensure that schemes procured are of high-quality and value to the sector. More information can be found here: https://gethelpbuyingforschools.campaign.gov.uk/.
Details of other government funding available to public bodies for sustainability, can be found at this website, prepared by the Crown Commercial Service: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/social-value/carbon-net-zero/funding-and-grants.
Capital funding allocated to the school sector each year can also be used for projects that improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of school buildings, as well as improving the condition of the estate to keep schools safe and operational. Decisions on which projects to prioritise can be primarily taken at a local level.
The department has allocated £2.1 billion in condition funding for the 2025/26 financial year, which is £300 million more than the previous year.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider mandating that all new school buildings incorporate solar panels as standard.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In November 2021, the department launched a new set of construction standards addressing sustainability, energy and climate change. These revised standards mandate that all new department funded school buildings include roof mounted photovoltaic panels.
The department’s full specification can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/school-design-and-construction#output-specification.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Education and Skills Funding Agency on (a) academy trusts and (b) their capability to provide effective pastoral support.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Education and Skills Funding Agency closed on 31 March 2025 and its functions transferred to the department. The chief executive officer of the Agency, at its closure, issued an accounting officer letter to the sector on 19 March 2025 confirming the transfer of functions to the department. This letter is available on GOV.UK at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67d95fceb1857deda3da016d/Letter_to_accounting_officers_-_19_March_2025.pdf.
Moving the agency functions into the department allows for more joined-up delivery, both in the regulatory space and in the services it provides to the sector. It enables a single, joined-up approach to funding and regulation to improve accountability, provides a unified voice to schools and ensures that financial improvement is central to school improvement.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for (a) speech and language therapy, (b) occupational therapy and (c) other therapy services for SEND students in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the impact that long waits to access speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and other therapy services can have on children, their families and carers. The department is committed to reducing these long waits and improving timely access to therapy services, working closely with DHSC and NHS England.
The department is continuing to improve access to speech and language therapy by funding the Early Language and Support for Every Child pathfinder project in partnership with NHS England. We are also continuing to build the pipeline of future therapists by introducing the speech and language level 6-degree apprenticeship. This is now in its third year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase funding for (a) Stockport Borough Council and (b) other local authorities to provide adequate SEND support in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to £11.9 billion. Of that total, Stockport Borough Council is being allocated over £52 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), which is an increase of £4.3 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 8.3% increase per head of their 2 to 18 year-old population, on the equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.
In addition to the DSG, local authorities will also receive a separate core schools budget grant (CSBG), and funding in respect of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, in the 2025/26 financial year. This CSBG continues the separate grants payable this year, which are to help special schools and alternative provision with the costs of teachers’ pay and pension increases and other staff pay increases. Individual local authorities’ allocations of this funding for 2025/26 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 establishing a (a) regulatory and (b) governing body to (i) oversee home-educated students and (ii) ensure access to appropriate (A) resources, (B) support and (C) examination facilities.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Parents who choose to home educate their children assume full responsibility for that education, as a state-funded place is available for every child.
The decision to home educate must be an informed one, with full awareness of potential challenges and the associated costs. Parents should consider and plan in advance how and where their child can access exams and any written or practical assessments for their chosen subject(s).
Exam centres, such as schools and colleges, deliver exams on behalf of exam boards, and rightly take their own decisions on whether they can accept private candidates based on their own individual circumstances, such as how big their exam halls are. Private candidates includes home educated students, but also adults and others.
The department has worked with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JQC), who have created a centre search function on JCQ’s website, which enables any private candidate, including home educated students, to locate the nearest centre available to sit their A level science exams. Parents or private candidates should contact these centres, and any other private or local centres, to discuss whether they are able to accommodate private candidates taking both their exams and practical assessments.
Local authorities have existing oversight responsibilities for home educating children and must make arrangements to identify children in their areas who are of compulsory school age, but who are not in school and not receiving a suitable education. To support local authorities, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced by the government in December 2024, includes measures to introduce a compulsory Children Not in School registration system in each local authority area in England. It also includes accompanying duties on parents and out-of-school education providers to provide information for local authority registers.
As part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department is also, for the first time, introducing a duty on local authorities to support home educating families on their Children Not in School registers. This new duty means that, when requested to do so by the parent, local authorities must provide advice and information relating to the child’s education. This could include, for example, advice and information about how to access and navigate the exams system or signposting to educational resources. This new support duty will, for the first time, ensure an established baseline level of support across all English local authorities to ensure that wherever home educating families live they have access to a reliable level of support from their local authority.
Some local authorities may choose to offer support that goes beyond this baseline. However, this remains a decision for each local authority in respect of their individual circumstances.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to financially support independent candidates (a) sitting A-Level exams and (b) requiring multiple resits.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Parents who choose to home educate their children assume full responsibility for that education, as a state-funded place is available for every child.
The decision to home educate must be an informed one, with full awareness of potential challenges and the associated costs. Parents should consider and plan in advance how and where their child can access exams and any written or practical assessments for their chosen subject(s).
Exam centres, such as schools and colleges, deliver exams on behalf of exam boards, and rightly take their own decisions on whether they can accept private candidates based on their own individual circumstances, such as how big their exam halls are. Private candidates includes home educated students, but also adults and others.
The department has worked with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JQC), who have created a centre search function on JCQ’s website, which enables any private candidate, including home educated students, to locate the nearest centre available to sit their A level science exams. Parents or private candidates should contact these centres, and any other private or local centres, to discuss whether they are able to accommodate private candidates taking both their exams and practical assessments.
Local authorities have existing oversight responsibilities for home educating children and must make arrangements to identify children in their areas who are of compulsory school age, but who are not in school and not receiving a suitable education. To support local authorities, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced by the government in December 2024, includes measures to introduce a compulsory Children Not in School registration system in each local authority area in England. It also includes accompanying duties on parents and out-of-school education providers to provide information for local authority registers.
As part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department is also, for the first time, introducing a duty on local authorities to support home educating families on their Children Not in School registers. This new duty means that, when requested to do so by the parent, local authorities must provide advice and information relating to the child’s education. This could include, for example, advice and information about how to access and navigate the exams system or signposting to educational resources. This new support duty will, for the first time, ensure an established baseline level of support across all English local authorities to ensure that wherever home educating families live they have access to a reliable level of support from their local authority.
Some local authorities may choose to offer support that goes beyond this baseline. However, this remains a decision for each local authority in respect of their individual circumstances.