First elected: 4th July 2024
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Introduce 16 as the minimum age for children to have social media
Sign this petition Gov Responded - 17 Dec 2024 Debated on - 24 Feb 2025 View Victoria Collins's petition debate contributionsWe believe social media companies should be banned from letting children under 16 create social media accounts.
These initiatives were driven by Victoria Collins, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Victoria Collins has not been granted any Urgent Questions
A Bill to make provision for the designation of rivers, streams and lakes as having protected status; to specify criteria for minimum standards that a site must meet where it has been designated as a river, stream or lake with protected status; to set minimum standards of water quality, safety, environmental management and provision of information in relation to such sites; and for connected purposes.
Victoria Collins has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The Taylor Review was published in 2017 and while it continues to be a valuable contribution to the debate on working practices, this Government is focused on delivering our plan to Make Work Pay.
Once implemented, our Plan to Make Work Pay will represent the biggest upgrade of workers’ rights in a generation. It will raise the minimum floor of employment rights, raise living standards across the country and level the playing field for those businesses that are already engaged in good practices.
Small businesses across the UK including in Harpenden and Berkhamsted are the beating heart of our high streets and communities. This Government is committed to supporting them through a fairer business rate system.
From 2026-27, we’ll introduce lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values under £500,000. RHL relief will be extended for 2025-26 at 40%, and the small business multiplier will be frozen for the same period.
The Business Secretary has also announced a new Business Growth Service to help businesses access more easily the support they need to thrive and grow and we will publish our strategy to support small businesses later this year.
We will always act in the best interests of UK businesses. That’s why the government has been focused on negotiating an economic deal with the US.
We will continue to engage with businesses to assess and understand the impact of these tariffs. On 3 April the government launched a Request for Input from businesses to help inform the UK’s response to US tariffs.
We continue to support businesses to grow and export across the world, including to the United States. Through the recently announced Business Growth Service, businesses can access export support via Great.gov.uk. including the Export Academy, International Markets Network, Growth Hubs and Help to Grow: Management scheme.
The accuracy of energy meters is of benefit to both energy providers and consumers and is a requirement of the Electricity and Gas Act legislation covering energy meters. To ensure the UK is taking account of the latest technological innovations the Government participates on relevant international committees that develop internationally recognised standards for ensuring consumption via energy meters is recorded accurately. Following those standards helps industry ensure they are also meeting their legal requirements.
Information provided by employers to HMRC show the number of individuals in receipt of Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP). This data provides a broad indication of Paternity Leave take-up but does not include those that take unpaid paternity leave. The Parental Rights Survey found that 70% of all employee fathers took Paternity Leave.
Table 1: Individuals in receipt of SPP, 2019/20 to 2023/24 (the latest year for which full year data is available)
Year (April to March) | Total |
2019-20 | 208,000 |
2020-21 | 176,400 |
2021-22 | 204,200 |
2022-23 | 195,300 |
2023-24 | 207,600 |
The match funding between GBE and DfE announced on 21 March 2025 will enable around 200 schools in England to install solar power and complementary decarbonisation technologies, helping to drive down their energy bills. It is estimated to provide up to £140 million of savings for schools bills over the 30-year lifetime of the panels.
The Government will conduct feasibility studies for schools soon and anticipate installation work to start soon afterwards with the majority of installations happening over the 2025 School Summer holidays.
The Government has been engaging with a range of stakeholders, providing an opportunity to share their ideas and views on how government can best encourage nature positive best practice into energy infrastructure planning and development. We are working to better understand how we can integrate nature restoration through Clean Power 2030.
The Government is committed to supporting the growth and scaling-up of green technologies, including through the creation of GB Energy, as part of its Clean Energy Superpower Mission. The Government will set out its full approach to seizing the growth opportunities from clean energy industries in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy.
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are a critical tool in informing consumers about the running costs of their homes, helping them reduce both energy bills and carbon emissions. The EPC model already recognises the performance of air-to-air heat pumps. The government is reviewing the building physics model and methodology underpinning EPCs to better support net zero goals, including deployment of heat pumps. Government will shortly set out a consultation with proposals for improvements to EPCs, including proposals for improving EPC metrics.
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are a critical tool in informing consumers about the running costs of their homes, helping them reduce both energy bills and carbon emissions. The EPC model already recognises the performance of air-to-air heat pumps. The government is reviewing the building physics model and methodology underpinning EPCs to better support net zero goals, including deployment of heat pumps. Government will shortly set out a consultation with proposals for improvements to EPCs, including proposals for improving EPC metrics.
The illegal content duties under the Online Safety Act came into force on 17 March 2025. Social media services must now have systems and processes in place to proactively protect users from illegal fraudulent content. Ofcom’s illegal content Codes of Practice recommended that certain services at risk of fraud have dedicated reporting channels for trusted flaggers, such as the National Crime Agency, to report fraud. Providers must take the safety measures recommended in Codes or use other effective measures to protect users.
Ofcom can take enforcement action if providers do not act promptly to address the risks on their services.
The Online Safety Act focuses on the worst kinds of mis- and disinformation - that which is illegal content or content harmful to children. For example, its Foreign Interference Offence forces platforms to take proactive action against state-linked online interference. Platforms must remove other in-scope illegal mis- and disinformation where they become aware of it.
The government is clear on platforms’ responsibility to keep their users safe and tackle harmful content, and DSIT engages with major social media platforms on issues or events that create risks for public safety or national security.
The Government is committed to supporting the uptake and development of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. UK Research and Innovation is committed to reducing the use of animals in research and provide a number of financial support mechanisms to do that. This includes, for example, core funding to the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, and supporting ‘human-specific’ research through the MRC Experimental medicine programme.
Under the Online Safety Act, platforms and search services that are likely to be accessed by children must prevent children of all ages from encountering content that promotes, encourages or provides instructions for eating disorders.
Providers must also consider how algorithms can impact children’s exposure to harmful content and mitigate this risk.
Ofcom’s draft children’s code of practice also acknowledge that body image content may be linked to significant harm arising from body or image dissatisfaction.
Government is committed to protecting children’s safety online across the UK.
The Online Safety Act requires social media platforms to consider, as part of their risk assessments, how their algorithms impact children’s exposure to illegal and harmful content. Additionally, platforms are required to consider how their functionalities, including algorithms, affect the time children spend on the platform.
Ofcom’s draft Children’s Safety Codes include measures that prevent harm related to algorithms, including by recommending that algorithms and other recommender systems filter harmful content out of children’s feeds.
I have not had any discussions with Ofcom directly on increasing the spectrum available to mobile operators, but my officials are in regular discussion with them on spectrum issues. The Government recognises the importance of ensuring access to suitable spectrum across different sectors, the opportunities this creates for growth, and that a focus on innovation and enhanced shared use of spectrum will become increasingly important to realise this.
Ofcom sets mobile spectrum fees independently to promote the optimal use of spectrum. The Government recognises the cost of these fees to the industry. Supporting investment in mobile networks is a priority and the Government continues to assess what further interventions are needed to support 5G deployment.
The AI Opportunities Action Plan outlines how the UK can build the cutting-edge compute infrastructure needed to lead in AI development and deployment, securing long-term economic growth and staying at the forefront of AI innovation.
AI Growth Zones will encourage the development of advanced AI data centres in areas of the country with plentiful power, such as post-industrial towns and areas with significant renewable energy capacity.
The investment in AI-enabled data centres will have a spillover effect in local communities, providing jobs, improving local infrastructure, rejuvenating areas, and driving the UK’s ambition to become a global hub for AI talent and investment.
The Growth Zones will help secure the UK’s position as a global leader in AI innovation and will deliver substantial regional and national benefits.
There is no single accepted definition of digital poverty, but we know that digital exclusion impacts people broadly across demographics with some, including older people, at higher risk.
According to Ofcom in 2024, 6% of UK adults did not have internet access at home. For those aged 75+, the figure is 29%. 34% of households with school-aged children did not have an appropriate device for accessing online schoolwork.
This Government is determined to remedy this by closing the digital divide and ensuring everyone has the access, skills, support and confidence to participate in our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances.
The government is committed to empowering internet users with the skills to engage critically with online content and make informed decisions.
Since 2022, nearly £3 million in funding has been provided for media literacy projects. This includes £0.5 million in 2024 to scale up two programmes to provide media literacy support to teachers, children aged 11-16, and professionals working with families. That funding covers the 2024/25 financial year.
Robust evaluation and monitoring are key requirements of the grant schemes. Both organisations must evaluate the impact of their programmes over the past year by March 2025.
As of the end of March 2024, over one million premises had been upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband through government-funded programmes. Additionally, more than £2 billion of contracts have been signed to provide gigabit-capable coverage to over a million more premises.
All planned Project Gigabit contracts for England and Wales have been signed. In the last few months alone, the first premises have been given coverage as part of these contracts in areas including North Yorkshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and South Wiltshire. Build is under way in many other parts of the country too.
The Scottish Government has four procurements in progress and details of a contract covering the Borders and East Lothian area are expected to be announced shortly. Remaining areas of Scotland will be included within a procurement which is currently under way with Openreach, managed by the UK Government. A single procurement is also in progress in Northern Ireland, managed by the Department for Economy.
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology regularly engages with international counterparts, including European partners, both bilaterally and through multilateral forums such as the G7, G20, and OECD. These discussions focus on shared opportunities and challenges posed by technological innovation, including the role of regulatory frameworks in fostering growth and innovation while ensuring security.
The Government recognises that the huge opportunities offered by AI also come with risks. This includes the potential to generate inauthentic content indistinguishable from human-generated content at higher scale and lower cost than previously possible. We continue to investigate the potential for transparency and detection and welcome technical innovation in this space.
The Online Safety Act requires social media platforms to swiftly remove illegal misinformation and disinformation or hateful content - including where AI-generated - as soon as they become aware of it. The Government also empowers users with the skills and knowledge to engage critically with online content through media literacy initiatives.
Since April 2024, three new Project Gigabit contracts covering Lincolnshire and East Riding, Cheshire, and North Yorkshire have been signed.
A cross regional framework agreement with Openreach, has also been signed. The first two call-off contracts under the framework have been awarded, covering large parts of Wales and rural parts of England from Devon to Staffordshire. The first Project Gigabit procurements have also been launched in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The project to develop a breath test to identify pancreatic cancer is funded via the NIHR i4i/OLS: Early Cancer Diagnosis Clinical Validation and Evaluation Call. This £11 million programme funds 6 projects that aim to develop technologies to aid early detection of cancer. This is one strand of the Office for Life Sciences’ (OLS) Cancer Programme, which supports the development of technologies that enable earlier, more effective cancer diagnosis and improved treatment. OLS is a joint Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) unit, ensuring both departments are involved in this work.
The Government recognises that leisure facilities are important to communities up and down the country. High quality, inclusive facilities help people get active. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to high quality facilities and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.
The ongoing responsibility for public leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level. Local Authorities work in partnership with operators who manage leisure services. The Government and Sport England continue to work closely with Local Authorities to monitor pressures in the sector.
Sport England’s Moving Communities service provides insight which informs local authorities in making strategic decisions about the most effective investments to benefit local communities.
The Government is considering the best available evidence from a wide range of sources to inform decisions on how best to fulfil its manifesto commitment to reducing gambling-related harm.
The Gambling Commission has recently implemented a number of regulatory reforms aimed at reducing harm, such as introducing new regulations to make online games safer and financial vulnerability checks aimed at reducing cases of unaffordable losses. The Commission has also consulted on measures to ensure that incentives such as free bets are constructed in a socially responsible manner and will respond to this consultation in due course.
We will provide further updates to the House soon.
I refer the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted to the answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 45293.
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
This working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage (£195 per week/£10,158 per year in 2025/26), and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year.
The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents (estimated to be 3.8% of parents of 3 and 4-year-olds in 2023/24) earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Further information can be found at the following address: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5/2024.
Parents who earn over maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for 3 and 4-year-olds in England.
The department has taken action to improve transparency and protect parents from additional charges on top of their entitlement, ensuring the funded hours remain accessible for parents. We updated our statutory guidance on 21 February 2025, reconfirming that there must be no mandatory additional charges associated with entitlement hours. The guidance also sets out the expectation that local authorities ensure providers have set out additional charges clearly and upfront on websites and invoices by January 2026.
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
This working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage (£195 per week/£10,158 per year in 2025/26), and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year.
The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents (estimated to be 3.8% of parents of 3 and 4-year-olds in 2023/24) earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Further information can be found at the following address: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5/2024.
Parents who earn over maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for 3 and 4-year-olds in England.
The department has taken action to improve transparency and protect parents from additional charges on top of their entitlement, ensuring the funded hours remain accessible for parents. We updated our statutory guidance on 21 February 2025, reconfirming that there must be no mandatory additional charges associated with entitlement hours. The guidance also sets out the expectation that local authorities ensure providers have set out additional charges clearly and upfront on websites and invoices by January 2026.
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
This working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage (£195 per week/£10,158 per year in 2025/26), and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year.
The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents (estimated to be 3.8% of parents of 3 and 4-year-olds in 2023/24) earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Further information can be found at the following address: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5/2024.
Parents who earn over maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for 3 and 4-year-olds in England.
The department has taken action to improve transparency and protect parents from additional charges on top of their entitlement, ensuring the funded hours remain accessible for parents. We updated our statutory guidance on 21 February 2025, reconfirming that there must be no mandatory additional charges associated with entitlement hours. The guidance also sets out the expectation that local authorities ensure providers have set out additional charges clearly and upfront on websites and invoices by January 2026.
It is the government’s ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
This working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage (£195 per week/£10,158 per year in 2025/26), and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year.
The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents (estimated to be 3.8% of parents of 3 and 4-year-olds in 2023/24) earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Further information can be found at the following address: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5/2024.
Parents who earn over maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for 3 and 4-year-olds in England.
The department has taken action to improve transparency and protect parents from additional charges on top of their entitlement, ensuring the funded hours remain accessible for parents. We updated our statutory guidance on 21 February 2025, reconfirming that there must be no mandatory additional charges associated with entitlement hours. The guidance also sets out the expectation that local authorities ensure providers have set out additional charges clearly and upfront on websites and invoices by January 2026.
Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve.
We are committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. Every local authority must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care, wherever they live or are educated. All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher to act as a source of advice and expertise about the needs of the looked-after children on the school’s roll.
Looked-after children have highest priority in school admissions and attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,630 per child, up to age 16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head, who works with the child’s education setting to deliver objectives in the child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP). The PEP should set out the support needed to help realise the short and long-term academic outcomes for each child, and should focus on the child’s strengths, weaknesses, and outcomes they want to achieve, including attaining a higher education (HE) placement.
The government recognises the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s allocated social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any necessary transitions well planned and supported. Where a change to a looked-after child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their PEP should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education and training, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.
The government is committed to ensuring that looked-after children and care leavers are given the skills they need to succeed in life and recognises the important role that HE has in this. To ensure care experienced students are supported to gain the qualifications needed to access HE, the department provided £14 million of funding in 2024/25 to extend Pupil Premium Plus nationally to children in care and care leavers at post-16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head and can be used on a range of measures to raise attainment and engagement in education, employment, and training such as mentoring, tuition, and targeted careers advice. We will be continuing this funding to local authorities in 2025/26. We are also making the Virtual School Head role for children with a social worker statutory through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, enabling earlier intervention to address the educational barriers these children can face.
Care leavers who enter HE are entitled to a statutory bursary of £2,000 from their local authority and many universities offer additional support within their access and participation regimes. This includes things like additional financial support, pastoral support and 365 days per year housing whilst they are at university.
Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve.
We are committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. Every local authority must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care, wherever they live or are educated. All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher to act as a source of advice and expertise about the needs of the looked-after children on the school’s roll.
Looked-after children have highest priority in school admissions and attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,630 per child, up to age 16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head, who works with the child’s education setting to deliver objectives in the child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP). The PEP should set out the support needed to help realise the short and long-term academic outcomes for each child, and should focus on the child’s strengths, weaknesses, and outcomes they want to achieve, including attaining a higher education (HE) placement.
The government recognises the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s allocated social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any necessary transitions well planned and supported. Where a change to a looked-after child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their PEP should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education and training, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.
The government is committed to ensuring that looked-after children and care leavers are given the skills they need to succeed in life and recognises the important role that HE has in this. To ensure care experienced students are supported to gain the qualifications needed to access HE, the department provided £14 million of funding in 2024/25 to extend Pupil Premium Plus nationally to children in care and care leavers at post-16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head and can be used on a range of measures to raise attainment and engagement in education, employment, and training such as mentoring, tuition, and targeted careers advice. We will be continuing this funding to local authorities in 2025/26. We are also making the Virtual School Head role for children with a social worker statutory through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, enabling earlier intervention to address the educational barriers these children can face.
Care leavers who enter HE are entitled to a statutory bursary of £2,000 from their local authority and many universities offer additional support within their access and participation regimes. This includes things like additional financial support, pastoral support and 365 days per year housing whilst they are at university.
Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve.
We are committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. Every local authority must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care, wherever they live or are educated. All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher to act as a source of advice and expertise about the needs of the looked-after children on the school’s roll.
Looked-after children have highest priority in school admissions and attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,630 per child, up to age 16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head, who works with the child’s education setting to deliver objectives in the child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP). The PEP should set out the support needed to help realise the short and long-term academic outcomes for each child, and should focus on the child’s strengths, weaknesses, and outcomes they want to achieve, including attaining a higher education (HE) placement.
The government recognises the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s allocated social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any necessary transitions well planned and supported. Where a change to a looked-after child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their PEP should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education and training, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.
The government is committed to ensuring that looked-after children and care leavers are given the skills they need to succeed in life and recognises the important role that HE has in this. To ensure care experienced students are supported to gain the qualifications needed to access HE, the department provided £14 million of funding in 2024/25 to extend Pupil Premium Plus nationally to children in care and care leavers at post-16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head and can be used on a range of measures to raise attainment and engagement in education, employment, and training such as mentoring, tuition, and targeted careers advice. We will be continuing this funding to local authorities in 2025/26. We are also making the Virtual School Head role for children with a social worker statutory through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, enabling earlier intervention to address the educational barriers these children can face.
Care leavers who enter HE are entitled to a statutory bursary of £2,000 from their local authority and many universities offer additional support within their access and participation regimes. This includes things like additional financial support, pastoral support and 365 days per year housing whilst they are at university.
Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve.
We are committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. Every local authority must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care, wherever they live or are educated. All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher to act as a source of advice and expertise about the needs of the looked-after children on the school’s roll.
Looked-after children have highest priority in school admissions and attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,630 per child, up to age 16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head, who works with the child’s education setting to deliver objectives in the child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP). The PEP should set out the support needed to help realise the short and long-term academic outcomes for each child, and should focus on the child’s strengths, weaknesses, and outcomes they want to achieve, including attaining a higher education (HE) placement.
The government recognises the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s allocated social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any necessary transitions well planned and supported. Where a change to a looked-after child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their PEP should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education and training, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.
The government is committed to ensuring that looked-after children and care leavers are given the skills they need to succeed in life and recognises the important role that HE has in this. To ensure care experienced students are supported to gain the qualifications needed to access HE, the department provided £14 million of funding in 2024/25 to extend Pupil Premium Plus nationally to children in care and care leavers at post-16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head and can be used on a range of measures to raise attainment and engagement in education, employment, and training such as mentoring, tuition, and targeted careers advice. We will be continuing this funding to local authorities in 2025/26. We are also making the Virtual School Head role for children with a social worker statutory through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, enabling earlier intervention to address the educational barriers these children can face.
Care leavers who enter HE are entitled to a statutory bursary of £2,000 from their local authority and many universities offer additional support within their access and participation regimes. This includes things like additional financial support, pastoral support and 365 days per year housing whilst they are at university.
Reforming children’s social care is critical to giving hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve.
We are committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. Every local authority must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care, wherever they live or are educated. All maintained schools and academies must appoint a designated teacher to act as a source of advice and expertise about the needs of the looked-after children on the school’s roll.
Looked-after children have highest priority in school admissions and attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,630 per child, up to age 16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head, who works with the child’s education setting to deliver objectives in the child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP). The PEP should set out the support needed to help realise the short and long-term academic outcomes for each child, and should focus on the child’s strengths, weaknesses, and outcomes they want to achieve, including attaining a higher education (HE) placement.
The government recognises the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review guidance and regulations, the child’s allocated social worker should do everything possible to minimise disruption to their education. School changes should be minimised, and any necessary transitions well planned and supported. Where a change to a looked-after child’s educational arrangements is unavoidable, their PEP should set out arrangements to minimise disruption to education and training, especially during exam periods and other critical periods in their education.
The government is committed to ensuring that looked-after children and care leavers are given the skills they need to succeed in life and recognises the important role that HE has in this. To ensure care experienced students are supported to gain the qualifications needed to access HE, the department provided £14 million of funding in 2024/25 to extend Pupil Premium Plus nationally to children in care and care leavers at post-16. This is managed by the Virtual School Head and can be used on a range of measures to raise attainment and engagement in education, employment, and training such as mentoring, tuition, and targeted careers advice. We will be continuing this funding to local authorities in 2025/26. We are also making the Virtual School Head role for children with a social worker statutory through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, enabling earlier intervention to address the educational barriers these children can face.
Care leavers who enter HE are entitled to a statutory bursary of £2,000 from their local authority and many universities offer additional support within their access and participation regimes. This includes things like additional financial support, pastoral support and 365 days per year housing whilst they are at university.
I refer the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted to the answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 26397.
The number of care leavers who are not in education, employment or training is published annually in the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions’.
Figures on the activity of care leavers aged 17-21 years old, including those not in education, employment or training, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/33baf96c-f652-408a-d969-08dd800922cb.
Figures on the activity of care leavers aged 22-25 years old, including those not in education, employment or training, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/9213a0ea-4d47-4ebc-7d40-08dd7ece5be0. To note, information for care leavers aged 22-25 years old is only collected for those who contact their local authority and receive support.
This government is taking forward significant reform of children’s social care, with the aim to rebalance the system towards earlier intervention and ensure that all children and families can access the right help at the point of need, rather than needing to meet a particular threshold. This is particularly the case for children with disabilities, whose need is potentially different from others who may require help and support from children’s social care. Disabled children may require support for the entirety of their childhood and sit across children’s social care, education and health, and their support offer should be adjusted to reflect this.
To that end, on Thursday 20 March, I announced the launch of the national Families First Partnership Programme, including the publication of the Families First Programme guide. The guide has been produced to support safeguarding partnerships across England implement Family Help and multi-agency child protection reforms and make greater use of Family Group Decision Making. The guide can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/families-first-partnership-programme.
The programme is backed by over £500 million of investment in the 2025/26 financial year, made available through England’s final local government finance settlement (LGFS) for the 2025/26 financial year. This doubles direct investment into preventative support, ensuring access to support at the earliest opportunity, which over time, we expect to safely reduce the number of looked after children, keeping more families together. More information on the LGFS can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2025-to-2026.
Programmes delivered by local government over many years have paved the way for these reforms, including evidence from the Supporting Families, and Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programmes. We will also take forward lessons so far from the ten local areas part of the Families First for Children Pathfinder. Best practice for improving the support provided to disabled children includes appointing special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) specialist lead practitioners to lead work with families and recruiting SEND expertise into local authorities’ ‘front doors’ to ensure timely and effective decision making and promote access to services at the earliest opportunity.
No-one should have to miss out on education because of their period, which is why the department provides free period products to girls and women in all state-maintained schools and 16 to 19 education organisations in England.
Since the launch of the Period Products Scheme in January 2020, 99% of secondary schools and 87% of post-16 organisations in England have placed orders through the scheme. The department publishes statistics regarding the Scheme’s operation, including take up by local authorities, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/period-products-scheme-management-information.
The department remains committed to supporting adoptive and kinship families, who play an essential role in providing stable and loving homes for children in need. On 1 April, it was announced that the adoption and special guardianship support fund would continue into 2025/26, with a budget of £50 million. This funding will enable eligible families to receive support in the coming year.
All decisions regarding the future of the fund past March 2026 will be made as part of the next spending review.
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) 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. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Hertfordshire County Council is being allocated over £207 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £17.6 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF).
The structure of the NFF is largely unchanged for 2025/26, as the government takes the time needed to consider what changes are necessary, both to make sure that we establish an equitable education funding system that directs funding to where it is needed, and to enable improved support for children with SEND.
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.
The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with SEND through early identification, effective support, high quality teaching and effective allocation of resources. The department is also working closely with experts on reforms who will play a key role in convening and engaging with the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families as we consider the next steps for the future of SEND reform.
The department is providing support and challenge to the Hertfordshire local area partnership. In July 2023, Ofsted’s inspection of local arrangements in Hertfordshire for children with SEND, which was published on 10 November 2023, concluded that there were widespread and/or systemic failings, leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND, which the local area partnership must address urgently.
Since then, the department has been using a SEND expert adviser to monitor progress against Hertfordshire’s priority action plan and improvement plan. In January 2025, the department sent the local area partnership a letter following a stocktake into their progress. This letter outlines that improvements are being made at pace, including on governance arrangements and quality assurance. However, there are still areas for the local area to address, for example on the impact and sustainability of improvements. The letter can be accessed here: https://sendnews.hertfordshire.gov.uk/31-january-2025#stocktake.
The partnership has also established a SEND Improvement Board, which is independently chaired by Dame Christine Lenehan, to oversee progress and provide appropriate challenge.
The department is taking time to consider the various funding formulae that the department and local authorities use to allocate funding for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. It is important that there is a fair education funding system, that directs funding to where it is needed.
Budgets for the 2025/26 financial year have not yet been finalised, which means that high needs and schools national funding formula allocations for that year have not been published to the usual timescales. The department will publish information as soon as possible after the Budget announcement on 30 October.
The department welcomes the publication of the response to the Big Listen, which stated that Ofsted will consult on introducing a new inspection judgement area for inclusion across education settings. The department continues to work with Ofsted to consider how outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), or in alternative provision (AP), are better reflected in the Education Inspection and the Area SEND inspection frameworks going forwards.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission began a strengthened local inspection framework in January 2023, placing a greater emphasis on the outcomes being achieved for children and young people. This is an important tool to maintain a focus on high standards in the SEND system across all partners.
The department works to monitor, support and, where necessary, challenge local authorities, working closely with NHS England to tackle any weaknesses that sit with health partners. Where a local authority does not meet its duties, the department can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement.
There are several routes of redress for parents or young people who disagree with the decisions or actions of their educational setting or local authority. However, the department understands these processes can be lengthy and difficult for families to navigate. It is in everyone’s interests that routes of redress are set out clearly and that complaints are resolved at the earliest possible stage.
The department is working to support inclusive practice in mainstream schools whilst ensuring that specialist provision meets the needs of children and young people who need it.
The future of the Holiday Activities and Food programme beyond 31 March 2025 is subject to the next government Spending Review taking place this autumn and the department will communicate the outcome of that process in due course.