Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether local authorities that have a Safety Valve Agreement with her Department will take part in Regional Expert Partnerships.

The establishment and setup of the Regional Expert Partnerships (REPs) will begin in summer 2023.

The department has used publicly available data to help identify a shortlist of local authorities that have the potential to lead the REPs in each region. The Department has shared the criteria used with these local authorities. We have not shortlisted any Safety Valve local authorities for the REPs. Being on the Safety Valve programme will not necessarily exclude these local authorities from sharing and/or receiving learning during the Change Programme’s lifetime.