Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to increase funding for Bradford City Council to support children with SEND.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We are committed to reforming the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system to deliver an excellent, inclusive education for every child and young person, with a world-class curriculum and highly trained, expert staff at every phase of learning.
High needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND was increased by over £1 billion, or 11%, in 2025/26 and funding will continue at this increased level in 2026/27.
Total high needs funding will be well over £12 billion in 2026/27. Of that total Bradford City Council will be allocated over £139 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant.
Local authorities will receive at least £3 billion for high needs capital between 2026/27 and 2029/30, and we will publish allocations for 2026/27 in the spring. This builds on £740 million for high needs capital in 2025/26, of which Bradford Council has been allocated approximately £7.3 million.
When the Schools White Paper is published early in 2026, we will set out further details on additional funding for both local authorities and schools to drive forward reform of the SEND system.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help support partnerships between schools and grassroots cycling clubs to increase participation in physical activity among pupils.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including children and young people, have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
The Government provides the majority of support for community sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery Funding. This includes long term investment to British Cycling, which receives up to £33.5 million for the funding period 2022-2029 to invest in grassroots cycling initiatives.
Sport England has also provided funding of £5.35 million to projects with cycling as the main beneficiary in 2024/2025. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in grassroots sport, including cycling, providing more opportunities for children and young people from all backgrounds to be active.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help increase uptake of apprenticeships among young people in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy that will give greater flexibility to employers and support young people, including those in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency, at the beginning of their careers.
In August 2025, we introduced new foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage while developing vital skills. They are underpinned by additional funding for employers of up to £2,000 to contribute to the extra costs of supporting someone at the beginning of their career.
We are investing an additional £725 million to deliver the next phase of the growth and skills levy and meet our ambition to support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships. We will expand foundation apprenticeships into sectors that traditionally recruit young people, launch a pilot with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to better connect young people to local apprenticeship opportunities, and fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible 16–24-year-olds from the next academic year.
The government also facilitates the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN), comprising around 2,500 employer and apprentice volunteers who go into schools and colleges to share their compelling stories and experiences of what apprenticeships can do for young people.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the number of neurodivergent children living in temporary accommodation in (a) Yeovil constituency (b) Somerset and (c) England.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness is far too high, and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, including neurodivergent children. Accommodation provided to homeless households must be suitable to their needs. The government collects and publishes data on the support needs of households owed a homelessness duty (which includes households with support needs due to learning disabilities).
In October 2025 the government announced £10.9 million funding for 61 councils with the highest levels of children in temporary accommodation. This funding will be used to increase access to support and services for families and make a tangible impact on their quality of life whilst they remain in need. This will deliver positive benefits for education and health outcomes, including school attendance.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are introducing a single unique identifier for children nationally to help improve information sharing and safeguarding, which means practitioners and services working with families and children must receive and share relevant information about children and families they support, including to assess safeguarding risks effectively. We will introduce a new duty on councils to notify schools, health visitors and GPs that a child is in temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the experiences of neurodivergent children living in temporary accommodation in Yeovil constituency
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Homelessness is far too high, and this can have a devastating impact on those affected, including neurodivergent children. Accommodation provided to homeless households must be suitable to their needs. The government collects and publishes data on the support needs of households owed a homelessness duty (which includes households with support needs due to learning disabilities).
In October 2025 the government announced £10.9 million funding for 61 councils with the highest levels of children in temporary accommodation. This funding will be used to increase access to support and services for families and make a tangible impact on their quality of life whilst they remain in need. This will deliver positive benefits for education and health outcomes, including school attendance.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are introducing a single unique identifier for children nationally to help improve information sharing and safeguarding, which means practitioners and services working with families and children must receive and share relevant information about children and families they support, including to assess safeguarding risks effectively. We will introduce a new duty on councils to notify schools, health visitors and GPs that a child is in temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of school funding settlements in meeting pupil need and demographic growth.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Spending per pupil was at its highest ever level in the 2024/25 financial year, in real terms, and there has been further real terms growth in spending in 2025/26. The school funding settlement announced at the Spending Review more than protects per pupil funding in real terms, with a further £1.7 billion increase in 2026/27.
Every year, the department uses the schools national funding formula to distribute core funding for 5 to 16-year-old pupils, in mainstream state-funded schools in England. This ensures that funding is distributed based on a fair and consistent assessment of need, based first and foremost on pupil numbers.
We recognise the pressures caused by demographic changes in some areas. The lagged funding system helps to give schools more certainty over funding levels. This aids their planning and is particularly important in giving schools with falling rolls time to re-organise their staffing and costs. The department also provides local authorities with growth funding, which they use to support schools whose pupil numbers are rising.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department’s response of 17 November 2025 to the e-petition entitled Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000, what assumptions were used for (a) behavioural changes, (b) labour market participation and (c) projected tax receipts for the £50 billion per annum figure.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Personal Allowance is uprated in line with CPI by default. The previous Government took the decision to maintain the Personal Allowance at its current level from April 2021 until April 2028. The Government is asking everyone to contribute to maintain funding for the NHS and reduce debt, and it is doing this by maintaining the Personal Allowance for a further three years.
As set out in the e-petition response, the Government has no plans to increase the Personal Allowance to £20,000. Increasing the Personal Allowance to £20,000 would come at a significant fiscal cost. This would reduce tax receipts substantially, decreasing funds available for the UK’s hospitals, schools, and other essential public services that we all rely on.
Increasing the Personal Allowance to this level would undermine the work the Government has done to restore fiscal responsibility which is critical to getting our economy growing.
HM Treasury only provides impact assessments on Government policy. The OBR have made an assessment of the Government’s policy related to the Personal Allowance in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
The ‘£50 billion’ figure in the e-petition response (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/737513) provided an indicative idea of scale only and does not reflect a full costing as this is not Government policy. Data from the 2022-23 Survey of Personal Incomes and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) economic forecast were used to inform this indicative estimate.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department’s response of 17 November 2025 to the e-petition entitled Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000, whether her Department has assessed the potential long‑term impact of changes in labour market participation resulting from a higher Personal Allowance on the economy.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Personal Allowance is uprated in line with CPI by default. The previous Government took the decision to maintain the Personal Allowance at its current level from April 2021 until April 2028. The Government is asking everyone to contribute to maintain funding for the NHS and reduce debt, and it is doing this by maintaining the Personal Allowance for a further three years.
As set out in the e-petition response, the Government has no plans to increase the Personal Allowance to £20,000. Increasing the Personal Allowance to £20,000 would come at a significant fiscal cost. This would reduce tax receipts substantially, decreasing funds available for the UK’s hospitals, schools, and other essential public services that we all rely on.
Increasing the Personal Allowance to this level would undermine the work the Government has done to restore fiscal responsibility which is critical to getting our economy growing.
HM Treasury only provides impact assessments on Government policy. The OBR have made an assessment of the Government’s policy related to the Personal Allowance in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
The ‘£50 billion’ figure in the e-petition response (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/737513) provided an indicative idea of scale only and does not reflect a full costing as this is not Government policy. Data from the 2022-23 Survey of Personal Incomes and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) economic forecast were used to inform this indicative estimate.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria her Department uses when determining whether to uprate the Personal Allowance.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Personal Allowance is uprated in line with CPI by default. The previous Government took the decision to maintain the Personal Allowance at its current level from April 2021 until April 2028. The Government is asking everyone to contribute to maintain funding for the NHS and reduce debt, and it is doing this by maintaining the Personal Allowance for a further three years.
As set out in the e-petition response, the Government has no plans to increase the Personal Allowance to £20,000. Increasing the Personal Allowance to £20,000 would come at a significant fiscal cost. This would reduce tax receipts substantially, decreasing funds available for the UK’s hospitals, schools, and other essential public services that we all rely on.
Increasing the Personal Allowance to this level would undermine the work the Government has done to restore fiscal responsibility which is critical to getting our economy growing.
HM Treasury only provides impact assessments on Government policy. The OBR have made an assessment of the Government’s policy related to the Personal Allowance in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
The ‘£50 billion’ figure in the e-petition response (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/737513) provided an indicative idea of scale only and does not reflect a full costing as this is not Government policy. Data from the 2022-23 Survey of Personal Incomes and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) economic forecast were used to inform this indicative estimate.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department’s response of 17 November 2025 to the e-petition entitled Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of raising the income tax threshold to £20,000 on absolute poverty levels.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Personal Allowance is uprated in line with CPI by default. The previous Government took the decision to maintain the Personal Allowance at its current level from April 2021 until April 2028. The Government is asking everyone to contribute to maintain funding for the NHS and reduce debt, and it is doing this by maintaining the Personal Allowance for a further three years.
As set out in the e-petition response, the Government has no plans to increase the Personal Allowance to £20,000. Increasing the Personal Allowance to £20,000 would come at a significant fiscal cost. This would reduce tax receipts substantially, decreasing funds available for the UK’s hospitals, schools, and other essential public services that we all rely on.
Increasing the Personal Allowance to this level would undermine the work the Government has done to restore fiscal responsibility which is critical to getting our economy growing.
HM Treasury only provides impact assessments on Government policy. The OBR have made an assessment of the Government’s policy related to the Personal Allowance in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
The ‘£50 billion’ figure in the e-petition response (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/737513) provided an indicative idea of scale only and does not reflect a full costing as this is not Government policy. Data from the 2022-23 Survey of Personal Incomes and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) economic forecast were used to inform this indicative estimate.