theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to (a) codify and (b) simplify the law of contempt of court in England and Wales in light of the Law Commission’s recommendations. \p Sarah Sackman: The Law Commission review into the law of contempt of court in England and Wales is ongoing. The Commission will report with proposals for reform to clarify the law in this area and improve its consistency, coherence, and effectiveness. The first report is expected to be published in November 2025 and the second in 2026.

The Government will carefully consider any recommendations proposed by the Law Commission following the publication of these reports.
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Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) full time and (b) part time judges sit in immigration tribunals; and how much their remuneration costs the public purse each year. \p Sarah Sackman: The judiciary are responsible for publishing lists of judges. They do not routinely publish lists of fee-paid (part-time) judges due to the frequency of changes in the fee-paid judge cohort.

Information on the number of judges in post is published in the annual Judicial Diversity Statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/judicial-diversity-statistics.

The current judicial salaries and fees are published annually: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/judicial-salaries-and-fees-2025-to-2026.

The total cost of judicial remuneration depends on the number of sittings per year. In 2024/25, the costs of judges sitting in the Immigration and Asylum Chambers of both the First-tier and Upper Tribunal were:

Basic Salary & Allowances £m

Employers' Pension Contributions £m

Total £m

Salaried Judges

17.6

11.0

28.6

Fee Paid Judges

11.1

6.8

17.9

Total

28.7

17.8

46.5
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Anna Dixon:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing payment rates for legal aid in family law cases, in the context of his Department's decision to uplift the rates paid for all housing and immigration legal aid work. \p Sarah Sackman: This Government is committed to ensuring the long-term sustainability of civil legal aid, including family legal aid, and we are keen to work closely with practitioners and their representative bodies to look at how best we can address this.

Between January 2023 and March 2025, the Ministry of Justice undertook a comprehensive review of civil legal aid and concluded a consultation on uplifts to housing and debt, and immigration and asylum legal aid fees, which will inject an additional £20 million into the sector each year once fully implemented.

This investment will help the Government deliver commitments to reduce the asylum backlog, end hotel use, increase returns and ensure the most vulnerable can navigate a complex legal system and access justice.

Whilst there are no immediate plans to increase the fee rate in family law, the Ministry of Justice is looking at other potential changes that could support providers, for example, (civil) contractual requirements regarding provider offices and limits to the provision of remote legal aid that providers say are burdensome. Any changes would aim to give providers more autonomy in meeting client need, while maintaining effective in-person provision for clients who need this.
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Olivia Blake:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to increase legal aid rates. \p Sarah Sackman: We have confirmed we will be uplifting housing and immigration legal aid fees. Overall spending in these categories will increase by 24% for housing work and 30% for immigration work. This represents a significant investment – the first since 1996 – resulting in an increase of £20 million a year once fully implemented.

We have recently consulted on funding of up to £92 million more a year for criminal legal aid and prison solicitors to help address the ongoing challenges in the criminal justice system. This money is in addition to the £24 million uplift the Government introduced to the criminal duty solicitor scheme.

Following the cyber security incident, our focus has been on restoring Legal Aid Agency services, ensuring access to justice through business continuity, including delegating authority to providers and offering weekly average civil payments. These contingency measures have supported providers to continue to operate and support the public. However, we are committed to implementing the significant fee uplifts in civil and criminal legal aid as soon as operationally possible.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has reviewed the (a) confirmation, (b) tracking and (c) communication of British Sign Language interpreter bookings between HMCTS staff and jurors. \p Sarah Sackman: The Ministry of Justice is committed to ensuring fairness and accessibility of services for all participants, including deaf jurors.

Whilst HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not record protected characteristics of jurors in respect of complaints, an interrogation of data held suggests that in the last 12 months, HMCTS is aware of one instance where a juror needing a British Sign Language interpreter was unable to complete their jury service. HMCTS is investigating the circumstances to understand what occurred.

Guidance is in place and is kept under review for HMCTS staff in relation to arranging registered British Sign Language interpreters for jurors.

Deaf relay interpreters are not currently used for juror provision.

The provision of British Sign Language interpreters to the Ministry of Justice is provided by Clarion UK Ltd. Detailed guidance and training is provided to courts and tribunals staff responsible for booking interpreters to ensure they follow the correct processes and book suitably qualified interpreters. The supplier provides confirmation of a booking once an interpreter is allocated and this is monitored throughout the booking duration. The Ministry of Justice maintains strong governance through a dedicated Commercial and Contract Management team, ensuring the provider is held accountable and the service is delivered to agreed standards.

Jurors are proactively updated about changes in booking arrangements, and provided with written induction materials, interpreter oaths and relevant guidance documents. Where appropriate, jurors requiring BSL interpretation may also be invited to a pre-court visit with an interpreter present. This enables them to familiarise themselves with the courtroom, ask questions about the process and discuss their needs, helping to reduce anxiety and build confidence before their service begins.

HMCTS keeps operational guidance, training and processes under regular review.
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Ian Lavery:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken for victims to wait for cases to be heard. \p Sarah Sackman: This Government inherited a record and rising courts backlog. It is unacceptable that victims and witnesses are waiting years for justice. We are committed to creating a more sustainable justice system, in which victims and the public can have confidence.

Upon taking office, the Deputy Prime Minister took immediate action to allocate additional Crown Court sitting days this financial year, taking the total to a record-high allocation of 111,250. We continue to build capacity in magistrates’ courts, with 14,636 magistrates in post as of April 2025 across England and Wales and we are uplifting our programme to bring in 2,000 new magistrates over the next 12 months. We will continue to recruit at high levels in future years, ensuring our benches reflect the diverse communities they serve. We also continue to recruit high levels of legal advisers, securing resilience for years to come.

However, demand is currently so high, it is indisputable that fundamental reform is needed. That is why this Government commissioned the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, led by Sir Brian Leveson, to propose once-in-a-generation reform to improve timeliness in the courts and deliver swift justice for victims.

We are carefully considering Sir Brian’s first report and will respond in due course. Work on Part 2 of the report, looking at how the criminal courts can operate as efficiently as possible, is underway and it is expected to be finalised later this year.
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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department issues to ensure prison officers follow the civil service code. \p Jake Richards: The requirement to adhere to the Civil Service Code is set out in all HMPPS employee's employment contracts. In HMPPS, these standards are reinforced through the Outside Activities and the Conduct and Discipline policies, which set behavioural expectations and how any breaches are handled.
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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has issued guidance to prison officers on ensuring political neutrality. \p Jake Richards: All civil servants are contractually bound by the Civil Service Code to serve the Government of the day. In HMPPS, this is reinforced through the Outside Activities Policy and the Conduct and Discipline Policy. These require employees to remain politically neutral at all times and to avoid political activity on duty, in uniform or on official premises. Employees are signposted to guidance on conduct for civil servants at each election period and during party conference season to ensure clear expectations of behaviour.
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Mr Clive Betts:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2025 to Question 76240 on Sizewell C Power Station, what proportion of the forgings will be produced in the UK. \p Michael Shanks: Sizewell C is committed to supporting the UK steel industry throughout the construction period. It is a signatory of the UK Steel Charter and remains committed to maximising UK steel within its construction plans.
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Mr Clive Betts:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the press release entitled Rolls-Royce SMR selected to build small modular nuclear reactors, published on 10 June 2025, what estimate he has made of the proportion of reactors that will be produced in the UK. \p Michael Shanks: Following a robust procurement based on fairness and transparency, Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to deploy the UK's first SMRs, subject to final government approvals and contract signature.

Further details will follow in due course, but the government's long-term ambition is to bring forward one of Europe's first SMR fleets, with GBE-N's ambition being to deliver over 70% UK content across the fleet.
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Liz Saville Roberts:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with the Energy Ombudsman on the effectiveness of its dispute resolution process in providing redress for customers. \p Martin McCluskey: On 19 June the Government announced that we will consult on strengthening the Energy Ombudsman to ensure that suppliers comply with its final decisions or pay compensation to their customers. We also announced that we would consult on proposals to make referrals to the Ombudsman automatic instead of consumers having to do this themselves, and on waiting time for referrals being cut from 8 weeks to 4 weeks.

The Government is working with Ofgem to look at increasing the value of base-level automatic compensation from £40, following the first increase since the payments were introduced a decade ago.

Ofgem is also looking at expanding automatic compensation to cover more key issues faced by consumers, including excessively long call waiting times, unexpectedly high bills when suppliers fail to adjust their direct debits, suppliers not responding to complaints, or suppliers not complying with Energy Ombudsman final decisions. This will ensure that consumers can get fairer, quicker, and easier compensation when things go wrong.
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Mr Clive Betts:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the press release entitled Golden age of nuclear delivers UK-US deal on energy security, published on 15 September 2025, what estimate he has made of the proportion of components that will be produced in the UK. \p Michael Shanks: The Government welcomes the recent announcements as part of the UK-US collaboration on advanced nuclear and opportunities it brings for energy security and industrial growth. The projects announced are privately led and individual supply-chain strategies are determined by the investors.

Our forthcoming framework will lay out a pathway for privately led advanced nuclear projects in the UK, aiming to unlock private sector investment and accelerate deployment with Great British Energy-Nuclear having a role to play in assessing proposals including scrutinising supply-chain strategies.

UKRI developed a methodology to assess how much could be delivered by the current UK supply-chain for a project, DESNZ are considering how this could be applied and adapted.
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Jo White:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he plans to take to support the clean energy transition through the adoption of new nuclear power. \p Michael Shanks: The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan makes clear that nuclear will play an important role in our future energy system, providing low-carbon, baseload power to the grid.

We are delivering the biggest new nuclear building programme in a generation having committed almost £17 billion at the recent Spending Review.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's press release entitled UK-France treaty targeting illegal crossings comes into force, published on 7 August 2025, what the total capacity is of each Immigration Removal Centre. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office currently operates seven immigration removal centres (IRCs) throughout the UK, (six in England and one in Scotland).

As of 13 October, the Home Office has the capacity to detain around 2,400 people in IRCs. The table below sets out the current operational capacity for each IRC:

IRC Name

Capacity

Brook House

426

Colnbrook

339

Derwentside

84

Dungavel

150

Harmondsworth

754

Tinsley House

198

Yarl’s Wood

444
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Michael Wheeler:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with the Scottish Government on the effectiveness of the (a) Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 and (b) Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating the Disclosure and Barring Service check regime. \p Jess Phillips: The disclosure and barring regime in Scotland is devolved and the UK Government engages regularly with the Scottish Government to ensure that the regimes work effectively together to keep the public safe.

We keep the disclosure and barring regime in England and Wales under constant review to ensure that it continues to strike an appropriate balance between keeping the public safe and enabling ex-offenders to move on with their lives.

On 9 April 2025, the Government published an update on its work to tackle child sexual abuse, available on GOV.UK: Tackling Child Sexual Abuse.
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Dave Doogan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department's policy that foreign nationals who have received a Stage 1 decision letter regarding their possible deportation following an offence resulting in a custodial sentence should remain in custody until a deportation decision has been made. \p Alex Norris: We make every effort to ensure that a foreign national offender’s (FNOs) removal by deportation coincides with their release from prison upon completion of their custodial sentence.

Latest published information shows that 51% (2,632) of FNOs removed between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025 were removed directly from prison under the Early Removal Scheme, which is a 10% increase compared to the 2,385 in the same period 12 months prior.

The public rightly expect us to maintain a firm and fair immigration system and immigration detention plays a crucial role in enabling the removal of individuals who include serious, violent, and persistent FNOs.

We do not detain people indefinitely. The law does not allow it. In each case, we must have a realistic prospect of removal in a reasonable timescale, and includes consideration given to the likelihood of risk to the public and absconding from immigration control. Published Home Office detention policy is clear that detention must only ever be used sparingly and for the shortest period necessary.

We have safeguards in place which underpin detention decisions. These include regular reviews once a person is in detention to ensure that their detention remains lawful, appropriate, and proportionate. In addition, those detained can apply to the courts at any time for bail from detention and FNOs held in detention have the option to apply to an independent immigration judge for bail at any point.

Where the Home Office cannot remove a FNO within a realistic timeframe, the individual may be released into the community.

The decision to release a foreign national offender into the community is never taken lightly. The threat of harm to the public or vulnerable individuals, victims, and their families, as well as the risk of absconding is always carefully considered. The Home Office and HMPPS work closely together to manage risk in the community.
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Daisy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to Question 71117 tabled by the hon. Member for St Albans on 29 August 2025. \p Mike Tapp: A full and clear response to question 71117 was published on 17/09/2025.
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Mr Clive Betts:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2025 to Question 76241 on Borders: Personal Records, what the marginal difference is as a numerical value. \p Mike Tapp: The marginal difference between the number of individuals recorded leaving the UK and the overall number of individuals who leave the UK cannot be quantified in a way suitable for publication.
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Rachel Taylor:To ask the Solicitor General, with reference to the temporary removal of the Unclaimed Estates list from GOV.UK, how many newly referred estates are awaiting advertisement; what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the removal of the list from GOV.UK on entitled heirs; and if she will reinstate the list with (a) verified named‑user access, (b) no bulk downloads, (c) access logging and (d) other enhanced safeguards. \p Ellie Reeves: As of 24 September 2025, up to 153 estates await possible advertising since the temporary removal of the Bona Vacantia unclaimed estates list on 7 July 2025.

The future publication of the list is currently under review.

Estates administered as bona vacantia continue to be published in The Gazette.
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Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of times that teaching assistants have delivered unsupervised classroom teaching in place of qualified supply staff in (a) academies and (b) other state schools in the latest period for which data is available. \p Georgia Gould: The department does not hold information regarding the number of times that teaching assistants have delivered unsupervised classroom teaching in place of qualified supply staff.

.
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Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce educational inequalities for secondary school pupils in the West Midlands. \p Georgia Gould: All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter where they are from. However, the government knows educational inequalities exist at every phase of education across the country. This is not acceptable in the West Midlands, or nationally.

Through our Plan for Change, we are tackling these inequalities and have set a milestone of a 75% of 5 year-olds reaching a good level of development in the early years foundation stage profile assessment by 2028. The department will invest close to £1.5 billion over the next three years to raise quality, close gaps, and break down barriers to opportunity for every child.

We are also rolling out free breakfast clubs in every state-funded primary school, expanding free school meals to all children on Universal Credit from September 2026 and have delivered record increases to the early years pupil premium.

This is alongside our work to drive high and rising standards in every school, including new regional improvement in standards and excellence teams, the Curriculum and Assessment Review and our commitment to recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools and in our colleges.
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Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department provides to schools that host PGCE students; and what assessment she has made of the contribution of this to teacher recruitment and retention in Hampshire. \p Georgia Gould: High-quality teaching has the strongest positive impact on pupil outcomes in schools, which is why this government has pledged to recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers, including in science subjects, backed by a near 10% pay award since July 2024.

To aid recruitment, the department is providing teacher training financial incentives worth nearly £233 million, including bursaries worth up to £29,000 tax-free, and scholarships up to £31,000 tax-free, in science subjects. We are also providing retention incentives for early career science teachers worth up to £6000, with 39 schools in Hampshire qualifying for these.

Schools that host trainee placements leading to qualified teacher status, including those studying a PGCE, can claim funding to help cover the time staff members spend mentoring, given the importance of peer-to-peer support. In 2024/25, the department welcomed over 23,100 new postgraduate trainee teachers, an increase of 8% compared to 2023/24. In 2024/25, 399 trainees began postgraduate teacher training in Hampshire, compared to 317 in 2023/24.

The department’s interventions are having a positive impact, with the teaching workforce growing by 2,346 full-time equivalent teachers between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools. In the South East, the number of secondary school teachers increased by 221.
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Mr Paul Kohler:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to schools on promoting road safety awareness among pupils who use (a) hire and (b) electric bikes. \p Georgia Gould: Primary and secondary schools are free to teach about road safety awareness as part of their duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, and many do so through their personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) provision alongside the statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) content. This can also include teaching about general road safety when using bikes in different situations. The statutory RSHE guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-and-sex-education-rse-secondary

The updated RSHE guidance, published in July 2025, has a new section on personal safety which includes how to recognise risk and keep safe around roads.

Schools can draw on resources available from many providers including, the THINK! campaign, developed by the Department for Transport. The campaign can be accessed here: https://www.think.gov.uk/.

Schools also use Bikeability, the Department for Transport’s flagship national cycle training programme for pupils in England, which teaches core skills that enable pupils to cycle confidently and safely on roads.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure inclusive school environments for children with different learning styles in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Georgia Gould: This government’s ambition is that every child or young person in our country deserves the best possible educational experience, one that is academically stretching, where every child or young person feels like they belong, and that sets them up for life and work. We will build a better system which is grounded in evidence and identifies and supports need at the earliest opportunity.

Our new regional improvements for standards and excellence (RISE) teams will work with mainstream schools to help them become more inclusive places, as one of four priority areas for improvement.

The recently published RISE Inclusive Mainstream webpage provides schools with programmes and resources to help mainstream schools improve inclusivity and support for those with special educational needs and disabilities and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rise-support-for-inclusive-mainstream-education/rise-support-for-inclusive-mainstream-education.
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Ian Lavery:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tackle misogyny in schools. \p Georgia Gould: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for for Blyth and Ashington to the answer of 19 September 2025 to Question 76624.
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Damien Egan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing introducing compulsory first aid training for teachers. \p Georgia Gould: The provision of first aid training is a matter for early years, schools and colleges as employers who are best placed to make decisions about the training and development required to meet the needs of their staff and pupils.

The department publishes guidance to support settings to carry out their duties relating to first aid issues both on their premises and off-site.
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Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools with increases in the number of in-year admissions in Hampshire. \p Georgia Gould: The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities.

The department engages with local authorities, including Hampshire County Council, on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional school places. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, the department offers support and advice.

The department also provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to meet their statutory duty to secure sufficient school places. Hampshire has been allocated just over £22.2 million to support it to create the mainstream school places needed between May 2024 and September 2028.

The Schools Admissions Code also requires every local authority to have a Fair Access Protocol in place, to ensure that vulnerable children, and those who are having difficulty in securing a school place in-year, are allocated a school place as quickly as possible, minimising the time the child is out of school.
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Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to review the effectiveness of the national funding education formula in reflecting socioeconomic disparities within counties. \p Georgia Gould: In the 2025/26 financial year, 10.6% (£5.1 billion) of the schools national funding formula (NFF) has been allocated through deprivation factors, as part of the 17.8% (£8.6 billion) allocated for additional needs overall. The most deprived schools continue, on average, to attract the largest per pupil funding amounts through the schools NFF. This helps schools in their vital work to close attainment gaps.

The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding. It is right that schools with lots of pupils with additional needs, such as those indicated by measures of deprivation, low prior attainment, or English as an additional language, receive extra funding to help them meet the needs of all their pupils.

The government will keep the operation of the schools NFF for the 2026/27 financial year and future years under review.
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Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has issued guidance to schools that have amended their subject curricula due to staff shortages. \p Georgia Gould: Schools have the flexibility to organise the content and delivery of the curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils and to suit their local contexts.

There is no prescription about the number of teaching hours for each subject, or about the format of lessons. It is for schools to decide how much time is spent on any subject.

As part of our Plan for Change, the department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.

In 2024/25, we drove forward teacher recruitment and retention, backed by investment of around £700 million across schools and further education. The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent between 2023/24 and 2024/25, in secondary and special schools where they are needed most. This includes 1,435 more secondary school teachers and 911 more special and pupil referral unit teachers compared to last year.
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Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing to schools in Hampshire schools with (a) increased class sizes and (b) reduced staffing levels due to budget constraints. \p Georgia Gould: Through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), Hampshire is receiving £1.1 billion for mainstream schools in the 2025/26 financial year. That is equivalent to £6,031 per pupil (excluding growth and falling rolls funding), which is an increase of 2.4% per pupil compared to 2024/25.

On top of the DSG funding, the department is providing additional funding to support schools with increases to employer National Insurance Contributions, and the costs of the teacher and local government support staff pay awards in 2025/26.

The department provides a suite of free tools, guidance and support to help schools better manage their budgets. Schools are already bringing core operating costs down through initiatives such as our new ‘Energy for Schools’ offer. Additionally, they can access services such as the ‘Get Help Buying for Schools’ service to get best value when procuring goods and our ‘Teaching Vacancies Service’ to save recruitment costs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-14)

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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Children and Families Act 2014 section 37, whether her Department has sought legal advice on the legal right to special educational provision. \p Georgia Gould: This government’s ambition is that every child or young person receives the best possible educational experience, one that is academically stretching, where every child or young person feels like they belong, and that sets them up for life and work.

As part of our Plan for Change, we are determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and restore parents’ trust by ensuring schools have the tools to better identify and support children before issues escalate to crisis point.

We will continue to engage with key stakeholders and seek the appropriate legal advice as we look to build a better system which is grounded in evidence, identifies and supports need at the earliest opportunity, and ensures families can secure support swiftly without a fight. There will always be a legal right to the additional support that children with SEND need.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-14 conversation_171

Darren Paffey:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on water safety education for primary school children. \p Georgia Gould: Departmental officials had discussions with their Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs counterparts in drawing up the new relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. The department has made water safety and the Water Safety Code part of statutory health education, taught as part of RSHE. It is included within the new topic of ‘personal safety’. The new curriculum comes into force from September 2026. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

Swimming and water safety are also compulsory elements of the primary physical education curriculum at key stages 1 and 2.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-14 conversation_172

Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the number of pupils that miss education due to long term illness at (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in the West Midlands. \p Olivia Bailey: The department collects data on children missing education from local authorities. The latest data, including breakdowns by geography, characteristic and length of time missing education, has been available since 12 December 2024 and can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education/2024-25-autumn-term.

The department does not yet publish data on physical health or mental health as a primary reason for children missing education. However, these fields have been added to the aggregate termly local authority data collection for the first time, beginning autumn 2025 and will be included in the next official statistics release.

Data on pupil absence is collected via the school census, and the latest publication is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2024-25-autumn-term. Reasons for absence are included in the publication, including the illness rate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-14 conversation_173

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of families expected to receive 30 hours of free childcare in Lincolnshire in 2025. \p Olivia Bailey: It is our 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. We are delivering more support to working families than ever before with the rollout of 30 hours government-funded childcare.

The department does not hold data on estimates of the numbers of families expected to benefit by area.

However, the department does collect data on eligibility codes, which show the number of children who have benefitted by local authority level. This information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/expansion-to-early-childcare-entitlements-eligibility-codes-issued-and-validated/2025-may. In the spring 2025 term, 7,193 codes were issued to parents in Lincolnshire and 6,620 (92%) of these were validated via childcare providers.

This data was published on 12 May 2025. This data is being updated periodically in response to the 30 hours rollout.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-14 conversation_174

Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that Ofsted inspections are (a) standardised and (b) include safe sleep practice. \p Olivia Bailey: Ofsted will receive additional funding as part of the Best Start in Life Strategy to enhance the quality and consistency of early years inspections, and we will fund Ofsted to move towards inspecting all providers at least once every four years, in parity with schools.

Ofsted’s inspectors for early years inspections are early years professionals with relevant knowledge of safer sleep practice and are capable of assessing a provider’s adherence to the relevant suitability and safer sleeping requirements in the early years foundation stage (EYFS). In September 2025 we strengthened the safeguarding requirements in the EYFS statutory framework, including:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-14 conversation_175

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 66726, what recent estimate she has made of the number of student nurses in England who are ineligible for the 30 hours of funded childcare due to their status as students rather than workers. \p Olivia Bailey: It is our 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. We are delivering more support to working families than ever before, with the rollout of 30 hours government-funded childcare.

The department does not hold data on the number of student nurses in England who are ineligible for the 30 hours funded childcare.

Further information on the childcare offers available to parents is available here: https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-14 conversation_176

Dan Aldridge:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that proposed changes to childcare provision do not undermine the sustainability of private nurseries and childminders. \p Olivia Bailey: The government is investing significantly in early education and childcare to ensure sustainability across all providers, including nurseries and childminders. Government spending on funded hours will reach £9 billion next year, rising further over this Parliament, with around 80% of hours funded from September 2025.

To strengthen the sector, the department is supporting local authorities to shape and oversee childcare markets, helping single-site providers grow, and monitoring financial sustainability to maintain stability and transparency. We are also encouraging investment from charities and social enterprises, expanding nursery provision in schools, building stronger school-nursery partnerships, and supporting childminders with monthly payments and recruitment initiatives.

The department values the diversity of the sector and is committed to working closely with providers to secure affordable, flexible, high-quality childcare. Our ambition is for every family to have access to the early education and care their children need, delivering on our Plan for Change.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-14 conversation_177

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department are taking to promote reading in children. \p Josh MacAlister: The government's Opportunity Mission will help every child to achieve and thrive at school through excellent teaching and high standards. It aims to break the link between young people’s background and their future success. Reading is central to this mission and is crucial for success at school and in life.

On 7 July 2025, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that 2026 will be The National Year of Reading, a campaign to address the decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults. The National Year of Reading will position reading as a powerful contemporary activity, aiming to engage new audiences in reading and change the national reading culture for good.

The government has committed £27.7 million this financial year to support and drive high and rising standards in reading. This includes supporting the teaching of phonics, early language and reading for pleasure via the English Hubs programme. Furthermore, the government’s reading framework provides guidance on improving the teaching of reading.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-14 conversation_178

Mark Pritchard:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to increase the accessibility of adoption files for adoptees who have reached adulthood. \p Josh MacAlister: Local authorities have been advised to retain adoption records for at least 100 years, an increase from the previous 75-year requirement. The department has also asked them to ensure timely access to these records.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the department will make this a legal requirement by introducing regulatory changes. These changes will ensure that all adoption case records for individuals adopted before 30 December 2005 are preserved for a minimum of 100 years. This is already a requirement for records for individuals adopted after 30 December 2005.

In addition, the department is supporting and working with Adoption England, who have recently published new guidance to promote consistent and legally compliant practice on access to records across all regional adoption agencies. Adoption England also continues to fund FamilyConnect, a pilot national advice line that supports adopted adults, birth parents, relatives, and professionals with searching for and accessing adoption records.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-14 conversation_179

Amanda Hack:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on rolling out defibrillators to state-funded schools in England. \p Josh MacAlister: The department’s defibrillator programme was the largest rollout of defibrillators across England to date. The programme provided over 20,000 defibrillators to almost 18,000 schools, ensuring that all state-funded schools in England have access to a device.

The department is working with the British Heart Foundation to understand the impact the programme is having. Since our rollout, the number of school defibrillators registered on the national database, The Circuit, has risen by 252%, with 66% of all schools in England now having at least one device registered. Our evaluation shows that defibrillators we provided have been available for use and deployed in over 12,000 emergency situations, where there has been a suspected cardiac arrest.

The department continues to work with the British Heart Foundation to evaluate and understand the impact of our programme and support schools in registering their defibrillators on The Circuit.