theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Sarah Green:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on waiting lists for treatment for eating disorders. \p Stephen Kinnock: Between October 2024 to December 2024, 80.8%, or 350 out of 433, of urgent referrals to Children and Young People’s Eating Disorders services were seen within one week, and 81.9%, or 2,064 out of 2,521, of routine referrals were seen within four weeks. Data on access and waiting times is not published for adult eating disorders due to concerns about data quality.

NHS England is continuing to expand the capacity of community-based eating disorder services, including crisis care and intensive home treatment, to improve outcomes and recovery, reduce rates of relapse, and to prevent eating disorders continuing into adulthood.

NHS England has asked local health systems, through this year’s National Health Service operational planning guidance, to focus on improving performance against the waiting time standards for children’s eating disorder services, so that 95% of urgent cases are seen within one week and 95% of routine cases are seen within four weeks.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to improve (a) diagnosis and (b) support for adults with autism. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessments and support services for autistic people, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE guideline, Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management, aims to improve access and engagement with interventions and services, and the experience of care, for autistic adults.

On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism, based on the available evidence.

The Department is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission, led by Baroness Casey, will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care. While the commission carries out its work, the Department is taking immediate action to improve adult social care. The Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. The Department is also taking forward a range of initiatives in 2025/26, including funding more home adaptations, promoting better use of care technologies, and professionalising the adult social care workforce.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Dame Caroline Dinenage:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding he will provide towards NHS continuing healthcare checklists over the next five years. \p Stephen Kinnock: No funding has ever been specifically allocated for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) checklists, and as such, we do not hold this information. NHS England provides funding to integrated care boards (ICBs) to fulfil their core duty to commission high-quality care in a cost-effective way. CHC funding is calculated using the ICB allocation formula, which takes into consideration attributes of the local population to assess the level of need. It is for individual ICBs to decide how best to use their allocation to deliver their functions.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she expects to publish the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice on statutory learning disability and autism training. \p Stephen Kinnock: Under the Health and Care Act 2022, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is required to issue a Code of Practice to guide providers registered with the Care Quality Commission on how to meet their statutory requirement on learning disability and autism training, under the same act. The code must be laid before Parliament for 40 sitting days before it can be issued. We will set out further information on our plans for the Code of Practice in due course.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides to ensure that GPs approach (a) shared care and (b) collaboration with gender identity specialists in the same way as other specialists. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department has not issued guidance relating to shared care agreements. The General Medical Council’s guidance states that general practitioners (GPs) should collaborate with a Gender Dysphoria Clinic (GDC) to provide effective and timely treatment for patients, including prescribing medicines on the recommendation of an experienced gender specialist, and that it is reasonable for a GP to expect the GDC to provide timely support and advice where necessary.

The Royal College of General Practitioners’ position statement on the role of the GP in transgender healthcare sets out that GPs should “liaise and work with Gender Identity Clinics in the same way as with any other specialist. This includes consideration of prescribing under a shared care agreement”.
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Robbie Moore:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with schools on ensuring that (a) external and (b) other staff are subject to sufficient Disclosure and Barring Service checks. \p Catherine McKinnell: There is already a robust safeguarding framework in place in the form of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), which is the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to when safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. This guidance clearly sets out requirements regarding the checks schools should undertake for staff, including external staff, and visitors, to ensure appropriate safeguarding measures are in place.

In particular, KCSIE provides guidance on how schools should manage visitors, distinguishing between those in a professional capacity (for example, educational psychologists, social workers) and general visitors (for example, parents attending events). KCSIE makes clear that schools should not request Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for general visitors, while those attending in a professional capacity should have their ID checked, and schools should be assured that appropriate DBS checks have been carried out by their employer. The guidance also highlights the importance of schools having policies in place to assess external organisations providing educational content.

KCSIE is reviewed annually, ordinarily with substantive changes and public consultation taking place in one year and technical-only changes the next. This approach ensures that schools and colleges have sufficient time to implement any updates effectively while minimising disruption for their staff.
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Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment she has made of trends in the level of children identified with special educational needs in (a) local authority maintained schools and (b) academies. \p Catherine McKinnell: Information on the numbers of pupils in schools in England with education, health and care (EHC) plans, and special educational needs (SEN) without an EHC plan, by the type of school attended in the academic years 2015/16 to 2023/24, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/18296cee-15b6-4a0d-e280-08dd5a6d191a.

Further information on the numbers of pupils with SEN is available in the statistical publication ‘Special Educational Needs in England’, is accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/special-educational-needs-in-england.
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Stuart Andrew:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that all school-age children have access to high quality physical education. \p Catherine McKinnell: The government is dedicated to increasing children's activity levels by protecting physical education (PE) time and supporting grassroots clubs to expand access to sports for all girls and boys. Through our independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review, we will seek to deliver a curriculum which is rich, broad and inclusive, ensuring all children and young people have the best start in life and have equal opportunities to participate in high quality PE, sports and physical activities.

Further information on budgets for the 2025/26 academic year will be shared in due course.
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Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) support the Summer Reading Challenge and (b) help increase the number of children reading for pleasure. \p Catherine McKinnell: High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. We know that reading for pleasure is hugely important and brings a range of benefits, with strong links to attainment.

The department welcomes the Reading Agency’s work on the Summer Reading Challenge, which has been going from strength to strength now for a quarter of a century. This has helped thousands of young people to read more and to improve their reading skills.

The government has implemented a range of measures to support reading for pleasure. The English Hubs programme supports the teaching of phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure, with £23 million committed for the 2024/25 academic year to support this work. Furthermore, the government’s reading framework provides guidance on improving the teaching of reading, to ensure that every child is not only able to read proficiently but also develops a genuine love of reading.

On 5 February, the government announced a £2 million investment to drive high and rising standards in reading and writing. Building on the success of phonics, teachers will receive additional training to help children progress from the early stages of phonics in reception and year 1 through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school. This will be delivered through the English Hubs programme.

In secondary schools, teachers will be offered new training and resources this year to help them support readers at all levels, and next year the department will commission further training that will be focused specifically on struggling readers in secondary school who are at risk of falling behind.

The current national curriculum states that teachers are expected to encourage pupils to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people, in line with the government’s ambition for a curriculum that delivers excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the sufficiency of Initial Teacher Training to support Early Career Teachers to manage a variety of needs in the classroom. \p Catherine McKinnell: High-quality teaching is the most important in-school factor for improving outcomes for all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the department is committed to ensuring that all pupils receive excellent support from their teachers.

The Teachers’ Standards set clear expectations that teachers must understand the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND. All initial teacher training (ITT) providers must ensure that their courses enable trainee teachers to meet the Teachers’ Standards, to be recommended for the award of Qualified Teacher Status.

The ITT Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework (ECF), for trainee and Early Career Teachers (ECTs) respectively, cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career. They set out the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching, and from September 2025, will be superseded by the combined Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF), which sets out a minimum entitlement to training and must be used by providers of ITT and those delivering provider-led early career training to create their curricula. From September 2025, all ECTs will be entitled to a two-year induction that is underpinned by the ITTECF, known as the Early Career Teacher Entitlement (ECTE).

The department’s review of content for the ITTECF paid particular attention to the needs of trainees and ECTs when supporting pupils with SEND. There is now significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND, some of which has been adapted from the new National Professional Qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators, to be relevant for trainees and ECTs. We have edited existing statements to improve inclusivity for SEND throughout the framework including, for example, developing an understanding of different pupil needs, and learning how to provide opportunities for success for all pupils.

From September 2025, the department has also enhanced the requirement on providers of ECT training to develop SEND training materials. This approach was tested with SEND educational experts, with the consensus being that the approach of ‘quality-first teaching’ is the best way to improve outcomes for all children, particularly those with SEND.

The department recognises that continuous improvement is essential and have recently committed to a full review of the ECTE in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for ECTs. This review will focus on the support we provide new teachers in teaching pupils with SEND.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to increase access to books for young people. \p Catherine McKinnell: High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.

The national curriculum states that teachers are expected to encourage pupils to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information. It emphasises the importance of pupils listening to, discussing and – as their fluency increases – reading for themselves a wide range of stories, poems, plays and information books.

School libraries complement public libraries in giving pupils access to a range of books and other kinds of texts, both in and out of school. It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide, maintain and fund a library service for their pupils. Headteachers have autonomy to decide how best to spend their core schools funding. The Autumn Budget 2024 announced an additional £2.3 billion for schools for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25, bringing the total core schools budget to almost £63.9 billion in 2025/26.

On 5 February 2025, the government announced a £2 million investment to drive high and rising standards in reading and writing. Building on the success of phonics, teachers will receive additional training to help children progress from the early stages of phonics in reception and year 1 through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school. This will be delivered through the English Hubs programme.

In secondary school, teachers will be offered new training and resources this year to help them support readers at all levels, and next year the department will commission further training that will be focused specifically on struggling readers in secondary school who are at risk of falling behind.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of continued funding of the Music Hub programme. \p Catherine McKinnell: Music Hubs play a crucial role in providing music education both within the school curriculum and beyond. The government currently allocates £79 million annually to support the Music Hub programme, including funding for the 2024/25 academic year. The department has not yet confirmed the future funding levels for Music Hubs.
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Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of ending compulsory written national curriculum assessments for key stage one students. \p Catherine McKinnell: End of key stage 1 national curriculum tests and teacher assessments have been non-statutory since the 2023/24 academic year.

Following the 2017 consultation on primary assessment, a decision was made by the previous administration to make these assessments optional to reduce the overall number of tests children have to take in primary school and move the baseline for primary school progress measures from key stage 1 to reception. The Standards and Testing Agency continues to develop test papers for schools to use on an optional basis as part of their ongoing assessment of pupils.

The phonics screening check is the only statutory assessment administered to pupils in key stage 1. This is a short, light-touch assessment which assesses pupils’ ability to decode and read words using phonics.

In respect of future assessment policy and associated arrangements, the government has established an independent curriculum and assessment review, covering key stages 1 to 5, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, an expert in education policy. The national curriculum assessments administered to primary pupils are in scope of this review, which will look at whether the current assessment system can be improved.
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Connor Naismith:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure students who would have benefitted from the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme are still provided with the same opportunities they may have otherwise had. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department is committed to ensuring all children and young people have a strong foundation in mathematics, both so they can thrive in the modern economy, and also so that they can understand and participate in modern society to the greatest extent, regardless of background and socioeconomic status. Additionally, advanced mathematics underpins the development of cutting edge artificial intelligence, which my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister has set out as a key driver in the Plan for Change, helping to turbocharge growth and boost living standards.

The Advanced Maths Support programme (AMSP) is a government funded programme that has a positive impact on mathematics education across England. The department is currently examining additional and alternative options which would support provision for advanced mathematics.

The department continues to work closely with the AMSP supplier, Mathematics in Education and Industry, to ensure high quality professional development and support remains available to schools and colleges so that all students, regardless of background, can access high-quality level 3 mathematics education. This includes improving level 3 mathematics teaching and providing alternative tuition for level 3 further mathematics students, to increase participation and attainment in advanced mathematics and removing barriers of social injustice.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of specialist therapeutic providers. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department knows that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) frequently require access to additional support from a broad specialist workforce across education, health and care, including speech and language therapists and other therapy services.

Across England, community health services, including therapies, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities. The department is working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services.

As part of the government’s mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future, the department will also provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school through expanding Mental Health Support Teams, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.
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Mr Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with Birmingham City Council on increasing the number of secondary school places in Sutton Coldfield constituency. \p Catherine McKinnell: The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools. The funding is not ringfenced, subject to the conditions set out in the published Grant Determination Letter, nor is it time bound, meaning local authorities are free to use this funding to best meet their local priorities.

Birmingham City Council has been allocated just below £26.2 million to support new school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026.

The department’s Pupil Place Planning Advisers engage with local authorities regularly, to review their plans for creating additional places and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities are experiencing difficulties, they offer support and advice.

Recent engagement with Birmingham City Council has confirmed both existing and anticipated secondary sufficiency pressure in Sutton Coldfield. The local authority is investing in expansions within existing schools to address short term localised sufficiency pressure and exploring further expansions to meet medium term demand. The department is aware of planned housing development in the local area in the longer term which may ultimately require additional school places to meet community needs.
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Tony Vaughan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department used to decide which schools would access Round 1 of funding for the Free Breakfast Club scheme. \p Stephen Morgan: The government is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will require every state-funded school with children on roll from reception to year 6 to offer a free breakfast club before the start of each school day. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day. The Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed over £30 million of funding for breakfast clubs for the 2025/26 financial year. This funding will enable the department to fund up to 750 early adopters of the new breakfast clubs. Decisions about future funding for breakfast clubs will be taken as part of the next phase of the spending review.

The department selected up to 750 early adopter schools to ensure a broad range of representation across different school types, sizes, and geographical areas. The aim is to test and learn from a variety of school settings, including those that already work with private, voluntary, and independent providers.

All state-funded schools with primary-aged children were eligible to apply, including primary schools, infant and junior schools, all-through schools, special schools, and alternative provision settings.
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Rachel Gilmour:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools to purchase essential textbooks. \p Catherine McKinnell: Overall core revenue funding for schools totals almost £61.6 billion this financial year, 2024/25. At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion in 2025/26.

These increases, against the backdrop of a challenging fiscal picture, demonstrate the government’s commitment to schools and ensuring every child can achieve and thrive through its commitment to the Opportunity Mission.

Schools have autonomy over how they use their core funding, including for their non-staff costs such as textbooks. The department will continue to monitor the balance of funding and costs for schools.
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Lola McEvoy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of children who are home schooled due to a lack of appropriate SEND provision. \p Stephen Morgan: The department does not hold information on the number of children who are home educated due to a lack of appropriate special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.

The department collects data from local authorities on children in elective home education (EHE). The latest data shows that ‘School dissatisfaction SEND’ was the primary reason for EHE in 3% of cases. Breakdowns by reason for EHE are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/ae7909de-8a16-4ea2-252c-08dd564388e8.

The department recognises that barriers to attendance are wide and complex, and this is particularly true for pupils with SEND. Addressing these barriers requires a 'support-first' approach and strong relationships between families, schools, local authorities and other relevant local services.

This is why the department has published the ’Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which became statutory in August 2024. The guidance promotes a 'support-first' approach and provides detail on additional support for pupils with SEND. Where a pupil is not attending due to unmet or additional needs, this guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services work together to access and provide the right support to improve attendance.

The department is working closely with schools and local authorities to ensure that education settings are able to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, including announcing £1 billion investment in high needs at the Autumn Budget 2024, to help ensure all children can access the high-quality education that should be their right.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in (a) Milton Keynes and (b) Buckinghamshire are expected to benefit from the increase in the Early Years Pupil Premium to £1 per hour in 2025-26. \p Stephen Morgan: Early education gives all children the best start in life. That is why we are delivering the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the early years pupil premium rate by over 45%, from 68p per hour in the 2024/25 financial year to £1 per hour in the 2025/26 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. The early years pupil premium rate will be the same for all age groups.

Early years funding, including early years pupil premium, is paid on the basis of part-time equivalents (PTEs) where one PTE is equivalent to a child attending a setting for 15 hours a week over 38 weeks. We expect to fund 862.52 PTEs in Buckinghamshire and 547.01 PTEs in Milton Keynes at the increased early years pupil premium rate in the 2025/26 financial year. Final allocations will be paid on updated census and headcount data.

More information on the 2025/26 financial year early years allocations and estimated PTEs can be found on GOV.UK.
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Sarah Olney:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the threshold level for eligibility for (a) 30 hours of free childcare and (b) tax-free childcare on working parents who earn between £100,000 and £125,000. \p Stephen Morgan: The government is committed to delivering the expansion of the 30 hours free childcare offer so that from September 2025 eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week, over 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their child turns 9 months old to when they start school. Accessible and high-quality early education and childcare is a crucial part of giving every child the best start in life, boosting children’s life chances and giving parents work choices.

To be eligible for the working parent entitlement, parents will each need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage (£9,518 per year) and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. This offer aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours, if they wish. The income eligibility criteria are the same for Tax-Free Childcare.

The £100,000 level was chosen to correspond with Income Tax thresholds and be easily understandable for parents, and only a very small proportion of parents (3.8% of parents of 3 and 4-year-olds in 2023/24) earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. There are no current plans to change the income threshold for the working parent entitlement or Tax-Free Childcare.

The government is committed to managing public finances in a responsible way by targeting support with childcare towards those who need it the most in order to work. These are the parents for whom childcare support makes a bigger difference to their ability to work, given that childcare costs make up a bigger proportion of their earnings.

However, the universal 15 hours of free childcare offer remains in place for all parents of 3 and 4-year-olds, regardless of parental circumstances, including those who earn over £100,000.

Parents can find out about the government-funded support they are eligible for via the Childcare Choices website: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the projected allocation of the expansion grant for early education providers in (a) Milton Keynes and (b) Buckinghamshire will be for financial year 2025-26. \p Stephen Morgan: In 2025/26, the government plan to spend over £8 billion on the early years entitlements. This government has increased the early years pupil premium by 45% and are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the Early Years Expansion Grant.

Buckinghamshire will receive £834,187 and Milton Keynes will receive £430,010 in Early Years Expansion Grant funding. We have now published full details of allocations and conditions of grant, which are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-expansion-grant-2025-to-2026.

We expect local authorities to communicate all funding allocations to providers within six weeks of the publication of rates, that is by 10 April 2025.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure early education providers in (a) Milton Keynes and (b) Buckinghamshire comply with the updated statutory guidance on additional charges for government-funded entitlements. \p Stephen Morgan: Local authorities in England have a statutory duty to secure funded early education and childcare for eligible children in their area. The early education and childcare statutory guidance sets out what local authorities must do as required by legislation, and what they should do to meet their statutory duties.

To support local authorities with their statutory duties, the department recently published updated statutory guidance, which will come into effect in April 2025, reaffirming that whilst providers can charge parents for some additional extras, these charges must not be mandatory. The updates to the guidance will support local authorities to take a more consistent approach to implementing the rules across providers, including in Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire. Local authorities are responsible for implementing the guidance at a local level and can intervene where the guidance is not being followed.
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Dame Harriett Baldwin:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has included mandatory commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion training in contracts awarded since 5 July 2024. \p Janet Daby: In accordance with government commercial policy, the department uses centrally maintained frameworks provided by the Crown Commercial Service and otherwise uses the suite of standard contracts maintained by Cabinet Office, for the majority of its contracts. These terms and conditions require the supplier to perform its obligations under the contract in accordance with equality law, but do not include a requirement to undertake mandatory training.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the application of VAT on independent school fees on the number of independent school closures in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 financial years. \p Stephen Morgan: Approximately 50 mainstream private schools close each year. There are a range of reasons for closure, including financial viability and action taken by the department where schools are not meeting standards. We expect the number of private school closures to remain relatively low, and be influenced by various factors, not just the VAT policy.

The government is aware there may be a temporary increase in the schools closure rate over the normal rate during the few years after implementation of the VAT policy. It is estimated that this may be broadly equivalent to 100 schools in total closing over the next 3 years, in addition to the normal levels of turnover, after which closures would return to historic norms. The government has conducted a thorough and detailed analysis of this policy’s impacts and published a Tax Impact and Information Note (TIIN), which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/ac8c20ce-4824-462d-b206-26a567724643#summary-of-impacts.

Historically, there has been significant turnover within the sector. Since 2000, average fees in the sector have increased by 75% in real terms, while pupil numbers have remained stable, as have total school numbers.

Local authorities routinely support parents who need a state-funded school place, including where private schools have closed. The department works with local authorities to support place planning and ensure there is capacity in the state-funded sector to meet demand. Parents can seek places in other private schools or find a state-funded place through their local authority.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-11 conversation_132

Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the mental health and well-being of school students. \p Stephen Morgan: I refer the hon. Member for Ely and East Cambridgeshire to the answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 33348.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-11 conversation_133

Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for how long will the Government fund free breakfast clubs. \p Stephen Morgan: The department has introduced the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill which will mean every state-funded school with primary aged children will offer a free breakfast club. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, can have a supportive start to the school day. The Bill will also mean that breakfast clubs will be enshrined in law, ensuring the longevity of the breakfast clubs policy.

From April 2025, up to 750 participating schools in the early adopter programme will be funded to provide access to a free, universal breakfast club lasting at least 30 minutes and including food.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-11 conversation_134

Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, when she will lay regulations on ‘relevant accommodation’ provisions for children deprived of their liberty. \p Janet Daby: Children who need to be deprived of their liberty for their own safety are some of the most vulnerable in our society and we must do all that we can to keep them safe and help them to achieve and thrive. Better models of care are needed to ensure that these children’s needs can be met.

We have commissioned independent research to review emerging provision and will conduct testing in 2025/26 to understand the models of care which provide the best outcomes for these children. We will use these learnings to inform the regulatory requirements for relevant accommodation, to ensure provision meets the needs of this vulnerable cohort of children. As such, we are continuing to consider when we expect to lay the regulations required for this measure to take effect.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-11 conversation_135

Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of recently announced increases in Social Work England registration fees. \p Janet Daby: As set out in the Children and Social Work Act 2017, Social Work England (SWE) is responsible for setting the level of registration fees. The relevant sections of the Act can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/16/part/2/enacted#section-36-4.

Before determining the level of any fee, including any change, SWE must both consult publicly and gain approval of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education.

SWE launched a public consultation on changes to their fees on 19 February 2025. The consultation runs until 13 May 2025. More information on the proposed fee changes and public consultation can be found here: https://www.socialworkengland.org.uk/news/public-consultation-on-changes-to-our-fees-is-now-open/.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-11 conversation_136

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the adoption and special guardianship support fund on families. \p Janet Daby: Adoption England is committed to improving support for families and is working to ensure every child has an individual adoption support plan at the point of placement, which will identify current and future needs. The adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) provides trauma and attachment support for adoptive children, many of whom will have suffered abuse, neglect and violence before adoption.

Previously, the Institute of Public Care (IPC), at Oxford Brookes University carried out a three-year mixed-method evaluation on behalf of the department between 2018 and 2021. Their report can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6391c41a8fa8f53ba783e8ad/Evaluation_of_the_Adoption_Support_Fund_2018_to_2022_-_summary_.pdf. The report found that “a high proportion (83%) parents and guardians participating in the longitudinal survey found the funded support helpful or very helpful overall”. The IPC report also found “a statistically significant (substantial, with large effect size) improvement in parent and guardian estimates of the extent to which the main aim of the funded support had been met by the end of the intervention” and reported that parents and guardians scored on average “7 out of 10 in relation to a question about the extent to which positive change(s) for their child and/or family had been sustained 6 months since the conclusion of ASF-funded support”.

The impact of the therapies available within the ASGSF is currently being assessed from multiple angles. The National Institute for Health Research is currently conducting a randomised control trial into Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP), one of the main therapies the ASGSF funds. This research is currently in its third and final phase and it will provide robust evidence regarding the effectiveness of DDP. The department started to collect data from outcomes measurement tools for ASGSF-funded therapies in December 2023. As therapy treatment comes to an end, this data will give an overall picture of the impact and adequacy of individual ASGSF-funded therapies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-11 conversation_137

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to manage the potential impact of recent legal cases against veterans on trends in the level of recruitment for the Armed Forces. \p Al Carns: Across Defence, a range of surveys and polls are regularly used which indicate broad engagement levels and attitudes towards the Armed Forces. The information is routinely used to ensure that Armed Forces’ recruitment activity can most effectively attract the best possible talent that the Armed Forces need.

We expect the highest standards of our Service personnel. The overwhelming majority meet those expectations and serve with great distinction, but we rightly hold them to account when they fall short of these expectations. Equally though, we recognise the importance of doing everything we can, within the law, to protect serving personnel and veterans from repeat, malicious and often self-serving allegations. We will continue to explore options for enhancing these protections. Legal and pastoral support is provided to veterans affected by legal proceedings.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-11 conversation_138

Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 9 May 2024 to Question 24727 on Army Foundation College: Staff, how many Army Foundation College staff found to have started sexual relationships with recruits since 2014 were allowed to continue working there. \p Al Carns: At the point of notification, the personnel were no longer working at the Army Foundation College. The cases subsequently went to Court Martial and the sentences all included Dismissal from HM Forces.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-11)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-11 conversation_139

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will hold discussions with PTSD Resolution on tackling (a) harassment and (b) sexual assault in the armed forces. \p Al Carns: There is no place for harassment or any form of abuse within the Armed Forces – or anywhere within Defence. I am deeply concerned that Service women in particular have been – and continue to be- subject to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other unacceptable behaviours as they carry out the vital role of protecting the nation. Our Ministerial team and Service Chiefs are committed to making changes that hold people to account for their actions and to also create a more inclusive environment.

We have a range of robust policies in place with powerful sanctions to tackle harassment and unacceptable sexual behaviour and these are kept under continuous review. Where behaviour involves sexual offending, the Defence Serious Crime Unit and the Victim and Witness Care Unit carry out an independent investigation and provide confidential and professional support and guidance to those affected.

This Government is also establishing an Armed Forces Commissioner as a new independent champion with the power to investigate issues raised by Service personnel and their families.