theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to increase the number of hours of PE lessons available to schoolchildren to help tackle obesity. \p Catherine McKinnell: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government has committed to support more children to be active by protecting time for physical education (PE) and by empowering more schools to provide high-quality PE for all pupils.

PE is a compulsory subject in the national curriculum for all four key stages and aims to ensure pupils lead healthy and active lives. The department does not mandate time for any subject, including PE.

On 19 June, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced next steps for the future of PE and sport in schools. The government will co-design PE and School Sport Partnership networks with the sector. We are looking to develop and build strong partnerships between schools, National Governing Bodies, local organisations and clubs, with the aim of increasing equal access for children to high-quality PE and extracurricular sport. Further details, including funding, will be outlined in due course and we expect to launch the partnerships from autumn 2026.

The department also launched an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review in 2024 which seeks to deliver a curriculum which is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative, so that all children and young people do not miss out on subjects such as music, art, PE and drama. The interim report was published in March 2025, and the final report will be published in the autumn with the government’s response. Departmental officials are now working on the next phase of the Review, which is considering subject-specific issues including PE, and are working with external experts.
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Damien Egan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to support children with complex needs whose therapeutic support requirements exceed the maximum funding available for each child specified in the guidance entitled Adoption and special guardianship support fund, last updated on 24 April 2025. \p Janet Daby: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Bristol North East to the answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 53958.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve (a) early identification and (b) support for children with dyslexia in primary schools in rural areas. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

High-quality teaching is central to ensuring that all pupils, including those with dyslexia or other types of SEND, are given the best possible opportunity to achieve. To support all teachers, the department is implementing a range of teacher training reforms to ensure teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed. From September 2025, the department has also enhanced the requirement on providers of Early Career Teacher Training to develop training materials that support the needs of children with SEND.

We recognise that the early identification of need and support is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with dyslexia, and measures have been introduced to support the effective teaching of reading. This includes the English Hubs programme, the publication of the reading framework and an updated list of high-quality systematic synthetic phonics programmes for schools. West Dorset's nearest English Hub is The Cornerstone English Hub.

Whilst the department has not made an assessment of dyslexia provision in West Dorset, the Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review (including its sufficiency), working with parents, young people, and providers. Where a local area does not meet its duties, we can take action that prioritises children’s needs and supports local areas to bring about rapid improvement.
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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free nursery hours were funded in each year since 2018; and what the total cost to the public was in each of those years. \p Stephen Morgan: Funding for the early years entitlements is based on part-time equivalent (PTE) hours. We define 1 PTE as 15 hours across 38 weeks a year (570 funded hours per annum).

Early years entitlements funding is allocated to local authorities through the early years block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG). DSG allocations are published annually on GOV.UK. The figures requested have been provided in the attached table.

Early years entitlements funding is demand led, so allocations are updated to reflect actual take-up throughout the year. Final allocations for a financial year are available in the July following the financial year ending in March.

DSG_allocations (xlsx, 28.8KB)
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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2025 to Question 49999 on Holiday Activities and Food Programme, whether she plans to continue the provision of funding for the Holidays and Activities Programme beyond the 2025-26 financial year. \p Stephen Morgan: The government remains committed to the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme. We are currently working through the outcomes of the Spending Review and will share further information in relation to the future of the HAF programme in due course.
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Chris Hinchliff:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 5 June 2025 on School Food, HCWS682, what the (a) timeframe and (b) scope of the consultation on revising School Food Standards will be; and whether that consultation will include direct engagement with young people. \p Stephen Morgan: To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for children, the department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance. The department is currently engaging with a range of stakeholders to help us understand the challenges around school food.

We intend to consult on these revisions and further details will be available in due course. Hearing from young people is an important part of this work and we will ensure there are appropriate opportunities for their engagement.
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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the financial sustainability of nursery providers in the context of changes to free childcare entitlement. \p Stephen Morgan: The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity. We want a record proportion of children (75%) to achieve a good level of development by the end of reception by 2028. By focusing on child development rather than just childcare, the government aims to ensure that children are better prepared for school and future learning.

In 2025/26 alone, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements. This is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements.

As announced at the Spending Review, the government will provide an additional £1.6 billion per year by 2028/29, compared to 2025/26, to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents. Employment Allowance is being increased to protect businesses by providing relief of up to £10,500 per annum on their employer Class 1 National Insurance contributions liabilities from 6 April 2025. Early years childcare providers are entitled to claim the Employment Allowance if they are private businesses or charities, and we expect the vast majority will be eligible to do so.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance she has issued to schools to deal with extreme weather warnings. \p Stephen Morgan: The department has an Education Hub, which is a site for parents, pupils, education professionals and the media, that captures everything they need to know about the education system. On 16 June 2025, the Education Hub published an article offering guidance for schools and educational settings on hot weather and heatwaves. This guidance is available here: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/hot-weather-and-heatwaves-guidance-for-schools-and-other-education-settings/.

The department also publishes guidance on emergency planning and response for education, childcare and children’s social care settings. This includes a section on severe weather, including extreme heat, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings.

The UK Health Security Agency also publishes guidance for teachers and other educational professionals about looking after children and those in early years settings before and during hot weather, covering health risks from heat and how to protect children when at school. This guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/looking-after-children-and-those-in-early-years-settings-before-and-during-hot-weather-teachers-and-other-educational-professionals.
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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of regional variations in the cost of delivering nursery provision in England. \p Stephen Morgan: 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. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.

In 2025/26 alone, this government plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements and we have increased the early years pupil premium by over 45%. On top of this, we are providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the Early Years Expansion Grant.

To set early years funding rates, we uplift the national average rate from the previous year taking into account cost pressures facing the sector, including forecasts of average earnings and inflation, and the National Living Wage. We use the early years national funding formulae (EYNFF) to distribute the early years entitlements budget to local authorities. The EYNFF includes a base rate for each child, which is the same minimum funding for every child no matter where they live or whether they have additional needs. This rate is based on the core costs of childcare provision and has been informed by the cost of childcare review.

To make sure we can account for the differences in costs across the country, such as on staffing and premises costs, we also apply an area cost adjustment for each area. This approach only increases funding, it never reduces the base rate or additional needs funding.

The average hourly funding rate provided for 3 and 4-year-olds since 2018 is as follows:

Year

3 and 4-year-old combined rate

2017/18

£4.76

2018/19

£4.75

2019/20

£4.75

2020/21

£4.83

2021/22

£4.88

2022/23

£5.04

2023/24 (April – August)

£5.28

2023/24 (September – March)

£5.62

2024/25

£5.88

2025/26

£6.12
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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative estimate her Department has made of the (a) number of available nursery places and (b) demand for those places in England by region. \p Stephen Morgan: The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.

Ofsted publishes data on the numbers of all types of providers joining and leaving the sector each year. Some caution is required in using the numbers because, for example, a nursery may resign one registration and immediately register new provision. Please also note that this data was released under the previous government:

2017/18

2018/19

2019/20

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

Childcare providers leaving the sector

-10,900

-10,600

-8,270

-11,300

-11,100

-9,650

-7,520

Childcare providers joining the sector

9,140

7,870

7,400

6,990

5,690

6,330

6,490

Net change

-1,760

-2,730

-870

-4,310

-5,410

-3,320

-1,030

Note that from 2019/20, the numbers of annual joiners and leavers are calculated by comparing the beginning of the year to the end. Therefore, the numbers of providers joining and leaving from 2019/20 are not comparable with the figures up to 2018/19.

Ofsted’s most recent publication shows the number of places available increased by 12,100 (1%) between August 2023 and August 2024. The department’s projections on demand for places are not published by region but show that around half of local areas need to increase their capacity by between 10% and 20% to meet demand for September 2025, with the highest uplift being in some of the most disadvantaged areas.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on in-person surveys conducted by external polling companies in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025 to date. \p Janet Daby: The department’s expenditure is recorded by financial year. It has spent the following on public polling through external polling companies between 2023 and 31 May 2025:
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the level of plagiarism in the education sector; and what steps her Department is taking to tackle plagiarism. \p Janet Daby: Cheating of any kind is unacceptable. It threatens to undermine the reputation of our world-class education sector and devalues the hard work of those who succeed on their own merit.

Ofqual require Awarding Organisations to have robust policies and procedures in place to prevent, detect, and deal with malpractice, including plagiarism.

The Joint Council for Qualifications have published guidance to support schools and colleges to identify and address concerns about plagiarism in exams and assessments, which can be found at: https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/malpractice/plagiarism-in-assessments---guidance-for-teachersassessors/.

Higher education providers are independent bodies responsible for their own approaches to preventing academic misconduct by students, including plagiarism, but are regulated in relation their assessment practices by the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS sets the expectation that assessments must be designed in a way that minimises opportunities for misconduct and facilitates its detection where it does occur.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Spending Review 2025, CP 1336, published on 11 June 2025, what the constituent parts are of the commitment to making at least 5% savings and efficiencies other than the changes already announced to Level 7 apprenticeships. \p Janet Daby: Spending Review 2025 delivers on the Plan for Change and sets out spending plans for the rest of the Parliament. The settlement for the department ensures that we can invest in excellence for every child, so that we break the unfair link between background and success.

As set out in the Department for Education's section of the Departmental Efficiency Delivery Plans, the department will deliver efficiencies in both its frontline and non-frontline spending.

95% of the department spending goes to the frontline and we will continue to support frontline providers in getting maximum value from every pound spent.

In relation to children’s social care, for example, the programme (joint with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) to reform the sector focuses on preventative activity which avoids families’ needs escalating, reducing costs and demand in the system. In relation to schools, the department will work alongside the sector to go further to get best value from their resources and is expanding the suite of productivity initiatives available. We will also work with the further education (FE) sector to improve the value for money of government spend by providing FE Commissioner support to colleges and other relevant providers. We are seeking to provide opportunities for economies of scale arising from more 16 to 19-year-olds moving into post-16 education and training, simplifying processes and reducing data collection burdens, and providing greater certainty of capital funding to enable colleges with estate planning, and exploring commercial efficiencies. Further information can be found in the Departmental Efficiency Delivery Plans.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools that have discovered asbestos insulation in their building structures. \p Stephen Morgan: The government has increased investment to improve the condition of school buildings across England to £2.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year. We have also given a long term commitment to increase annual capital maintenance investment per year through to 2034/35.

In addition to capital funding and programmes, the department provides a range of guidance to help local authorities, academy trusts, governing bodies and other responsible bodies deliver their responsibilities to keep buildings safe, in good working order and compliant with relevant regulations. This includes school estate management standards and good estate management for schools. We also make available comprehensive risk protection for public sector schools as an alternative to commercial insurance through our risk protection assurance scheme.

Any school that suspects structural damage to its buildings, whether caused by badgers or anything else, should seek professional advice and, if the issue results in closure of part or all of the school, should notify the department.

The department expects all responsible bodies to have robust plans in place to manage any asbestos in their school and college buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties, drawing on appropriate professional advice. Asbestos management in schools and other buildings is regulated by the Health and Safety Executive, and the department has published guidance to help school duty holders comply with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

The department provides additional advice and support on a case-by-case basis in situations where serious and urgent safety issues with a building cannot be managed independently by a responsible body.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that disabled students entering higher education receive (a) timely and (b) appropriate support from Student Finance England. \p Janet Daby: The department and the Student Loans Company (SLC) are committed to ensuring that disabled students domiciled in England and entering higher education receive timely and appropriate support through the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA).

Eligible students undergo a Study Needs Assessment (SNA), which identifies their individual needs. These are then compiled into a Needs Assessment Report and are submitted to SLC for approval, helping to ensure that students receive the right support efficiently, and enabling them to access higher education with confidence and the resources they need to succeed.

In previous years, approximately 40% of DSA applications are submitted at the start of the academic year. However, this year, SLC has worked with UCAS to encourage earlier applications. This has resulted in a higher volume of submissions ahead of the 2025/26 academic year. To manage this, SLC has increased resourcing to improve processing times and ensure students receive funding promptly.

Additionally, SLC’s suppliers, Capita and Study Tech, have recruited more Needs Assessors to offer flexible assessment scheduling. SLC continues to monitor demand and capacity throughout the academic cycle to maintain effective support for students.

Current processing times for DSA and other applications can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sfe-current-application-timescales.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department took with Torbay Unitary Authority to help ensure the adequacy of consultation to reduce the number of moderate learning disability placements at Combe Pafford School Torquay. \p Catherine McKinnell: As the relevant local authority, Torbay Council is responsible for keeping provision for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) in their area under review. They are also responsible for determining how many high needs places, funded at £10,000 per place, should be available at special schools in their area.

Torbay Council concluded that there is less need for special school places for children with moderate learning difficulties and asked for the number of high needs places in Combe Pafford School to be reduced for the 2025/26 academic year.

Local authorities should undertake detailed work to forecast the number of places they and neighbouring authorities will need in the forthcoming academic year. They should consult with their schools and colleges to plan where new placements will be needed, although this is not mandatory. The department understands that such consultations with Combe Pafford School commenced in January 2024.
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Laura Kyrke-Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including essential safeguarding aspects of the law in the curriculum. \p Catherine McKinnell: Relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) has a vital role to play in supporting pupils’ wellbeing, health and safety. Pupils are taught a range of topics in relation to safeguarding, and guidance sets out that they should be made aware of the relevant legal provisions when relevant topics are being taught.

The RSHE statutory guidance is currently under review. The department is looking carefully at responses to the public consultation conducted last year, considering the relevant evidence and discussing with stakeholders before setting out next steps to make sure the guidance draws from the best available evidence.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to consider support for the (a) mental health and (b) wellbeing of students in the national curriculum as part of the Curriculum and Assessment Review. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.

As part of the curriculum, teaching about mental health has been part of the statutory health education, taught as part of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum since 2020. We are currently reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance, including the content on mental health.

The government established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review in July 2024 to shape a curriculum that is rich, broad, inclusive, and innovative. As part of this, the Review wants to ensure that the assessment system captures the strengths of every child and young person and the breadth of curriculum. This includes the right balance of assessment methods, whilst maintaining the important role of examinations.

The interim findings were published in March and acknowledged the importance of ensuring that the content, volume and frequency of assessments are not unnecessarily burdensome for students or teachers. The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published in autumn, at which point the government will respond.
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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of exams on mental health. \p Catherine McKinnell: Exams and other assessments are an essential part of ensuring that young people have acquired the knowledge and skills they need in order to succeed in further study and in later life.

We recognise that exams, like other things in life such as job interviews, have the potential to exacerbate feelings of stress amongst young people. But when pupils receive the right support, for many of them the level of stress from exams is manageable.

We encourage schools to provide safe, calm and supportive environments that help young people to understand and look after their mental health and wellbeing and develop healthy behaviours that can support them to stay well during stressful periods.

There is also a range of advice and guidance on how to beat exam stress. This includes guidance from the NHS, accessible at: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/children-and-young-adults/advice-for-parents/help-your-child-beat-exam-stress/.

Additional guidance by Ofqual can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coping-with-exam-pressure-a-guide-for-students. The information provides some useful advice which pupils can use to help alleviate or lessen the anxiety they have about sitting exams.
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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of SAT exams on primary school students. \p Catherine McKinnell: End of key stage 2 tests and teacher assessments, often known as SATs, are an essential part of ensuring that primary school pupils master the basics of reading, writing and mathematics to prepare them to achieve and thrive at secondary school.

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 panel’s interim report, published on 18 March 2025, is clear that assessments in key stage 1 and 2 are an important part of assessing children’s progress throughout primary school, and that the system of primary assessment is generally working well. The review panel is now considering where there are challenges and how to make any necessary improvements to support the attainment of all children. The panel intend to deliver their final report in autumn 2025.
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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to consider introducing a range of alternative assessment methods to exams in schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, an expert in education policy, including curriculum and social inequality. The Review is evaluating the existing national curriculum and statutory assessment system in England, to ensure they are fit for purpose.

The Review’s Interim Report, published in March 2025, is clear that traditional examined assessment should remain the primary means of assessment. The Review will take a subject-by-subject approach to consider assessment fitness for purpose and consider the impact of different assessment methods on teaching and learning.

The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published in the autumn, and the department will take decisions on what changes to make in light of these recommendations.
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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with Surrey County Council on the findings of its 2024 Parents’ Voices Matter survey that 20% of children with special educational needs do not receive (a) an Education, Health and Care Plan and (b) any form of SEN support. \p Catherine McKinnell: In September 2023, Ofsted and Care Quality Commission undertook a local area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspection in Surrey under the new SEND inspection framework. The report, published on 24 November, found inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

The report identified four areas for improvement relating to: the strategic evaluation of interventions; communication with parents and carers; the timeliness and quality of health assessments, needs assessments, education, health and care (EHC) plans and annual reviews; and reviewing the breadth and offer of alternative provision.

To assist the local area in making improvements to its SEND services, including in relation to children accessing appropriate EHC plan and special educational needs support, the department has deployed a SEND advisor to offer advice and challenge. The advisor’s work has included supporting the local authority to review their EHC plan statutory progress and to discuss their action plan for making improvements, analysing EHC plan data and trends, facilitating best practice exchange with other local areas, and providing advice and guidance to enhance the quality of EHC plans.

The department continues to monitor Surrey County Council’s SEND services in line with the department’s improvement and intervention approach, and officials will continue to ensure that the voices and experiences of parents are reflected in discussions with the local area and in the support and guidance we provide.
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Dr Ben Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of (a) the prevalence of the use of large language models in the preparation of UCAS personal statements and (b) the potential impact of the use of large language models in UCAS personal statements on the likelihood of applications being successful. \p Janet Daby: The personal statement is an opportunity for applicants to showcase their ambitions, skills and experiences. As such, it is important that students use their own words to accurately reflect their unique qualifications and suitability for the chosen course.

The department is in regular contact with UCAS and have been assured that plagiarism is taken seriously, with methods and guidance in place to caution against using artificial intelligence tools, including large language models, to write personal statements.

UCAS have also consulted on future reform of the personal statement, and have worked with students, teachers and universities to devise a new format. In splitting the statement into a series of sections, this reform is aimed to simplify the process for students, and to ensure that universities hear from students in their own words.
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Charlotte Nichols:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to add pharmacy to the list of degree courses that will be funded if an applicant already has a degree. \p Janet Daby: Under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, additional entitlement may be available for priority subjects or longer courses in addition to an individual’s core 4-year entitlement. Details of these additional entitlements will be announced in due course.
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Jodie Gosling:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding available to schools to purchase Adrenaline Autoinjector Pens for pupils with allergies. \p Catherine McKinnell: Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

Overall schools funding will total £65.3 billion in 2025/26 compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This represents an increase of £3.7 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs in 2025/26 compared to 2024/25.

The Spending Review reaffirmed the government’s commitment to children and young people. It announced that core schools funding, including investment in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), will rise to £69.5 billion by 2028/29.

Our overall investment in schools funding is a critical step forward in our mission to support all children and young people to achieve and thrive and will support teachers and leaders to deliver high and rising standards across every school and for every pupil, including those with SEND.
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Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support Skills England will provide to improve further education provision in (a) Mid Cambridgeshire and (b) other places where this is limited. \p Janet Daby: Skills England will support the delivery of government policy, driving forward the Plan for Change and industrial strategy by identifying skills gaps in the economy and using this insight to improve provision so that people and businesses can access the right training.

Skills England’s first report, published September 2024, sets out the key skills challenges that limit economic growth and opportunity and an initial assessment of skills needs in the economy – and moving forward, Skills England will work in partnership with stakeholders, including employers and further education and higher education providers, to co-create the right training products to boost growth and opportunity.

Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), overseen by Skills England, are specifically designed to drive local economic growth by better aligning provision of post-16 technical education and training with local labour market needs.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough LSIP is helping to identify and respond to gaps in provision and support learners to gain the skills they need to get good jobs, including in key local sectors, such as Green Construction, Green Engineering and Manufacturing, and Digital. By identifying opportunities for local innovation and growth, LSIPs are helping to ensure every part of the country can succeed in its own unique way.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the higher education admissions system takes into account the frequent relocations of military service children. \p Janet Daby: Universities are autonomous bodies, independent from government and are responsible for their own admissions decisions.

Universities and colleges decide who to offer a place to by considering a range of factors detailed within an applicant's UCAS application. In addition to their predicted grades, this can include their personal statement, teacher references, contextual factors and, for certain courses that have an October application deadline, their performance in admissions tests. This is a process that differs between providers and even between different courses at the same providers.

Admissions teams are accustomed to considering a wide range of personal circumstances when making decisions.

Higher education (HE) providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS) intending to charge higher level tuition fees must have an Access and Participation Plan approved by the OfS. Providers are expected to take into account the OfS Equality of Opportunity Risk Register in developing a plan. The Register identifies service children as a group in particular need of support.

The government takes a close interest in ensuring that the system is fair. We work closely with HE providers and sector bodies to make sure the system works well for students.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Spending Review 2025, CP 1336, published on 11 June 2025, how she plans to allocate the additional spending on (a) training and (b) apprenticeships. \p Janet Daby: The skills system is central to achieving economic growth and breaking down barriers to opportunity. The government is providing £1.2 billion of additional investment per year by 2028/29. This includes funding to support 1.3 million 16 to 19-year-olds to access high-quality training, supporting 65,000 additional learners per year by 2028/29. It will also deliver £625 million between 2025/26 and 2028/29 to train up to 60,000 skilled construction workers, as announced at Spring Statement 2025.

Further detail on funding within this allocation will be set out in due course.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of mobile phone signal on westbound rail routes from London. \p Chris Bryant: Having travelled westbound from London to Wales and back again on a weekly basis for twenty four years I know how poor the signal is. That is why I am delighted that DfT have secured funding to introduce low-earth-orbit satellite connectivity on all mainline trains, significantly improving both the availability and internet data connection speeds for Wi-Fi connected passengers.

Ofcom, the independent telecoms regulator, is responsible for reporting on the coverage of mobile networks in the UK. In 2019, Ofcom published data on mobile signal strength along UK railways based on measurement equipment installed on ‘yellow trains’. The Department for Transport and Network Rail are currently repeating this coverage measurement exercise. Ofcom continue to explore the feasibility of reporting on coverage on trains in the most relevant way.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of households without home internet access in Wiltshire; and what recent estimate his Department has made of levels of digital exclusion in (a) Wiltshire and (b) Chippenham constituency. \p Chris Bryant: According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2025 Spring Update, in the Wiltshire local authority area, 104 premises had no mobile, fixed or wireless internet service provider coverage and in the Chippenham constituency, 14 premises. And through Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, we are continuing to deliver broadband and mobile connectivity to hard-to-reach areas with limited or no coverage.

Ofcom survey data shows that around 5% of households nationally do not have at home internet access, we do not have a more local breakdown of this figure.

The Government published its Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February 2025, which outlines the first five actions we are taking over the next year to boost digital inclusion across the UK.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take (a) regulatory and (b) legislative steps to hold platforms accountable for monetising content which (i) does not meet internal policies on hate speech, (ii) promotes misogyny and (iii) promotes gender-based hate. \p Feryal Clark: The Online Safety Act gives online platforms new duties to tackle illegal user-generated content on their services. This includes duties for illegal content that stirs up hatred. Under these duties, providers need to remove this content. It cannot then be monetised. Categorised services also need to have systems and processes in place to enforce their terms of service about content that is prohibited on their service, including hate speech and misogyny. The regulation is overseen by Ofcom and it has strong powers to enforce compliance.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to offer (a) rural and (b) agriculture-specific digital skills training as part of its national digital inclusion initiatives. \p Chris Bryant: The Government published its Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February 2025, which outlines the first five actions we are taking over the next year to boost digital inclusion in every corner of the UK, including rural areas.

These will be targeted at local initiatives for boosting digital skills and confidence, widening access to devices and connectivity, and getting support to people in their own communities so everyone can reap the benefits of technology. This includes supporting digital upskilling, and enhancing support for the Essential Digital Skills framework, which supports businesses and individuals to get the digital skills they need.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that social media platforms enforce their own (a) hate speech and (b) child protection policies. \p Feryal Clark: Under the Online Safety Act, the largest services will need to put in place processes to enforce any Terms of Service they set for legal content for adults, including legal hate speech. Platforms likely to be accessed by children must also protect children from content that is harmful to them, including hateful content.

Services must have clear and accessible Terms of Service about how they fulfil their illegal content and child safety duties and apply them consistently.

Ofcom has robust enforcement powers to use against services that fail to fulfil duties. This includes fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the shared rural network is fully implemented in the Rushcliffe district council area by the end of 2025. \p Chris Bryant: According to the latest information published by Ofcom, outdoor 4G coverage in Rushcliffe, from all four operators currently stands at 99% and coverage from at least one mobile network operator is almost 100%. Consequently, there will not be any further coverage improvements from the Shared Rural Network in Rushcliffe.
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Paul Holmes:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using UK-based manufacturing companies to deliver the Rampion 2 wind turbine scheme. \p Michael Shanks: The government is not neutral about where things are made. We want to see jobs created and supply chains developed here in the UK.

As part of the growth and clean energy superpower missions, the Government is committed to growing the UK’s supply chains and supporting good jobs throughout the country. The Clean Industry Bonus aims to drive investment into sustainable supply chains, particularly in the UK’s most disadvantaged communities. In addition, the Government has set out a package of support for offshore wind supply chains worth up to £1 billion, including £300 million from Great British Energy to provide upfront public investment, £400 million from The Crown Estate, to support new infrastructure, including ports, manufacturing, and research and testing facilities, and £300 million being developed by the offshore wind industry, to deliver new investments into supply chains such as advanced turbines technologies and foundations.