theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing Cifas under the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority. \p Emma Reynolds: The Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance Scheme (CIFAS) is the UK’s fraud prevention service. Services like CIFAS play a crucial role in safeguarding against financial fraud, supporting the Government’s broader efforts to protect individuals and businesses from these crimes.

When a financial institution suspects fraudulent activity, they can register a "marker" against a customer's credit report on the National Fraud Database, which is managed by CIFAS. As stated on their website, the markers themselves are not created by CIFAS, but rather by the financial institutions who suspect fraud. CIFAS only provides the infrastructure for these markers to be registered and accessed by other members.

We do not have plans to introduce statutory requirements for financial firms to notify people when a CIFAS marker has been assigned. If an individual believes that a CIFAS marker has been incorrectly assigned, they should first raise it with the organisation that recorded it to the CIFAS database for them to review. If they do not remove the marker then the individual can go directly to CIFAS. The individual can also apply to have a further review conducted by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

The Treasury has not assessed the potential merits of bringing CIFAS under the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the percentage of funding that will be released to the Ministry of Defence of a result of the change in Gross National Income spent on Official Development Assistance in 2025-2026. \p Darren Jones: As set out in Table 2.1 in the Spring Statement 2025 document, all savings generated from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) reduction in 2025-26 will be spent on defence. The difficult choice to reduce ODA reflects the evolving nature of the threat and the strategic shift required to meet it, whilst maintaining economic stability, a core foundation of the Plan for Change.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help improve the experiences of rape and sexual assault victims in the criminal justice system. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the next decade. Ministers from a wide range of relevant Government departments regularly meet to ensure we are using all available levers to achieve this, and we will publish our cross-government strategy this summer.

We are already taking action to improve the experiences of victims of domestic and sexual abuse by:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Bambos Charalambous:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the crown court backlog. \p Sarah Sackman: We are funding a record allocation of Crown Court sitting days to deliver swifter justice for victims – 110,000 sitting days this year, 4,000 higher than the last Government.

We have launched an independent review into the efficiency of the criminal courts, led by Sir Brian Leveson, to deliver once-in-a-generation reform.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Peter Lamb:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of restricting offences triable either way to summary trial except for the sentencing process. \p Sarah Sackman: Last November, we extended magistrates’ court sentencing powers from 6 to 12 months.

This change is expected to save Crown Court time and help deliver the swifter justice that victims deserve.

The Independent Review of the Criminal Courts is considering measures to ensure cases are dealt with more proportionately, including triable either-way offences.

I do not want to pre-empt the recommendations of the Review but I welcome my Honourable Friend’s interest in this topic.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have more than one active appeal within the immigration tribunal system. \p Sarah Sackman: The information requested is not held centrally. However, it should be noted that the case management powers of the Tribunal permit the joining together of appeals brought by an individual. The Tribunal will normally identify and link cases together to ensure effective use of time and final resolution of all matters, in one hearing.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many immigration tribunal cases have been adjourned more than once in the last year; and for what reasons. \p Sarah Sackman: The information requested is not held centrally.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take to tackle the backlog of court cases involving violence against women and girls. \p Sarah Sackman: The judiciary prioritises cases involving vulnerable victims and witnesses, which includes victims of violence against women and girls.

We have increased Crown Court funding, bringing courts to their highest capacity in almost a decade.

We look forward to Sir Brian Leveson’s recommendations on once in a generation court reform, due in late Spring.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the average waiting time for an immigration appeal to be heard. \p Sarah Sackman: General information on average waiting times for an immigration appeal in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2024/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2024.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April to Question 42850 on Employment Tribunals Service: Standards, what assessment her Department has made of the level of staffing of (a) judges and (b) other people necessary to cut delays and ensure timely access to justice for all. \p Sarah Sackman: Ministers regularly meet the CEO of HM Courts & Tribunals Service to discuss a wide range of matters relating to the operation of court and tribunal services, including the Employment Tribunal. The issue of staffing requirements and the role of case coordinators across all jurisdictions form part of those discussions.

Future staffing requirements at the Employment Tribunal will be subject to the outcome of the Spending Review. Judicial recruitment is undertaken to replace known leavers, and also takes into consideration current pressures and assumed future workloads. The transition to the new reformed platform will help to improve efficiency and productivity.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42439 on the Employment Tribunals Service, what discussions she has had with HM Courts & Tribunals Service on collecting data on the number of Employment Tribunal cases outstanding aggregated by the duration of time they have been pending. \p Sarah Sackman: Ministers regularly meet the CEO of HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to discuss a wide range of matters relating to the operation of court and tribunal services, including the Employment Tribunal. These discussions are part of ongoing engagement to ensure the efficient delivery of services across all jurisdictions. Work is currently ongoing to transition the remaining legacy caseload to the new case management system as part of the HMCTS data strategy to enable more comprehensive data to be produced.

That is expected to be available later this year.
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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have had with the CEO of HM Courts & Tribunals Service on the Employment Tribunals Service since 5 July 2024. \p Sarah Sackman: Ministers regularly meet the CEO of HM Courts & Tribunals Service to discuss a wide range of matters relating to the operation of court and tribunal services, including the Employment Tribunals. I also have regular meetings with other senior officials in the Ministry of Justice on the operation of the Employment Tribunals.

These discussions are part of ongoing engagement to ensure the efficient delivery of services across all jurisdictions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April to Question 42441 on the Employment Tribunals Service, what discussions she has had with HM Courts & Tribunals Service on collecting aggregate data on the time taken to resolve individual employment tribunal cases. \p Sarah Sackman: Ministers regularly meet the CEO of HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to discuss a wide range of matters relating to the operation of court and tribunal services, including the Employment Tribunal. These discussions are aimed at ensuring the efficient delivery of services across all jurisdictions. Publication of Employment Tribunal Timeliness information ceased under the previous Government from April 2021 when the jurisdiction moved to an interim database with only limited management information available. Between July 2022 and July 2024, Employment Tribunals have gradually transitioned to a new case management system as part of the Reform project and timeliness data for single cases only from this system was published for the first time in March 2025 - www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. It is expected that timeliness and jurisdictional data will be available for single cases held on the reformed platform later in the year.

It is not possible to produce timeliness or jurisdictional data for the legacy case management system, therefore the data we can currently provide is limited. Work is currently ongoing to transition the remaining legacy caseload to the new case management system as part of the HMCTS data strategy to enable more comprehensive data to be produced. That is expected to be available later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if her Department will develop a cross-Departmental advice sector strategy to ensure accessible social welfare advice across (a) health, (b) housing, (c) justice and (d) social care. \p Sarah Sackman: We have established the Legal Support Strategy Delivery Group, comprised of key stakeholders from across the advice sector and academia to jointly develop and implement a long-term legal support strategy. The strategy aims to deliver a more sustainable and effective legal support system for social welfare issues covering health inequalities, housing and social care, so people can resolve their legal problems at an early stage. As part of this work, we will continue to engage strategically with other government departments to drive improvements in the cross-government commissioning, funding and evaluation of advice services.

We are also providing over £6 million of grant funding from April 2025 to March 2026 to identify what works best in the delivery and provision of legal support and advice for people with social welfare legal problems.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Mr Paul Kohler:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to promote the use of restorative justice. \p Alex Davies-Jones: Restorative justice can improve victim satisfaction and reduce reoffending. Victims must be informed about restorative justice under the Victims’ Code.

We provide grant funding to Police and Crime Commissioners for victim support services, including restorative justice.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people (a) on probation and (b) engaging with probation services have died since 2010; and how many of these deaths cited suicide as the official cause of death. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The number of people who died while under probation supervision in the community is published annually in Table 1 of the ‘Deaths of offenders in the community’ statistical bulletin. The latest release, which includes data from April 2010 up to March 2024, is available at the following link: Deaths of offenders in the community, annual update to March 2024 - GOV.UK.

Each death is categorised based on its apparent cause, as reported by the probation provider to HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). It is important to note that this classification system provides a provisional categorisation for administrative and statistical purposes and has not been independently verified. The official cause of death is determined by the coroner. Consequently, while the apparent cause of death in this bulletin reflects the classification made at the time of reporting, it may not reflect the official cause of death as determined by the coroner.

The category of ‘suicide’ is not used in the published statistics because it is not always clear whether a self-inflicted death is intentional or not. Instead, the broader category of ‘self-inflicted’ deaths is used. In years prior to April 2022, this category includes all self-inflicted deaths, irrespective of intent (intentional, unintentional, and undetermined intent). From April 2022, it includes only intentional self-inflicted deaths and deaths where intent is undetermined.

The number of people engaging with probation services that have died since 2010 could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

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Chris Bloore:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans to introduce a panel of independent experts to review IPP cases to advise on resentencing. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: It is right that IPP Sentences were abolished.

The Government is determined to make progress towards safe and sustainable releases for those serving the IPP sentence, but not in a way that undermines public protection. Public protection will always be the top priority.

Resentencing through legislation to give every IPP prisoner a definite release date and post-release licence would result in offenders who are in custody being released irrespective of their remaining risk. This would be the case even where the independent Parole Board had determined, in many cases repeatedly, that they are too dangerous to be released. This would pose an unacceptable level of risk to victims and the public. For that reason, we are firmly of the view that those serving the IPP sentence in prison must satisfy the statutory release test before they are released.

The Justice Committee and various organisations have considered resentencing. None have identified an approach that would not involve too great a risk to the public. The Government also does not wish to give false hope to those serving the sentence by establishing an expert panel.

We do not therefore intend to undertake a resentencing exercise or set up an expert panel to advise on resentencing.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been released from Nottinghamshire prisons as part of the early release scheme since July 2024. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: This Government inherited a criminal justice system in crisis, with our prisons on the brink of collapse. We took the necessary action to prevent the complete breakdown in law and order that we were facing when we were elected, by introducing the SDS40 scheme. Unlike the previous Government’s disastrous ECSL scheme, SDS40 has exclusions for domestic abuse related offences and sought to give probation as much time as possible to prepare for releases.

SDS40 applies to all prisons in England and Wales and data on early prison releases from Nottinghamshire prisons forms a subset of prison releases data which is intended for future publication. In accordance with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, we may not give any early indication of the contents of this statistical report.

On 07 November, the Ministry of Justice published transparency data on how many offenders were released on the first days of Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 of SDS40 (1,889 prisoners on the first day of Tranche 1, and 1,223 prisoners on the first day of Tranche 2).
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to establish further Intensive Supervision Courts. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: This Government is committed to expanding the use of robust community alternatives to custody, keeping offenders in the community and offering the right package of support to rehabilitate offenders and stop the revolving door of the justice system. The Independent Sentencing Review, announced by the Lord Chancellor, is due to publish its recommendations on sentencing reform in the Spring.

Any future expansion of the pilot is subject to the upcoming Spending Review process. There must also be consideration of available evidence, alongside an assessment of existing capacity within the courts and probation.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Intensive Supervision Courts. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: An interim process evaluation report, published in January 2025, indicates promising results on the effectiveness of ISCs: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6785311af029f40e50881712/process-evaluation-intensive-supervision-courts-pilot-interim-report.pdf.

Offenders tested negatively for drug use two-thirds of the time and breach rates were low. The Ministry of Justice continues to be committed to an ongoing evaluation of the pilot, including a final process evaluation report to be published later this year, followed by impact and economic evaluations after the pilot concludes. These evaluations will help us understand the programme's effectiveness in reducing reoffending, improving offender outcomes and cost effectiveness.
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Sir Iain Duncan Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department plans to take to improve training across all levels of the justice system on gambling-related harm. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Ministry of Justice takes a person-centric approach to workplace wellbeing. Our support offer to individuals is delivered though the employee assistance programme, occupational health, staff networks and related policies. There have been a range of events and operational guidance made available to staff on gambling-related harms. In previous Mental Health Awareness Weeks, specific events on ‘gambling addiction and mental health’ were available to all staff.

Within His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), National Debt Awareness week was observed in 2024, with several live events concerning gambling-related harms. Further materials such as the "Reach Out Save Lives" initiative, and bite-sized learning modules like the ‘HMPPS Problem Gambling: Prevalence and Practice’ course, are available to all staff. There is also the ‘Addiction to Gambling long-read’ which collates peer-reviewed literature on the matter and serves as operational guidance on working with those in prison and probation who experience gambling-related harms.

As an organisation, we take an evidence-based approach to ensure the Ministry of Justice is able to provide targeted support to respond to environmental factors. At this time, we are not planning any specific events training for the workforce related to gambling-related harm.
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Sir Iain Duncan Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to improve (a) awareness and (b) understanding of (i) gambling-related suicide and (ii) other gambling-related harm at all levels of the justice system. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: In the Ministry of Justice, general training on wellbeing and resilience is available to all Civil Servants and we provide guidance to employees on suicide and self-harm. In previous Mental Health Awareness Weeks, specific events on ‘gambling addiction and mental health’ were available to all staff.

Within His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), National Debt Awareness week was observed in 2024, with several live events concerning gambling-related harms. Further materials such as the "Reach Out Save Lives" initiative, and bite-sized learning modules like the ‘HMPPS Problem Gambling: Prevalence and Practice’ course, are available to all staff. There is also the ‘Addiction to Gambling long-read’ which collates peer-reviewed literature on the matter and serves as operational guidance on working with those in prison and probation who experience gambling-related harms.

Support for prisoners who are experiencing gambling-related harm is provided by the NHS.

As an organisation, we take an evidence-based approach to ensure the Ministry of Justice is able to provide targeted support to respond to environmental factors. At this time, we are not planning any specific events training for the workforce related to gambling-related harm.
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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of cases a pre-sentence report was requested in each year since 2013. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Probation Service is responsible for producing Pre-Sentence Reports (PSRs) where they have been requested by the Court. The PSR assesses the offender’s behaviour, the risk they pose, and recommends sentencing options tailored to the individual. The report can suggest community sentences and specific requirements like treatment programmes. Ultimately, the PSR provides recommendations to the Court, but the final decision rests with the judge.

The Lord Chancellor has been clear that she wishes to see the widest possible use of pre-sentencing reports and in recent months she has taken steps to ensure that the probation service has more time for vital work such as this.

We cannot provide the proportion of cases where a pre-sentence report was requested in each year since 2013 as obtaining this information would incur disproportionate costs. However, we can provide the number of pre-sentence reports prepared by the Probation Service and presented to the criminal courts in England and Wales.

Year

Number of pre-sentence reports

2013

163,799

2014

141,932

2015

159,278

2016

148,296

2017

129,642

2018

113,228

2019

103,004

2020

68,077

2021

88,657

2022

83,240

2023

91,368

Note, these figures are published every April in Table 6.24 of the Offender Management Statistics quarterly bulletin. The latest figures are available within Probation: 2023 at Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2023 - GOV.UK. Figures for 2024 will be published on 24 April 2025.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children were convicted of (a) murder and (b) manslaughter by (i) age, (ii) biological sex, (iii) ethnicity, (iv) country of birth, (v) care experience, (vi) history of previous criminal offences, (vii) whether they lived with both parents, (viii) county lived in at time of offence and (ix) county in which the offence took place in each of the last ten years. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The number of children that were convicted of murder and manslaughter by age, biological sex and ethnicity can be found in the criminal justice statistics: Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: June 2024 - GOV.UK.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the number of children convicted of murder and manslaughter by country of birth, care experience, whether they lived with both parents, country lived at time of offence and county in which the offence took place in each of the last ten years. The information requested on children convicted of murder and manslaughter by history of previous criminal offences is held by the Department but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of (a) young offenders institutions and (b) education provision in these institutions. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: We recognise that current performance in our public sector young offender institutions (YOIs) is not where we need it to be. This puts staff under pressure and affects the quality of regime, including education opportunities, that we can offer children and young people.

To drive performance improvements, we have developed roadmaps to effective practice which will focus on outcomes in areas such as safety, behaviour management support and education. Where required, action is being taken under the education contracts to require providers to improve performance, but this is a shared challenge, in which the maintenance of good order and discipline in establishments plays a key part.

The Youth Custody Service (YCS) is working closely with education providers in the community, in particular those making provision for children who have experienced school exclusion, children with special educational needs and young people who have previously experienced, or are at risk of, being unemployed without involvement in education or training. These partnerships will be crucial to developing practice in our YOIs, but also in offering some continuity with children’s education on release.

Work is under way to apply new learning frameworks to the current provision. This will create a wider range of pathways for children, and a roadmap will be used to promote these improvements.

I recently met with education providers and the YCS, including governors, to explore the barriers and plans for improvement. Effective engagement with individual children and young people will make a huge difference in improving safety and achieving more positive outcomes for them on release.
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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, published on 3 March 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of incorporating (a) economic, (b) social and (c) cultural rights into domestic law. \p Alex Davies-Jones: We have made no such assessment. United Nations human rights treaties do not require States to incorporate them into domestic law, and we are confident that we comply fully with our UN treaty obligations.
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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42849 on the Employment Tribunals Service, if she will make an estimate of the number sitting days that were lost in employment tribunals due to (a) judicial and (b) administrative staff shortages in the last 12 months. \p Sarah Sackman: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 3 April 2025 to Question 42849. Information on the number of employment tribunal sitting days lost specifically to judicial and staff shortages, as opposed to some other cause, is not held by the Department.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with (a) secondary school teachers and (b) head teachers on (i) smart phones in schools and (ii) young people on social media. \p Stephen Morgan: The department engages regularly with teachers and headteachers and their representative bodies on a range of issues, including mobile phone use in schools and the impact of social media on young people. This includes engagement through the department’s teacher and headteacher reference groups.

The department’s ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance is clear that schools should prohibit the use of devices with smart technology throughout the school day, including during lessons, transitions and breaks.
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Harpreet Uppal:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of persistent absence on (a) SEND pupils and (b) their families. \p Stephen Morgan: Tackling absence, including persistent absence, is a critical priority for the government, and is at the heart of our mission is to break down the barriers to opportunity. If children are not in school, it does not matter how effective or well-supported teaching and learning is, they will not benefit. Whilst rates of overall and persistent absence are reducing year on year, they remain too high both overall and for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Evidence is clear that being absent from school is strongly linked to pupils’ attainment and later life chances and can significantly affect families, for example, limiting parental ability to work. Further, for pupils with SEND in particular, schools provide vital services including specialised teaching, therapy, and counselling, that absent students are unable to access. The department’s statutory guidance to schools, trusts, and local authorities recognises that pupils with additional needs may face more complex barriers to school attendance. Schools should take a sensitive, ‘support first’ approach to ensuring pupils’ attendance. This includes working with the child and their family to remove any barriers to attendance, additional support from wider services and external partners and, where appropriate, providing adjustments such as individual healthcare plans and greater pastoral support. While some pupils may face additional challenges, we expect schools to have the same attendance ambitions for all pupils, and to put support in place to facilitate their attendance.
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Amanda Hack:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of formally extending the scope of the Holiday Activities and Food Programme to include all children in households with below-average resources. \p Stephen Morgan: The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme supports disadvantaged children and their families with enriching activities, providing them with healthy food, helping them to learn new things, improving socialisation and benefiting their health and wellbeing during school holidays.

The HAF programme, although aimed at those children in receipt of benefits related free school meals (FSM) is not exclusively for them. As set out in the HAF guidance, while the majority of funding that local authorities receive should be used for holiday club places for children in receipt of FSM, local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM, but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF provision.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-22 conversation_61

Harpreet Uppal:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils who are persistently absent from school have been identified as having special educational needs and disabilities. \p Stephen Morgan: The department publishes figures from the school census on pupil absence in state-funded schools. The latest data, including breakdowns by characteristic, covers the 2023/24 academic year and is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.

The following table provides the number of pupils who were persistently absent, by special educational needs provision: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/b158c055-7dcf-49ad-938b-08dd6ba01329.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-22 conversation_62

Amanda Hack:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of index-linking all future funding with the Holiday Activities and Food Programme to ensure it (a) keeps pace with inflation and (b) continues to effectively support children experiencing holiday hunger. \p Stephen Morgan: The government is committed to the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme and the impact it has on children, young people and families. The department is very pleased that the overall funding for the HAF programme in 2025/26 will again be more than £200 million, with delivery across England taking place at Easter, summer and Christmas.

Funding beyond March 2026 is subject to the multi-year spending review and any decisions will be made as part of the spending review taking place later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-22 conversation_63

Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including absences for religious observances within the category of absences entitled unable to attend school because of unavoidable cause. \p Stephen Morgan: The department does not currently have plans to reclassify absences for religious observance.

The law recognises that absences for a small number of circumstances, including for religious observance, are allowable. Where parents choose not to send their child to school on a day that is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body that they belong to, they will not be taken to have failed to secure their child’s regular attendance, and enforcement action cannot be taken. Schools must record such absences in the attendance register using code R, which is classified for statistical purposes as authorised absence. Other forms of authorised absence include illness or suspension from school.

Sessions recorded as ‘unable to attend because of unavoidable cause’ relate to issues that make attendance genuinely impossible, such as unexpected school closure, widespread travel disruption caused by emergencies, or a pupil being in youth detention. It would not be appropriate to classify absence for religious observance, or other types of authorised absence, under the ‘unavoidable cause’ category.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-22 conversation_64

Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to support (a) schools and (b) other institutions that are being targeted by social media hate campaigns. \p Stephen Morgan: The Online Safety Act introduces new responsibilities for social media companies and search services to ensure the safety of their users on their platforms. All relevant services must have systems and processes in place to allow users and others to report harmful content that the services are responsible for under the Act.

All school employers have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees.

No school staff should feel unsafe or face violence or abuse in the workplace. The department will always support school staff to ensure they can work in a safe and calm environment.

Schools should have their own clear processes in place for dealing with issues of bullying or harassment, including online hate aimed towards school staff. All incidences of bullying or harassment should be reported immediately to the designated lead and headteacher or governing body or proprietor. Should an incident constitute a potential criminal offence, it would be for the school to consider involving the police.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-22 conversation_65

Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the annual operating cost for a 30 minute daily breakfast provision for a typical (a) single, (b) two and (c) three form entry primary school. \p Stephen Morgan: As of February 2025, 341 (21%) of primary schools taking part in the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) are in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. Around 22% of primary schools in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England were taking part in the NSBP as at February 2025.

The department has selected the schools of the breakfast club early adopter scheme to ensure there is a representative sample of primary schools nationally.

This government’s new breakfast clubs are about more than the food. They provide opportunities for children to play and socialise before the start of the school day, supporting children’s attendance and attainment, enabling them to thrive academically and socially.

This is why the department is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every school with primary aged children, with schools receiving funding to cover food, delivery and staffing costs. This goes far beyond the reach of the NSBP in all, and importantly, the most disadvantaged areas.

On average, schools on the breakfast club early adopter scheme will get over £21,000 more than schools on the current NSBP.

An average primary school, with 50% take-up, would receive over £23,000 for a full year for an early adopter breakfast club. The amount each school will receive will be based on the number of pupils who accessed the club and the characteristics of pupils.

The department has used existing programmes and costs to determine the funding rates, and this has been tested and refined with a number of schools. One function of the early adopters is to test how schools utilise the funding and understand what support schools need.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-22 conversation_66

Alex Easton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to decarbonise school buildings through (a) energy efficiency retrofitting and (b) renewable energy installations; and how these measures will help ensure that the Department meets its net zero commitments. \p Stephen Morgan: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department is committed to supporting the UK net-zero carbon targets. Since 2021, our own building standards require that all new school buildings we deliver are net-zero carbon in operation and are adapted to climate change​.

The department is providing support for all schools and colleges to start on their journey towards net zero via our new online sustainability support for education platform and our climate ambassador programme. Where schools are considering options to become more sustainable, including considering decarbonisation of their energy supply, our ‘Get help for buying’ service provides support to ensure that schemes procured are of high quality and value to the sector. More information can be found at: https://gethelpbuyingforschools.campaign.gov.uk/.

​Details of other government funding available to public bodies for sustainability, prepared by the Crown Commercial Service can be found at: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/social-value/carbon-net-zero/funding-and-grants.

Capital funding allocated to the school sector each year can also be used for projects that improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of school buildings, as well as improving the condition of the estate to keep schools safe and operational.

The department has allocated £2.1 billion in condition funding for the 2025/26 financial year, which is £300 million more than the previous year.

In addition, the department is working with Great British Energy, as part of their solar programme, and investing a total of £80 million to install solar and other related interventions in 200 schools and colleges. This is targeting areas of deprivation, to reduce emissions and energy bills, whilst also combining it with a behaviour change and skills programme that seeks to inspire young people to take up career and training opportunities in clean energy and construction.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-22 conversation_67

Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing auto-enrolment for free school meals. \p Stephen Morgan: The free school meals (FSM) scheme provides nutritious school lunches to children who could otherwise not afford them. To support take-up, the department provides an Eligibility Checking System so that eligibility can be checked as quickly and straightforwardly as possible. The department is pressing ahead with an upgraded Eligibility Checking System which will allow parents to check their own eligibility, making it quicker and easier for both families and local authorities to register eligible children for FSM.

The department is aware of locally led approaches to boost take-up of free lunches. To support these approaches, we are working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore options on data sharing that will make it easier to identify families who are eligible to make a claim. We expect to have these in place from spring next year, well ahead of the 2026 academic year.

Officials are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to consider how enrolment may be supported through the Universal Credit claims process.

The department will monitor the impact of these policies and engage with local authorities to assess the impact that these changes are having on uptake of FSM.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-22 conversation_68

Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to maintain the number of children eligible for free school meals at approximately the same level in the context of the maturity of the universal credit rollout. \p Stephen Morgan: Free school meal support is available to households receiving Universal Credit, and with an annual earned income of £7,400 or less.

This government’s ambition is to drive down poverty through our Child Poverty Strategy and cross-government work to support more parents into employment and to increase their working hours.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-22 conversation_69

Maya Ellis:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to set targets for the school readiness of children from low-income families. \p Stephen Morgan: Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. That is why the Plan for Change set out the government’s ambition for a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn in the classroom. The department will measure our progress through 75% of children reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile assessment by 2028.

We are clear that in driving progress towards our milestone we must deliver better early education experiences and outcomes for children from low-income families and children with special educational needs and disabilities. The department will set out further plans in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-22 conversation_71

Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of children educated otherwise than at school that would be eligible for free school meals and are in receipt of (a) free school meals and (b) vouchers in place of free school meals. \p Stephen Morgan: The department expects local authorities to consider free school meal (FSM) provision for children and young people receiving education otherwise than at school (EOTAS) in accordance with Section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014.  This is set out in our published guidance.

The department has not made a formal assessment of the proportion of children EOTAS who would be eligible for free meals and are receiving FSM or vouchers in place of FSM. We are clear, however, that local authorities should be considering food provision in line with our FSM guidance.