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Calum Miller:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many attempted applications have been made for the British National (Overseas) visa pathway by people born before 1997 and who have at least one parent with BNO status since 2021. \p Seema Malhotra: The British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) route reflects the historic and moral commitment to those people of Hong Kong who chose to retain their ties to the UK by taking up BN(O) status. It has enabled thousands of eligible Hong Kongers and their family members to come to the UK to live, study and work on a pathway to citizenship. The Home Office does not hold data on the number of applications to the BN(O) route from individuals born before 1997 who have at least one parent holding BN(O) status, as this specific information is not collected or recorded on Home Office systems.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria were used to determine the re-imposition of visit visa requirements for Colombia; and what determination he made using those criteria for other Latin American countries. \p Seema Malhotra: Full details were provided in the explanatory memorandum accompanying the changes to the Immigration Rules: Explanatory Memorandum to the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules Presented to Parliament on 26 November 2024.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the level of financial support available to irregular migrants will change following the ending of the use of hotels in 2029. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration and asylum system under regular review, in consultation with a wide range of experts and stakeholders.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to purchase (a) tower blocks and (b) former student accommodation to house asylum seekers in Northern Ireland. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Only individuals claiming asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there, and as such there are no plans to acquire additional dispersal accommodation to house a wider cohort of UK asylum seekers there. The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders and consider a range of options to fulfil its statutory obligations, and deliver our commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels by the end of this Parliament.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what powers local authorities have to object to the housing of asylum seekers in (a) hostel and hotels and (b) private rented sector accommodation in their locality. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Asylum Accommodation Services Contracts set out a number of principles in relation to working with Local Authorities, and other stakeholders including consultation and liaison regarding the location of accommodation and other issues, ranging from security controls to the impact on local amenities.

It is through this consultation and liaison that local authorities may raise any objection to specific properties being used as asylum accommodation, including on behalf of the local people they represent.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where she plans to relocate irregular migrants living in hotels to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office continues to work with a range of stakeholders and consider a range of options to fulfil its statutory obligations, and deliver our commitment to reduce the overall cost of asylum accommodation, including ending the use of hotels by the end of this Parliament.
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Derek Twigg:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers who have previously reached a another safe country before arriving in the UK have had their applications (a) approved and (b) rejected in each year since 2015. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Available data on third country refusals, where the claimant is believed to have reached a safe third country prior to claiming in the UK, is published in table Asy_D02 of the asylum detailed datasets. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relate to the year ending March 2025.
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Zöe Franklin:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the reported increase in modern slavery cases within the care sector since that sector’s inclusion on the Shortage Occupation List. \p Jess Phillips: The Government is continually looking to improve the quality and provision of modern slavery statistics.

We have recently improved and simplified the First Responders form used to refer people to the NRM, following extensive feedback from over 450 stakeholders. These changes will have a direct and positive impact on the accuracy of data collection, as well as improve the quality of referrals.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding has been allocated to community safety initiatives in Lincolnshire in the last three years. \p Dame Diana Johnson: As the locally elected representative for policing in their area, it is for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to decide on the allocation of funding to community safety initiatives, based on the priorities set out in their Police and Crime Plans.

Lincolnshire Police will receive up to £174.5 million in 2025-26, an increase of up to £10.3 million when compared to the 2024-25 funding settlement. This equates to a 6.2% cash increase and 3.8% real terms increase in funding.
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David Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of vehicles under the jurisdiction of her Department coming to their end of life; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making those vehicles available to the Ukrainian military. \p Dame Diana Johnson: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave on 11 June to Question 56574.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many reports of fraud involving impersonation of government agencies targeting pensioners have been recorded in each of the last five years by region. \p Dan Jarvis: The Home Office collects data on the number of fraud and computer misuse cases reported to Action Fraud that have been recorded as crimes by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). Information on the victims of these cases is not held.

Action Fraud reports of fraud and computer misuse offences are published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) quarterly in the Crime in England and Wales tables, which can be found at this link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtables
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of religious institutions in the UK receive funding from foreign governments or entities, broken down by (a) religion and (b) source of funding. \p Dan Jarvis: Obtaining the specific information requested would involve collating and verifying information from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across various Government departments and, therefore, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the security services have made of the level of economic espionage by the Chinese Government in the UK. \p Dan Jarvis: As a matter of long-standing policy, we do not comment on the detail of security and intelligence matters. However, we continuously assess potential threats to the UK and, where necessary, deploy the full range of tools available to mitigate them.
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Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 59099 on Animal Experiments, when she expects the review to conclude. \p Dan Jarvis: We intend for a position to be publicised later in 2025.
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Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with licence holders on reporting the number of animals bred for scientific purposes and not used in procedures at their establishment. \p Dan Jarvis: The Home Office is presently reviewing the collection and publication of additional statistics on animals that were bred but not used in scientific procedures. This position has been communicated to all stakeholder groups, including the life science sector.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2025 to Question 53973 on Defending Democracy Taskforce, if she will provide a copy of the Defending Democracy Taskforce's assessment of transnational repression to the Planning Inspector considering the planning application for the proposed site for the new Chinese embassy. \p Dan Jarvis: The planning application has been called in by the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and she will make this quasi-judicial decision independent from the rest of Government.

The Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary submitted written representations to the planning inspector on 14 January 2025. That letter is clear that the Home Office has considered the breadth of national security issues and where necessary, relevant agencies and departments have been consulted on the national security implications of the application.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57447 on Local History: Education, how (a) local historians, (b) museums and (c) heritage organisations can contribute to (i) curriculum development and (ii) enrichment in local history education. \p Catherine McKinnell: Schools determine which organisations they work with to support the teaching of local history. This can include local historians, museums and heritage organisations.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review carried out extensive engagement with the education sector, including teachers, lecturers, leaders, civil society organisations, students and parents, through its Call for Evidence and roundtable events. This provided an opportunity for bodies and individuals with an interest in local history to contribute to the Review.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had discussions with Torbay Unitary Authority on enabling Combe Pafford School Torquay to admit pupils directly from Devon County Council where appropriate. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department’s officials have not had discussions with Torbay Council on enabling Combe Pafford School to admit pupils directly from Devon County Council, but we would be happy to discuss this with the local authority. Funding provided directly by the department to Combe Pafford School is for places and not assigned to specific pupils. The relevant local authority pays top-up funding for individual pupils in excess of the school’s core place funding. As a special academy, Combe Pafford School must admit any child or young person whose education, health and care plan names the school, regardless of the local authority they live in.
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Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of levels of (a) training in defibrillator use and (b) mental health support available to school staff required to respond to cardiac incidents. \p Catherine McKinnell: Defibrillators are designed so they can be used by anyone with no prior training. Users are prompted to follow the step-by-step instructions on the defibrillators at the time of use.

As part of the department’s roll out, we provided awareness videos to schools showing how simple defibrillators can be to use, and asked schools to share these videos in staff meetings and assemblies. By providing defibrillators and raising awareness, this programme will help to produce a generation of young people who feel able and confident to use this life saving equipment.

The department recognises that using a defibrillator could be a distressing experience. Individuals are advised to contact their GP, who will be best placed to assess their needs after an incident and provide access to the appropriate support.
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Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the time series trends are of the proportion of entrants for (a) GCSEs and (b) other public examinations that use a method other than hand writing for any written, as opposed to practical or coursework, assessment for (i) special educational need or disability reasons and (ii) other reasons from the earliest year for which data are available. \p Catherine McKinnell: This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for East Hampshire directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated to post-16 skills and vocational training in Wiltshire since 2020. \p Janet Daby: The department publishes details of 16 to 19 Total Programme Funding allocations by academic year. These are available for each academic year since 2020, and can be accessed at the following pages:

Each publication can be filtered by local authority to identify the funding for Wiltshire.

Allocations for the Adult Skills Fund, formerly the Adult Education Budget, are also published annually, and can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adult-education-and-skills-funding-allocations#published-allocations.

Whilst they cannot be filtered by local authority, they can be filtered by individual provider.
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Sarah Hall:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the national adoption strategy in improving outcomes for children in care; and what steps she is taking to (a) reduce waiting times and (b) ensure consistency in adoption services across England. \p Janet Daby: The department is always working to improve adoption services, and particularly the work of Adoption England, which we fund to improve local adoption services. The department collects quarterly statistics on the main adoption indicators of performance and Ofsted inspects local authority performance through their inspection programme.

Adoption England published a three-year strategy in 2024 that the government supports. It sets out a wide range of work to develop services across the country, in partnership with those with lived experience. This includes the introduction of national standards, improving the recruitment of adopters and timely matching of children and family support. The strategy can be accessed here: https://adoptionengland.co.uk/sites/default/files/2024-04/Adoption%20England%20Strategy.pdf.

For 2025/26, the department has provided £8.8 million for Adoption England and I recently set out my priorities for this funding in a letter to Sarah Johal, Adoption England’s National Strategic leader. The letter can be accessed here: https://adoptionengland.co.uk/sites/default/files/2025-04/FINAL%20JD%20LETTER%20TO%20SARAH%20JOHAL%20-%20030425.pdf. Departmental officials and I regularly meet with Sarah to discuss progress on improvements to adoption services.
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Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how Skills England will work with (a) the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mayoral Combined Authority and (b) local employers to increase skills levels in Cambridgeshire. \p Janet Daby: Part of Skills England’s role is to ensure that skills sit at the heart of joined-up decision making across government. This includes working closely with Strategic Authorities, to ensure that regional skills needs are met and there is alignment with national priorities.

Skills England also oversees Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), which provide an ongoing mechanism through which local employers, Strategic Authorities, further education and higher education providers and other stakeholders can come together locally to identify and resolve skills needs and issues.

The English Devolution White Paper, published December 2024, sets out the intention to strengthen the role Strategic Authorities will play in the LSIPs, through joint ownership of the LSIP model alongside employer representative bodies (ERBs). These changes will come into force in Autumn 2025, to align with the next round of LSIP development.

In Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the Mayoral Combined Authority will be expected to set out its sector skills priorities to the designated ERB, the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce. These will inform the development of the LSIP for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and provide the framework within which it exists, alongside the Local Growth Plan, the Industrial Strategy, the views of local employers and providers and Skills England’s assessment of skills needs.
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Sir Oliver Dowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of StandWithUs UK's Voice of Students 2024 Report into antisemitism on UK university campuses, published on 7 May 2025. \p Janet Daby: Antisemitism has absolutely no place in universities or wider society. Universities must be places where all students feel safe, respected and able to thrive.

Earlier this month, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education brought together vice chancellors and community leaders to hear testimonials from Jewish students and discuss next steps to ensure safer, more inclusive campuses for all.

The department remains committed to working with universities, sector partners and stakeholder groups to tackle the unacceptable level of antisemitism on our campuses.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to provide support in (a) schools and (b) colleges for young carers to help them balance educational responsibilities with caring duties. \p Janet Daby: The impact of caring responsibilities on a young person’s education has been hidden for too long. The department is using school census data to shine a light on young carer’s attendance, suspensions and exclusions, and is aiming to publish data on their educational progress and attainment this autumn.

This data will support our work to break down barriers to opportunity for every child, at every stage, ensuring our reforms to both education and to children’s social care work for young carers.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students from overseas have come from countries where there are travel restrictions for people with security clearance by country of origin. \p Janet Daby: The department does not collect this information.
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Gareth Snell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeship starts at level 7 there were in the academic years (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 for individuals aged 16-21. \p Janet Daby: There were 2,710 apprenticeship starts at level 7 by learners aged under 22 in the 2023/24 full academic year. So far for 2024/25 (August 2024 to January 2025), there have been 2,540 apprenticeship starts reported.
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Tulip Siddiq:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of statutory codification of the duty of care to students in higher education. \p Janet Daby: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Hampstead and Highgate to the answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21514.
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Connor Naismith:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the children of parents who have relocated to the UK are able to obtain funding to enrol at UK universities. \p Janet Daby: Generally, to be eligible for student support a student must be ordinarily resident in England and have ‘settled’ status or a recognised connection with the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course. They must also have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for the three years prior to that date.

It is important that the limited public funds available for student support are targeted on those categories of persons with a lawful and substantial residential connection to the UK and who are likely to remain indefinitely.
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Sir Mark Hendrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have received free school meals in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West in the last three academic years. \p Stephen Morgan: The department publishes data on free school meals (FSM) in the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication. The total number of pupils eligible for FSM in the Lancashire local authority and North West region can be seen the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/597f72a3-5fc8-4b48-c6a0-08ddaa184212.

To find FSM data for Preston constituency, refer to the file titled ‘School level underlying data 2025 (CSV, 22 MB)’ under the ‘Additional supporting files’ section.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of a (a) national and (b) mandatory Code of Practice to tackle bullying in schools. \p Stephen Morgan: All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying.

The department has issued guidance to schools on how to prevent and respond to bullying as part of their overall behaviour policy. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying.

The department is establishing up to 90 new regional improvement in standards and excellence Attendance and Behaviour Hubs, which will focus on supporting senior leaders to develop safe, supportive school cultures with high expectations for attendance and behaviour, including using data to identify and address areas of concern.

In addition to this, the department has engaged with charities, academics, parents and young people, to understand the issues around bullying. We will use that input to inform ways of testing practice that can be shared through hubs.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of developing a strategy to ensure the full participation of blind and partially sighted students in education through the use of (a) assistive and (b) mainstream technology. \p Stephen Morgan: Assistive technology (AT), such as dictation tools and screen readers, can break down barriers to opportunity for students with disabilities and is a key part of helping every child to achieve and thrive.

With rapid improvements in the accessibility features built into standard devices, schools now have more access to AT than ever before. Evidence shows that, when used effectively, AT is a key component of high-quality teaching for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)..

An independent evaluation report of recent training found that effective AT use positively influences the independence, confidence, attainment, behaviour and engagement of students with SEND. Training participants also felt that effective AT use can positively impact the use of support staff and teacher time.

The government is committed to helping teachers use technology to support their students with SEND. We are embedding evidence-based practice and broadening the effective use of AT. This includes commissioning brand new research to see how different agencies can best come together to encourage schools to use AT as effectively as possible, and ensuring the effective use of AT will become part of national training for all new teachers in 2025.
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Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to align school food procurement with the Government’s (a) horticulture strategy and (b) food security objectives. \p Stephen Morgan: The government’s commitment to the horticulture sector and its vital role in strengthening food security by ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of home-grown fresh produce remains steadfast. We are taking a strategic approach to support for horticulture, recognising the specific needs of the sector. This includes developing a farming roadmap, which will set out a 25-year vision and blueprint to make our farming and food production more sustainable and profitable.

Alongside this, our food strategy will deliver clear long term outcomes that create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system. This will boost our food security, improve our health, ensure economic growth, and deliver environmental sustainability.

The department engages with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a variety of topics related to food in schools, as part of the government’s wider food strategy, helping to drive change and support a healthier, more sustainable and resilient food system.
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Ben Goldsborough:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the updated school food standards promote the procurement of food from local producers and growers. \p Stephen Morgan: The department is engaging with stakeholders on revising the school food standards, to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.

Schools are responsible for their school meals service and how and where they choose to buy their produce. Schools can voluntarily follow the government's buying standards.

Additionally, The National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February 2025, underscores the government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts, which we believe our high-quality British producers are well-placed to meet.

Alongside this, the government’s wider food strategy will create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system, boosting our food security, improving our health, ensuring economic growth, and delivering environmental sustainability.

As with all aspects of the school food standards review, we will consider our approaches to procurement of locally grown produce.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that children with (a) diabetes and (b) other medical needs are able to access wraparound care provided by (i) breakfast, (ii) after school and (iii) holiday clubs. \p Stephen Morgan: All children and families should be able to access the benefits of wraparound care around the school day and term time. This is why the department is investing in new free universal breakfast clubs and new and expanded before and after school places through the wraparound childcare programme, alongside the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.

Under the Equality Act 2010, schools and providers of wraparound and holiday care must make reasonable adjustments for children with disabilities and medical conditions. In addition, 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 department’s guidance on wraparound, breakfast clubs and HAF programmes is clear that schools and providers should be aware of any medical requirements of pupils and encourages providers to review the ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’ statutory guidance, which can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ce6a72e40f0b620a103bd53/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions.pdf. Although the duty does not extend to out of school setting providers, this guidance contains information that may be useful in considering how to best support children with medical conditions.
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Jeremy Corbyn:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to encourage schools to buy food from local food cooperatives through the updated school food standards. \p Stephen Morgan: The National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February, underscores the government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts. The department believes our high-quality British producers are well-placed to meet this. It is important that schools have flexibility in how they procure.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken with (a) headteachers, (b) local authorities to reduce (a) mould and (b) damp in educational buildings. \p Stephen Morgan: The department takes the safety of children and those who work with them incredibly seriously.

The department supports responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies and their schools to meet their responsibilities to keep buildings safe and well-maintained, including addressing mould and damp.

We do this through providing capital funding, rebuilding programmes and extensive guidance on estate management.

We have increased capital funding to improve the condition of school buildings to £2.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, which is almost £300 million more than last year. This is in addition to the continuing School Rebuilding Programme.

The department has also published Good Estate Management for schools, a guide and toolkit to support responsible bodies and their schools to manage their estates strategically, so that pupils can learn in a safe, effective environment.

Responsible bodies should monitor any instances of persistent damp and seek professional advice, as water ingress may be an indicator of a problem with the fabric of the building.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-23 conversation_311

Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken with relevant authorities to reduce instances of peer-on-peer physical violence in state primary schools. \p Stephen Morgan: All pupils deserve to feel safe and protected in school and the department expects all schools to take immediate and robust action if incidents of violence occur. The ‘Behaviour in schools’ guidance is clear that staff should respond predictably, promptly, and assertively in accordance with their school behaviour policy. In the most serious cases, suspensions and permanent exclusion may be necessary to ensure that pupils are protected and to maintain safe, calm school environments.

The department also supports schools to address incidences of bullying with its guidance, ‘Preventing and tackling bullying’, and has published a research report, ‘Approaches to preventing and tackling bullying’, which includes practical case studies of effective practices to combat bullying.

The department is establishing up to 90 new Attendance and Behaviour Hubs, focusing on supporting senior leaders to develop safe, supportive school cultures with high expectations for attendance and behaviour, including using data to identify and address areas of concern. The department has engaged with charities, academics, parents and young people, to understand the issues around bullying. We will use that input to inform ways of testing practice that we can share through hubs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-23 conversation_312

Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding to incentivise collaboration between universities, colleges and schools; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on levels of participation in tertiary education. \p Janet Daby: The department allocated £20 million in 2025/2026 to the Office for Students through the Strategic Priorities Grant for the Uni Connect programme.

Uni Connect brings together 29 partnerships of universities, colleges and other local partners to offer activities, advice and information to help young and adult learners from underrepresented groups to make informed choices about their higher education options.

An independent evaluation of Uni Connect’s impact, conducted by Public First, can be found here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/uni-connect-a-review-of-collaborative-support-in-access-to-higher-education/.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-23 conversation_313

James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report by British Future entitled Working it Out: Hong Kongers, Employment and the Cost of Living, published on 29 October 2024. \p Janet Daby: While no formal assessment of the report has been made, the department remains committed to supporting British National (Overseas) status holders through access to higher education, further education and English language training once residency criteria are met. We continue to work with partners across government to ensure British Nationals (Overseas) can thrive.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-23 conversation_314

Rachel Gilmour:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether children with complex needs who are home educated are eligible to receive free school meals. \p Stephen Morgan: Free meals are available to registered pupils of state-funded schools meeting the eligibility criteria, either on school premises or at any place where education is provided.

The department also expects local authorities to consider free meal provision for children and young people receiving education otherwise than at school, commonly referred to as EOTAS, in accordance with Section 61 of the Children and Families Act 2014. This is set out in our published guidance.

In addition to this, all schools have duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards individual disabled children and young people. As this relates to school food provision, schools are required to make reasonable adjustment for disabled pupils to ensure they aren’t put at substantial disadvantage. Further information is available in our published guidance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-23 conversation_315

Mr Lee Dillon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed reductions in staff numbers in schools in Newbury on academic outcomes for children. \p Catherine McKinnell: Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child. This is why the government’s Plan for Change has committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.

To support this key pledge, we recently announced a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools from September 2025. This builds on the 5.5% pay award for 2024/25, resulting in a near 10% pay award since this government came to power, to ensure teaching is once again a valued and attractive profession. This is on top of the £700 million invested across schools and further education this year, which included bursaries for trainees and increasing targeted retention incentives for early career teachers, in key subjects. We also provided resources to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing and now allow more flexibility for teachers, such as undertaking planning, preparation assessment from home.

Our investment is starting to deliver. The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent (FTE), between 2023/24 and 2024/25, in secondary and special schools. Overall teacher numbers have also increased in Newbury constituency under this government, with 842.2 FTE teachers in November 2024, as reported in the latest Schools Workforce Census.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-23 conversation_316

Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of a children not in school register in preventing abuse of home schooled children. \p Stephen Morgan: Home education is not an inherent safeguarding risk. However, some children who have been withdrawn from school under the guise of home education have been seriously harmed or died due to abuse or neglect, and action is needed.

Compulsory ‘children not in school’ registers, and accompanying duties on parents and out-of-school education providers, will be crucial tools that local authorities can use to identify children not in school in their areas who are not receiving a suitable education, or who need to be protected from harm.

However, registers are only part of the solution. That is why the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill contains other measures aimed at ensuring all children are safe. For example, parents of children who are subject to child protection enquiries or plans, or whose children attend a special school, will be required to get local authority consent before they can educate their children at home. Where these children are already being home educated, we are strengthening the school attendance order process so the local authority can require them to attend school. The Bill also includes measures to strengthen multi-agency working and information sharing, which will benefit all children.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-23 conversation_317

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 54081 on Schools: Fylde, how many schools participated in her Department's energy for schools offer in Fylde constituency; and what average savings are that these schools projected to achieve in 2025-26. \p Janet Daby: Currently, there are no schools in the Fylde constituency which have joined the department’s Energy for Schools offer. The offer is available to them as-and-when their current gas and electricity contracts come to an end.

If trusts or schools are interested in joining the offer, they can get further information about how to access the service by completing a registration of interest form or joining the relevant webinar. The registration of interest form can be found here: https://submit.forms.service.gov.uk/form/7281/register-your-interest-in-energy-for-schools/27000.

Further information on the department’s webinars can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/free-dfe-webinars-for-schools-summer-2025-4282533.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-23 conversation_318

Andy McDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a national energy contract for the school sector. \p Janet Daby: The department has assessed the potential benefits of establishing a national energy contract for the schools sector. We did this because many schools had been impacted when the war in Ukraine pushed prices to an all-time high in September 2022. Many had energy contracts due to be renewed at the time and ended up locked into long-term, fixed price contracts at peak prices. We recognised this would seriously impact future budgets.

The department undertook research to understand the energy options available to schools, the challenges and complexities faced and how we could help.

The research showed schools experienced difficulty in determining whether they had received a good deal, relying on brokers to get a better rate from energy providers than they could directly and frequently being expected to make quick decisions on energy deal proposals. Furthermore, the volatility of energy prices meant schools were often locked into expensive energy contracts which were hard to exit.

The three key objectives of the pilot were to simplify the buying of energy, reduce risk, and secure best value for schools.

During the pilot, the department identified if those benchmarked had used Crown Commercial Service’s V30 energy contract, mandated for central government, they would have saved an average of 36% on energy costs. This contract is flexibly priced, rather than fixed: some of the energy is bought up front, during the 30 months prior to delivery and also during the delivery period itself. This helps level out the peaks and troughs in market price variances.

The service also offers wrap around contract management and simplifies the energy buying process for schools, reducing administrative and time burdens.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-23)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-23 conversation_319

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department issues to police forces on intervening when dogs are reported to be in distress in locked vehicles during hot weather. \p Daniel Zeichner: Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the Act) police officers and local authority inspectors have broad powers to intervene where an animal is in distress, including where they are enclosed in vehicles during hot weather. The powers are explained in the Act and its Explanatory Note.