theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) train, (b) recruit and (c) retain GPs in (i) North Cornwall constituency and (ii) other rural areas. \p Stephen Kinnock: We acknowledge the urgent challenge of ensuring that rural areas, including North Cornwall, have the resources to continue serving their patients. To address this, we will increase capacity in general practice (GP) and ensure that rural areas have the necessary workforce to provide integrated, patient-centred services.

We are committed to training thousands more GPs across the country, including in rural areas, and have committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment and secure the future pipeline of GPs. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has confirmed that recently qualified GPs who are employed via the ARRS will continue to be supported through the scheme in 2025/26.

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have a full-time equivalent rate of 4.8 GPs, almost double the national rate of 2.5, per weighted 10,000 population. The NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board commissions the Cornwall Primary Care Training Hub to support and provide training, recruitment, and retention of GPs and other staff for all practices across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, including the North Cornwall constituency, as part of the north and east integrated care area. This includes relocation support, coaching and mentoring, professional development opportunities, sponsorship for international graduates, and bespoke support for GP partner retention. Thirty-six doctors are recruited into the Cornwall training programme annually, and this has increased by two for 2025/26 recruitment.
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Anna Dixon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of whether local authorities are able to meet their statutory duties to unpaid carers under the Care Act 2014. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to unpaid carers. This means that the CQC is looking at how local authorities are supporting unpaid carers in their area.

All 153 local authorities in England are being assessed, with ratings and reports available on the CQC’s website. The assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for improvement, facilitating the sharing of good practice and helping us to target support where it is most needed.

The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers, who provide vital care and support.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to hold Capita accountable where it fails to provide GPs with accurate annual pension statements under the Primary Care Support England scheme. \p Stephen Kinnock: Capita, who delivers Primary Care Support England (PCSE), does not issue pension statements to general practitioners (GPs), as this is the responsibility of NHS Pensions, which is managed by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA). PCSE updates GP pension records once the appropriate type one or type two annual certificate is submitted to PCSE for processing by the GP.

In order for NHS Pensions to generate an annual pension benefits statement, it is necessary for the GP’s pension record to be up to date, with no missing annual certificate for prior years. NHS England works closely with PCSE and NHS Pensions to ensure that GPs are supported, through a series of webinars and guidance documents, to submit accurate information in a timely manner. NHS England tracks PCSE’s performance on a monthly basis against contractual performance targets. NHS England continues to work with PCSE, NHS Pensions, and GP representative bodies to rectify historical gaps in GP records.

More generally, the importance of checking PCSE Online to ensure that all required type one or type two forms are showing as approved, and to submit certificates if there are any missing years to get records up to date, is highlighted in communications to GPs.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to issue updated guidance on the placement of dementia patients in hospital wards. \p Stephen Kinnock: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance on dementia states which aspects of care should be expected to ensure quality dementia care in hospital. This includes appropriate admission to hospital, comprehensive assessments, and personal history taking. Further information on the NICE’s dementia guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng97

The NICE’s guidance on the transition between inpatient hospital settings and community or care home settings for adults with social care needs covers the transition between inpatient hospital settings and community or care homes for adults with social care needs. Further information on the NICE’s transition guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng27

The NICE’s guidance will be reviewed if there is new evidence that is likely to change the recommendations. The 10-Year Health Plan will address the challenges diagnosed by Lord Darzi and set the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of complex health and care needs. It will set out how we support and enable health and social care services to work together better to provide that joined-up care. The Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

To improve care for patients with dementia, NHS England's RightCare team has refreshed the RightCare Dementia Scenario. The scenario works through the dementia well pathway journey, from diagnosing well through to dying well, detailing optimal and suboptimal approaches, with associated costings for each.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Carr-Hill formula in producing an equitable distribution of funding. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Carr-Hill formula aims to ensure that resources are directed to general practices (GPs) based on an estimate of their patient workload. It takes into account many factors under two groups, the 'drivers of workload' and the 'unavoidable costs', which includes additional needs related to morbidity and mortality. Plans to review this funding formula may be revisited in future. However, any changes would need careful planning to ensure they do not threaten stability or cause financial uncertainty for practices.

We are investing an additional £889 million in GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in transferring dementia patients from hospitals to social care settings. \p Stephen Kinnock: Almost one million people in the United Kingdom are living with dementia, and that figure is expected to rise. Each of those people, alongside their friends, families and carers, have their own unique and important story of living with dementia, and this government wants a society where every person with dementia receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.

We are working to reduce delayed discharges by improving local partnership working between the National Health Service and social care systems, ensuring that people are not stuck in hospital beds when they are well enough to go home.

In December 2024, working with the Local Government Association and NHS England, we published a High Impact Change Model for improving the timely and effective discharge of people with dementia or delirium into the community. This resource offers practical guidance and a set of recommended actions that systems should consider for optimising the discharge process and deliver best practice for an individual’s journey to, during and following discharge. The model is available at the following link:

https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/partners-care-and-health/better-care-fund-support-programme-2023-25/high-impact-change
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Mark Sewards:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that social care providers are receiving the £600 million pounds allocated for social care in the Autumn Budget 2024. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant, £600 million of which was announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. Overall, core local government spending power will increase by 6.8% in cash terms in 2025/26. Local authorities are responsible for how they use the available funding to fulfil their duties under the Care Act 2014.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for dyslexia assessments in (a) Yeovil, (b) Somerset and (c) the South West. \p Stephen Kinnock: Data on waiting times for dyslexia assessments is not held centrally. Assessments for dyslexia in children are provided by an educational psychologist or an appropriately qualified specialist dyslexia teacher. If a parent thinks their child may be dyslexic, as a first step they should speak to their child’s teacher or their school's special educational needs co-ordinator about their concerns. They may be able to offer additional support to help the child if necessary. Further information on dyslexia assessments can be found on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dyslexia/diagnosis/

The early identification of needs and support is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, including those with dyslexia. There are already a number of measures to help teachers do this, including the phonics screening check and the statutory assessments at the end of key stage two.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2025 to Question 29223 on General Practitioners: Contracts, how many General Practice contracts have been retendered in each month since 4 July 2024. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department does not hold any data regarding how many general practice contracts have been retendered
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to allow flexible working patterns for those that suffer with (a) autism, (b) ADHD and (c) other behavioural disorders. \p Alison McGovern: ADHD and Autism are neurodevelopmental conditions which are often disabilities considered under the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act 2010 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 require employers to make reasonable adjustments and to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their employees. If an employee would be substantially disadvantaged without flexible working patterns on grounds of their disability, they would be entitled to reasonable adjustments. Additionally, the Employment Rights Bill contains measures to make flexible working the default for all employees, except where it is not reasonably feasible.

As a government, we want to support all forms of neurodiversity in the workplace, and we are looking to build on the findings of the Buckland Review of Autism Employment by gathering expert advice in line with this expanded focus.

Our support to employers includes the online Support with Employee Health and Disability service, to support employers managing health and disability in the workplace. This includes questions of disclosure and equipping employers to feel confident having conversations about health and disability. The Disability Confident scheme also signposts employers to expert resources which support the employment of disabled people, including those with autism and ADHD.

We recently announced Keep Britain Working, a major independent review of the employer’s role in reducing health-related inactivity and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, led by Sir Charlie Mayfield.
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Siân Berry:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 28504 , whether the Child Poverty Strategy's work on social security reforms will include assessment of the impact of the two-child benefit cap on the commitment to tackle child poverty. \p Alison McGovern: The causes of child poverty are wide-ranging and deep-rooted, and so it is right that the Taskforce carefully considers and assesses the available levers as it develops this Strategy.

The UK Government has committed to economic stability and any decision on government spending related to child poverty takes place against that backdrop. As part of the Taskforce, social security measures are under consideration.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has taken steps to record the number of access refusals to people accompanied by (a) guide and (b) assistant dogs from (i) businesses and (ii) services. \p Sir Stephen Timms: I am replying to this parliamentary question as I have responsibility for the Disability Unit which has overall policy responsibility for assistance dogs.

The Disability Unit has not taken steps to record the number of access refusals of assistance dogs in businesses and services.

Assistance dog charities produce some figures on numbers of access refusals although these have not been independently verified.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) also provided written evidence to the Women and Equalities Select Committee in May 2024, which included data on the number of reports received by the EHRC and the Equality Advisory and Support Service related to assistance dogs.

It’s important to note that data is collected from individuals reporting incidents, therefore these figures may not accurately represent the real number of incidents.
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David Chadwick:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how the Child Poverty Taskforce will interact with the Welsh Government. \p Alison McGovern: Child Poverty Taskforce Ministers and Officials meet regularly with Ministers and Officials from the Devolved Governments. Working closely with partners across all UK nations and regions is a central part of our approach to developing the strategy, as set out in Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy.
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Dr Lauren Sullivan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to prevent age discrimination in recruitment. \p Alison McGovern: The Government recognises the need to recruit on merit, irrespective of a persons' age. Age diversity within the workforce brings numerous benefits to businesses, in addition to broader advantages such as fresh perspectives and knowledge-sharing.

The 2010 Equality Act provides strong protection against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment, rendering it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees or job applicants based on age.

The Government also acknowledges the key role employers play in helping older individuals to remain in or re-enter the workforce, and the importance of embracing policies conductive to this support. My Department engages with employers to ensure their recruitment practises attract and support the retention of older people. This includes making businesses aware of good practice and encouraging employers to sign the Age-Friendly employer pledge.

As announced in the recent Get Britain Working White Paper, we are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers advice. This new service will transform our ability to support people into work, help those on low pay to increase their earnings, and create a more flexible workforce for a fast changing, higher skilled jobs market. This transformation is expected to contribute to economic growth by addressing local skills gaps and providing tailored support to meet the needs of local labour markets.
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Harriet Cross:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Chapter three of the Government's Get Britain Working White Paper, published on 26 November 2024, if she will publish an outline of the scope of the Government's planned health and disability benefit reforms; what her planned timetable is implementing the reforms; and whether she has plans to consult (a) affected individuals and (b) relevant stakeholders on the proposals before the publication of the Spring 2025 Green Paper. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We are working to develop proposals for health and disability reform in the months ahead and will set them out in a Green Paper in Spring. This will launch a consultation on the proposals, with a conclusion to be set out in a white paper later this year.

This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, so we will consult on these proposals, where appropriate, with disabled people and representative organisations.

Ahead of the formal consultation for the Green Paper, we have already started to explore ways of engaging with disabled people and their representatives, including through stakeholder roundtables and public visits. We look forward to progressing these initiatives over the coming months.
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Chris Bloore:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the lower rate of Universal Credit for people under 25 years old on those people. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No assessment has been made.

The lower rate of Universal Credit for those aged under 25 reflects the fact that the majority of young people live in someone else’s household and are therefore likely to have lower living costs.

Younger workers also typically earn less as they are earlier in their careers, with the lower rate maintaining the incentive for younger people to find and progress in work.
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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking as part of the Curriculum and Assessment Review to consider the use of audiobooks in schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will support the innovation and professionalism of teachers, enabling them to adapt how they teach the curriculum to their students’ lives.

The Review Group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work, and publish its final report with recommendations this autumn.

The department respects the autonomy of teachers in terms of what resources they choose to use or recommend to their individual pupils, based on individual need in their own educational context and circumstances.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to support the teaching of Latin in state schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: The study of ancient languages can teach us valuable lessons in history, politics and art that are still relevant today. It helps students understand the evolution of language and gives them the chance to study and analyse ancient texts that provide valuable insights into important questions for the twenty first century.

All schools are free to include Latin, ancient Greek and classics as part of their curriculum. The department has been working with classics organisations to ensure that schools are aware of the free support available to them to help to teach classics and ancient languages. We will be signposting this support on the department's Education Hub shortly. The Education Hub can be accessed here: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/.
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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure drug education is delivered effectively in private schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: Independent schools have a statutory duty to teach personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, under the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

Independent schools have discretion over how they teach health education, but they are encouraged to read the statutory curriculum for health education, which is part of the statutory guidance on relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). The guidance sets out that pupils should be taught the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and the associated risks to physical and mental wellbeing, including smoking, alcohol use and drug-taking.

Independent schools are subject to the relationships and sex education aspects of the RSHE statutory guidance, which is clear that pupils in secondary schools should understand how the use of alcohol and drugs can lead to risky sexual behaviour. The guidance also sets out that pupils should understand the law on criminal exploitation, including through involvement with gangs or ‘county lines’ drugs operations.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to ensure young people receiving therapy funded by the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund will continue to receive this therapy beyond March 2025. \p Janet Daby: The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate our budget for the next financial year. Decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) are being made as part of these discussions and an announcement will be made as soon as possible.   ASGSF applications are generally permitted to extend up to 12 months, allowing children and families to receive continuing therapy across financial years. Where applications are agreed, therapy which starts before March 2025 may therefore continue into the next financial year, under previously agreed transitional funding arrangements.
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Abtisam Mohamed:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the further impact assessments for the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill will be added to the main bill page. \p Catherine McKinnell: The full suite of impact assessments of the measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments.
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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve (a) literacy and (b) access to books in schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.

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

On 5 February, the government announced a £2 million investment to drive high and rising standards in reading and writing. Building on the success of phonics, teachers will receive additional training to help children progress from the early stages of phonics in reception and year 1 through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school. This will be delivered through the English Hubs programme. In secondary school, teachers will be offered new training and resources this year to help them support readers at all levels, and next year the department will commission further training that will be focused specifically on struggling readers in secondary school who are at risk of falling behind. The department will also publish a writing framework in the summer, which will be a first step to support schools in delivering high quality writing provision across England.

The government has also established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people, in line with the government’s ambition for a curriculum that delivers excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics.

Headteachers have autonomy to decide how best to spend the core schools funding that the department allocates. This school funding can be used to fund books, librarians, school libraries and book corners. In Autumn Budget 2024 an additional £2.3 billion was announced for schools for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 2024/25, bringing the total core schools budget to almost £63.9 billion in 2025/26. Public libraries complement school libraries in giving pupils access to a range of books and other kinds of texts, both in and out of school.
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Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the mental health of teachers. \p Catherine McKinnell: I refer the hon. Member for Tewkesbury to the answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 29516.
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Dr Rupa Huq:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to provide affordable childcare to parents in (a) work and (b) further education. \p Stephen Morgan: It is the department’s ambition that parents have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and childcare.

Next year alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare.

From the start of September 2024, eligible working parents have been entitled to 15 hours a week of early education and care from the term after their child turns nine months old. So far, over 320,000 additional parents are now accessing a place.

The department is expanding the childcare entitlements so that from September 2025, eligible working parents can access 30 hours of early education and childcare a week, over 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their child turns nine months old until they start school.

As we grow the childcare system, it is important it remains fair and accessible to all parents. We have taken action to protect parents from reported instances of very high additional charges or ‘top-up fees’ on top of their entitlement, ensuring the funded hours remain accessible and affordable for families, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds where it makes the biggest difference. We have updated the statutory guidance on government-funded entitlements that relates to additional charges, helping local authorities ensure there is clarity and consistency for parents and providers.

Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare.

The department wants to ensure that parents are aware of and accessing all government funded childcare support they are eligible for. The department is raising awareness of the government funded childcare support available via the Childcare Choices website to stimulate increased take-up by eligible families.

Students who are parents are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education which is available to all three and four year-olds, regardless of family circumstances. Students who work in addition to studying are eligible for the working parent entitlement if they meet the income requirements. If they meet the eligibility criteria, students can apply for the Childcare Grant and Parental Learning Allowance.

Additionally, the Care to Learn scheme provides funding for childcare to help young parents, defined as those aged under 20, continue in education after the birth of a child. The scheme provides funding for childcare while the young parent is engaged in a study programme and is not able to provide care for their child. It can also help the young parent with any additional travel costs involved in taking the child to the childcare provider.
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James Wild:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of fines in tackling levels of attendance at schools. \p Stephen Morgan: Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission 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. Thanks to the hard work of the sector there has been progress, but we remain a long way off pre-pandemic levels.

The department’s statutory attendance guidance, ‘Working together to improve school attendance’, promotes a support-first model. The guidance is clear that all partners should always work together to understand and remove the barriers to attendance. However, where that support is not successful, not appropriate (for example for term-time holidays), or not engaged with, the law protects pupils’ right to an education. The guidance outlines a role for legal intervention based on effective practice within the sector.

The vast majority of penalty notices are issued due to unauthorised family holidays. However, usage has been uneven across the country, with 26 out of 153 local authorities accounting for half of all penalty notices issued in 2023/2024. The new National Framework for Penalty Notices, introduced in August 2024, is designed to create consistency in that area by establishing a common threshold at which a penalty notice must be considered. In a public consultation in 2022, 71% of local authority employees and 59% of school and academy trust employees and governors or trustees strongly or somewhat agreed with the proposed national thresholds which were subsequently adopted within the framework.

The statistical release on parental responsibility measures, which includes information on the number of penalty notices issued for unauthorised absence, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to make a decision on the future of the Adoption Support Fund. \p Janet Daby: I refer the hon. Member for Stratford-upon-Avon to the answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 26025.
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Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support teachers' mental health. \p Catherine McKinnell: I refer the hon. Member for Frome and East Somerset to the answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 29516.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support relevant authorities with the transportation of disabled pupils to and from school. \p Catherine McKinnell: I refer the hon. Member for Romford to the answer of 18 November 2024 to Question 13330.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is the minimum supervision ratio of adults to children required to run a primary school breakfast club. \p Stephen Morgan: Staffing levels and ratios should be determined by individual schools, considering the different levels of need, including special educational needs and disability, of the children attending.

Breakfast clubs may include children who attend reception class during the school day. Schools should have regard for the early years foundation stage statutory framework for group and school-based providers.

If a breakfast club programme is being delivered by a private, voluntary and independent provider, who only provides care for children aged six and above, the provider should follow the ratio requirements set out in the guidance for daycare providers on the compulsory childcare register.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_219

Satvir Kaur:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2024 to Question 21170 on School Libraries: Finance, what steps she is taking to increase levels of (a) literacy rates and (b) reading for pleasure in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in Southampton Test constituency. \p Catherine McKinnell: High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.

​In recognition of this, the department has implemented a range of measures to support reading for pleasure. The English Hubs programme supports the teaching of phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure, with a further £23 million committed for the 2024/25 academic year to support this work. Southampton Test’s nearest English Hub is Springhill English Hub. Further information on Springhill English Hub can be found here: https://englishhubs.net/english_hubs/springhill-english-hub/.

Furthermore, the government’s reading framework provides guidance on improving the teaching of reading, to ensure that every child is not only able to read proficiently but also develops a genuine love of reading.

On 5 February, the government announced a £2 million investment to drive high and rising standards in reading and writing. Building on the success of phonics, teachers will receive additional training to help children progress from the early stages of phonics in reception and year 1 through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school. This will be delivered through the English Hubs programme. In secondary school, teachers will be offered new training and resources this year to help them support readers at all levels and next year the department will commission further training that will be focused specifically on struggling readers in secondary school who are at risk of falling behind. The department will also publish a writing framework in the summer, which will be a first step to support schools in delivering high quality writing provision across England.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people, in line with the government’s ambition for a curriculum that delivers excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_220

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the proportion of eligible children who claim their entitlement to a free school meal; and if she will take steps to (a) reduce the complexity of application forms, (b) provide forms in multiple languages, (c) increase awareness of the free school meal entitlement and (d) help tackle stigmas associated with claiming free school meals. \p Stephen Morgan: There are currently around 2.1 million pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals (FSM). The department recognises the vital role played by FSM and strongly encourages schools and local authorities to support eligible families take this entitlement up.

To make claiming free meals as easy possible, we have developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM, which is available in the department’s published guidance.

The department also provides the Eligibility Checking System, which allows local authorities to quickly verify eligibility for FSM. Improvements to this system will be rolled out nationally by March 2026, to allow parents and schools to check eligibility for free meals independently from their local authorities, which has the potential to make claiming FSM easier.

Further to this, the department is aware of a range of measures aimed at supporting take-up of FSM, including through approaches being trialled by local authorities. We welcome local authorities taking action to ensure government support reaches families, subject to them meeting legal requirements, including those on data protection.

We continue to engage with stakeholders and other government departments to better understand potential barriers to claiming free meals, including stigma. We will consider whether further work to improve enrolment for free meals is needed through the work of the child poverty taskforce.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_221

Abtisam Mohamed:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many School Attendance Orders were issued by each local authority in England for each of the last five years. \p Stephen Morgan: The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill introduces a duty on local authorities to maintain registers of children who are not in school, and a duty on parents to provide certain information for those registers. Parents must only provide details of their child’s name, date of birth, address, the parents’ names and addresses, the details of where the child is receiving education and who is providing it. All other information is optional to provide. Parents will only be expected to notify their local authority of that information when they first begin home-educating, or their circumstances change, such as a move to a new area or a new education provision.

The department will share clear guidance on what information parents should provide to their local authority to avoid irrelevant information being given. This will form part of the statutory guidance we will issue following a public consultation. That consultation will take place following the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill reaching Royal Assent.

In the published regulatory impact assessment for the ‘Children not in school’ measures, it is stated that we will request data from local authorities concerning the use of school attendance orders and how many result in a conviction for breach. We believe that a higher use of such orders would indicate a lack of compliance with the registration duties and higher numbers of parents who have opted to home educate but have been unable to provide a suitable education, who in the absence of a mandatory register, would have gone unknown to their local authority. A lower rate may indicate high compliance with the registration duties and parents being able to provide a suitable education, potentially through take-up of the support duty on their local authorities. Both outcomes would inform further policy development in this area.

The department began a termly collection of data relating to home education in autumn 2022. The data collection includes an annual return of the usage of school attendance orders. Data for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education.

In reference to the request to publish historic data on the usage of school attendance orders, the department does not hold information on the use of fines for breach of those orders. Fines for non-compliance are a result of a criminal conviction, and that data is recorded and held by the Ministry of Justice.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_222

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in her Department in 2024. \p Janet Daby: The department spent £190,000 on diversity and inclusion learning and development courses in 2024, defined as courses where the main theme of the training is diversity, equality and inclusion.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_223

Anna Dixon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to continue the implementation of a new GCSE in Natural History. \p Catherine McKinnell: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Shipley to the answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18517.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_224

Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the evidential basis is for the estimate that the new primary school breakfast programme will save parents £450 a year. \p Stephen Morgan: The estimate that the government’s breakfast club programme will save parents £450 a year is based on the average fee charged for a breakfast club in England according to the childcare and early years survey of parents. Taking into account the amount parents currently pay for breakfast clubs, the department has calculated how much parents will save per year, on average, from the introduction of free, 30 minute clubs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_225

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is the funding allocation per child for primary school breakfast clubs. \p Stephen Morgan: Funding rates vary depending on uptake and pupil characteristics, for example by free school meal eligibility. All early adopter schools will receive £500 to cover initial set-up costs and a lump sum of at least £1,000 a term, to cover fixed costs such as staffing. An average school with 50% take-up of the early adopter scheme would receive around £23,000 for a full year. The purpose of the early adopter scheme is to test and learn, and the department will work closely with schools to gather evidence on funding levels in advance of national rollout.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-03-07 conversation_226

Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure a long-term funding agreement for PE and school sport. \p Catherine McKinnell: The government is dedicated to increasing children's accessibility to physical education (PE) and sport provision, by protecting PE time and supporting grassroots clubs to expand access to sports for all girls and boys. Through the department’s independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review, we will seek to deliver a curriculum which is rich, broad and inclusive, ensuring all children and young people have the best start in life and have equal opportunities to participate in high-quality PE, sports and physical activities.

Information on future funding will be shared in due course.