theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Andy MacNae:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the postcode areas (a) BB1, (b) BB2, (c) BB3 and (d) BL7 are (i) in receipt of pension credit and (ii) waiting for their assessment for pension credit. \p Torsten Bell: Data on Pension Credit receipt is not available at a post code level. The Department regularly makes Pension Credit statistics publicly available on Stat-Xplore -  with the following geography breakdowns: Region, Local Authority, Parliamentary Constituency, Census Output Area and Ward.

Data on those waiting for their Pension Credit claim to be assessed is not available at a post code level. The latest available data on Pension Credit claims and awards covers England, Scotland and Wales, and was published in November 2024: Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK
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Mr Toby Perkins:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the White Paper entitled Get Britain Working, published on 26 November 2024, what steps she plans to take to engage with disabled people in the development of the new jobs and careers service. \p Alison McGovern: 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 to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers advice. We will embed the principles of accessibility and inclusivity into the design of the new service and through the entire user journey, recognising that people have different support needs.

As part of the Get Britain Working White Paper reforms, we have committed to establishing a panel to consult disabled people, ensuring that their voices are at the heart of the design and delivery.

The National Careers Service website contains a range of information for people with disabilities, including advice on job support for people with disabilities. All disabled people can access careers information and advice through the National Careers Service webchat, telephone helpline and website. People with disabilities are part of a priority group for the Service and can also access in-depth face-to-face support from locally based careers advisers. National Careers Service community-based contractors work with a range of organisations, including specialist providers, to reach customers who are furthest from the labour market, including disabled people.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of Household Support Fund funding allocated to pensioners in 2024-25. \p Alison McGovern: The Department for Work and Pensions publishes Management Information on the Household Support Fund, including details on the proportion of funding spent on households with pensioners.

The latest Management Information covering the scheme running from April 2023-March 2024 is available here: Household Support Fund management information - GOV.UK. Data that includes winter 2024-25 is still being collected and will be published later in 2025.

Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions have set out for the fund. This is because they have the ties and the knowledge to best determine how support should be provided in their local communities.

The Department for Work and Pensions conducted an evaluation of the fourth iteration of the Household Support Fund, that ran from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, to understand the benefits of the awards made across England during this period. This will be published shortly.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what purposes (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have used AI in the last 12 months. \p Andrew Western: DWP Ministers do not use AI for their official business. Over the last 12 months, our officials have utilised AI to support them in delivering better outcomes for customers. This includes the use of AI to increase colleague productivity, improve back-office operations and processes, and to tackle fraud and error.
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Michael Wheeler:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many workers earn under the lower earnings limit in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland. \p Alison McGovern: The Department’s latest estimate is that in Quarter 1 of the financial year 2022/23 there were around 1-1.3 million employees in the UK who earned below the LEL. This figure does not include workers who are self-employed.

Of these employees, (a) 86% were in England, (b) 7% were in Scotland, (c) 4% were in Wales and (d) 3% were in Northern Ireland.

These figures are drawn from the published estimates from the Department’s Statutory Sick Pay Regulatory Impact Assessment: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6715f848386bf0964853d848/Impact_assessment_improve_access_statutory_sick_pay_removing_lower_earnings_limit_removing_waiting_period.pdf
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Mr Toby Perkins:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Get Britain Working White Paper, what steps she plans to take to ensure that (a) work coaches and (b) disability employment advisors understand the barriers to employment faced by disabled people. \p Alison McGovern: This Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people and to working with disabled people to design our reforms.

The Get Britain Working White Paper announced that DWP will establish a panel to consult disabled people as part of our wider efforts to ensure that the views and voices of disabled people are at the heart of the design and delivery of the reforms set out in the White Paper.

We will incorporate any changes identified by implementing the Get Britian Working White Paper into the new entrant learning journey and provide relevant learning products to support existing Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers if required.

The Department will also launch a new coaching academy. This initiative will seek to build on our existing work coach offer and will provide further upskilling for colleagues to support customers to overcome barriers, making full use of the Jobcentre offer and wider support in our communities.

All new Work Coaches and Disability Employments Advisors currently receive the necessary training and development to enable them to support all our claimants.

The Department continually impacts, reviews and evaluates the training and development of Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisors to ensure they have the most relevant training and skills to support disabled people.

In addition to this Work coaches receive specialist support from Disability Employment Advisers on how to tailor their support to help disabled customers move closer or into the labour market. Disability Employment Advisers can also offer “direct support” to disabled people and those with long-term health conditions where additional bespoke support would benefit the customer.
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Anneliese Midgley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of young people out of work in Knowsley constituency. \p Alison McGovern: In November 2024 the number of 16 to 24 year olds in Knowsley was 655. The claimant count series counts the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance plus those who claim Universal Credit and are required to seek work and be available for work.

Liverpool Mayoral Combined Authority was one of the eight trailblazer areas to test the Youth Guarantee announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper. The results from these trailblazers will help us to develop the most effective offer for all young people in England, including those in the Knowsley constituency.

The Youth Guarantee will be available to all young people aged 18-21, not just those on benefits. It will help young people to access education, training and employment support.

Local Jobcentres work closely with Knowsley Works, the Local Authority employability service, to promote Apprenticeships and Job Opportunities, as well as working in partnership to deliver employability support and events.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of age-related discrimination on (a) recruitment and (b) retention in the workplace. \p Alison McGovern: The Government recognises the need to recruit on merit, irrespective of a persons' age. 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.

Employers play a key role in helping older individuals in the workplace.  Age diversity within the workforce brings numerous benefits to businesses, in addition to broader advantages such as fresh perspectives and knowledge-sharing.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is therefore working across government, and through regular engagement with employers, to encourage positive attitudes towards older people and has signed the Age-friendly employer pledge, a nationwide initative led by the Centre for Ageing Better, aimed at promoting age inclusive working practices.
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Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to promote the recruitment and retention of people who have a learning disability in the (a) private and (b) public sectors. \p Alison McGovern: Our specialist initiatives to support people with learning disabilities and other disabled people into work include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres. £12.3 million has also been invested into 23 lead Local Authority areas to provide support to autistic people and people with learning disabilities, under the Local Supported Employment Programme.

Under the Government’s new Get Britain Working Strategy, the forthcoming voluntary, locally led Supported Employment programme ‘Connect to Work’ will support disabled people, those with health conditions and other complex barriers including people with learning disabilities, to get into and on in work.

Employers play a key role in our efforts to supporting disabled people into work, including those with learning disabilities. Our support to employers includes a digital information service for employers to help them support disability at work, and the Disability Confident scheme. At present, there are over 900 public sector organisations signed-up to the scheme in total.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help support families with the costs of raising (a) twins and (b) children of multiple births; and if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of her maternity pay policies for families with multiple births. \p Andrew Western: There are two types of maternity pay available to pregnant working women:

Maternity pay is primarily a health and safety provision for pregnant working women providing a measure of financial security to help them take time off work in the later stages of their pregnancy and in the months following childbirth. It is not, and has never been, intended to replace a woman's earnings completely nor is it intended to help with the cost of having a baby. As such, maternity pay is paid for each pregnancy, not in respect of each child.

Additional financial support is available depending on individual circumstances, such as Universal Credit and Child Benefit. The Sure Start Maternity Grant (a lump sum payment of £500) may also be available with additional payments for those having a multiple births in certain circumstances. For more information about benefits and financial support available to pregnant women and their families can be found on www.gov.uk via the Childcare and Parenting link on the home page.
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Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the growth of the creative industries (a) through the Creative Careers Programme and (b) generally. \p Chris Bryant: The creative industries are worth £124 billion to the UK’s economy and employ over 2.4 million people. As a sector in which the UK excels today, and which will propel us forwards tomorrow, the Creative Industries have been announced as one of the eight growth-driving sectors within the Industrial Strategy. As part of this, we will develop a Sector Plan which will be focused on driving growth and opportunity for creative businesses across the country. As a first step towards delivering the Sector Plan, the government has announced a £60 million package of support to drive growth, including £40 million investment for start-up video games studios, British music and film exports and creative businesses outside of London.

By providing £3 million to expand the Creative Careers Programme (CCP), the Government will continue to broaden and diversify the talent pipeline in the creative industries, through giving young people the opportunity to learn more about career pathways, and directly engage with creative workplaces and employers.

The CCP will target more young people from priority areas, which are currently identified as those places where children face the greatest disadvantage in accessing information about careers in the creative industries. The programme is designed to raise young people’s awareness of creative careers and pathways into them by providing specialist advice and information. It seeks to boost opportunities and support for young people aged 11 - 18 from backgrounds that are under-represented in the creative industries.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of regulation of gambling (a) advertising, (b) sponsorship and (c) marketing. \p Stephanie Peacock: There are a range of robust rules in place to ensure that gambling adverts, wherever they appear, are socially responsible. The Gambling Commission is further strengthening protections on marketing to improve customer control and ensure marketing does not exacerbate harm. However, as the Gambling Minister set out in her speech at the GambleAware conference on 4 December, more needs to be done to improve protections. The industry now has a clear task to further raise standards to ensure that levels of gambling advertising does not exacerbate harm, and this work will be monitored closely.

Regarding sponsorship, all major sporting bodies have published their gambling sponsorship Codes of Conduct, setting minimum standards for socially responsible gambling sponsorships. The Premier League’s decision to ban front-of-shirt sponsorship by gambling firms will also commence by the end of the 2025/26 season. The Department will closely monitor the implementation of the Codes to ensure they have a meaningful impact.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with (a) the Football Association, (b) the Women's Super League and (c) football clubs on the adequacy of the provision of mental health services for female professional football players. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is committed to supporting every aspect of women’s sport, including player welfare.

In 2023, Karen Carney OBE published a major Independent Review of Women’s Football. The Review placed a significant emphasis on the importance of player welfare and recommended uplifting the medical support requirements within licensing criteria, as well as extending players’ access to medical provision for a period of six months following retirement. The Review also highlighted the importance of performance psychologists within high-performance sports. It recommended that this role become mandatory, to provide players with a clearly identifiable route, should they wish to raise any concerns regarding their wellbeing.

This Government fully endorses those recommendations and looks forward to ensuring tangible progress is made. The Minister for Sport met with women’s football stakeholders - including the FA and the Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) - in November 2024 to advise them of her intent to track progress against the Review recommendations. At this meeting, the Minister emphasised the importance of the welfare and duty of care to players, and advised stakeholders that she is keen to drive progress in this area. The Minister will shortly reconvene the group to understand progress against the recommendations of the Review, including around mental health provision for players.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of the proposed two-tier test system on (a) grass-roots and (b) county level cricket in England and Wales. \p Stephanie Peacock: Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game, and provides vital funds that filter down to the grassroots game. County level and international cricket competition formatting, and consideration of its impact, is the responsibility of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC).
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) internal policy reviews, (b) independent reviews, (c) external reviews, (d) taskforces, (e) public consultations, (f) investigations and (g) other reviews their Department launched between 5 July 2024 and 5 January 2025; what the titles were of those reviews; and how many of those reviews have been (i) completed and (ii) published. \p Stephanie Peacock: This Government has outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out an ambitious set of milestones – across the missions – for this Parliament.

As the House would expect, the Government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer.

Public reviews will be available on Gov.uk as they are published.
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Helena Dollimore:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department spent on (a) media and (b) voice training for Ministers between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not spent anything on media or voice training for Ministers since 4 July 2024. We are not aware of any expenditure on media or voice training for Ministers under the previous government between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make representations with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development to her French counterpart on the impact of the hijab ban in sports in France on freedom of religion or belief. \p Stephanie Peacock: Sport must be open to everyone. The UK will continue to champion freedom of religion or belief for all, both at home and abroad. No one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in.

The Government expects sports bodies in the UK to take robust action to tackle discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs. The Government will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and sector organisations to fight all forms of discrimination at all levels of sport.

We are working to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through our positions at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora and in our important bilateral work. Ministers regularly engage with their French counterparts on a broad range of issues.
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Mr Clive Betts:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of outsourcing the licensing of the operation of the professional basketball league on the (a) investments and (b) financial viability of professional basketball clubs in the UK; and if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the British Basketball Federation's governance model. \p Stephanie Peacock: The licensing of the operation of the professional basketball league is a matter for the British Basketball Federation (British Basketball), the National Governing Body responsible for basketball in Great Britain. The licensing of the operation of the professional basketball league is an ongoing commercial matter for the British Basketball Federation.

The revised Code for Sports Governance sets out the levels of transparency, diversity and inclusion, accountability and integrity that are required from sporting governing bodies, including the British Basketball Federation, in receipt of DCMS and National Lottery funding from UK Sport and/or Sport England (DCMS’ arm’s length bodies). Performance against those factors is kept under review.
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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish the National Youth Strategy. \p Stephanie Peacock: We plan to publish the National Youth Strategy in the summer, with an interim report to come out in the spring.
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Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help make lower league football clubs more financially viable. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government introduced a strengthened Football Governance Bill in October 2024, establishing an independent regulator and a new set of rules to protect clubs, empower fans and keep clubs at the heart of their communities. The Regulator will protect and promote the long term financial sustainability of the game.

The legislation is progressing and the Bill concluded its Committee Stage in the other place on 15 January.
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Chris Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle homophobia in boxing. \p Stephanie Peacock: Sport must be open to everyone. There is absolutely no place for homophobia, or discrimination of any kind, in sport or society.

The Government expects sports bodies, including the boxing authorities, to take robust action to tackle discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs. The Government will continue to work with National Governing Bodies and sector organisations to fight all forms of discrimination at all levels of sport.
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Cat Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding allocated to the National Citizen Service will be redistributed to youth services. \p Stephanie Peacock: Funding allocations for specific programmes will be communicated in due course, following the completion of business planning.
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Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how the National Youth Strategy will help tackle barriers to opportunity for children and young people in Beckenham and Penge constituency. \p Stephanie Peacock: This Government is committed to tackling barriers to opportunity and to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential. The National Youth Strategy will allow us to put young people back in charge of their own destiny and provide them with meaningful choices and chances. We are working with young people and other key stakeholders to develop our plans. Further details will be shared in due course.
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Daisy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the (a) adequacy of adoption by (i) professional and (ii) grass roots sports organisations and (b) effectiveness of the UK-wide Concussion Guidelines for Grassroots Sport, updated in November 2024. \p Stephanie Peacock: National guidelines for concussion in grassroots sport were developed by international experts on concussion and acquired brain injury to better identify, manage and prevent the issue. We continue to encourage National Governing Bodies to adapt the guidance to their own sport where appropriate.

The concussion guidelines’ impact is in the process of being evaluated by the Department for Health and Social Care, with DCMS involvement, and the evaluation is expected to be published in 2025.

The Government will continue to discuss athlete safety with relevant stakeholders and the sports sector in the coming months to ensure that everyone can take part in sport as safely as possible.
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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of broadcasting regulations on the impartiality of news coverage in Northern Ireland. \p Stephanie Peacock: The regulation of due impartiality in broadcast news is a matter for the independent regulator Ofcom.
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Liam Conlon:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that young people benefit from grassroots sports facilities. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government believes that every child should have the opportunity to play sport and participate in regular physical activity. Our mission-led Government puts children and young people at the heart of our priorities. This includes breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child to access high-quality sport and physical activity inside and outside of school, especially those who are less likely to be active.

We provide the majority of our funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. The expansion of Sport England’s Place Partnerships will invest up to £250 million of National Lottery and Exchequer funding and enhance engagement in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions, including for children and young people.

This Government recognises that grassroots facilities are at the heart of communities up and down the country and is acting to support more people to get active wherever they live through the delivery of the £123 million Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25.
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Neil Coyle:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support she is providing to help ensure the Imperial War Museum’s Second World War Centenary Digitisation Project is able to upload and make accessible to the public photographs and reels of film. \p Chris Bryant: Officials in my Department have been holding discussions with the Museum on this project as we value the Museum’s work marking significant national occasions, including the 80th anniversaries of Victory in Europe Day and Victory in Japan Day later this year. I am also delighted that we were able to confirm a Grant in Aid uplift for all national museums at the recent Budget which will support the Museum’s overall financial position.
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Mike Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of section 23 of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill on small businesses that provide school uniforms. \p Catherine McKinnell: School uniforms play a valuable role in creating a sense of common identity among pupils and reducing visible inequalities, however, too many schools require high numbers of branded uniform items which creates cost pressures for too many families. This is why the department has introduced legislation to limit the number of branded items of uniform and physical education (PE) kit that schools can require, to bring down costs for parents and remove barriers from children accessing sport and other school activities. This will give parents more choice in where to purchase non-branded items of uniform and allow them greater flexibility to make the spending decisions that suit their circumstances.

The department has considered the impact on small businesses, including by talking to partners in the sector, and recognises that it is likely that this measure will reduce demand for branded items offered by small businesses.

We know that these businesses have a valuable place in the uniform sector, bringing benefits such as providing year-round guaranteed supply, a diversity of sizes and specialist advice to schools and parents. For these reasons, we expect many parents will continue to buy non-branded uniform from such businesses. Specialist suppliers will still be able to offer optional branded items alongside generic options.

School uniforms should be designed to make children smarter not families poorer. Our data suggests that where parents can buy items from a range of suppliers the average cost of uniform is significantly lower.
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Jenny Riddell-Carpenter:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to continue the Academies Programme. \p Catherine McKinnell: Academies are a crucial and valued part of our school system.

This government is proud of the change the academies movement has delivered for children. The government's mission is to break down the barriers for all children. We’re building on the academies programme to ensure that all children and every family has a core entitlement to a high standard curriculum taught by qualified, expert teachers, with space for innovation and flexibility beyond this.

The department wants high quality trusts to continue to grow where schools wish to join them and there is a strong case for them to do so.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Young Futures hubs will work with local prevention partnerships; and whether those services will be co-located. \p Janet Daby: Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes, supporting crime prevention and enabling young people to thrive.

This is part of the Young Futures Programme alongside which we will establish a network of Young Futures Prevention Partnerships to bring together key partners to identify children and young people at risk of being drawn into crime and offer support in a more systematic way to divert them.

To make progress quickly and achieve impact across this programme, the department will need to build upon the existing structures it has in place, from physical buildings to local partnership working and the existing workforce.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans the Young Future Hubs to be jointly run with third sector partners. \p Janet Daby: Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes, supporting crime prevention and enabling young people to thrive. The department will make use of existing structures and build upon the successes of existing provision, partnerships and support. By having a more cohesive and integrated approach, with strategic centre points coordinating activity, we will reach more young people.

Officials from across a range of departments are working together, using evidence of what works, to start to shape how the Young Futures Hubs will work in practice. We will require input and expertise from across the sector to design these hubs and will be engaging with local communities, the police, charities and other key partners to seek views on the design of the programme and explore options for their delivery. This includes considerations of the most suitable locations as well as how best to engage with those young people who would benefit most from their support.

We will provide further detail on the future timelines for delivery as the work develops.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of ADHD medication shortages on children in school. \p Catherine McKinnell: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has been working hard with industry and NHS England to help resolve the supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved and all strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.

The DHSC are intensively working to resolve issues with methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets by collaborating with current suppliers to resolve issues as soon as possible, expanding the UK supplier base with new suppliers, and partnering with NHS England to improve demand forecasting for ADHD medicines.

The DHSC is also supporting an independent cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and support across sectors and their impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education and justice to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support. The ADHD taskforce will also work closely with the Department for Education’s neurodivergence task and finish group.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Ben Goldsborough:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much additional funding her Department has allocated for special educational needs provision by Norfolk County Council since the Autumn Budget 2024. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

Following the Autumn Budget, the department is providing an increase of almost £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year, bringing total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to £11.9 billion. Of that total, Norfolk County Council is being allocated over £153 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £11.1 million on this year’s DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 8% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.

As also announced at the Autumn Budget, the department is receiving compensation in recognition of the increase in national insurance contributions paid by schools and other state-funded SEND provision. That funding is additional to the £1 billion increase in high needs funding. Due to timing constraints, it will be provided as a separate grant, alongside the 2025/26 DSG for local authorities, and the department will provide further information on the allocations as soon as possible.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Alex McIntyre:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve children's oracy in Gloucester. \p Catherine McKinnell: High and rising school standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best life chances.

The government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review will seek to deliver a cutting-edge curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and ready for work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive.

​The department agrees that children’s oracy is very important. The Education Endowment Foundation has found that the average impact of oral language interventions is approximately an additional six months’ progress over the course of a year. Approaches that focus on speaking, listening and a combination of the two all show positive impacts on attainment, most notably on reading outcomes. Impact in early years (seven months additional progress) and primary schools (six months additional progress) tends to be higher than in secondary schools (six months additional progress).

​In the early years, developing language skills is vital to enable children to thrive.

The department has also invested over £20 million in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), improving the language skills of reception age children needing extra support with their speech and language development.​ More than 170 primary schools in Gloucestershire have benefited from this support.

The English Hubs Programme is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. The English Hub for schools in Gloucester is Mangotsfield English Hub. Further information can be found here: https://www.mpenglishhub.co.uk/.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an awareness programme to protect primary and secondary school children from rape gang abuse. \p Catherine McKinnell: Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Schools and colleges have a critical role to play in protecting children and keeping them safe.

The department has an established robust safeguarding framework in place in the form of ‘Keeping children safe in education’, which is the statutory safeguarding guidance that all schools and colleges must have regard to.

Part 1 of this guidance, which should be read by all staff who work directly with children, not only sets out the different types of abuse and harm but also makes clear that all staff should receive safeguarding training, know how to recognise abuse and know what to do if they have any concerns about a child.

The department keeps the guidance under regular review to see where it needs strengthening and to ensure it is reflective of emerging risks and issues in safeguarding.

Pupils are taught about rape, exploitation and abuse as part of compulsory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). The RSHE statutory guidance is also clear that schools should provide pupils with the knowledge they need to recognise and report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

The department is currently reviewing the statutory RSHE curriculum to ensure it covers all relevant content relating to sexual violence.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will work with local authorities to ensure Education, Health and Care plans are updated post annual review for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities to take into account the potential impact on the transition to KS3 and post-16 education. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The SEND code of practice is clear that all children and young people with SEND should be prepared for adulthood. All local authorities must set out the support available to help children and young people with SEND move into adulthood as part of their local offer. This should be co-produced with children, young people and their families to ensure it meets local needs. The department expects activity to support effective preparation for adulthood to be embedded within provision across every age and stage of education, starting as early as possible.

If a local authority issues an education, health and care (EHC) plan, it has a statutory duty to review the plan as a minimum every 12 months. This is to review the child or young person’s progress towards achieving the outcomes specified in the plan and to consider whether the outcomes and supporting targets remain appropriate.

For children and young people with an EHC plan, there must be a focus from year 9 onwards on preparing the young person for adulthood as part of their plan’s annual review. This focus must continue until the young person’s EHC plan ceases.

An EHC plan must be reviewed and amended in sufficient time prior to a child or young person moving between key phases of education, to allow for planning for and, where necessary, commissioning of support and provision at the new institution.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Ruth Cadbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to remove the 50% faith cap on newly opened schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: The previous government launched a consultation proposing to lift the 50% faith admissions cap that applies to free schools designated with a religious character, where they are oversubscribed. The consultation closed last year and the department will respond in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-22)

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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the potential impact of proposed statutory uniform limits on the rate of participation in school sports what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential impact of proposed statutory uniform limits on the rate of participation in school sports. \p Catherine McKinnell: School uniforms play a valuable role in creating a sense of common identity among pupils and reducing visible inequalities; however, too many schools require high numbers of branded uniform items, including branded PE kit.

The government has, in line with its manifesto commitment, introduced legislation to limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require, to bring down costs for parents and remove barriers from children accessing sport and other school activities.

We expect schools to ensure that all pupils can participate in all aspects of school life, including PE and sport. No pupil should be discouraged from participating in any aspect of school life, such as interschool competitions, because of the cost of additional uniform requirements. This limit allows school leaders to prioritise branding the uniform and PE kit items which best reflect the needs of their school.

Research also suggests that the more choice that girls in particular have over what to wear for PE, the more they are comfortable and the greater the likelihood of their long term participation in sport. This research is available here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/43602/documents/216689/default/.

Guidance already encourages schools to select PE kit items that are comfortable, practical and appropriate for all students. Together with new limits on unnecessary branded items, this approach will help to ensure that all students, including girls, feel confident and able to participate fully in physical activities.