theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Jerome Mayhew:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his EU counterparts on UK legislation on gene-editing. \p Daniel Zeichner: This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The Government is introducing legislation to enact the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for plants and food and feed before the end of March.

The European Commission has published a proposal that is similar in aim to the Precision Breeding Act. The department is monitoring progress on the EU’s regulatory proposal closely and engaging with the European Commission when appropriate.

Officials have met with EU counterparts several times to discuss England’s approach to precision breeding and the EU’s proposal on new genomic techniques, including through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee and through the UK-EU Joint Consultative Working Group Agri-food structured group.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Dr Roz Savage:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's web page entitled Steve Reed speech at the 2025 Oxford Farming Conference, published on 9 Janaury 2025, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on reforming permitted development rights on farms. \p Mary Creagh: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Apsana Begum:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to implement recommendation 58 of the report by the Law Commission entitled Home ownership: exercising the right to manage, published on 21 July 2020. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government is committed to enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to the Right to Manage.

On 10 February, we laid regulations in Parliament to implement the reforms contained in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 concerning the Right to Manage and these will come into force on Monday 3 March.

The changes will increase the non-residential limit on Right to Manage claims and remove the requirement for leaseholders to pay the freeholders’ process costs.

Amending the threshold for premises excluded from the Right to Manage will allow more leaseholders in mixed-used buildings to take control of their buildings and bear down on poor service and spiralling costs. Ensuring that going forward both parties to a claim bear their own costs will save leaseholders money and reduce the incentive for freeholders to inflate costs and stifle the process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) her Department and (b) the Planning Inspectorate has provided guidance to planning inspectors on planning representations subject to foreign interference. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 22643 on 27 January 2025
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the readiness of the construction industry to help meet her housing targets. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 28369 on 13 February 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2025 to Question 18874 on Leasehold: Ground Rent, what the Government's timetable is for (a) publishing its response to the consultation entitled Modern Leasehold: Restricting Ground Rent for Existing Leases, which closed on 17 January 2025, and (b) bringing forward legislative proposals. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 18874 on 17 December 2024
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the agent of change principle applies to (a) licensing and (b) statutory nuisance complaints against (i) pubs and (ii) nightclubs. \p Matthew Pennycook: National planning policy is clear about the importance of ensuring that new development can be integrated effectively with existing businesses and community facilities.

The ‘agent of change’ principle in the National Planning Policy Framework applies to all forms of existing businesses and community facilities that could be adversely affected by new development in their vicinity and requires the applicant to provide suitable mitigation if development is to be allowed.

Planning Policy Guidance on noise advises how planning can manage potential noise impacts in new developments. Further guidance on noise and statutory nuisance is published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Home Office.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 23786 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, if she will place in the Library a copy of (a) the minutes and (b) any handouts or presentations from each of those meetings with representatives of the People’s Republic of China. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government does not routinely publish details of meetings between officials and external organisations or place copies of such meeting records in the Library.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to introduce a moratorium on Section 21 eviction notices until Parliamentary consideration of the Renters' Reform Bill is concluded. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Renters’ Rights Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday 4 February. The Bill delivers the government’s manifesto commitment to overhaul the regulation of the private rented sector, including by abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.

We want to see tenants benefit from these reforms as quickly as possible. We have therefore determined to introduce the new tenancy system for the private rented sector in one stage. Upon the commencement date, the new tenancy system will apply to all private tenancies – existing tenancies will become periodic, and any new tenancies will be governed by the new rules.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the letter from the Permanent Secretary to the hon. Member for Hamble Valley of 3 February 2025, what the cost to the public purse was of logistical support for the Deputy Prime Minister to move into Admiralty House; and at what stage in the process of the provision of support the Permanent Secretary was consulted by the Deputy Prime Minister. \p Alex Norris: There was no cost to the department as a result of the Deputy Prime Minister’s move to her official residence. Professional removal and cleaning services were hired and paid for personally by the Deputy Prime Minister. The Permanent Secretary is regularly engaged in discussions about support provided for the Deputy Prime Minister and the same was the case in this instance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 4.2.2 of the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, what formula her Department will use to distribute funding to strategic authorities. \p Jim McMahon: Paragraph 4.2.2 relates to the recovery grant and wider plans to reform funding to local authorities, not Strategic Authorities.

Strategic Authorities receive their funding from a variety of sources and different government departments, reflecting their different responsibilities. Allocation methodologies for these funds vary depending on the aims of the funding.

To enable greater flexibility and local control, the most mature Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MCAs) are eligible to receive much of their devolved funding through a single Integrated Settlement. The integrated settlements represent a change to the process in which funding from central government is allocated to MCAs, rather than a change to the quantum that the MCAs receive.

The formulae are applied to relevant departmental budgets to provide Authorities with a share of funds in scope and seek to deliver the principle that MCAs are not worse off than had the Integrated Settlements not been in place.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she expects to publish the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 24890 on 29 January 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2025 to Question 27350 on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, what the policy is of the Planning Inspectorate on representations to planning inquiries submitted after the deadline. \p Matthew Pennycook: Annexe B.13 of the Planning Inspectorate’s ‘Called-in planning applications: procedural guide’ explains the approach taken to representations submitted after the deadline. It can be found on gov.uk here.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Kate Osamor:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring landlords to hold buildings insurance for properties owned outright. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government has no plans to require landlords to hold buildings insurance for properties owned outright. Building owners are responsible for ensuring that buildings have appropriate buildings insurance in place.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to publish the long-term housing strategy; and what key objectives will be included to provide long-term certainty to the housing market. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government intend to publish a long-term housing strategy later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025, to Question 28684 on British Nationality: Fees and Charges, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken to decide on fee waiver applications for child citizenship. \p Seema Malhotra: The Home Office publishes data on the processing of child citizenship fee waiver applications on the gov.uk website. The data shows that over half of the applications submitted in the last quarter were concluded within four weeks, and 99.7% of applications from the previous quarter were concluded within 6 months.

Immigration statistics are published at Migration statistics. While these include statistics for child citizenship fee waiver applications, they do not identify the specific reasons why an application was rejected. The reasons for why an application is rejected is not recorded in a reportable format. It would require a manual check of each individual application to obtain the data, which could only be done at a disproportionate cost.

The Home Office publishes data on the processing of child citizenship fee waiver applications on gov.uk.

The latest Migration Transparency Data can be found here:

Immigration and protection data: Q3 2024 - GOV.UK.

There is no published service standard for child citizenship fee waiver applications. The data does show that over half of the applications submitted in the last quarter were concluded within four weeks, and 99.7% of applications from the previous quarter were concluded within 6 months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of low skilled immigration worker visa grants on job opportunities for low skilled domestic workers. \p Seema Malhotra: The Government publishes economic assessments of policy measures implemented. Analysis undertaken to support changes to the immigration system are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-analysis-at-the-home-office.

This Government is taking a new approach, linking skills and visa policy to reduce the reliance on overseas recruitment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Alicia Kearns:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ban the DeepSeek artificial intelligence model in educational settings because of its built-in censorship. \p Stephen Morgan: The government has a robust set of security policies in place to oversee how information is handled. We keep these policies under constant review to ensure they are applicable to new technologies.

The government's Generative artificial intelligence (AI) framework outlines that only corporately assured Generative AI tools should be used to process governmental information.

Everyone who works with government has a duty of confidentiality and a responsibility to safeguard any government information or data that they process, access or share, and all government departments are required to meet a range of mandatory security standards.

It is for educational bodies to make their own decisions on how to manage the use of Generative AI in their specific organisational and technology contexts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to (a) improve cross-Departmental working and (b) provide funding for multi-agency teams to help support (i) early interventions and (ii) other programmes for young people at risk of homelessness, abuse and exploitation. \p Janet Daby: The government is committed to tackling abuse, exploitation, and homelessness through cross-departmental working. The Department for Education, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Home Office, and the Department of Health and Social Care have a shared commitment through the opportunity mission to improve outcomes for children. From April, over £500 million will be made available to local authorities for Family Help, multi-agency child protection, and Family Network reforms, doubling investment in preventative services by 2025/26. Additionally, £15 million from the Shared Outcomes Fund will support multi-disciplinary teams providing holistic support to children at risk of violence and exploitation through the Support, Attain, Fulfil, Exceed (SAFE) and Alternative Provision taskforces.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, aims to improve information sharing across agencies and strengthen the role of education in safeguarding. The Bill mandates the establishment of multi-agency child protection teams in every local area and includes measures for better planning and support for care leavers. Regulations will be amended to ensure care leavers cannot be found intentionally homeless. On 16 January, my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary also made a statement that before Easter, the government will announce a timetable for implementing recommendations from the final Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and their standalone report on grooming gangs, with updates to key departmental guidance on child sexual exploitation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department will continue funding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund after March 2025. \p Janet Daby: The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate the budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund are being made as part of these discussions, and an announcement will be made as soon as possible.

All future funding decisions will be considered as part of the next spending review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Dr Ben Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the accessibility to people who are digitally excluded of the consultation on Franchising in higher education. \p Janet Daby: The department’s consultation on franchising in higher education (HE) offers different alternatives to respond in order to meet the range of accessibility needs.

There is an option to respond via post by using a printed copy of the consultation document, for those who cannot respond online. A print-ready copy of the consultation document is also available to download on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/franchising-in-higher-education.

The consultation document also sets out that if anyone is having any difficultly responding online, they can contact the department using the contact details provided in the consultation document to request assistance or an alternative option to respond.
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Andrew Lewin:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in year three who are eligible for free school meals attend schools rated (a) Outstanding, (b) Good, (c) Requires Improvement and (d) Inadequate in England. \p Stephen Morgan: Data on the number pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) broken down by a schools’ single headline grade is not held by the department. Ofsted has, as of September 2024, ceased providing headline grades as part of the move to a comprehensive school report card to provide greater information for parents and proportionate accountability for schools. Subject to the ongoing consultation report, cards will include reporting on inclusion.

Information on the total number of pupils in year 3 who are eligible for FSM is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d86ace7e-c9c0-4fd6-6cbc-08dd48e2728c.

Information on the number and percentage of pupils eligible for FSM by school, is published as part of the statistical release. The release is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Bradley Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of smartphone usage in school on recent trends in youth mental health. \p Stephen Morgan: ​The government’s ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance supports schools on how to develop, implement and maintain a policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones throughout the school day including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime. Headteachers are responsible for implementation of guidance within their schools.

​Research suggests excessive screentime can be detrimental to children’s wellbeing. The Online Safety Act aims to protects children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and to ensure that technology companies take more responsibility for the safety of their users, particularly children.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

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Shivani Raja:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the introduction of VAT for private school fees on levels of demand for state school places; and what steps she is taking to ensure the adequacy of the availability of school places in (a) Leicester East constituency and (b) England. \p Stephen Morgan: The department has made no estimate of the number of pupils in individual local authority areas who will leave the independent school system as a result of VAT on school fees. With regard to England, the government predicts that in the long-term steady state, there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private sector in the UK as a result of the removal of the VAT exemption applied to school fees. This represents around 6% of the current private school population.

​​Of the expected 37,000-pupil reduction in the private sector, the government estimates an increase of 35,000 pupils in the state sector in the steady state following the VAT policy taking effect, with the other 2,000 consisting of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling. This state sector increase represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over nine million. This movement is expected to take place over several years.

The impact on the state education system as a whole is expected to be very small. Ending tax breaks on private schools will help raise revenue to drive forward the change the government is committed to delivering for the 94% of pupils who attend state schools.

​The impact on individual local authorities will interact with other pressures and vary.

​Every year many pupils move between schools, including between the private and state-funded sectors. Local authorities routinely support parents who need a state-funded school place, including where private schools have closed. Where local authorities are experiencing difficulties in ensuring there are enough school places for children that need them, the department will offer support and advice.

​​The department provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools. The department has already confirmed nearly £1.5 billion of allocations to support local authorities to create school places needed over the current, and next two, academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026, including just under £9.7 million for Leicester City Council.
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Jen Craft:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the availability of speech and language interventions in early years settings. \p Stephen Morgan: Early language skills are vital to enable children to thrive in the early years and later in life, including for all aspects of later attainment in school.

To support these vital skills, the department has funded settings to undertake evidence-based continuous professional development programmes as part of the Early Years Education Recovery Programme, including those focused on speech, language and communication, via a national network of Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs. The Early Years Professional Development Programme phase 3 (PDP3) provides early years educators with training on communication and language, early mathematics and personal, social and emotional development. The programme was designed to ensure early years educators have the skills they need to support young children’s development in the areas that can make a significant difference to long term development and attainment, helping to strengthen children’s foundations for learning and enable them to be school-ready by the time they reach reception.

We have also invested over £20 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. NELI is an evidence-based programme targeting reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development.

The evaluation of NELI delivery and impact since 2020, which was published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in September 2023, shows outstanding results. The evaluation evidences the programme improved the development of oral language skills by four months’ progress for pupils receiving the intervention. Children eligible for free school meals (FSM) made seven months’ additional progress compared to children eligible for FSM that did not receive the intervention. The EEF evaluation can be found here:  https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/nuffield-early-language-intervention-neli#:~:text=In%20September%202023%2C%20the%20impact,took%20part%20in%20the%20evaluation.

In addition to this work, and in partnership with NHS England, the department is funding the Early Language and Support for Every Child pathfinders within the Change Programme. The project funds Integrated Care Boards to trial new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings.
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Andrew Lewin:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in year three and above who are eligible for free school meals attend schools rated (a) Outstanding, (b) Good, (c) Requires Improvement and (d) Inadequate in Welwyn Hatfield constituency. \p Stephen Morgan: Data on the number pupils eligible for free school meals broken down by a schools’ single headline grade is not held by the department. Ofsted has, as of September 2024, ceased providing headline grades as part of the move to a comprehensive school report card to provide greater information for parents and proportionate accountability for schools. Subject to the ongoing consultation report, cards will include reporting on inclusion.

Information on the total number and percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals at school level, including the constituency of the school, is published in an additional supporting file as part of the statistical release. The release is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.
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Jen Craft:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help children with SEND to access breakfast clubs. \p Stephen Morgan: The government has taken decisive action by announcing in the King’s Speech that, under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, every state funded school in England with primary-aged pupils will offer a breakfast club. This includes special schools and alternative provision. Departmental officials are working closely with schools and sector experts to develop a breakfast club programme that meets the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

On 23 September 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that up to 750 state funded schools with primary aged pupils will begin delivering free breakfast clubs from summer term 2025. Special schools and alternative provision schools were invited to take part in the early adopter scheme. The selected schools will be announced in due course. The funding will allow these schools to run free breakfast clubs for their pupils, starting in the summer term as part of a ‘test and learn’ phase to inform delivery of a national rollout. This will include testing approaches to supporting children with SEND.

The department recognises that there will be barriers, such as staffing and transport, to opening breakfast clubs for some schools, including special schools and alternative provision. The early adopter programme will allow us to test and learn how best to overcome such barriers and refine the department’s support and advice to schools to ensure the programme works for these schools.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children who have moved from independent to state schools as a result of applying VAT to independent schools in Hampshire. \p Stephen Morgan: The department has made no separate estimate of the number of pupils in individual local authority areas who have left the independent school system as a result of VAT on school fees.

​The government predicts that, in the long-term steady state, there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private sector in the UK as a result of the removal of the VAT exemption applied to school fees. This represents around 6% of the current private school population.

Of the expected 37,000 pupil reduction in the private sector, the government estimates an increase of 35,000 pupils in the state sector in the steady state following the VAT policy taking effect, with the other 2,000 consisting of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling. This state sector increase represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. This movement is expected to take place over several years.

The impact on individual local authorities will interact with other pressures and vary between authorities. Every year many pupils move between schools, including between the private and state-funded sectors.

Local authorities routinely support parents who need a state-funded school place, including where private schools have closed. Where local authorities are experiencing difficulties in ensuring there are enough school places for children that need them, the department will offer support and advice.

​The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools.

Surrey County Council has been allocated just below £43 million to support the provision of new mainstream school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026.

Hampshire County Council has been allocated just over £22.2 million to support the provision of new mainstream school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year starting in September 2026.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report entitled Talking about School Transition, published by the University of Manchester in April 2020. \p Stephen Morgan: The primary-secondary school transition is a significant milestone in a child’s life and the government recognises the importance of supporting the emotional wellbeing of children and young people during these transition periods. This is critical to high and rising standards and helping pupils to achieve and thrive in school.

In health education, part of mandatory relationships, sex and health education, there is already a strong focus on mental wellbeing. The aim of teaching pupils about mental wellbeing and physical health is to give them the information they need to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing, recognise issues in themselves and others and, when issues arise, how to seek support.

The department also encourages schools to embed an effective whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing, which includes considering stages during the academic year that provide opportunities for a specific curricular focus, such as learning skills for coping with transition periods. There are a number of approaches to do this, including those focused on in the Talking about School Transition report.

Beyond this, the government will expand Mental Health Support Teams (so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. We will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_43

Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) childminders, (b) after-school clubs, (c) holiday clubs and schemes and (d) other childcare services are accessible to children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. \p Stephen Morgan: Local authorities and early years providers, including early years childminders, have duties via the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) code of practice, the Equality Act 2010, and the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework to promote equality and inclusion for children with SEND, removing the barriers that prevent children from accessing early education.

In addition, local authorities are required by legislation to provide sufficient childcare places for children in their area for children aged 0 to 14 or up to 18 for children with SEND. The local authority statutory guidance on early education and childcare sets out a clear requirement that local authorities must report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, including for children with SEND, and make this report available and accessible to parents.

The National Wraparound Childcare Programme is helping local authorities discharge this duty with regard to after school clubs, by distributing funding on the basis of anticipated need. Local authorities across England can decide how best to use the funding to set up or expand wraparound childcare in their area to meet the needs of their local community, including children with SEND. Local authorities have been working in partnership with primary schools and private, voluntary and independent providers, including childminders. Since the programme began, the government has set clear expectations that all wraparound childcare delivered through the programme should be inclusive and accessible.

The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme funding is primarily for school aged children from reception to year 11 (inclusive) who receive benefits-related free school meals (FSM). Local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children, who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM, but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF provision. The department encourages local authorities to engage with local and national organisations, including special schools with expertise in working with children with SEND or additional needs. Local authorities are obligated to include the numbers of children with SEND or additional needs who have participated in their programme in their post provision reporting to us.
wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_44
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_44

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing to (a) Egglescliffe School and (b) all schools damaged by Storm Éowyn. \p Stephen Morgan: Egglescliffe school is a member of the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) and as a result of significant damage to the school roof during storm Éowyn the RPA team are working closely with the school to reinstate the damaged areas. Initial works to waterproof the affected buildings are underway and the permanent reinstatement plan is being developed.

Any RPA members impacted by storm Éowyn who have made claims within the rules of the scheme will be similarly supported in the restoration of the affected part of the estate.

Responsibility for ensuring the safety and condition of school buildings lies with the responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies.

Where the department is alerted to significant safety issues with a building that cannot be managed with local resources, it will provide additional support on a case-by-case basis. The department will provide support and advice to responsible bodies to minimise impact on pupils and prioritise the continuity of face-to-face education.

All other schools that notified us of building related incidents due to Storm Éowyn have received advisory support and all pupils have returned to face-to-face education.
wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_45
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_45

Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education of 30 January 2025 in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill Public Bill Committee (Eighth sitting), Official Report PBC (Bill 151) Eighth Sitting, column 308, how she defines a new education provision. \p Stephen Morgan: New section 436C(1) of the Education Act 1996 lists the information legally required to be provided by parents of children who are eligible for inclusion on a local authority’s ‘Children Not in School’ register. This information is their child’s name, date of birth and address, the name and address of each parent, the amount of time the child spends receiving education from each parent and information on any other person providing education to the child.

The Bill provides, in section 436C(2), a list of information that will be optional for parents to provide to their local authority for inclusion on the register. This includes information relating to their child’s protected characteristics, any special educational needs and details of any child protection issues such as ongoing enquiries and whether the child is looked-after or a child in need. Local authorities may also include the information listed in this section if they already hold it through other means.

The parental duty to provide information will apply when their child first becomes eligible for registration, such as when they first move into home education. The duty will also apply when there is a change to any of the information they are required to provide. This could include a change of address or a change in the providers of the child’s education.
wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_46
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_46

Mike Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of applying VAT to private school fees on children attending extracurricular activities at private schools, despite not attending them. \p Stephen Morgan: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has made no assessment of the impact of applying VAT to school fees on children who do not attend private schools but may utilise their facilities.

The 20% standard rate of VAT applies to all education services, vocational training and boarding services provided by private schools for a charge. The VAT treatment of services delivered by third-party providers at private schools, for instance, self-employed music teachers or organisations that rent out private schools’ facilities, are unaffected by this policy. These services will always have been subject to VAT, if the provider is VAT-registered, unless it is private tutoring of a subject ordinarily taught in schools, which is exempt from VAT.

However, any before or after school childcare, or childcare-based holiday clubs, that consists solely of childcare and does not fall within the definition of education will remain exempt from VAT by virtue of the fact that welfare services are exempt from VAT.

HM Revenue and Customs have published guidance on charging and/or reclaiming VAT on good and services related to private school fees, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/charging-and-reclaiming-vat-on-goods-and-services-related-to-private-school-fees.
wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_47
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_47

Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools (a) initially applied to be part of the universal primary school breakfast clubs pilot and (b) subsequently pulled out. \p Stephen Morgan: The government is committed to offering a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England, beginning with the launch of an early adopter scheme in summer term 2025.

Schools were invited to express their interest in taking part by 20 December 2024. A list of participating schools will be published in due course.
wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_48
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-20)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-20 conversation_48

Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will update the School Food Standards and introduce compliance monitoring to (a) reflect the latest evidence based dietary guidelines on sugar and fibre (b) remove the requirement to offer meat and a dessert at every meal (c) introduce a requirement for meals to include at least two portions of vegetables and (d) include support for water only in schools. \p Stephen Morgan: This government is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever. It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating.

The School Food Standards (the Standards) regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day. They define the foods and drinks that must be provided, which foods are restricted and those which must not be provided.

Compliance with the Standards is mandatory for maintained schools, academies and free schools. Governing boards have a responsibility to ensure compliance and should appropriately challenge the headteacher and the senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations.

The department’s aim is to deliver better life chances for all through a system which works for all. As part of this, as with all government programmes, we will keep our approach to the School Food Standards and compliance under continued review.
wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_1

Jonathan Hinder:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the research by Queen's University, Ontario, entitled Severe Maternal and Neonatal Morbidity Among Gestational Carriers: A Cohort Study, published on 24 September 2024. \p Karin Smyth: Ensuring that women are healthy during their pregnancy is important for ensuring good outcomes for women and babies. This includes surrogates, also known as gestational carriers. We welcome additional research and evidence in this field, including reports such as the Queen’s University Ontario publication, which we will consider.
wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_2
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-30 conversation_2

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure women presenting symptoms of endometriosis receive sufficient care during early stages of diagnosis. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health and improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis. Several measures are in place to raise awareness of endometriosis among clinicians and support diagnosis and care.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024, NICE published updated recommendations on the diagnosis, management, and treatment of endometriosis. These are available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73

Endometriosis is included in the core curriculum for general practitioners, and for obstetricians and gynaecologists. The General Medical Council is introducing the Medical Licensing Assessment for most incoming doctors, including all medical students graduating from academic year 2024/25 and onwards. Within this assessment are several topics relating to women’s health, including endometriosis. This will encourage a better understanding of endometriosis among doctors as they start their careers in the United Kingdom.

Never again will women’s health be neglected. We will prioritise women’s health as we reform the NHS and women’s equality will be at the heart of our missions.