theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_135

Alex Easton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure the National Careers Service is fully inclusive for disabled people. \p Janet Daby: The National Careers Service provides free, up to date, impartial information, advice and guidance on careers, skills and the labour market in England, helping customers make informed choices about their career options.

Adults with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are one of the priority groups for the service and can access in-depth tailored support, drawing on localised labour market information, including face-to-face support from community-based careers advisers, information and advice through webchat, telephone helpline and website.

Prime contractors delivering community-based support are required to comply with all relevant legislation and must develop strategies to encourage people from identified priority groups, including those with learning difficulties or disabilities, to use the community-based service and ensure they meet the specific needs of these customers.

The National Careers Service website provides education advice and job support for people with SEND and content is accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. The education advice is available here: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/education-advice-disabled-special-educational-needs. The job support is available here: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/career-and-job-support-for-people-with-a-disability/.

As outlined in the Get Britain Working White Paper, Jobcentre Plus will be brought together with the National Careers Service in England, to create a new Jobs and Careers Service, transforming the experience for all users.

Part of the digital offer of the new service will include exploring how assistive technology can be used to aid in the accessibility and inclusiveness of the service.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Mike Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 16106 on Overseas Students: Ukraine, whether Ukrainian students who gain an 18-month extension on their visa through the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme will be eligible for home fees status for the full duration of their degree; and whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to allow Ukrainian students to extend their visa once the 18-month extension has expired. \p Janet Daby: The department has amended the Student Support regulations so that those who have been granted leave under the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme may qualify for higher education student support in England and home fee status without the requirement to meet the normal three-year ordinary residence requirement.

Where a person's Ukraine Scheme permission expires during their course of study and they are granted further permission to remain under one of the standard immigration routes, they will continue to be eligible to access student support and home fee status while they complete their studies. This is in line with those granted leave under the other Ukraine Schemes.

We will continue to keep the Ukraine Schemes under consistent review in line with developments in the ongoing war.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 26566 on Special Educational Needs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of lockdown restrictions during the covid-19 pandemic on the (a) behaviour, (b) special educational needs requirements and (c) primary socialisation of school children; and what steps she is taking to help support those children. \p Catherine McKinnell: The UK Covid Inquiry was set up to examine the UK's response to and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to learn lessons for the future. The government is committed to learning from the findings of the Covid Inquiry, which will play a key role in informing the government’s planning and preparations for a future pandemic.

The pandemic affected all pupils, particularly those that are disadvantaged, leading to dips in attainment and a substantial widening of the gaps between disadvantaged children and their peers. Prolonged periods of absence from schools and colleges may have also contributed to disengagement whilst at school and increased incidents of misbehaviour. The department has also seen more children starting primary schools without basic levels of development, meaning that teachers cannot focus on teaching, impacting all children in the class.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional funding to local authorities for SEND transport for the 2025-26 financial year. \p Catherine McKinnell: Most central government funding for home-to-school travel is provided through the local government finance settlement administered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This government recognises the challenges local authorities are facing as demand for critical services rises.

The government has announced £1.3 billion of new grant funding for the 2025/26 financial year to help local government deliver core services. Together with local income from council tax and business rates, this will provide a real terms increase in core spending power of around 3.2%.

The government is committed to reforming local government funding, using the best available evidence to direct funding to where it is most needed. We will deliver these reforms in partnership with local government.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support children's services in Devon. \p Janet Daby: The department has been working closely with Devon County Council since Ofsted’s inspection of children’s services in March 2020, in which services were found to be Inadequate overall and were placed in formal intervention under a Statutory Direction.

As part of the department’s intervention, it has put in place robust support for the local authority and partner agencies involved in the delivery of children’s services. This includes the appointment of a Children’s Services Commissioner, in addition to the appointment of both Hertfordshire and Essex local authorities through our Sector Led Improvement Programme. The Sector Led Improvement Programme enables the delivery of peer-to-peer support from the strongest performing local authorities to local authorities like Devon, who are working to improve their services.

The department also holds regular formal monitoring meetings with the local authority and partners as part of holding all parties to account for making the necessary improvements in services, and we will continue with our work with them and our support partners to ensure that all children and families receive the service they require and deserve.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to keep children and young people safe from violence (a) on the streets and (b) in schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: Children’s wellbeing and safety is a priority for this government. In the community, there are a range of interventions from across government aimed at keeping children safe. In addition to existing community-based interventions, Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling young people to thrive.

Education can be a significant protective factor. Statutory guidance including ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Keeping children safe in education’ sets out the safeguarding duties and responsibilities of education settings. This spans action taken within schools, such as through effective whole-school behaviour policies and pastoral support provision, through to the role of schools within multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and action taken by schools to escalate concerns about children to local authority services. Furthermore, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will put in place a package of support to enhance multi-agency working to keep children safe and ensure they can thrive. This includes placing a duty on safeguarding partners to automatically include education and childcare settings in their multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.

Through existing statutory relationships, sex and health education, pupils are taught how to build respectful and empathetic relationships and appropriate ways of resolving conflict, including a clear message that resorting to violence is never acceptable.

We currently support those pupils most at risk through two place-based programmes that provide specialist support in serious violence hotspots in England. Support, attend, fulfil, exceed (SAFE) taskforces are school-led partnerships that develop a targeted, local response to serious violence in 10 areas. Interventions delivered include mentoring, social skills training and cognitive behavioural approaches. In alternative provision (AP) settings, Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces (APSTs) are joined up, multi-disciplinary teams (including youth workers, family workers and careers workers) embedded within the largest AP schools in 22 areas.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what purposes the Teaching Regulation Agency has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Catherine McKinnell: Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) has not used artificial intelligence for any purpose during the last 12 months.

The TRA also has access to the Government Digital Service, part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, for expert advice.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support children who have a parent in prison. \p Janet Daby: The department knows growing up with a parent or primary carer in prison can have a devastating impact on a child’s life chances. These children can experience the trauma of separation, social isolation and shame, and support is often lacking.

This government has a key mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child, which includes better supporting and identifying children affected by parental imprisonment.

The department and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are working together to see how we can support children affected by parental imprisonment. We have also closely engaged the sector who have provided us with invaluable support during the early stages of policy development.

At the department, we are looking at how best to support children and their families within the community, including as part of our wider reforms to Children’s Social Care. The MoJ is looking at how to improve support for parents in prison and the visiting experience for families, with a focus on strengthening family ties where appropriate.

At present, prisons across England and Wales offer a range of services to maintain family relationships including social visits and family days.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking with local authorities to expedite the removal of asbestos from schools. \p Stephen Morgan: The department takes the safety of children and those who work with them incredibly seriously, which is why we expect all those with responsibility for managing the school estate, which includes local authorities, governing bodies and academy trusts, to have robust plans in place to manage asbestos in school buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties, drawing on appropriate professional advice.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as the regulator, sets the legal requirements and standards to manage asbestos and produces guidance for responsible bodies to follow, as duty holders. The department provides guidance, tools and support to help schools and responsible bodies effectively manage their school buildings, including guidance on managing asbestos in schools and colleges, which was updated in October 2024.

Asbestos is typically removed when carrying out wider rebuilding or refurbishment work to improve the condition of buildings. The department follows the advice of the HSE as the regulator, that as long as asbestos-containing materials are undamaged, and not in locations where they are vulnerable to damage, they should be left undisturbed, and their condition monitored.

The department has been clear that when asbestos does pose a risk to safety and cannot be effectively managed in place, it should be removed. The decision to remove asbestos should be considered on a case-by-case basis and annual condition funding provided by the department can be used for this purpose. As part of the 2025/26 budget, we have increased capital allocations to improve the condition of school buildings to £2.1 billion, which is £300 million more than the 2024/25 financial year. This is on top of the School Rebuilding Programme and targeted support for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Paulette Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to encourage pupils to read at breakfast clubs in primary schools. \p Stephen Morgan: The department wants to give schools the flexibility to deliver their breakfast club in the way that best meets the needs of their pupils, as well as their parents and local community, and gets the school day off to a strong start.

The non-statutory guidance for early adopters will help schools on how they go further than just the minimum requirements, including ways to incorporate enriching activities into a breakfast club.

The early adopter schools will test and learn how to deliver new breakfast club provision, and the learning from these, including on enrichment, will inform a national rollout.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number of pupils who have been absent from school due to a lack of provision of SEND services. \p Stephen Morgan: The department does not hold information on the number of pupils who have been absent from school due to the lack of provision of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services. However, we recognise that rates of absence are generally higher for pupils with SEND and children attending special schools.

We also recognise that barriers to attendance are wide and complex, and this is particularly true for pupils with SEND. Addressing these barriers requires a support-first approach and strong relationships between families, schools, local authorities and other relevant local services.

This is why the department has published the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which became statutory in August 2024. The guidance promotes a support-first approach and provides detail on additional support for pupils with SEND. Where a pupil is not attending due to unmet or additional needs, this guidance sets out clear expectations on how schools, local authorities and wider services work together to access and provide the right support to improve attendance.

The department is working closely with schools and local authorities to ensure that education settings are able to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, including announcing £1 billion investment in high needs at the Autumn Budget 2024. This funding will help to ensure all children can access the high quality education that should be their right.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost of home schooling a child for (a) parents and (b) local education authorities in this financial year. \p Stephen Morgan: The department does not hold data on the cost of elective home education for parents or local authorities.

As set out in our elective home education guidance, parents who home educate assume the full financial responsibility for their child’s education, since a state-funded school place is available for their child.

The new duties created by the Children Not in School measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will include the creation of a duty on local authorities to create and maintain Children Not in School registers and a duty to provide support to home educating families, should it be requested. Local authority delivery will be funded by central government in line with the New Burdens Doctrine. To determine the level of funding, the department will carry out a new burdens assessment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to raise awareness of the impact of poor nutrition on children. \p Stephen Morgan: The 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 regulate the food and drink provided at lunchtime and at other times of the school day. They aim to ensure that the right foods are available for children every day. School governors 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. Schools may use the School Food Standards as a guide when writing their packed lunch policies.

To support governors, the department, along with the National Governance Association, are running a pilot online training course on school food for governors and trustees. By increasing understanding of the Standards, we hope that ultimately school children will have increased access to healthier, more nutritious food, the pilot will be evaluated to embed learning.

All schools are required to follow a broad and balanced curriculum, as exemplified by the national curriculum. The national curriculum sets the expectation that pupils are taught about the importance of healthy eating and nutrition. Healthy eating and opportunities to develop pupils’ cooking skills are covered in the design and technology curriculum in key stages 1 to 3.

The importance of healthy eating is also included in the science curriculum for both primary and secondary schools. Healthy eating is covered through topics relating to nutrition and digestion, which cover the content of a healthy diet and the impact of diet on how the body functions.

The principles of a healthy and varied diet are also covered in health education, which emphasises empowering young people to make choices and adopt lifestyles that will increase their chance of living happy and healthy lives, supporting the agenda on tackling obesity. Pupils should be taught how to maintain healthy eating and the links between a poor diet and health risks, including tooth decay and cancer.

More broadly, the government has already taken action to restrict ‘junk’ food advertising to children, uprated the sugary drinks industry levy and announced stronger local authority powers to block new fast-food outlets near schools. Action to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children is also underway.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve meals in schools for SEN children. \p Stephen Morgan: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. 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 minimum standards for school food are set out in legislation. Beyond this, headteachers, school governors and their caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies that take into account local circumstances. In doing so, schools are expected to make reasonable efforts to cater for pupils with particular requirements, for example to reflect medical, dietary and cultural needs.

School governors have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the School Food Standards. To support governors, the department, along with National Governance Association, are running a pilot online training course on school food for governors and trustees. The department will evaluate the training programme’s reception and effectiveness in the short-term.

Education settings are obliged, under the Equality Act 2010, to make reasonable adjustments for children and young people with disabilities to avoid putting them at a substantial disadvantage in relation to a relevant matter, in comparison with persons who are not disabled. Schools are required to make reasonable adjustments to enable such pupils to access their school meals, should they wish to. Schools should work with the pupil, their family and any other professionals involved, to agree the necessary support. It is for the school to make the decision about what is reasonable in any particular situation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_150

Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with home educator parents on the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill. \p Stephen Morgan: As part of the Children Not in School measures, the department will publish statutory guidance outlining the steps that local authorities and parents need to take to comply with the new provisions. This guidance will be consulted on, ensuring families have sufficient time to feed in, understand and prepare for any requirements.

To engage effectively during the passage and future implementation of the Children in School measures, the department has set up implementation fora to engage with home-educating parents, stakeholders and local authorities.

Through round-table discussions and direct engagement with home-educating communities, we have sought to understand the concerns and priorities of families who choose to educate their children at home.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure an adequate provision of supply teachers in schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: Supply teachers perform a valuable role and the department is grateful for their important contribution to schools across the country.

Schools and local authorities are currently responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers and are best placed to make decisions on their approach to recruitment.

There are various approaches to providing supply teachers, such as using supply agencies.

The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools to obtain value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. More information on the agency supply deal can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what purposes the Standards and Testing Agency has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Catherine McKinnell: Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) has used AI to create videos to support schools and local authorities with preparing for and administering the national curriculum assessments. It is also trialling the use of large language models to create stakeholder training materials.

STA can draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform AI usage. For example, the Generative AI Framework, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, the Data Ethics Framework, the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire have been identified as stuck schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: In the ’School accountability reform – school profiles improvement and intervention’ consultation, the department defined ’stuck school’ as a school that was graded ‘requires improvement’ or equivalent at its most recent Ofsted inspection and was also graded below ‘good’ at its previous inspection.

For this purpose, we have considered a sub-judgement of ‘requires improvement’ for leadership and management and/or quality of education for a school inspected in 2024/25 academic year as equivalent to a previous single headline grade of ‘requires improvement’.

Based on the latest published Ofsted inspection data, there were 4 stuck schools in the South Holland and the Deepings constituency and 18 stuck schools in Lincolnshire by the end of December 2024.
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Bradley Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has plans to increase the grading of students that move to state schools from independent schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member for Bromsgrove directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to improve education on food and nutrition in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department is supporting schools in a number of ways to provide high-quality food and nutrition education for their students.

Nutrition education is a discrete strand of the national curriculum for design and technology and is compulsory for key stages 1 to 3. The curriculum aims to teach children how to cook and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and nutrition. It recognises that cooking is an important life skill that will help children to feed themselves and others healthy and affordable food.

The importance of nutrition is also included in the science curriculum for both primary and secondary schools. Nutrition through healthy eating is covered through topics relating to nutrition and digestion, which cover the content of a healthy diet and the impact of diet on how the body functions.

Pupils also have the option to study for a GCSE in food preparation and nutrition. This requires pupils to understand and apply the principles of food science, nutrition and healthy eating when preparing and cooking food.

Oak National Academy provides adaptable, optional and free curriculum support for schools and has recently published new curriculum sequences in cooking and nutrition from key stages 1 to 3, with associated lesson resources being rolled out this academic year. This curriculum supports teachers to deliver lessons on practical food skills and develops pupils’ understanding of healthy and sustainable diets. Pupils will be taught to make informed decisions about food and drink, and to celebrate food as an important part of different cultures, and a source of nourishment, connection and joy. Pupils will learn how to plan, prepare and cook a wide variety of predominantly savoury dishes, safely and hygienically, applying their food knowledge to make informed nutrition and health decisions.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The review will seek to deliver a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work. The review group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work, and will publish its final report with recommendations this autumn. The department will take decisions on what changes to make to the curriculum in light of these recommendations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of items of correspondence from Parliamentarians received by (a) her Department, (b) herself and (c) her ministerial team have not received a substantive response in each month since August 2024. \p Janet Daby: The total number of cases received by the department since August 2024 that are due for reply but have yet to receive a substantive response is 31.

The breakdown is as follows:

Parliamentary cases that have not yet had a substantive reply

Month Received

Secretary of State for Education

Ministerial Team

Department

Volume

%

Volume

%

Volume

%

August 2024

0

0.0%

0

0.0%

0

0.0%

September 2024

0

0.0%

0

0.0%

0

0.0%

October 2024

1

2.0%

0

0.0%

1

0.2%

November 2024

1

1.8%

3

0.5%

4

0.7%

December 2024

3

6.7%

12

2.2%

15

2.5%

January 2025

1

4.8%

10

5.6%

11

5.6%

Total

6

2.0%

25

0.9%

31

1.0%
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of professional school librarians on pupils (a) learning and (b) outcomes. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department has not specifically assessed the impact of professional school librarians on pupils’ learning or outcomes. It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils, including whether to employ a qualified librarian. Headteachers have autonomy to decide how best to spend the core schools funding that is allocated to them by the department. This school funding can be used to fund librarians, school libraries and book corners.

Ministers and officials have regular discussions with His Majesty’s Chief Inspector and his staff on a wide range of matters, including those relating to literacy and ensuring pupils benefit from a knowledge-rich curriculum.
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Bradley Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to fund new schools in Bromsgrove constituency. \p Stephen Morgan: Local authorities are responsible for providing enough school places for children in their area. Where the need for a new school has been identified, local authorities must currently seek proposals for a new academy, or free school, under section 6A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. This is known as the ‘free school presumption’ process.

Changes to the legal framework for opening new schools will be introduced through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. The measures will remove the legal presumption that all new schools are opened as academies, allowing local authorities to welcome proposals for all types of school and to put forward their own proposals where they choose to do so. This will ensure new schools are simply opened by the provider with the best offer for local children and families.

The department provides the Basic Need capital grant to support local authorities to provide mainstream school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and capacity data. We provide High Needs Provision capital allocations to support the provision of new places and improve existing provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities or requiring alternative provision. Local authorities can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools.

Financial contributions from housing developers are also an important way of helping to meet demand for new school places when housing developments are driving pupil numbers. It is for the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to secure developer contributions through section 106 agreements or the Community Infrastructure Levy and to decide on the local infrastructure needs that this contribution should support. The department encourages LPAs to secure significant contributions for new school places and work closely with colleagues planning school places in their area, including county councils when the local authority responsible for education is not the LPA.

There are no centrally-delivered free school projects currently planned for the Bromsgrove area.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that school meals are (a) balanced and (b) nutritional. \p Stephen Morgan: 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 regulate the food and drink provided at lunchtime and at other times of the school day. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for maintained schools, academies and free schools. They aim to ensure that the right foods are available for children. For example, one or more portions of vegetables as an accompaniment and one or more portions of fruit must be provided every day. The standards also restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods, and ensure that pupils always have healthy options.

The department’s aim is to deliver better life chances for all through a system which works for all. As with all government programmes, we will keep our approach to the School Food Standards under continued review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_161

Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools that are awaiting refurbishment through the school rebuilding programme (a) have and (b) have not had those works brought forward due to the presence of RAAC. \p Stephen Morgan: The government has committed £1.4 billion to continue the current School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) in 2025/26, reconfirming our commitment to rebuild or refurbish 518 schools and sixth form colleges across England, prioritising delivery based on need.

All schools within the programme, including those with confirmed reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, are prioritised for delivery according to the condition of their buildings, readiness to proceed and efficiency of delivery. The department also takes into account the suitability and longevity of any temporary accommodation schools and sixth form colleges may have in place. Expected delivery timeframes have been communicated to all responsible bodies and specific start dates are communicated at least a month in advance of the project entering delivery. Since we communicated these timescales, we have not made any significant changes to them to move start dates around.

Just under half of SRP projects have started various stages of delivery activity and the department plans to increase the number of existing school rebuilding projects to 100, of which delivery begins in the next financial year so work can start more quickly.

Once a school enters delivery, a project team carries out a feasibility study which determines the scope of the works. SRP projects typically take 3 to 5 years to complete.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_162

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce decision times for qualified teacher status applications. \p Catherine McKinnell: Since 2021, the end-to-end process for becoming a teacher has been managed through the department’s digital services. This means that we have access to real-time recruitment data which allows us to identify the challenges that candidates are facing. From this data, we know that the longer it takes for an initial teacher training (ITT) provider to respond to a candidate, the more likely they are to drop-out.

To alleviate this, the department has set out the need for timely responses to candidate applications in the ITT criteria and we encourage providers to respond to candidates within 30 working days. The department’s digital services have also made it quicker and easier for ITT providers to manage and process their applications.

Additionally, the department has implemented changes to encourage providers to make more timely decisions. Now, if a candidate does not receive a response to their application within 30 days, they will be allowed to apply to a different ITT provider. We have also developed weekly performance reports, which allow providers to compare their recruitment performance to national averages.

The department is aware that large volumes of applications can impact a provider’s ability to respond to applications quickly. That is why we implemented functionality last cycle, to prevent candidates from applying to courses that they are ineligible for.
wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_163
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_163

Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the pension review will consider adequacy. \p Torsten Bell: This government is committed to enabling tomorrow’s pensioners to have security in retirement– which is why we announced the landmark Pensions Review days after coming into office in July.

The first phase is focussed on boosting investment and economic growth and we are committed to a second phase that will include retirement adequacy within its considerations. We will provide further detail on the full scope and timetable for the second phase in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_164

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the winter fuel payment on recent trends in the level of economic growth. \p Torsten Bell: It is not possible to attribute changes in consumer spending or economic growth to any changes to Winter Fuel Payments. It is not possible to disentangle these from other much larger factors that could affect economic growth or consumption.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_165

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of Winter Fuel Payments that were spent through (a) direct and (b) indirect taxation in 2023-24. \p Torsten Bell: The department does not hold information on how Winter Fuel Payments were spent in 2023–24.
wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_166
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_166

John Milne:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of applicants that started a Pension Credit online application did not complete it or submit the form in the latest period for which figures are available. \p Torsten Bell: The total number of Pension Credit online applications started is unavailable because only data from users who opt-in to performance cookies on GOV.UK is collected.
wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_167
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_167

Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the State Pension reflects increases in the cost of living. \p Torsten Bell: The Government is committed to the Triple Lock, which means that in April 2025, the basic and new State Pension will increase by the higher of the growth in average earnings, price increases or 2.5%. As a result, the basic and new State Pension will increase by 4.1%, in line with earnings growth. Inflation in the reference period was 1.7%.

This means that over 12 million pensioners will benefit from an increase of up to £470 to their State Pension from April this year. That’s £275 more than if pensions had been uprated by the rise in prices.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_168

Mr Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the number of households impacted by changes to the eligibility criteria for Winter Fuel Payments in Sutton Coldfield constituency. \p Torsten Bell: Looking back at winter 2023-24, there were around 13,400 pensioner households in Sutton Coldfield Constituency receiving the Winter Fuel Payment but not receiving Pension Credit. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-Xplore and the Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Please note that the above does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up that we might see as a result of the Government’s Pension Credit Awareness Campaign.

We do not yet hold data on the number of Pension Credit or Winter Fuel Payment recipients through winter 2024-25.

The published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individual pensioners in respect of whom Pension Credit is paid will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where a claimant has a partner and / or dependents).

In addition, while Pension Credit claimants constitute the majority of those that will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, pensioners who claim other qualifying means-tested benefits will also be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. It is not, however, possible to include those on other qualifying means-tested benefits in these figures.
wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_169
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_169

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to tackle (a) age discrimination and (b) ageism 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.

The Government acknowledges the key role employers play in helping older individuals to remain in or re-enter the workforce, and the importance of embracing policies conducive to this support. 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.