theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce mental health waiting times; and whether he plans to set specific targets to ensure that people in full time work receive timely access to therapy and specialist support. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is unacceptable that too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. We are determined to change that by improving mental health care across the spectrum of need.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to cut wait times and provide faster treatment.

We are meeting the constitutional waiting time standards we have in place for the two mental health pathways: NHS Talking Therapies for common mental health conditions, and Early Intervention in Psychosis. We also have targets for eating disorder services for children and young people. Despite the challenging fiscal environment, the Government has chosen to prioritise funding to deliver expansions of NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement & Support schemes, demonstrating our commitment to addressing the root cause of mental health issues and providing support for people with severe mental illness to contribute to the economy by remaining in or returning to work.

Since 2023, NHS England began to publish data for the first time on the number of people waiting for mental health services, in line with the Clinical Review of Standards for mental health.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve services for women with eating disorders. \p Stephen Kinnock: Too many women with eating disorders are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality support when they need it.

The Department continues to work closely with NHS England to ensure that people with an eating disorder get the care and treatment they need.

NHS England is continuing to expand community-based eating disorder service capacity, including crisis care and intensive home treatment, to improve outcomes and recovery, reduce rates of relapse, prevent eating disorders continuing into adulthood, and reduce lengths of stay in urgent and emergency care.

Funding for eating-disorder services has increased each year, from £46.7 million in 2017/18 to a planned spend of £101 million in 2024/25.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to publish an updated national autism strategy. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department has not currently made an assessment of the effectiveness of the National strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026. Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service, published September 2024, highlighted the severe delays for accessing autism assessments and that demand for assessments for autism has grown significantly in recent years.

The House of Lords has established an Autism Act 2009 Committee, which is holding an inquiry to look at the Autism Act 2009 and the autism strategy, and will make recommendations to the Government by 30 November 2025. This will inform the Government’s future approach.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that new treatments for (a) Alzheimer’s disease and (b) other dementias are made available to people in the UK. \p Stephen Kinnock: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service in England on whether new medicines should be routinely funded, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. The NICE evaluates all new medicines, including medicines for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and aims to publish guidance for the NHS as close as possible to licensing. The NHS in England is legally required to fund recommended treatments, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance.

The NICE and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have piloted enhanced information sharing arrangements for the new disease modifying dementia treatments, which have enabled the organisations to fully align their processes and will enable faster decision making for future treatments that may come to market.

To prepare for the new generation of dementia treatments in development, NHS England is working to ensure the diagnostic and treatment capacity, clinical pathway redesign and investment are in place to support the adoption of any new licensed and NICE-recommended treatments as soon as possible.

Health is a devolved matter and decisions on the availability of medicines are a matter for the respective devolved administrations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will provide Integrated Care Boards with detailed guidance on the minimum provision of palliative care required for hospices in their area. \p Stephen Kinnock: Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. Although the statutory guidance does not specifically set out a minimum provision of palliative care required by ICBs, it does state that ICBs have a legal duty to commission palliative and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations.

Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and to their loved ones.

Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS England on the Right to Choose policy for ADHD medication. \p Stephen Kinnock: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions on a wide range of matters with NHS England.

Patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) benefit from the Right to Choose their provider. Patients may be prescribed ADHD medication where clinically appropriate.
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Bobby Dean:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of mental health waiting lists on levels of people out of work. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is unacceptable that too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. We are determined to change that. Our mission is to improve mental health care across the spectrum. We are focusing on ensuring the National Health Service is providing the right support to the right people, at the right time.

We are working to address the impacts of mental ill health on economic inactivity and are committed to supporting people into work, recognising that good work is good for mental health. Despite the challenging fiscal environment, we have chosen to prioritise funding to deliver expansions of NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support schemes, demonstrating our commitment to addressing the root cause of mental health issues, and providing support for people to contribute to the economy by remaining in or returning to work.

As part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future, we will recruit 8,500 more mental health workers to cut wait times and provide faster treatment.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department have to ensure that local authorities can fulfil their duties to carers under the Care Act 2014. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are delivering their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including their duties relating to unpaid carers.  This means that the CQC is looking at how local authorities are supporting unpaid carers in their area.

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

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

The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers, who provide vital care and support.
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Bobby Dean:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to meet his target for GP appointment waiting times. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is determined to make it easier for everyone to see a general practitioner (GP) when they need to, by improving access to appointments. We will bring back the family doctor, train thousands more GPs, guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one, and end the 8:00am scramble for appointments by delivering a modern booking system.

We have invested £82 million into ARRS (Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme) which has enabled the recruitment of over 1,500 recently qualified GPs across England since October 2024 which will increase the number of appointments available, benefitting thousands of patients that are struggling to access care.   We’ve also just delivered the biggest boost to GP funding in years, with an £889 million uplift to the GP Contract for 2025/26, with GPs now receiving a growing share of National Health Service resources. For the first time in four years, the General Practitioners Committee England backed the new contract, which includes key reforms to improve access, for instance by making sure patients can request appointments online throughout core hours.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the average cost to a school of providing a meal to a child eligible for Universal Infant Free School Meals. \p Stephen Morgan: All pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England’s state-funded schools are entitled to universal infant free school meals. The department spends approximately £600 million per year ensuring that around 1.3 million infant pupils receive a nutritious lunchtime meal.

Funding is not ring-fenced, meaning that schools have autonomy over delivery, including entering into contracts with suppliers and allocation of funding within their budgets. The department continues to work closely with the school food industry to monitor sector challenges.

As with all government programmes, including universal infant free school meals, we will keep our approach under continued review.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is available for secondary schools facing financial pressures that require (a) new facilities and (b) building repairs. \p Stephen Morgan: This government is committed to ensuring that secondary and other schools have the resources and buildings that they need to help every child achieve and thrive.

The department supports academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies, who are responsible for managing the safety and maintenance of their schools, with capital funding, rebuilding programmes and extensive guidance on effective estate management.

The department has recently confirmed the details of £2.1 billion of capital funding for the 2025/26 financial year to improve the condition of the school estate, up from £1.8 billion committed for the 2024/25 financial year. Provisional allocations for all eligible responsible bodies have been published on GOV.UK and the outcomes for the bid-based Condition Improvement Fund will be announced later in the spring.

This is on top of the continuing school rebuilding programme (SRP) which is rebuilding or significantly refurbishing buildings at 518 schools and sixth form colleges across England. There are five SRP schools in South Basildon and East Thurrock, including St Clere’s Secondary School. By tackling schools in the worst condition, the programme will dramatically reduce the funding these schools require annually, enabling the sector to invest more of their capital funding in other schools.

Where the department is alerted to significant safety issues with a building, that cannot be managed within local resources, we provide additional advice and support on a case-by-case basis.

Capital funding to improve school buildings beyond the 2025/26 financial year will be confirmed following the next phase of the spending review.

The department also provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support local authorities meet their statutory duty to secure sufficient school places. On 27 March, the department announced over £1 billion to support local authorities to create mainstream school places needed by September 2028. This funding, £640 million of which will be paid in the 2026/27 financial year, with a further £400 million paid in the 2027/28 financial year, is on top of almost £1.5 billion of basic need capital funding that has previously been announced to create new mainstream school places needed in the current and next two academic years.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. 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.
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Ian Byrne:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of ventilation in schools in reducing the spread of airborne infections. \p Stephen Morgan: The department publishes non-statutory guidance on ventilation in ‘Building Bulletin 101: Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools’, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings.   This guidance is consistent with the expert advice given by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic on ventilation requirements to reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and by extension other airborne infections. The department supports and works with academics to understand the research relating to the impact of air quality on school users.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the quality of (a) buildings and (b) facilities in state secondary schools in England. \p Stephen Morgan: Ensuring schools and colleges have the facilities and buildings they need is a key part of the department’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life.

The department supports local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided school bodies responsible for the school estate by providing capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes and offering guidance and support. We have increased funding to improve the condition of the estate for the 2025/26 financial year to £2.1 billion, up from £1.8 billion last year. This is in addition to our continued investment in the school rebuilding programme.

From 2021 to 2026, the department’s Condition Data Collection 2 programme is visiting every government-funded school and college in England to collect data about the condition of their buildings. This data will provide a comprehensive picture of the condition of the school estate in England to support our capital funding programmes.

In addition, the department has commissioned new research, due to complete by spring 2026, to better understand the performance of post-war education buildings.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the number of nurseries that have withdrawn from the childcare funding scheme citing cost pressures on early years provision. \p Stephen Morgan: It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.

Local authorities are required by legislation to provide sufficient childcare places for children in their local area who require childcare. This includes children with special educational needs and disabilities and children in rural areas. Local authorities are also required to report annually to councillors on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare and to make this report available and accessible to parents.

The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. At present, no local authorities are reporting they are unable to meet their sufficiency duty.

In the 2025/26 financial year alone, this government plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. The department has also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, raising it to the equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.

On top of this, the department is providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector in providing the additional places and workforce needed by September 2025.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) financial incentives and (b) grants are available to encourage schools to utilise solar energy. \p Stephen Morgan: The department recently announced, in partnership with GB Energy, an £80 million (£40 million from the department and £40 million from GB Energy) initiative to install solar and other technologies such as electric vehicle chargers in 200 schools and colleges, prioritising those in areas of deprivation, to start in 2025/26.

This is one element of our strategy to ensure that the school estate is sustainable. We are providing support for all schools and colleges to start on their journey towards net zero via our new online sustainability support for education platform and our climate ambassador programme. Where schools are considering the purchase of solar panels or other sustainable systems, our ‘Get help for buying’ service provides support to ensure that schemes procured are of high-quality and value to the sector. More information can be found here: https://gethelpbuyingforschools.campaign.gov.uk/.

Details of other government funding available to public bodies for sustainability, can be found at this website, prepared by the Crown Commercial Service: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/social-value/carbon-net-zero/funding-and-grants.

Capital funding allocated to the school sector each year can also be used for projects that improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of school buildings, as well as improving the condition of the estate to keep schools safe and operational. Decisions on which projects to prioritise can be primarily taken at a local level.

The department has allocated £2.1 billion in condition funding for the 2025/26 financial year, which is £300 million more than the previous year.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider mandating that all new school buildings incorporate solar panels as standard. \p Stephen Morgan: In November 2021, the department launched a new set of construction standards addressing sustainability, energy and climate change. These revised standards mandate that all new department funded school buildings include roof mounted photovoltaic panels.

The department’s full specification can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/school-design-and-construction#output-specification.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools fulfil their legal obligations under school food standards to provide free milk for students with their free school (a) breakfast and (b) meal. \p Stephen Morgan: Under the School Food Standards, schools must ensure milk is available to all pupils who want it during school hours, which includes any time during a school session or a break between sessions. Section 512ZB (3) of the Education Act 1996 sets out the requirement that milk must be provided free of charge to pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM). The department does not hold data on the number of children who are not receiving their free milk entitlement through FSM.

Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for maintained schools, academies and free schools.  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. The department is keeping our approach to school food compliance under review.
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Harpreet Uppal:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support children with (a) SEND and (b) mental health needs to return to school after a period of absence. \p Stephen Morgan: ​​School absence is one of the biggest barriers to success for children and young people. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, limiting their opportunity to succeed.

The department recognises that some pupils, such as pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or mental health problems, may face additional challenges to attendance. We expect schools to have the same attendance ambitions for these pupils as they do for all pupils, and to put support in place where required to facilitate their attendance.

To support children and young people to attend school, the department has introduced statutory guidance which sets clear expectations for schools, trusts and local authorities. The guidance is clear that schools and local authorities should take a sensitive, ‘support-first’ approach to enabling attendance, working with the child and their family to remove any barriers to attendance. For pupils with SEND or mental health needs this may include:

After a period of absence, schools may also consider phased returns if needed, as well as offering support to catch up on missed learning.

This government is also committed to providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. As of April 2024, NHS-funded Mental Health Support Teams covered 44% of pupils and learners in schools and further education in England and are expected to cover at least 50% by April 2025.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school buildings will be (a) sold, (b) refurbished and (c) demolished between 2025 and 2030. \p Stephen Morgan: The department supports responsible bodies, such as local authorities and charitable trusts, that own and manage the school estate, with capital funding, building programmes and extensive guidance. The department does not generally hold data on planned sales, refurbishment or demolition of primary and secondary school buildings by these bodies.
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Mark Pritchard:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure all schools have (a) lock down plans which all teaching staff are taught, (b) direct feed panic alarms to local police stations, (c) security bollards at the main entrances and exits and (d) two door interlocking systems. \p Stephen Morgan: This government is committed to ensuring that children, young people and adult learners are safe from terrorist incidents and attacks. This is why the department publishes comprehensive guidance alongside a range of high-quality resources to support education settings in their protective security, and their preparedness and response to incidents and attacks.

The ‘Protective Security and Preparedness for education settings’ guidance, developed in collaboration with the National Counter-Terrorism Security Office, offers a comprehensive approach to enhancing safety and preparedness, ensuring that educational settings can provide a secure and supportive environment for learning. This includes planning for a number of different response options such as lockdown, evacuation and invacuation, communicating during an incident, having plans in place to respond effectively to different types of incidents and testing out those plans.
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Sonia Kumar:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) keeping records of all incidents in nurseries and (b) making these statistics publicly available. \p Stephen Morgan: This government’s priority is to grow high-quality, affordable and flexible education and care for children, whilst ensuring their safety, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

The department is responsible for setting the standards which early years settings such as nurseries must follow, these are set out in the early years foundation stage statutory framework. The department has responsibility for policy on inspection and registration, but how it is implemented is for Ofsted to decide, and to be held to account by Parliament.

Given the sensitivity and quality of the information around incidents, Ofsted does not publish incident data as routine statistics. However, their annual report and accounts include some national level data on notifications that may relate to incidents. This document can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e575d987cebda7c4ca4cde/31795_Ofsted_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2023-24_-_Accessible.pdf.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support nurseries with the cost of providing the expanded funded childcare hours. \p Stephen Morgan: It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high-quality early years provision going forward.

That is why, despite tough decisions to get public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest, supporting early education and childcare providers with the costs they face. In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We have also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.

In addition, the department is providing £75 million for the early years expansion grant to support the sector as it prepares to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require. We are also providing £25 million of funding to support public sector employers with increased National Insurance contributions through the early years National Insurance Contributions grant.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled No child left behind in plans to narrow the digital divide in education, published on 21 March 2025, whether schools in areas without full fibre broadband will receive funding. \p Stephen Morgan: The government is investing £45 million to boost school infrastructure, including £20 million to upgrade fibre connections to a further 343 schools this year in areas without full fibre broadband, helping get schools online and boosting standards where it is most needed. This is the latest phase of funding for the programme that has so far improved connectivity for more than 1,000 schools.

The department is going further, having launched a consultation to gather views on a long-term ambition for all schools and colleges to meet six core digital standards by 2030, which cover the foundations of good tech ensuring essential technology infrastructure and connectivity, digital security and leadership.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of (a) the average class size in secondary schools and (b) the number of secondary school places available to young people in (i) England and (ii) Essex. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department publishes information on class sizes in England in the annual accredited official statistics, ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’. The most recent data can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2023-24.

The average class sizes for secondary schools in the Essex region and across England for the 2023/24 academic year are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aada0205-1f9a-48fc-a8c1-08dd736ca4ba.

Data on state-funded school places is published at national and local authority level in the annual school capacity statistics publication. The latest data is for academic year 2023/24 and can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity/2023-24.

The number of school places in mainstream state secondary schools in England and Essex as of 1 May 2024, as well as how many were unfilled, can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8e1c8b2e-fc28-436c-9b02-08dd7377d1ad.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department takes to calculate compliance costs education-related regulations. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department assesses education-related regulation compliance costs for businesses and households as per the Better Regulation Framework, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-regulation-framework.

This typically involves a proportionate assessment of the costs following the steps outlined in the framework:

These RIAs are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) as required and published alongside legislation when laid before Parliament.

The RPC also publishes opinions of the department’s RIAs, all of which in the past ten years have been Green-rated as fit-for-purpose. These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/rpc-opinions-for-department-for-education.

Compliance costs of regulations to public sector services such as local authorities, schools and children’s services are estimated in a similar way. This can involve consultation with impacted stakeholders, analysis of expected administration and adaptation costs, evidence from similar regulations and modelling of potential impacts as appropriate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_131

Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a cap on the proportion of academy trust budgets that can be spent on senior leadership salaries. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department sets out its expectations on pay for academies and academy trusts in the Academy Trust Handbook (ATH), which is published on GOV.UK, and available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a3909aab418ab055592dda/Academy_trust_handbook_2024_FINAL.pdf.

The ATH requires that:

In addition, the department’s ‘Setting executive salaries’ guidance outlines the key contextual factors that trusts should be considering when setting or reviewing executive salaries. This guidance is published on GOV.UK and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-executive-salaries-guidance-for-academy-trusts/setting-executive-salaries-guidance-for-academy-trusts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_132

Andrew Ranger:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to improve access to opportunity in disadvantaged areas to promote social mobility for students from low-income backgrounds. \p Catherine McKinnell: For too many children and young people in Britain, their background, where they come from or their parents' income limits the life they are able to build. The government’s Opportunity Mission aims to break this link between a child’s background and their future success.

To achieve the department’s overall mission objective of closing the opportunity gap, we have set a milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn.

As the Plan for Change set out, the department will measure our progress through 75% of 5-year-olds reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage assessment. We are already making good progress to deliver this first milestone, we have announced the largest ever uplift to the Early Years Pupil Premium, confirmed the first wave of 300 school-based nurseries and are on track to deliver the final increase in childcare entitlement from September. This first milestone is only the beginning of our ambition for children and young people.

The department’s first step for the Opportunity Mission is recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and our colleges over the course of this Parliament. The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for children, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The department has already made good early progress towards this key pledge, including providing a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools, announcing a £233 million initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle, and confirming targeted retention incentives for shortage subjects worth up to £6,000 after tax.

More widely the department has already shown commitment to supporting the most disadvantaged by confirming over £3 billion will be provided to state-funded schools in England through the pupil premium in the 2025/26 financial year, an increase of almost 5% from 2024/25, to help disadvantaged pupils achieve and thrive in education and remove the barriers to learning that hold too many children back.
wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_133
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_133

Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the availability of (a) in-school breakfast and (b) after school clubs on (i) workforce participation and (ii) average hours of work. \p Stephen Morgan: The evidence on the benefits of wraparound childcare to help parents work, and work more, is clear. Research shows 43% of non-working mothers report they would prefer to work if they could arrange good-quality, convenient, reliable and affordable childcare, and 54% of parents say they have problems finding formal childcare for their child that is flexible enough to fit their needs. As of February 2024, 76% of parents reported that the main reason that they used wraparound childcare was so that they or others in their household could go to or seek work. Parents who use a breakfast club report that its availability enables them to go to work.

This is why, through the free breakfast clubs programme and the wraparound childcare programme, the department is creating more before and after school childcare places.

We have procured an independent evaluator to conduct a robust evaluation of the wraparound programme, reporting in 2027. The evaluation seeks to understand the impact that expanded wraparound provision has had on the parental labour market participation and parental attitudes towards labour market participation and childcare use.

The breakfast club early adopters scheme will provide a test and learn phase, allowing the department to develop robust evidence of the impact of the programme and implement lessons learned ahead of national rollout, to maximise the positive impact on families.
wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_134
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_134

Daisy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including postgraduate students in receipt of (a) stipends and (b) bursaries in the eligibility criteria for free childcare. \p Stephen Morgan: It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

To be eligible for the working parent entitlement, both parents, including if they are a student, will need to earn between the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage, which is equivalent to £195 per week or £10,140 per year in 2024/2025, and £100,000 adjusted net income per year.

A student receiving a bursary does not count as qualified paid work, so this cannot be used towards the working parent entitlement. Students may only be considered eligible for the working parent entitlement if they work and meet the income requirements in addition to studying.

Students are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education, which is available to all three- and four-year-olds regardless of family circumstances. This is available the term after the child turns three.

There is a range of support for students in further or higher education. If they meet the eligibility criteria, students can apply for the Childcare Grant and Parental learning allowance. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/childcare-grant and https://www.gov.uk/parents-learning-allowance.

Additionally, working parents on Universal Credit may be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs through Universal Credit Childcare, which can be used in addition to the early education entitlements to support with the costs of childcare. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/universal-credit.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has been clear in her commitment to early years. Despite tough decisions to get our public finances back on track, this government has increased investment in the early years sector to drive forward progress towards our Plan for Change target of a record number of children starting school ready to learn.

Later this year, the department will launch a new strategy to revitalise early years education, rooted in creating positive early childhood experiences for children.
wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_135
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_135

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how schools in Bedfordshire can apply to the Great British Energy Solar project. \p Stephen Morgan: The department and Great British Energy have launched an £80 million partnership to provide rooftop solar panels across 200 schools and colleges.

This investment will cut school energy bills, support our transition to clean energy and create new opportunities for students.

The project demonstrates our commitment to making Britain a clean energy superpower while supporting educational excellence.

With 200 projects in this first year of the programme, the department is not proposing a bidding round to select schools and colleges. Each of the nine government office regions in England will have a minimum of ten schools and there will be larger clusters of schools in the North West, North East and West Midlands in areas of deprivation.

Each cluster will include a further education college, which will also work with the contractors appointed to promote careers in renewables and construction to students and support growth in the workforce.

Once the delivery partners are appointed, they will work through a long list, the department has devised, of possible schools based on criteria including deprivation, roof condition and location to produce the final list of projects. The delivery partners will visit the schools and colleges and survey the site before final decisions are made on which to include.

The programme has been designed so that it could be scaled up in the future. Any funding for future years, however, will be decided as part of the multi-year spending review.
wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_136
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_136

Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of requiring academy trusts to publish full budgets. \p Catherine McKinnell: All academy trusts must publish an annual report and accounts, which are audited by a registered statutory auditor. As part of their annual reports and accounts, academy trusts must also publish details of their objectives, achievements and future plans, including what they have done to promote value for money in support of these projects.

In addition, financial information on individual schools, including a breakdown of their income and expenditure, is available on GOV.UK through the Schools Financial Benchmarking and Insight Tool, at: https://financial-benchmarking-and-insights-tool.education.gov.uk/.
wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_137
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_137

Alex Mayer:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of exam marking for public qualifications. \p Catherine McKinnell: The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is the independent regulator of qualifications, exams and assessments in England. Ofqual is responsible for ensuring that regulated qualifications reliably indicate the knowledge, skills and understanding students have demonstrated in their exams and assessments, including through marking and standard setting. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member directly, and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.