Written questions by Sobel.

What steps she is taking to ensure that the enrichment entitlement is received by young people in Leeds Central and Headingley constituency.

The government is committed to ensuring all young people across England can access a variety of enrichment opportunities at school and college as part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity.To support delivery of the enrichment entitlement set out in the government’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, and the 'Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ schools White Paper, we are developing a new Enrichment Framework for publication this academic year. Developed with the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and experts across education, youth, sports and the arts, the framework will set out benchmarks to help schools and colleges plan high-quality enrichment more intentionally and strategically and will include case studies and signposting to tools and resources.We recognise schools and colleges cannot do this on their own and are putting in place support for wider provision including Music Hubs, and the £22.5 million programme developed with DCMS to support the enrichment offer of up to 400 schools in disadvantaged communities.

What steps Student Loans Company is taking to ensure that borrowers repaying through PAYE are not issued incorrect repayment demands.

UK-based student loan repayments are collected by HMRC through the tax system. Employers deduct repayments for employees with a student loan when their earnings are above the relevant student loan repayment threshold. Employers will pass the collected repayments to HMRC, and HMRC pass details of the repayments to the Student Loans Company (SLC).SLC may write to a customer directly if they have been paid more student loan or grant than they are entitled to. Overpayments are due to be repaid separately from the customer’s main student loan balance, and it is right that the SLC seek repayment of such sums.If a borrower thinks they have received a letter in error, we encourage them to engage with SLC. Customer satisfaction is important to SLC, and they continue to invest in systems to provide customers with a more intuitive and comprehensively digital service. SLC welcomes feedback from customers to further improve their service.

What steps her Department is taking to support the financial sustainability of childminders in the context of the removal of the wear and tear allowance.

This department is taking a range of measures to support the financial sustainability of childminding businesses and other early years providers. From April 2026, local authorities will be required to pass at least 97% of their funding directly to providers, an increase from 96%.We are also working with local authorities and others to ensure that childminders and other early years providers can be paid monthly for the funded hours they provide, making their income more stable. From 1 November 2024, the government introduced new flexibilities to help childminders join and stay in the profession, supporting the government’s commitment to roll out expanded childcare entitlements and give children the best start in life.In addition, the expansion of the early years entitlements will benefit childminders in different ways. The national average three and four-year-old hourly funding rate of local authorities is increasing by 4.1%, the two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.3%, and the nine months to two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.4%.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of raising the minimum income threshold for student maintenance loans in line with inflation.

This government is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to attend higher education. We are future proofing our maintenance loan offer by increasing maintenance loans in line with forecast inflation every academic year from 2026/27 onwards, and making all care leavers automatically eligible for the maximum maintenance loan regardless of their income from 2026/27.We are also introducing new targeted maintenance grants from the 2028/29 academic year, which will provide disadvantaged students with up to £1,000 extra per year, on top of existing maintenance loans, increasing cash in student’s pockets, without increasing their debt.We need to ensure that student funding system is financially sustainable. Around £20.7 billion of student loans administered by the Student Loans Company were issued in the 2024/25 financial year, of which £9.1 billion of maintenance loans were issued to undergraduate students.The current system targets the highest levels of support at students with household incomes of £25,000 or less, who need it most.

Whether the period product scheme will continue within schools in the year 2025-26.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Leeds and Central Headingley to the answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 30133.

Whether the period product scheme will continue within schools in the year 2025-26.

The period products scheme is confirmed for the 2024/25 academic year. The department will make further announcements on the scheme soon.

If her Department will renew the Adoption and special guardianship support fund for 2025.

The department will shortly be finalising business planning decisions on how we will allocate the department’s budget for the next financial year. All decisions regarding the adoption and special guardianship support fund are being made as part of these discussions. An announcement will be made as soon as possible.All future funding decisions will be considered as part of the next spending review.

If her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting schools to train staff to support (a) autistic students and (b) students with pathological demand avoidance.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.All teachers are teachers of SEND, and high quality teaching is central to ensuring that pupils with SEND are given the best possible opportunity to achieve at school. Consideration of SEND underpins the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) and Early Career Framework (ECF). These frameworks were produced with the support of sector experts and have been designed to support all pupils to succeed, including those identified within the four areas of need set out in the SEND Code of Practice.All mainstream schools must have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) who must be a qualified teacher, or the headteacher, working at the school. On 1 September 2024, the government introduced a new mandatory leadership level National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for SENCOs. The NPQ will play a key role in improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high quality, evidence-based training. This is crucial given the central role SENCOs play in supporting pupils with SEND.Universal SEND Services brings together SEND-specific continuing professional development and support for the school and further education workforce. The programme aims to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those with autism. The contract offers autism awareness training and resources. Over 200,000 professionals have received autism training from an Autism Education Trust training partner since the programme launched in May 2022.

What information her Department holds on how many (a) students studying at UK universities hold British National (Overseas) visas and (b) such students are from Hong Kong.

The department does not hold data on the number of students studying at UK universities who hold British National (Overseas) (BNO) visas, including those from Hong Kong. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. This data is shared with the department and includes a wide range of information on students coming from overseas to study in UK HE providers. However, information on students’ visa status is not collected and those that are studying in the UK and holding a BNO visa cannot be identified by the department. Data from HESA shows that there were 17,905 students from Hong Kong studying at UK HE providers for the 2022/23 academic year.

What steps her Department has taken to support (a) people diagnosed with pathological demand avoidance and (b) their carers.

The department wants all children and young people to be able to receive the right support to succeed in their education and we recognise that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) often require access to additional support. All teachers are teachers of SEND, including those with pathological demand avoidance, and they should support children and young people through a needs-led approach.The SEND code of practice is clear that education settings should put in support to meet the needs of the child or young person when they are identified. A diagnosis is not required for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment or to issue an EHC plan. Where assessment of needs indicates that support from specialist services is required, it is important that children and young people receive it as quickly as possible. Agencies across EHC should work together to support children and young people.​The department also holds and funds the Universal SEND Services contract, which brings together SEND-specific continuous professional development and support for the school and further education workforce. The programme aims to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those with autism. As part of the contract, the Autism Education Trust (AET) provide a range of training and support for staff on autism. Since the contract began in May 2022, over 200,000 professionals have received training from AET training partners.The department has two contracts which allows us to talk directly to both parents and carers of children with SEND and the specialist charities who support them in order to get their input. Within these contracts, we fund a charity called Contact who are a specialist organisation that specifically supports parents, carers and the families of children with SEND. Additionally, we also fund the National Network of Parent Carer Forums who support parent and cares within their local areas.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Sixth Form Pay Award settlement to Non-Academized Sixth Form Colleges in addition to Academized Sixth Form Colleges.

The recent pay award for the 2024/25 financial year was for school teachers only. The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE).This government recognises the vital role that FE teachers and providers play in equipping learners with the opportunities and skills that they need to succeed in their education and will consider workforce sufficiency and what this might mean for FE funding in future years.The Autumn Budget 2024 set out the government’s commitment to skills, by providing an additional £300 million revenue funding for FE to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs. The department will set out in due course how this funding will be distributed.

If she will meet with representatives from the National Education Union to discuss the 2024-2025 further education pay award for teachers.

As part of this government’s commitment to working closely with stakeholders, my Ministerial colleagues and departmental officials meet regularly with representatives of all the education unions, including the National Education Union, to discuss a range of issues.Further education (FE) providers are responsible for setting the pay of their teachers and government plays no role in this process.The Autumn Budget 2024 set out the government’s commitment to skills by providing an additional £300 million revenue funding for FE to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs. The department will set out in due course how this funding will be distributed.

What the average maintenance loan received by English-domiciled students (a) studying away from home in London, (b) living at home and studying in London and (c) studying in London in total was in each of the last three financial years.

Student finance is awarded on an academic year basis, not a financial year basis, so the average amounts are provided by academic year. The mean average maintenance loan amounts presented below are for England-domiciled full-time undergraduate borrowers:a) Studying away from home in LondonAcademic YearAverage Maintenance Award (£)2021/2210,7462022/2311,0722023/2411,593 b) Living at home and studying in LondonAcademic YearAverage Maintenance Award (£)2021/225,7602022/235,7932023/245,917 c) Studying in London in totalAcademic YearAverage Maintenance Award (£)2021/229,1482022/239,4422023/249,863 To note:The location of the student (Parental Home or Elsewhere in London) in the autumn term is assumed to be their location throughout the year.Long Course Loans are excluded from these figures.