Written questions by Strathern.

What assessment she has made of the implications for her Department’s policies of national implementation models of online parenting support in Australia.

The department recognises the importance of parenting support as being critical to a child’s development and aims to help more parents support their child’s communication, language, literacy, social and emotional skills. Parents have the biggest influence on their child’s early learning and many benefit from well-timed support and advice.Best Start Family Hubs provide both a building that is a welcoming place for families, and a network of services, including virtual and digital support. Help for families will be delivered through open-access parenting programmes via blended delivery of physical, virtual and outreach activities. It will include the Best Start Parent Hub website that brings together trusted advice and guidance parents need in one place, links families to their local Best Start Family Hub, and allows parents to check their eligibility for childcare support. The department is considering how best to implement digital parenting support as part of the national Best Start in Life offer.

What steps she will take to support children’s media and digital literacy education before 2028.

Media literacy is covered in the current citizenship, relationships, sex and health education (RSHE), and digital literacy is covered in the computing curriculum.In July the government published updated RSHE statutory guidance containing new content related to artificial intelligence (AI), online safety and pornography, which will be mandatory from September 2026. The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report was published on 5 November 2025 and includes recommendations for reform to the curriculum, which the government has accepted. Vital applied knowledge and skills in media and digital literacy will be embedded into the revised curriculum from 2028. To support schools with teaching in the meantime, Oak National Academy, an independent arm’s length body, provides adaptable, optional and free curriculum support for schools, including resources for computing and secondary citizenship, which can be found here: https://www.thenational.academy/. The ’Educate Against Hate’ website hosts a series of online media literacy resources to support teachers and school leaders to build resilience to extremist narratives online in children and young people. The website is available at: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/.The National Centre for Computing Education provides teachers with continuing professional development and resources to support the teaching of computing topics, including digital literacy and AI.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of prioritising issues of sexual consent in sexual health education.

The revised relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance was published on 15 July and sets out that secondary schools should cover the role of consent, including in romantic and sexual relationships. This includes the law about the age of consent, how to recognise, respect and communicate consent and boundaries in relationships, including in early romantic relationships in all contexts, including online. The guidance also makes the point that kindness and care for others requires more than just consent.Curriculum content also includes that there are a range of strategies for identifying, resisting and understanding pressure in relationships from peers or others, including sexual pressure, and how to avoid putting pressure on others.

Whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on enhancing (a) diet and (b) nutrition education in the school curriculum.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care have met to discuss a range of issues and projects.This department’s independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which ...

What recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the pilot of the family first for children pathfinder and family network.

This government is committed to providing timely support to children and families that need help. Evidence shows that preventing problems from escalating leads to better outcomes for children and families and reduces cost pressures for local authorities a...

Whether her Department plans to make changes to how it calculates special guardianship allowances.

The department recognises the valuable and important role that kinship carers, including special guardians, play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children. The department is committed to working with local government to support children in care, ...

How many Mental Health Support Teams there were in (a) Hitchin constituency, (b) Bedfordshire and (c) North Hertfordshire in each year since 2010.

Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) have three core functions. Firstly, to deliver evidence-based early interventions for emerging and actual mental health issues, 1 to 1 and in groups. Secondly, to support a school or college’s mental health lead to embed an effective approach to promote and support mental health and wellbeing. Thirdly, to advise school and college staff, and liaise with external specialist services, to help pupils and learners to get the right timely support and stay in education.Data specifically on how many MHSTs there are in Bedfordshire, Hitchin constituency and North Hertfordshire is not currently available.​ However, data published by NHS England shows that since 2018/19, when the first wave of MHSTs were commissioned, 11 MHSTs have been established across Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes. For the first 9 MHSTs established up to 2022/23, this equates to MHST coverage of 43% of pupils and learners and 40% of schools and colleges in these areas A link to the data can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/cyp/trailblazers/#_Mental_Health_Support and https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F6642052bf34f9b5a56adc5dd%2FTransforming_children_and_young_people_s_mental_health_implementation_programme_2024_data-tables.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK.

What steps she is taking to help increase the availability of childcare in Hitchin constituency.

Delivering high quality affordable childcare is a priority for this government. As an initial step, the department is progressing work to deliver new places in 3,000 nurseries through upgrading space in primary schools. This will help increase the number of places available to parents, whilst also driving high and rising standards and better opportunities for every child. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing, including supporting them through the childcare delivery support contract where appropriate.

What steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teachers in (i) Hitchin constituency and (ii) East of England.

High-quality teaching is the factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s education. There are now 468,693 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, but the department must do more to recruit additional teachers, especially in shortage subjects in secondary. This is why the government has set out the ambition to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers. Numbers of teachers in Hitchin and East of England have increased slightly in the last year with 1,102 teachers in Hitchin and Harpenden in 2023/24 (up from 1,087 in 2022/23), and 52,995 teachers in East of England (up from 52,308 in 2022/23). The department is doing more to attract teachers in these areas. Financial incentives are one of the most effective ways to increase teacher supply, and the department is continuing to support teacher trainees with bursaries in shortage subjects, and with retention payments for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers, who chose to work in disadvantaged schools. In 2023/24, 286 schools in the East of England were eligible for these payments. To further help retention to ensure teachers stay and thrive in the profession, the department is also addressing teacher workload and wellbeing, and supporting schools to introduce flexible working practices. For example, Thomas Gainsborough School of Unity Schools Partnership, as one of the Flexible Working Ambassador Schools, is helping schools across the East of England to introduce flexible working practices. In addition, Chiltern Teaching School Hub in Hitchin, and the 10 Teaching School Hubs across the East of England, are centres of excellence, supporting teacher training and development.

What steps she plans to take to support (a) Central Bedfordshire Council (b) North Hertfordshire Council with SEND provision.

This government is committed to providing the necessary support to improve the experiences for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and alternative provision settings, as well as to ensure special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. Ofsted inspected local arrangements for children with SEND in Central Bedfordshire in November 2019 and found six areas of significant weakness. The local area was required to produce a written statement of action, which was approved by Ofsted in September 2020. A follow up revisit in July 2022 found the local area had made sufficient progress in three of the six areas of significant weakness. The department monitors progress against Central Bedfordshire’s improvement plan and provides support and challenge, including from a SEND expert advisor. Ofsted inspected local arrangements for children with SEND in Hertfordshire in July 2023. Its report, published in November 2023, concluded that there are widespread and/or systemic failings, leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND, which the local area partnership must address urgently. Hertfordshire local area partnership has established a SEND improvement board which is independently chaired by Dame Christine Lenehan to oversee progress and provide appropriate challenge. The department monitors progress against Hertfordshire’s improvement plan and priority action plan and provides support and challenge, including from a SEND expert advisor.