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 will aim to deliver a curriculum that ensures young people leave compulsory education with the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to achieve and thrive throughout life. The call for evidence is drawing to a close, but the review group will be continuing with other forms of engagement for the rest of the first term of the 2024/25 academic year.The importance of a healthy diet and good nutrition is already covered through a number of subjects in the national curriculum, including design and technology (D&T), science and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE).The cooking and nutrition strand of D&T, which is compulsory for key stages 1 to 3, aims to teach children how to cook, with an emphasis on savoury dishes, 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.Similarly, in science, 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.Furthermore, within health education as a part of RSHE, it is expected that by the end of primary, pupils should know what constitutes a healthy diet, including understanding calories and other nutritional content, the characteristics of a poor diet and the risks associated with unhealthy eating. By the end of secondary, pupils should know how to maintain healthy eating and the links between a poor diet and health risks, including tooth decay and cancer.At GCSE, pupils can delve deeper into diet and nutrition by choosing to study Food Preparation and Nutrition. The subject requires pupils to understand and apply the principles of food science, nutrition and healthy eating when preparing and cooking food.The department is also providing additional support for teachers through the Oak National Academy, who have been working to give teachers and their pupils access to free, optional and adaptable high quality digital curriculum resources. They have a wide array of lesson plans for D&T that contain healthy and tasty recipes to help children to understand the significance of what they put into their bodies.

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 and beyond.The Families First for Children Pathfinder and Family Networks Pilot are testing whole-system children’s social care reform to help families overcome challenges, thrive together and keep children safe.The pathfinder and pilot are being independently evaluated and interim findings are expected in spring 2025. The evaluation will support the department's understanding of both by assessing implementation, delivery, impact and value for money.

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, including through kinship arrangements.Local authorities have the powers to provide a range of services, including financial support, to support children and families. As local authorities know their carers best, they have the power to decide what financial support should be provided to special guardianship carers and their children and any payments should be made in accordance with their model for assessing support needs. The government does not set a maximum or minimum allowance for local authorities to administer. While the government recognises the financial constraints on local authorities, guidance makes it clear that children and young people should receive the support that they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare.Financial support is paid at the discretion of the local authority and in accordance with their model for assessing support needs. All local authorities should have in place clear eligibility criteria in relation to the provision of support services.