Written questions by Hack.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of inadequate winter clothing, including the absence of an adequate coat, on students.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) treating stipends for PhD students as income for the purposes of calculating benefit entitlement and (b) not treating when calculating entitlement to free childcare hours on PhD students.

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. Student parents are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education which is available to all 3 and 4-year-olds regardless of family circumstances. Students who work in addition to studying may be eligible for 30 hours free childcare if they meet the income requirements. PhD stipends are non-taxable income and therefore do not count towards the income requirements of the 30 hours childcare entitlement.Students in full time higher education are eligible for the childcare grant to support childcare costs for children under 15, or under 17 if they have special educational needs. Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/support-while-you-study.Parents eligible for Universal Credit childcare offer can be reimbursed up to 85% of registered childcare costs each month, up to the maximum amounts (caps).

What guidance her Department provides to schools on ensuring that reductions in (a) break and (b) lunch times do not disproportionately impact (i) disabled pupils and (ii) pupils with special educational needs.

The department recognises that play is critical to children’s wellbeing, learning and development. This is reflected in the early years foundation stage statutory framework, which supports early years practitioners to design a rich curriculum that includes regular opportunities for play-based learning.Governing bodies (for maintained schools) and academy trusts (for academies) are responsible for deciding when sessions should begin and end on each school day. They are also responsible for deciding the length of each lesson and the timings for the morning session, the midday break and the afternoon session. The department does not collect data on the number of breaks, including lunch time, that schools schedule into their daily and weekly timetable.Government guidance sets out the expectation that a school week is a minimum of 32.5 hours, inclusive of breaks. However, the department does not collect data on the amount of time provided.

Whether her Department collects data on the amount of (a) break and (b) lunch time provided in schools; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reduced break times on (i) disabled children and (ii) pupils with special educational needs.

The department recognises that play is critical to children’s wellbeing, learning and development. This is reflected in the early years foundation stage statutory framework, which supports early years practitioners to design a rich curriculum that includes regular opportunities for play-based learning.Governing bodies (for maintained schools) and academy trusts (for academies) are responsible for deciding when sessions should begin and end on each school day. They are also responsible for deciding the length of each lesson and the timings for the morning session, the midday break and the afternoon session. The department does not collect data on the number of breaks, including lunch time, that schools schedule into their daily and weekly timetable.Government guidance sets out the expectation that a school week is a minimum of 32.5 hours, inclusive of breaks. However, the department does not collect data on the amount of time provided.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reduced school (a) break and (b) lunch times on the (i) wellbeing and (ii) social inclusion of (A) disabled pupils and (B) pupils with special educational needs.

The department recognises that play is critical to children’s wellbeing, learning and development. This is reflected in the early years foundation stage statutory framework, which supports early years practitioners to design a rich curriculum that includes regular opportunities for play-based learning.Governing bodies (for maintained schools) and academy trusts (for academies) are responsible for deciding when sessions should begin and end on each school day. They are also responsible for deciding the length of each lesson and the timings for the morning session, the midday break and the afternoon session. The department does not collect data on the number of breaks, including lunch time, that schools schedule into their daily and weekly timetable.Government guidance sets out the expectation that a school week is a minimum of 32.5 hours, inclusive of breaks. However, the department does not collect data on the amount of time provided.

What assessment she has made of the role of play in supporting the (a) development and (b) learning of (i) children with special educational needs and disabilities and (ii) other children; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that reductions in school break times do not limit opportunities for play during the school day.

The department recognises that play is critical to children’s wellbeing, learning and development. This is reflected in the early years foundation stage statutory framework, which supports early years practitioners to design a rich curriculum that includes regular opportunities for play-based learning.Governing bodies (for maintained schools) and academy trusts (for academies) are responsible for deciding when sessions should begin and end on each school day. They are also responsible for deciding the length of each lesson and the timings for the morning session, the midday break and the afternoon session. The department does not collect data on the number of breaks, including lunch time, that schools schedule into their daily and weekly timetable.Government guidance sets out the expectation that a school week is a minimum of 32.5 hours, inclusive of breaks. However, the department does not collect data on the amount of time provided.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the quality of school lunchtime provision on the wellbeing of children.

The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever. Giving children access to a nutritious meal during the school day leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes. We are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, meaning over 500,000 additional children will receive a free and nutritious lunchtime meal.School governors and trustees have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the School Food Standards. To support governors, the department, along with the National Governance Association, launched an online training course on school food for governors and trustees.To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.

What progress she has made on rolling out defibrillators to state-funded schools in England.

The department’s defibrillator programme was the largest rollout of defibrillators across England to date. The programme provided over 20,000 defibrillators to almost 18,000 schools, ensuring that all state-funded schools in England have access to a device.The department is working with the British Heart Foundation to understand the impact the programme is having. Since our rollout, the number of school defibrillators registered on the national database, The Circuit, has risen by 252%, with 66% of all schools in England now having at least one device registered. Our evaluation shows that defibrillators we provided have been available for use and deployed in over 12,000 emergency situations, where there has been a suspected cardiac arrest.The department continues to work with the British Heart Foundation to evaluate and understand the impact of our programme and support schools in registering their defibrillators on The Circuit.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the finding on p.22 of the report by the Food Standards Agency entitled School Food Standards Compliance Pilot: Discovery Research, published in November 2023, on the awareness by schools of their responsibilities in relation to school food standards.

It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department understands the value of compliance with the school food standards. We continue to work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) following the findings of the compliance pilot run by the department and the FSA during the 2022/23 academic year.School governors and trustees have a responsibility to ensure compliance with the school food standards and should work with the headteacher and the senior leadership team to ensure the school is meeting its obligations.To support governors, in November 2024 the department, along with the National Governance Association, launched an online training course on school food for governors and trustees. This training is designed to improve understanding of the school food standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account on their whole school approach to food.Additionally, to ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance. We will consider approaches to compliance to ensure children receive the nutritious meals they need.

When the Natural History GCSE will be made available to students.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for North West Leicestershire to the answer of 21 March 2025 to Question 36968.

What steps her Department is taking to implement the recommendations of Reports to Prevent Future Deaths on (a) allergy (i) management and (ii) emergency response in schools and (b) other allergy policies.

Governing bodies must ensure that the arrangements they put in place are sufficient to meet their statutory responsibilities and that policies, plans, procedures and systems are properly and effectively implemented. This includes the duty under Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions and the duties under the Equality Act 2010.The department has included reminders to schools of these duties in its regular schools’ email bulletin. The department has also recently alerted schools to external resources from trusted allergy organisations. This includes the Schools Allergy Code, developed by The Allergy Team, Independent Schools’ Bursars Association and the Benedict Blythe Foundation, and Allergy School created by the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of index-linking all future funding with the Holiday Activities and Food Programme to ensure it (a) keeps pace with inflation and (b) continues to effectively support children experiencing holiday hunger.

The government is committed to the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme and the impact it has on children, young people and families. The department is very pleased that the overall funding for the HAF programme in 2025/26 will again be more than £200 million, with delivery across England taking place at Easter, summer and Christmas.Funding beyond March 2026 is subject to the multi-year spending review and any decisions will be made as part of the spending review taking place later this year.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of formally extending the scope of the Holiday Activities and Food Programme to include all children in households with below-average resources.

The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme supports disadvantaged children and their families with enriching activities, providing them with healthy food, helping them to learn new things, improving socialisation and benefiting their health and wellbeing during school holidays.The HAF programme, although aimed at those children in receipt of benefits related free school meals (FSM) is not exclusively for them. As set out in the HAF guidance, while the majority of funding that local authorities receive should be used for holiday club places for children in receipt of FSM, local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM, but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF provision.

If she will conduct a review of the funding model for school meals in (a) locally maintained and (b) Multi Academy Trust schools.

An uplift to the per-meal rate for universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) and further education (FE) free meals was announced on 4 December 2024. The uplifted meal rate will be increased from £2.53 to £2.58 for 2024 to 2025, backdated to the start of the academic year.To support the provision of benefits-related free school meals (FSM), the government provides funding at £490 per eligible FSM pupil per year as a factor value within the national funding formula. This value will be increasing to £495 per eligible FSM pupil in 2025/26. UIFSM and FE free meals are funded separately through a direct grant to schools and colleges. As with all government programmes, we will keep our approach, including for FSM, under continued review.

When she plans to announce the rates that will be paid to (a) locally maintained and (b) Multi Academy Trust schools for universal infant free school meals this academic year.

An uplift to the per-meal rate for universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) and further education (FE) free meals was announced on 4 December 2024. The uplifted meal rate will be increased from £2.53 to £2.58 for 2024 to 2025, backdated to the start of the academic year.To support the provision of benefits-related free school meals (FSM), the government provides funding at £490 per eligible FSM pupil per year as a factor value within the national funding formula. This value will be increasing to £495 per eligible FSM pupil in 2025/26. UIFSM and FE free meals are funded separately through a direct grant to schools and colleges. As with all government programmes, we will keep our approach, including for FSM, under continued review.

With reference to the guidance entitled School food standards: resources for schools, published on 26 March 2019, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure that this guidance is being followed in all (a) locally maintained and (b) multi-academy trust schools.

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.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.To support governors in their role around compliance, the department, along with the National Governance Association, is running a pilot online training course on school food for governors and trustees. This launched on 4 November 2024 and will run until 1 April 2025. This will help governors to improve their understanding of the standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account on their whole school approach to food. The department will evaluate the training programme’s reception and effectiveness in the short term.Additionally, the department and the Food Standards Agency, along with support from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, ran a pilot with 18 local authorities during the 2022/23 academic year to find out whether food safety officers were able to ensure the compliance of School Food Standards when carrying out routine food hygiene inspections in schools. Analysis of the final phase has now been completed, and the final report was published August 2024.We will keep our approach to the School Food Standards and our approaches to compliance under continued review.

Whether her Department plans to take further steps to ensure that Government Food Standards are adhered to in (a) locally maintained and (b) Multi Academy Trust schools.

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.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.To support governors in their role around compliance, the department, along with the National Governance Association, is running a pilot online training course on school food for governors and trustees. This launched on 4 November 2024 and will run until 1 April 2025. This will help governors to improve their understanding of the standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account on their whole school approach to food. The department will evaluate the training programme’s reception and effectiveness in the short term.Additionally, the department and the Food Standards Agency, along with support from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, ran a pilot with 18 local authorities during the 2022/23 academic year to find out whether food safety officers were able to ensure the compliance of School Food Standards when carrying out routine food hygiene inspections in schools. Analysis of the final phase has now been completed, and the final report was published August 2024.We will keep our approach to the School Food Standards and our approaches to compliance under continued review.

What steps her Department is taking to help ensure that children born prematurely are not disadvantaged in education.

The government is determined to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure the best start in life for every child, including those who are born prematurely.The early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework sets the standards and requirements that all early years providers must follow. The EYFS is clear that every child is unique and that they develop and learn at different rates. It also describes the importance of responding to children’s individual interests and needs. Being born prematurely is not classified as a special educational need or a disability, however, when a premature child does need special educational needs and disability support, schools and early years settings are encouraged to identify and support them early as possible.The investment announced at Budget to rebuild school buildings, alongside funding for children’s social care, breakfast clubs and early years, reflects the government’s commitment to putting education back at the forefront of national life.