Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a levy on higher education provider income from international students.

The immigration white paper sets out a series of measures that will achieve a reduction in net migration, while maintaining the UK’s globally competitive offer to international students and making a significant contribution to growth by boosting our skills base.This includes the commitment to explore the introduction of a levy on higher education provider income from international students, with proceeds to be reinvested in the domestic higher education and skills system. We will set out more details around the levy in due course.

How she plans to use Immigration Skills Charge funding to (a) support skills funding for priority sectors and (b) upskill the domestic workforce.

As set out in the Immigration White Paper, the government will increase the Immigration Skills Charge for the first time since its introduction, by 32% to bring the Immigration Skills Charge rates in line with inflation. Further details on how skills funding in future years will be allocated will be set out in due course, following the Spending Review on 11 June 2025.

What progress she has made on providing 3,000 (a) new and (b) expanded school-based nurseries.

In April 2025, the government announced the approval of 300 new school-based nurseries in the first round of funding. This initiative will create up to 6,000 new nursery places.The department is now working closely with the sector to design the next phase of the programme, to roll out more new and expanded school-based nurseries.

How many of the 3,000 (a) new and (b) expanded school-based nurseries will be in Huntingdon constituency.

No schools in the Huntingdon constituency were awarded school-based nurseries capital funding in the first phase.In the Spending Review 2025, we announced almost £370 million of further funding to create tens of thousands of places in new and expanded school-based nurseries to help ensure more children can access the high-quality early education they deserve and get the best start in life.This is a significant investment and the department will shortly be sharing next steps, where we will encourage schools, working with their local authority, to consider the opportunity to get involved in the programme.

What criteria her Department will use to determine the location of the 3,000 (a) new and (b) expanded school-based nurseries.

Phase one of the School-Based Nurseries Capital Grant 2024/25 was open to all state-funded primary-phase schools across England.The criteria used to determine the location of the new and expanded school-based nurseries included local demand for nursery places, availability of surplus space, delivery of high-quality early education and support for the most disadvantaged children, including those with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).The department will learn from this initial phase and continue collaborating closely with the sector to aid our planning of future phases.​

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2025 to Question 52032 on Special Educational Needs: Finance, what information her Department holds on the amount of additional funding per pupil above £6,000 that was provided by Cambridgeshire County Council for pupils in mainstream schools in each of the last five years.

The average additional high needs top-up funding amounts per pupil, covering the costs of pupils with special educational needs in Cambridgeshire mainstream maintained schools and academies, in excess of £6,000 per annum, are set out in the table below. This is from the latest available annual actual expenditure returns provided to the department by Cambridgeshire County Council, and the school census data. In this period, the number of children attracting top-up funding has grown from 1,600 to 2,900. As a result, it is likely that the severity of needs being addressed has changed over the period.Average top-up funding expenditure per pupil in Cambridgeshire mainstream schoolsFinancial year 2019/20Financial year 2020/21Financial year 2021/22Financial year 2022/23Financial year 2023/24Spend per pupil identified by schools as attracting high needs top-up funding£10,300£8,700£8,900£8,900£9,100 To note:The expenditure is rounded to the nearest £100, and is an average of the separate amounts relating to primary and secondary schools.The expenditure data for each year is taken from the returns provided by local authorities under section 251 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20th May 2025 Question 51559 on Special Educational Needs: Cambridgeshire and with reference to the Permanent data table entitled Initial requests, assessments, discontinued plans, 20 week timeliness, mainstream to special transfers, mediation and tribunals, published on 13 May 2025, if she will publish the data for the number of (a) initial requests for an EHC plan, (b) initial requests for assessment - decision to assess and (c) children and young people assessed for whom an EHC plan was issued in (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025 to date.

Publication of annual statistics on education, health and care plans follows the Code of Practice for Statistics. Details of publications, including those requested, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=department-for-education&order=updated-newest. Information for the 2025 calendar year will be collected early in 2026 and published later that year.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the time taken for education, health and care plans on children not in school (a) nationally and (b) in Cambridgeshire.

All pupils of compulsory school age are entitled to a full-time education. For those who would not get this at school because of illness, exclusion or other reasons, local authorities must arrange suitable alternative education.Where a child may require an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, the department wants to ensure that these are progressed and, if an EHC plan is needed, it is issued promptly so that the child can access the support they need. EHC plans must be issued within 20 weeks of the needs assessment commencing.The department works with local authorities that have issues with EHC plan timeliness, helping them to identify barriers and put in place an effective recovery plan, including securing specialist special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) adviser support where needed.The department does not collect data specifically regarding the time taken by local authorities to issue an EHC plan for children who are not in school.Data shows that in 2023, 64.9% of plans in Cambridgeshire were issued within 20 weeks and 2.6% of all new plans in Cambridgeshire were issued for children and young people who were ‘educated elsewhere’. This includes those who were not in school at the time.Nationally, 50.3% of plans were issued within 20 weeks and 3.1% of all new EHC plans were issued for children and young people who were ‘educated elsewhere’ in 2023.Data for 2024 will be published in June.

How many children have been granted (a) 25%, (b) 50%, (c) 75% and (d) 100% Special Educational Needs Inclusion Funding in each constituency in Cambridgeshire in each of the last five academic years.

All local authorities are required to have a Special Educational Need Inclusion Fund (SENIF) for all eligible children for the entitlements and who have special educational needs.Local authorities should establish their SENIFs using funding from the early years block and/or the high needs block of their Dedicated Schools Grant, considering pressures on high needs and early years budgets locally.The department gives local authorities the autonomy to set SENIF budgets and to decide on eligibility criteria locally, as they are best placed to meet local need.

How the value of funding for each child with an education, health and care plan is calculated.

An education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment ensures that a child or young person’s needs are assessed in a joined-up way across education, health and social care services.The assessment process must identify if the child or young person has any special educational needs, together with any relevant health or social care needs. If the local authority then decides to issue an EHC plan, it must set long term outcomes for the child or young person and specify provision which will deliver those outcomes. The local authority is then statutorily required to secure the special educational provision specified in the EHC plan.Local authorities provide additional funding to mainstream schools when the costs of the specified special provision exceed £6,000 per pupil per annum, and also fund children and young people with EHC plans in special schools and other settings. Local authorities have a degree of discretion as to how their high needs budget is allocated to those schools and other settings for those with EHC plans, and use different methods to calculate the allocations.

How is the value of funding from the SEN Inclusion Fund for each child calculated.

All local authorities are required to have a special educational need inclusion fund (SENIF) for all eligible children for the entitlements and who have special educational needs (SEN).Local authorities should establish their SENIFs using funding from the early years block and/or the high needs block of their dedicated schools grant, considering pressures on high needs and early years budgets locally.The department gives local authorities the autonomy to set SENIF budgets and decide on eligibility criteria locally, as they are best placed to meet local need.

How many times Cambridgeshire County Council exceeded the statutory 20 week timeframe to provide a final EHCP in each of the last five academic years.

The number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans for each Cambridgeshire local authority, issued within the statutory timeframe of 20 weeks from the date of the request for EHC needs assessment and for each of the last 5 years, is accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/55f72795-1ec2-487f-1f6a-08dd8e2f6934.

How many children have applied for SENIF funding in Cambridgeshire in each of the last five academic years, broken down by constituency.

All local authorities are required to have a special educational need inclusion fund (SENIF) for all eligible children for the entitlements and who have special educational needs (SEN).Local authorities should establish their SENIFs using funding from the early years block and/or the high needs block of their dedicated schools grant, considering pressures on high needs and early years budgets locally.The department gives local authorities the autonomy to set SENIF budgets and decide on eligibility criteria locally, as they are best placed to meet local need.

How many children have (a) applied for and (b) had approved an Education, Health and Care Plan by Cambridgeshire County Council in each of the last five academic years.

The number of requests for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment, the number of assessments carried out and the number where an EHC plan has been issued are published for Cambridgeshire local authority, for each of the last five years (where available), in the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1a9ce774-d804-47af-1f6e-08dd8e2f6934.Information on the number of requests where it was decided to carry out an EHC needs assessment was collected for the first time for the 2022 calendar year.

Which county councils are failing to meet the 20-week timeframe for delivery of Education, Health and Care Plans.

The number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued within the statutory timeframe of 20 weeks from the date of the request for an EHC needs assessment are published for each local authority, for the 2023 calendar year, in the following publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2024.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 46070 on Schools: Domestic Visits, how many private schools she has visited since 5 July 2025.

I refer the hon. Member for Huntingdon to the answer of 06 May 2025 to Question 46839.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of adding defence as a subject in the national curriculum.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review wants to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work. The interim report was published on 18 March and sets out the particular areas of focus for the next stage of the Review. The report can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-interim-report. This considers questions that have been raised across different subjects about the specificity, relevance, volume and diversity of content, and seeks to ensure that the national curriculum allows space for schools to support mastery of core concepts, effective transitions, and progression through each key stage. The Review’s final report with recommendations will be published in the autumn.The national curriculum currently provides a broad framework which gives schools flexibility to organise the content and delivery of the curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils. Defence is not included as a subject in the national curriculum, as subjects are based around broad disciplines such as geography and history. However, schools can choose to teach about defence, for example, within secondary citizenship content covering democracy, the rule of law, the roles played by public institutions in society and the United Kingdom’s relations with the wider world.As the Review said in its interim report that the current shape of the curriculum at key stages 1-4 provides students with good exposure to a wide range of subjects, and that they intend to recommend retaining the current curriculum architecture, we therefore expect that defence will not be added as a subject but that schools and teachers will continue to have the flexibility to adapt the curriculum to best meet the needs of their pupils.

How many child asylum seekers have entered the education system since 5 July 2024.

Information about the nationality, country of birth or immigration status of children in schools in England is not collected by the department. Therefore, we are unable to provide the information requested.

How many state schools she has visited since 5 July 2024.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education prioritises visits to our state schools, which serve 93% of pupils in England. The Secretary of State for Education has visited 18 state schools from 5 July 2024 to 22 April 2025. This does not include visits taken in a political capacity or constituency visits, which are not organised by the department. This number also excludes visits to other educational settings, such as colleges, nurseries and universities.

Whether she has visited any private schools since 5 July 2024.

I refer the hon. Member for Huntingdon to the answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 46839.