Written questions by Nichols.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of school uniform requirements on pupil wellbeing during periods of extreme heat; and if she will update guidance to schools on relaxing un

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of current school building standards in protecting pupils and staff from extreme heat, and what steps her Department is taking to improve school infrastructure to en

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) availability and (b) consistency of guidance offered to parents of children with communication difficulties.

As part of our new investment, schools will be able to access support, advice, training and specialist expertise from professionals such as speech and language therapists, educational psychologists, occupational therapists and specialist teachers. These experts will work directly with school staff to equip them with the skills and strategies to better meet need, including delivering group‑level interventions to address needs early and effectively.We will also set out guidance on inclusive, evidence-based ordinarily available provision through the National Inclusion Standards, to support all mainstream settings to meet the needs of all children and young people effectively. Schools will be required to produce an Inclusion Strategy, encouraging effective cohort-level planning for common and predictable needs and the meaningful implementation of inclusive education.We also continue to involve and engage with families and special educational needs and disabilities stakeholders through our Participation and Family Support programme.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of adding Ukrainian language GCSE to the curriculum.

Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations, AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC, rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Ukrainian GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign languages set by the department. We have written to these organisations to ask them to consider introducing a Ukrainian GCSE.The British government stands steadfast behind the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government. The department is proud to support children and families from Ukraine during their transition to a new life in the UK. To do our part to support the Ukrainian people, we are supporting the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science in policy development and this year have launched a UK-Ukraine Schools Partnership programme, twinning 100 schools in the UK and Ukraine.

If she will review the statutory walking distance for free school transport.

The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport.Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for children of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there due to the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. There are extended rights to free travel for children from low-income families, intended to help them exercise school choice.The government is committed to creating opportunities for all children so that they can achieve and thrive and is working with department officials to understand how well home-to-school travel supports children to access educational opportunity.

Whether she plans to add pharmacy to the list of degree courses that will be funded if an applicant already has a degree.

Under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, additional entitlement may be available for priority subjects or longer courses in addition to an individual’s core 4-year entitlement. Details of these additional entitlements will be announced in due course.

What recent progress her Department has made on the implementation of a GCSE in British Sign Language.

The new British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE is a key feature of our commitment to enhancing the status of BSL in education and society.The department published subject content for the BSL GCSE in December 2023.As is the usual process for introducing a qualification, the independent qualifications regulator, Ofqual, is currently running a public consultation on its proposed assessment arrangements and expects to confirm its decision on the qualification rules in autumn 2025. At this point, any exam board that chooses to offer the GCSE will be able to start developing specifications.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the adoption and special guardianship support fund permanent.

I refer my hon. Friend, the member for Warrington North, to my written statement of 22 April 2025, which is available here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-04-22/hcws589.

If she will meet with (a) Adoption UK and (b) other representative organisations to discuss the adoption and special guardianship support fund.

In my role as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, I have recently met with Adoption UK and other representative organisations to discuss the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) and other issues during the adoption sector roundtable on 21 May 2025.I also met with adopters at the Adoption Reference Group meeting on 6 May 2025, which again discussed the ASGSF, as well as other adoption support issues.The department is intending further engagement with sector bodies on the approach to managing the ASGSF in future years.

What steps her Department plans to take to ensure wraparound childcare is sufficiently funded in areas with high SEND staffing requirements.

The department knows that parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) need childcare provision that meets their and their children’s needs. This government is determined to help these parents and has funded the national wraparound programme to support working families and improve the availability of before and after school childcare, to ensure that parents have the flexibility they need to care for their children.Wraparound programme funding includes resource for additional staffing to support inclusive provision, including for pupils with particular needs. Local authority allocations are varied to take account of regional differences in the number of pupils with SEND.The Childcare Act 2006 places a legal duty on local authorities to ensure there are enough childcare places within its locality for working parents or parents who are studying or training for employment, for children aged 0 to 14, or up to age 18 for disabled children. All local authorities should be able to demonstrate how they have discharged this duty and should include specific reference to how they are ensuring there is sufficient childcare to meet the needs of children with SEND, as per the statutory guidance. This should be available from the local authority.The wraparound programme is helping local authorities discharge this duty, by distributing funding to ensure that local areas can increase the supply of wraparound places. Local authorities across England can decide how best to use the funding to set up or expand wraparound childcare in their area to meet the needs of their local community, including children with SEND.​The government is also committed to making quick progress to deliver on our commitment to offer breakfast clubs in every primary school. Departmental officials are working closely with schools and sector experts to develop a programme that meets the needs of all children, including those with SEND.In order to test and learn about how best to support schools in implementing new free universal breakfast clubs, we have selected 750 early adopter schools to deliver from April 2025, ahead of the national roll out to all schools with primary aged children. This includes 50 special schools and alternative provision settings. These settings will receive a higher funding rate, in addition to the fixed termly payments and set up cost funding, in recognition of the need for higher staff to pupil ratios.

Whether she plans to increase funding for wraparound care.

Any future decisions on departmental spending are subject to the spending review process.

Whether teaching staff at colleges providing 16-19 education will be awarded the same pay increase as staff at (a) schools and (b) academies providing 16-19 education.

This government is committed to ensuring there is a thriving further education (FE) sector, which is vital to our missions to break down the barriers to opportunity and boost economic growth.FE colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating pay within colleges. Colleges are not bound by the national pay and conditions framework for school teachers, but are free to implement their own pay arrangements in line with their own local circumstances. FE colleges were incorporated under the terms of the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act, which gave them autonomy over the pay and contractual terms and conditions of their staff.At the Autumn Budget 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out an additional £300 million of revenue funding for FE in the 2025/26 financial year to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs. The department has recently announced that we are making approximately £50 million of that available to sixth-form colleges and FE Colleges for April to July 2025. This one-off grant will enable colleges to respond to current priorities and challenges, including workforce recruitment and retention. It is up to colleges how they use this funding to best meet priorities.This builds on our investment to extend targeted retention incentive payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. The department is also delivering funding to support those young people who do not pass mathematics and English GCSE at 16 who are predominantly studying in FE.The department will continue to offer financial incentives for those undertaking teacher training for the FE sector in priority subject areas. For the 2024/25 academic year, FE training bursaries are worth up to £30,000 each, tax free. Additionally, we are supporting industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through our ‘Taking Teaching Further’ programme.In making their recommendations for 2025/26 school teacher pay, the School Teachers' Review Body's (STRB) have been asked to consider the impact of their recommendations on the FE teaching workforce in England. This does not change how pay is set in FE, but as the FE and school workforces are closely related, it’s important that the STRB consider the totality of the workforce when they look at the evidence.

What steps she plans to take to help increase the number of students entering the civil nuclear sector.

Nuclear power production is making a crucial contribution to the UK’s Clean Energy Superpower Mission. This contribution relies on a highly skilled workforce. The government and industry are working together to increase the number of students across acade...

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including first aid training in the national curriculum.

All state-funded schools in England are required to teach first aid as part of statutory health education, which is taught as part of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). It includes basic first aid and dealing with common injuries. Pupils in s...

What steps she is taking to embed a Whole Education Approach to mental health and wellbeing in all education settings.

​​The government is committed to improving mental health outcomes for all children and young people, as this is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and learning.The department, along with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, pr...

What steps she is taking to help tackle low pay in the further education sector.

The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE). This remains the responsibility of individual colleges who are free to implement pay arrangements in line with their local needs.The government recognises the vital role that FE teach...

What steps she is taking to help ensure the specialist workforce needed for (a) babies, (b) children and (c) young people with speech, language and communication needs.

This government’s vision for children and young people with special educational needs, including those with speech, language and communication needs, is the same as it is for all children and young people. We want them to achieve well in their early years...

What steps she is taking to ensure that speech, language and communication (a) needs and (b) development are supported as early as possible including for children whose needs are identified pre-school age.

Early language skills are vital in enabling children to thrive in the early years and later life, as well as for all aspects of later attainment in school.The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements that...

Whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the specialist workforce needed for (a) babies, (b) children and (c) young people with speech, language, and communication needs.

This government’s vision for children and young people with special educational needs, including those with speech, language and communication needs, is the same as it is for all children and young people. We want them to achieve well in their early years...

If she will make an assessment of the potential (a) return on investment, (b) improved outcomes and (c) opportunities from tackling the speech, language and communication needs of (i) babies, (ii) children and

This government’s vision for children and young people with special educational needs, including those with speech, language and communication needs, is the same as it is for all children and young people. We want them to achieve well in their early years...