Written questions by Hinds.

What assessment has she made of the potential merits of writing by hand in learning to write lessons.

The department supports the development of strong writing skills at each stage of children’s education and development.In the early years foundation stage (EYFS), it is important for children to develop their fine motor skills in order to write and allow children to communicate effectively. The level of development children should be expected to have reached by the end of the EYFS is defined by the early learning goals (ELGs). As per the ‘fine motor skills’ ELG , for a child to reach the expected level of development at the end of the EYFS, they must be able to ‘hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing - using the tripod grip in almost all cases‘. The writing ELG states that children at the expected level of development will ‘write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed’ and ‘write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others’.As part of the current national curriculum, pupils must learn how to form letters correctly and confidently, choose the writing implement that is best suited for a task and receive frequent, discrete and direct teaching. No one particular handwriting style is recommended and schools are free to decide themselves how they teach handwriting. Eventually, pupils are expected to write fluently, legibly and quickly. During key stage 2, joined handwriting should be the norm, with pupils using the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters and understanding which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left not joined.High and rising school standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best life chances. The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review which will seek to deliver, amongst other things, an excellent foundation in core subjects of reading, writing and mathematics. The review group will publish an interim report early in 2025 setting out their interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work. The final review with recommendations will be published in autumn 2025. In the meantime, the department is continuing to consider any further steps that should be taken to best support the teaching of writing in schools.

How many mental health professionals the previous Government planned to be placed in schools in each of the next three academic years; and how many he plans to place in schools in the same period.

Nationally, there are, on average, 8,400 pupils or learners and 17 schools or colleges per mental health support team (MHST), up to and including waves seven and eight. There are 109 MHSTs that will become part of the programme in waves nine and 10, with education mental health practitioners who started training from autumn 2023 due to become operational in 2024/25. Assuming the average number of schools or colleges and pupils or learners per MHST remains constant, we estimate that, including waves nine and 10, coverage would increase to 54% of pupils or learners, and 42% of schools or colleges, by the end of 2024/25, specifically by March 2025.

If she will make an estimate of the total revenue to the public purse from increases in employer National Insurance Contributions for (a) GP practices, (b) dental practices, (c) hospices, (d) pharmacies and (e) other organisations contracted to the NHS.

The latest forecasts for tax revenues were published alongside the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) October Economic and Fiscal Outlook. These forecasts are based on economic determinants, including wage growth and employment levels. The OBR do not forecast NICs receipts at a sector level. Detailed tax receipts forecasts can be found here: Economic and fiscal outlook – October 2024 - Office for Budget Responsibility.

If she will make a comparative assessment of the potential impact of (a) employment and (b) wage-level effects resulting from increases to employer National Insurance Contributions on (i) women and (ii) men.

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook expects that the Employer National Insurance Contributions package will lead to a reduction in the participation rate of 0.1 per cent from 2025-26 onwards. Overall, once the impact of all budget measures are taken into consideration, the OBR expect the employment level to increase from 33.1 million in 2024 to 34.3 million in 2029. Employers have a choice about how they respond to the NICs increase. The Government recognises that employers may respond by increasing employees’ wages more slowly than they would have otherwise, alongside absorbing pressures through prices, efficiencies or lower profits. The Government is protecting the lowest paid by increasing the National Living Wage. This limits the ability of employers to pass on increases in costs to those on lower pay. The Government has also introduced important protections for workers as part of the Plan to Make Work Pay.

What comparative assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed increases to employer national insurance contributions on (a) full-time and (b) part-time workers.

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook expects that the Employer National Insurance Contributions package will lead to a reduction in the participation rate of 0.1 per cent from 2025-26 onwards. Overall, once the impact of all budget measures are taken into consideration, the OBR expect the employment level to increase from 33.1 million in 2024 to 34.3 million in 2029. Employers have a choice about how they respond to the NICs increase. The Government recognises that employers may respond by increasing employees’ wages more slowly than they would have otherwise, alongside absorbing pressures through prices, efficiencies or lower profits. The Government is protecting the lowest paid by increasing the National Living Wage. This limits the ability of employers to pass on increases in costs to those on lower pay. The Government has also introduced important protections for workers as part of the Plan to Make Work Pay.

What estimate she has made of the proportion of employers who will pay (a) the same and (b) less in employer National Insurance Contributions from April 2025.

A Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the employer NICs changes was published by HMRC on 13 November. Around 250,000 employers will see their Secondary Class 1 NICs liability decrease and around 820,000 employers will see no change.

With reference to the oral contribution by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 3 December 2024, Official Report, column 200, what estimate she has made of the (a) median and (b) mean average number of people employed by the subset of employers she expects will pay (i) the same and (ii) less in employer National Insurance contributions under her planned changes.

A Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the employer NICs changes was published by HMRC on 13 November. Around 250,000 employers will see their Secondary Class 1 NICs liability decrease and around 820,000 employers will see no change.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases to employer National Insurance contributions at the Autumn Budget 2024 on (a) employment levels and (b) wages for (i) lower-paid and (ii) higher-paid workers.

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook expects that the Employer National Insurance Contributions package will lead to a reduction in the participation rate of 0.1 per cent from 2025-26 onwards. Overall, once the impact of all budget measures are taken into consideration, the OBR expect the employment level to increase from 33.1 million in 2024 to 34.3 million in 2029. Employers have a choice about how they respond to the NICs increase. The Government recognises that employers may respond by increasing employees’ wages more slowly than they would have otherwise, alongside absorbing pressures through prices, efficiencies or lower profits. The Government is protecting the lowest paid by increasing the National Living Wage. This limits the ability of employers to pass on increases in costs to those on lower pay. The Government has also introduced important protections for workers as part of the Plan to Make Work Pay.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 Nov 2024 to Question 15640 on Mental Health Services: Schools, whether the plan to introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school differs from the plan to introduce Mental Health Support Teams.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working with the Department for Education to consider how to deliver our commitment of providing access to a specialist mental health professional in every school. We need to ensure that any support meets the needs of young people, teachers, parents, and carers. This includes considering the role of existing programmes of support with evidence of a positive impact, such as the Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges.

What estimate she has made of the increase in school funding in the 2025-26 academic year (a) per pupil, (b) in real terms per pupil based on the GDP deflator and (c) in real terms per pupil based on Retail Price Index inflation, excluding the existing teacher pay award.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced an additional £2.3 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs for the 2025/26 financial year, compared to the 2024/25 financial year. This means that overall core school funding will total almost £63.9 billion in the 2025/26 financial year.This provides a cash increase per pupil of 3.9% and an increase in real terms per pupil of 1.5%, as measured by the GDP deflator. The GDP deflator is the standard measure of inflation for public spending and is appropriate for considering school costs. The department does not produce estimates using the Retail Prices Index.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of her tax policies on the unemployment rate.

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s October 2024 forecast, which takes into account tax measures announced in the Budget, expects the unemployment rate will fall to 4.1% next year and remain low until 2029.

If she will adjust the funding formula for early years education to allow for the increase in employer National Insurance contributions.

I refer the right hon. Member for East Hampshire to the answer of 8 November 2024 to question 12070.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of adjusting the eligibility criteria for free school meals so as to maintain the proportion of children who are eligible at the same level as in academic year 2023-24.

The new government has a central mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child.The government has inherited a trend of rising child poverty and widening attainment gaps for children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers. Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, by tackling the root causes and giving every child the best start at life. To support this, a new Ministerial taskforce has been set up to develop a Child Poverty Strategy, which will be published in spring 2025. The taskforce will consider a range of policies in assessing what will have the greatest impact in driving down rates of child poverty. As with all policies, the government keeps the approach to FSM under review.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2024 to Question 5982 on Breakfast Clubs: Disadvantaged, whether this data was used to assess eligibility for the national schools breakfast programme in the 2024-25 academic year.

School-level data on the proportion of pupils living in bands A-F on the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index was used to assess the eligibility for new schools joining the National Schools Breakfast Programme in the 2024/25 academic year.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of making all children from families that receive Universal Credit eligible for free school meals.

The new government has a central mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child.The government has inherited a trend of rising child poverty and widening attainment gaps for children eligible for free school meals (FSM) and their peers. Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. The government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, by tackling the root causes and giving every child the best start at life. To support this, a new Ministerial taskforce has been set up to develop a Child Poverty Strategy, which will be published in spring 2025. The taskforce will consider a range of policies in assessing what will have the greatest impact in driving down rates of child poverty. As with all policies, the government keeps the approach to FSM under review.

What representations she has received on the potential merits of having employers set standards for (a) apprenticeships and (b) T Levels through (i) Trailblazers and (ii) T Level Panels.

Employers are well placed to specify what knowledge, skills and behaviours lead to competence in an occupation, yet they tell the department that the current processes for preparing occupational standards can feel slow, bureaucratic, and time-consuming. This is a barrier to their engagement. We want to focus their input where it has most impact, including through Education Trailblazer Groups and T Level Panels.

With reference to the oral contribution of 20 November 2024 by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention, Official Report, columns 347 and 348, what his timetable is for having a mental health professional in every school.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school, so that mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, can be identified early on and prevented from developing into more serious conditions in later life.The timescale is not yet agreed. We are currently working with colleagues at NHS England and the Department for Education to consider options to deliver this commitment.

What representations she has received on the potential merits of transferring standards approval powers for technical and vocational qualifications from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to herself.

A consistent theme of the feedback the department receives from employers is the need for a system for developing training to become more responsive to their current and future skills needs. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc.) Bill will help enable the government to deliver a more responsive skills system which is better able to quickly and efficiently meet businesses’ skills needs.

What information her Department holds on the level of (a) demand and (b) supply for Year 7 places in the (i) Salford - South, (ii) Trafford - Sale, (iii) Manchester - South and (iv) Stockport - East & South Planning Areas in September 2025.

Information on the latest school place planning estimates are published at year group and planning area level in the annual School Capacity statistics publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity. The information requested can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/b12c3f30-c22c-4b88-b5b2-2c1848981b4e. The data includes local authority pupil forecasts (demand), estimated future capacity (supply), and an estimated number of additional places needed or surplus places. These estimates reflect the position reported by local authorities as at May 2023 through the School Capacity survey, supplemented with the department’s internal data on central programmes which will add or remove school places.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will (a) commission an independent assessment of the potential (i) environmental and (ii) health impact of using recycled waste water and (b) pause approval of water (A) transfer and (B) recycling projects until that assessment is published.

For any water recycling scheme to proceed it must comply with the Water Environment Regulations (formally the Water Framework Directive) and the Habitats Regulations. The Environment Agency will ensure environmental requirements are met through their roles as statutory consultee of the planning process and regulator for environmental permits. Environmental Impact Assessments are required to support planning and permitting and appropriate mitigation must be provided for any impacts. Water re-abstracted from the environment for public water supply must also be treated to meet our high drinking water standards before use, in accordance with a robust risk assessment. Recent research carried out for the Drinking Water Inspectorate indicated a high level of support (79% agreement) for the use of water recycling to supplement drinking water supplies. Options such as water recycling mark a transition to water supplies that are not dependent upon the uncertainties of rainfall. These options are well established elsewhere around the world and in the UK, to ensure resilient supplies in a changing climate. There are currently no plans to commission an independent assessment on the potential of using recycled waste water.