Written questions by Morello.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of school funding levels in West Dorset.

Awaiting answer.

Whether her Department plans to review funding formulas to change how they consider rural schools in constituencies such as West Dorset.

Awaiting answer.

What support her Department is providing for post-16 education providers in West Dorset.

Awaiting answer.

What support the Government is providing to schools in West Dorset.

Awaiting answer.

Whether her Department plans to increase funding for SEND provision in rural constituencies such as West Dorset.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to improve educational outcomes in West Dorset.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment her Department has made of the impact of waiting times for Education, Health and Care Plans on children in West Dorset.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department’s policies of rural education challenges in West Dorset.

Awaiting answer.

What discussions her Department has had with local education providers in West Dorset on skills and apprenticeship provision.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to support SEND students in West Dorset.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment her Department has made of the time taken to issue ECH plans in (a) South West and (b) West Dorset over the past 5 years.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What steps has has her department taken to improve the time taken to issue ECH plans in a) Rural areas and b) West Dorset.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What a) guidance and b) support does her Department provide to ensure sufficient school transport capacity in rural areas such as West Dorset during periods of high demand.

Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school travel for eligible children. They use a mix of in-house services, passes for free travel on public transport and contracts with private operators and must ensure the arrangements they make are suitable for the needs of the children travelling.Most local bus services in England outside London are run on a commercial basis where the operator decides on routes and provision, including the frequency of services and the type of vehicle used. The government is committed to improving bus services and has confirmed investment of over £3 billion until 2028/29 for local authorities and bus operators to maintain and improve bus services.

What assessment her Department has made of the availability of school bus places during peak holiday periods in West Dorset.

Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school travel for eligible children. They use a mix of in-house services, passes for free travel on public transport and contracts with private operators and must ensure the arrangements they make are suitable for the needs of the children travelling.Most local bus services in England outside London are run on a commercial basis where the operator decides on routes and provision, including the frequency of services and the type of vehicle used. The government is committed to improving bus services and has confirmed investment of over £3 billion until 2028/29 for local authorities and bus operators to maintain and improve bus services.

What steps her Department is taking to support local authorities such as Dorset Council in managing demand for school transport during peak holiday periods.

Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school travel for eligible children. They use a mix of in-house services, passes for free travel on public transport and contracts with private operators and must ensure the arrangements they make are suitable for the needs of the children travelling.Most local bus services in England outside London are run on a commercial basis where the operator decides on routes and provision, including the frequency of services and the type of vehicle used. The government is committed to improving bus services and has confirmed investment of over £3 billion until 2028/29 for local authorities and bus operators to maintain and improve bus services.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure adequate numbers of qualified physics teachers in secondary schools.

The government’s Plan for Change is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools and our colleges over the course of this Parliament.In 2023/24, just 17% of the postgraduate initial teacher training target for physics trainees was met. In 2025/26, this increased to 78%, with 1,095 new entrants, reaching the highest number for physics since comparable statistics began in 2014/15.We are continuing to support physics teacher recruitment with bursaries worth £29,000 and scholarships worth £31,000 tax free. We are also supporting retention alongside increased recruitment, with an offer of a targeted retention incentive, which has a value of up to £6,000 after tax for physics teachers in years 1-5 of their career who choose to work in the most disadvantaged schools. This comes on top of near 10% pay rises for all teachers and leaders in the last two years, and we continue to work with sector leaders to reduce workloads, improve wellbeing and increase flexible working.

How her Department is ensuring that SEND Hubs in West Dorset schools are adequately funded and staffed.

The department is committed to encouraging schools and local authorities to set up resourced provision and special educational needs (SEN) units to increase capacity in mainstream schools and is working with the sector to increase capacity and extend best practice across the system.The department has announced £3 billion in high needs capital to create 50,000 places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This builds on the £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26 to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision, including setting up resourced provision or SEN units in mainstream schools. Dorset received a high needs provision capital allocation of £5,023,392 for 2025/26. Funding for individual SEN units or resourced provision is the responsibility of the relevant local authority, with minimum place funding governed by the high needs operational guidance.The department is launching national SEN unit/resourced provision peer networks, as part of the regional improvement for standards and excellence universal service offer on inclusive mainstream, to support frontline practitioners so that children benefit from high quality and consistent provision.The department is also working with the Council for Disabled Children and the National Association for Special Educational Needs to develop guidance to help mainstream settings deliver high quality support for children and young people accessing SEN units, resourced provision, and pupil support units.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of SEND Hubs on educational outcomes for children with SEND in West Dorset constituency.

The department is committed to encouraging schools and local authorities to set up resourced provision and special educational needs (SEN) units to increase capacity in mainstream schools and is working with the sector to increase capacity and extend best practice across the system.The department has announced £3 billion in high needs capital to create 50,000 places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This builds on the £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26 to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision, including setting up resourced provision or SEN units in mainstream schools. Dorset received a high needs provision capital allocation of £5,023,392 for 2025/26. Funding for individual SEN units or resourced provision is the responsibility of the relevant local authority, with minimum place funding governed by the high needs operational guidance.The department is launching national SEN unit/resourced provision peer networks, as part of the regional improvement for standards and excellence universal service offer on inclusive mainstream, to support frontline practitioners so that children benefit from high quality and consistent provision.The department is also working with the Council for Disabled Children and the National Association for Special Educational Needs to develop guidance to help mainstream settings deliver high quality support for children and young people accessing SEN units, resourced provision, and pupil support units.

What plans her Department has to expand SEND Hubs in schools in West Dorset.

The department is committed to encouraging schools and local authorities to set up resourced provision and special educational needs (SEN) units to increase capacity in mainstream schools and is working with the sector to increase capacity and extend best practice across the system.The department has announced £3 billion in high needs capital to create 50,000 places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This builds on the £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26 to support children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provision, including setting up resourced provision or SEN units in mainstream schools. Dorset received a high needs provision capital allocation of £5,023,392 for 2025/26. Funding for individual SEN units or resourced provision is the responsibility of the relevant local authority, with minimum place funding governed by the high needs operational guidance.The department is launching national SEN unit/resourced provision peer networks, as part of the regional improvement for standards and excellence universal service offer on inclusive mainstream, to support frontline practitioners so that children benefit from high quality and consistent provision.The department is also working with the Council for Disabled Children and the National Association for Special Educational Needs to develop guidance to help mainstream settings deliver high quality support for children and young people accessing SEN units, resourced provision, and pupil support units.

What assessment she has made of trends in the level of (a) national progression rates from foundation to other low-level courses in colleges and (b) employment outcomes from those rates.

Progression rates for further education achievers aged 16+ at Below Level 2 and Essential Skills into sustained further learning (by level of learning destination) between 2018/19 and 2022/23 in i) England, ii) Dorset and iii) the South West are shown in the following tables:i) https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3acffd22-b6d1-481d-b22c-08de39895a0e.ii) https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/9b40b83c-6389-4dd5-b22d-08de39895a0e.iii) https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/de6ade41-7b19-4818-4a4b-08de398c3998.The department does not publish data on employment outcomes for learners progressing to other lower-level learning from foundation courses, but it does publish sustained employment outcome rates for learners achieving at Below Level 2 and in Essential Skills between 2018/19 and 2022/23 in England, as shown in the following table: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa7ce8db-5a14-4898-4a4c-08de398c3998.These statistics are available in the ‘Further education outcomes’ publication. This answer is based on the latest statistics that were released on 18 December 2025 and can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-outcomes/2022-23. The next update to this series will be published in November 2026.