Written questions by Gosling.

Whether she has considered including supported internship provision in Skills England.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, so that every young person can follow the pathway that is right for them. The department recognises that high-quality supported internships are an important pathway to improve the life chances of young people with special educational needs and disabilities by supporting them into sustained, paid employment. As an executive agency of the Department for Education, Skills England will work across government to ensure that there are clear education and training pathways. It will do this by engaging employers and other partners to identify skills gaps in key sectors and using this insight to drive improvements in the skills offer to boost economic growth.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding available to schools to purchase Adrenaline Autoinjector Pens for pupils with allergies.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.Overall schools funding will total £65.3 billion in 2025/26 compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This represents an increase of £3.7 billion for mainstream schools and young people with high needs in 2025/26 compared to 2024/25.The Spending Review reaffirmed the government’s commitment to children and young people. It announced that core schools funding, including investment in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), will rise to £69.5 billion by 2028/29.Our overall investment in schools funding is a critical step forward in our mission to support all children and young people to achieve and thrive and will support teachers and leaders to deliver high and rising standards across every school and for every pupil, including those with SEND.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the pupil premium to post-16 institutions.

The department believes further education has a crucial part to play in ensuring the UK has the skills needed for sustainable economic growth. A range of options and priorities will be considered to secure a sustainable and adequate funding of post-16 ins...

With reference to the report entitled Social Selection on the Map, published by the Sutton Trust on 3 September 2024, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of (a) reviewing existing ad

The department has no current plans to make eligibility for the pupil premium a mandatory oversubscription criteria in school admission arrangements.However, through the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, the department is planning to legislate on requiring all s...

With reference to the Sutton Trust’s Closing the Attainment Gap report, published on 22 February 2024, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of expanding free school meal eligib

The government is driving an agenda of change to break down the barriers to opportunity and to reduce child poverty, working across local and national government.Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growin...

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the parental income thresholds used to determine the level of support for maintenance loans.

The department needs to ensure that the student funding system is financially sustainable. The department recognises the impact that the cost-of-living crisis has had on students, which is why the highest levels of support are targeted at students with ho...

With reference to the Sutton Trust’s Inequality in early years education report, published on 24 January 2024, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a national strategy

The government’s Opportunity Mission aims to give all children the best start in life, breaking the link between young people’s background and future success.This means supporting strong family relationships and stable home environments, providing access ...

What steps she is taking to ensure that apprenticeship opportunities are made more widely available for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity. As part of this, we want to ensure that more people from disadvantaged backgrounds can undertake apprenticeships.The department continues to pay additional funding to employers a...

What steps her Department is taking to increase funding for skills-based education in Nuneaton constituency.

The government is committed to offering skills training to learners to help them acquire the necessary skills for employment or further training. The Adult Skills Fund (ASF), previously the Adult Education Budget (AEB), is worth £1.34 billion this academi...

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of (a) ensuring that academy schools publish full SEND information reports and (b) sanctioning schools that do not.

Maintained and Academy schools are required to publish special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) information reports according to the Children and Families Act 2014, s69. The specific information required is set out in the SEND regulations 2014 an...

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of SEND provision services in Nuneaton constituency; and what steps she is taking to work with local authorities in Nuneaton to improve SEND provision.

Following the last Ofsted inspection, departmental officials have been working with Warwickshire County Council to closely monitor progress against the areas for improvement identified by inspectors.The areas were:(i) Autism spectrum disorder waiting time...

What the real-terms funding per pupil in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Nuneaton constituency has been in each financial year since 2010.

Local authorities receive their core funding for schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Local authorities are then responsible for designing a local formula, within certain parameters, to distribute the funding that they receive from the depar...