Written questions by Osamor.

If she will conduct an equalities impact assessment for student loan repayment freezes.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Edmonton and Winchmore Hill, to the answer of 27 March 2026 to Question 112385.

Whether she plans to take steps to introduce a national supply register for teachers.

Schools, academies and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers, which includes deciding whether to use private supply agencies to fill temporary posts or cover teacher absence. The department recognises the role that agencies play in helping to keep schools running when they face teacher shortages and absences. We are committed to helping schools achieve better value for money when using agencies, which is why we have established the agency supply deal in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service. The deal has established a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which will be transparent with schools about the rates they charge. Our most recent announcement on maximising value for pupils is available at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maximising-value-for-pupils/maximising-value-for-pupils. The department has no plans to take steps to introduce a national supply register for teachers.

Whether she plans to take steps to reduce the use of large commercial agencies in the supply teaching sector.

Schools, academies and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers, which includes deciding whether to use private supply agencies to fill temporary posts or cover teacher absence. The department recognises the role that agencies play in helping to keep schools running when they face teacher shortages and absences. We are committed to helping schools achieve better value for money when using agencies, which is why we have established the agency supply deal in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service. The deal has established a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which will be transparent with schools about the rates they charge. Our most recent announcement on maximising value for pupils is available at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maximising-value-for-pupils/maximising-value-for-pupils. The department has no plans to take steps to introduce a national supply register for teachers.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report by Kinship entitled Handle with Care: Annual survey of kinship carers 2025, published on 2 October 2025.

The department is grateful to Kinship for its continued work to highlight the experiences of kinship carers. We are grateful for the insights in the ‘Handle with Care’ report from over 1,900 kinship families on the challenges and opportunities they face. The report’s findings around financial hardship, housing and access to support, reinforce the importance of our ongoing work to improve support for kinship carers and children living in kinship care.The department remains focused on delivering improvements for kinship families through our existing programmes. We will be piloting a Kinship Financial Allowance in up to 10 local authorities, following the announcement at Autumn Budget 2024. We are also updating statutory guidance and developing best practice materials on family group decision making (FGDM) to support local authorities in delivering safe and effective FGDM, including how to engage children and families in the process.

How many children in families subject to No Recourse to Public Funds have received the concession on access to free school meals since 2022 by (a) region and (b) year.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Edmonton and Winchmore Hill, to the answer of 24 September 2025 to Question 76011.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of uprating the maximum income threshold for free school meals eligibility for children in families with No Recourse to Public Funds in line with the eligibility criteria introduced on 4 June 2025.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Edmonton and Winchmore Hill, to the answer of 24 September 2025 to Question 76012.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of uprating in line with inflation the income threshold for Free School Meals eligibility for children in families with No Recourse to Public Funds.

Children from households with no recourse to public funds can receive free meals in school, subject to meeting income criteria set by the department in our published guidance.As with all government programmes, we continue to keep free school meals under review.

How many children are on the SEND waiting list in Edmonton and Winchmore Hill constituency.

The department does not hold information on the number of children waiting to be assessed for an education, health and care (EHC) plan.The department collects information from local authorities on the number of requests for an EHC needs assessment, the number of EHC needs assessments carried out, and the number of EHC plans issued within the statutory 20-week timeframe. This data is published annually in the statistical release ‘Education, health and care plans’. The release can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2024.

What steps her Department is taking to meet the demand for (a) special and (b) mainstream school placements for children with SEN in the London Borough of Enfield.

The department has published allocations for £740 million in high needs provision capital allocations for the 2025/26 financial year. The funding can be used to adapt schools to be more accessible for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit the pupils’ needs, and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.Enfield Council has been allocated £6.2 million high needs capital funding for 2025/26. It is up to local authorities to prioritise their funding to meet local needs.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report entitled Teacher Wellbeing Index 2024, published by Education Support on 20 November 2024.

Supporting our teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child, as the within-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcome is high quality teaching.The department wants to improve the experience of being a teacher and re-establish teaching as an attractive profession, one that existing teachers want to remain in, former teachers want to return to, and new graduates wish to join. Fair pay is key to this, which is why we accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools for 2024/25.​In addition, new teachers of mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing in the first five years of their careers will now receive a targeted retention incentive of up to £6,000 after-tax if working in disadvantaged schools. These targeted incentives are helping schools to retain those specialist teachers in the shortage subjects and schools that most need them.Our ‘Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders’ study also shows the importance of reducing teacher workload, improving wellbeing and increasing opportunities to work flexibly in retaining more of our excellent school staff. Already we have taken action to remove the requirement for schools to use Performance Related Pay from September 2024 and clarified that teachers can undertake their Planning Preparation and Assessment time at home.The department is also making available workload and wellbeing resources that were developed with school leaders, through our new improving workload and wellbeing online service, and continuing to promote the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which currently has nearly 4,000 school and college signatories. The department is funding mental health and wellbeing support for school and college leaders, which includes professional supervision and counselling for those who need it. More than 2,000 leaders have benefitted from the support so far. Support continues to be available and can be accessed by visiting Education Support’s website.High quality continuous professional development is also key to ensuring we have and retain an effective teaching workforce. That is why we have committed to introducing a new teacher training entitlement, to ensure teachers stay up to date on best practice with continuing professional development. This builds on the work the department already does to ensure teachers can access high quality development at key points in their careers, underpinned by our Initial Teacher Training and Early Career frameworks, and onwards through our suite of national professional qualifications.We are committed to resetting the relationship with the profession and will continue to work with partners to tackle retention issues.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing an education staff retention strategy.

Supporting our teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child, as the within-school factor that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcome is high quality teaching.The department wants to improve the experience of being a teacher and re-establish teaching as an attractive profession, one that existing teachers want to remain in, former teachers want to return to, and new graduates wish to join. Fair pay is key to this, which is why we accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools for 2024/25.​In addition, new teachers of mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing in the first five years of their careers will now receive a targeted retention incentive of up to £6,000 after-tax if working in disadvantaged schools. These targeted incentives are helping schools to retain those specialist teachers in the shortage subjects and schools that most need them.Our ‘Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders’ study also shows the importance of reducing teacher workload, improving wellbeing and increasing opportunities to work flexibly in retaining more of our excellent school staff. Already we have taken action to remove the requirement for schools to use Performance Related Pay from September 2024 and clarified that teachers can undertake their Planning Preparation and Assessment time at home.The department is also making available workload and wellbeing resources that were developed with school leaders, through our new improving workload and wellbeing online service, and continuing to promote the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which currently has nearly 4,000 school and college signatories. The department is funding mental health and wellbeing support for school and college leaders, which includes professional supervision and counselling for those who need it. More than 2,000 leaders have benefitted from the support so far. Support continues to be available and can be accessed by visiting Education Support’s website.High quality continuous professional development is also key to ensuring we have and retain an effective teaching workforce. That is why we have committed to introducing a new teacher training entitlement, to ensure teachers stay up to date on best practice with continuing professional development. This builds on the work the department already does to ensure teachers can access high quality development at key points in their careers, underpinned by our Initial Teacher Training and Early Career frameworks, and onwards through our suite of national professional qualifications.We are committed to resetting the relationship with the profession and will continue to work with partners to tackle retention issues.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending access to student finance to students from Hong Kong with a British National (Overseas) Visa.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Edmonton and Winchmore Hill to the answer of 29 October 2024 to Question 10190.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory autism training for (a) teachers and (b) teaching assistants.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. We will strengthen accountability on mainstream settings to be inclusive including through Ofsted, support the mainstream workforce to increase their SEND expertise and encourage schools to set up Resourced Provision or special education needs units to increase capacity in mainstream schools.High quality teaching and support is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for pupils, including those with autism or other SEND.All mainstream schools must have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) who must be a qualified teacher, or the head teacher, working at the school. On 1 September 2024, the government introduced a new mandatory leadership level National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for SENCOs. The NPQ will play a key role in improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high quality, evidence-based training. This is crucial given the central role SENCOs play in supporting pupils with SEND.Universal SEND Services brings together SEND-specific continuing professional development and support for the school and further education workforce. The programme aims to improve outcomes for children and young people, including those with autism. The contract offers autism awareness training and resources. Over 200,000 professionals have received autism training from an Autism Education Trust training partner since the programme launched in May 2022.