Written questions by Johnson.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed international student levy on the financial sustainability of higher education institutions in the context of the Office for Students' press release entitled Significant challenges continue to face higher education finances – with nearly half facing deficits in 2025-26, published on 20 November 2025.

The International Student Levy will require higher education (HE) providers to pay £925 per international student per year. This is broadly equivalent to a 4.5% fee, reduced from 6% proposed in the Immigration White Paper. Levy revenue will be fully reinvested into higher education and skills, including to reintroduce targeted maintenance grants.To mitigate disproportionate impacts on smaller providers, a 220-student allowance will apply to each provider per year. The levy will be introduced in 2028/29 and paid one year in arrears to support financial planning.An impact analysis published in November 2025 estimated that, in isolation, the levy would result in around £270 million in income losses to the sector in its first year. This impact analysis is accessible at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/international-student-levy-unit/international-student-levy/supporting_documents/international-student-levy-impact-analysispdf.We have also announced a tuition fee cap increase in line with forecast inflation for the 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 academic years, and will legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to increase caps automatically for future years. Over the next five years, these uplifts could generate an additional £6 billion for HE providers, significantly outweighing the currently projected less than £1 billion levy cost.

Whether her Department has considered alternative funding models for the reintroduction of maintenance grants, other than revenues raised through the proposed International Student Levy.

The department is reintroducing targeted, means-tested maintenance grants of up to £1,000 per year, funded by a levy on international student fees, with both being introduced in the 2028/29 academic year.This will ensure that the proceeds from international student fees benefit domestic learners, furthering our national opportunity mission, and creating stronger economic links between both home and international students.This government is clear that it welcomes and values the contributions to our society, economy and higher education providers made by overseas students who want to come to the UK. But it is right to ensure that the financial benefit these students provide also helps our most disadvantaged home students.

Whether the proposed International Student Levy aligns with the Government’s International Education Strategy and its target for growth in education exports.

As outlined in the International Education Strategy, the UK aims to both grow the value of education exports to £40 billion per year by 2030, whilst ensuring the sustainable recruitment of high-quality students, in line with the Immigration White Paper.International higher education (HE) students are only one part of the UK’s wider international education offer, which includes education exports and transnational education provision across the entire sector, from early years to schools, colleges and universities.Introducing a £925 flat-fee International Student Levy on English HE providers will support sustainable international student recruitment, whilst ensuring students contribute to the communities where they study, with the levy revenue funding the reintroduction of targeted maintenance grants for disadvantaged students.The UK’s world‑class HE sector will continue to offer an attractive and fulfilling experience to students from around the globe.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the International Student Levy on the UK’s ability to attract international postgraduate research students and the consequential impact this would have on the ambitions set out in the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.

Higher education (HE) providers are independent from government and are responsible for managing their own finances, including any impact from the International Student Levy (ISL). To support providers’ financial planning, the levy will be introduced in 2028/29 and paid one year in arrears, with a 220-student allowance applying per provider per year.We have also announced tuition fee cap increases in line with forecast inflation for the 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 academic years, and will legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to increase caps automatically for future years. Over the next five years, these uplifts could generate an additional £6 billion for HE providers, significantly outweighing the currently projected less than £1 billion levy cost.ISL revenue will fund the reintroduction of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students studying level 4 to 6 courses aligned with the government’s missions and the Industrial Strategy.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending support for adopted children up to the age of 25.

When a young person has an education, health and care plan, they are eligible for the adoption and special guardianship support fund up to the age of 25. This is on the basis that these young people are likely to be in the greatest longer-term need. Otherwise, young people are eligible up to the age of 21.

If she will make it mandatory for all schools to hold spare AAIs, and ensure relevant staff are trained in their use.

The Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 have allowed all schools to buy adrenaline auto-injectors (AAI devices) without a prescription for emergency use on children who are at risk of anaphylaxis but whose own device is not available or not working. The Department of Health and Social Care has published non-statutory guidance to accompany this legislative change, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/using-emergency-adrenaline-auto-injectors-in-schools. The department is working with DHSC and NHS England to consider how we might extend the availability of adrenaline auto-injectors in schools.

What steps her Department is taking to implement (a) foster care reforms, (b) initiatives to improve the (i) recruitment and (ii) retention of foster carers and (c) other measures outlined in the Government’s response to the Education Select Committee’s report on Children’s Social Care published on 17 October 2025.

We must take urgent action to substantially increase foster care numbers. The government is delivering a regional programme for fostering recruitment and retention to streamline the process for prospective carers. There are ten regional fostering recruitment hubs, covering over 60% of local authorities in England. The hubs will continue to rollout the Mockingbird Programme, which offers peer-support to foster carers and children in their care.Foster care is one of my top priorities as Minister for Children and Families, and we will need to go further and faster with recruiting and retaining more carers. We are prioritising fostering in our reform of children’s social care, as evidenced by the announcement of an additional £40 million investment over the next two financial years. This will benefit thousands of fostered children. We will set out more detail on our planned investments and reforms for fostering in due course.

How many phases of roll-out of free breakfast clubs will there be; when is the next phase due to start rolling out; which schools will be eligible for the second phase roll-out; and when can all state primary schools expect to have free breakfast clubs.

The government is committed to deliver on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill means that those schools with children on roll from Reception to Year 6 are required to offer a free breakfast club before the start of each school day. This will ensure every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day.So far, the department has delivered 2.6 million breakfasts and has offered places to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. Following the success of the early adopters, we will start the first phase of national rollout of the clubs from April 2026. We are investing a further £80 million into the programme to fund approximately 2,000 additional schools between April 2026 and March 2027. This will benefit around 500,000 more children.Further information, including specifics on eligibility, funding and expectations for schools will be provided later in the Autumn term. This will include detailed guidance as well as a wider package of support.

When she plans to respond to the Fourth Report of Session 2024-25 of the Education Committee, Children’s Social Care, published on 10 July 2025, HC 430; and whether she plans to accept the recommendation on the development of a national foster care strategy.

The department responded to the Fourth Report of the Session 2024-25 of the Education Committee, Children’s Social Care in September 2025. This includes our response to recommendation 29: ‘The Department for Education must put in place a national fostering strategy to complement the existing strategies for adoption and kinship care. As part of this, it should consult on introducing a national register of foster carers and review the financial support available to ensure that it is adequate to meet their needs.’Foster care is one of my top priorities as Minister for Children and Families, and we need to go further and faster with recruiting and retaining more carers. We are prioritising fostering in our reform of children’s social care, as demonstrated by the announcement of an additional £40 million investment over this financial year and the next two financial years. This will bring benefits to thousands of fostered children. We will set out more detail on our planned investments and reforms for fostering in due course.The Education Select Committee published the findings on 17 October 2025, the findings can be found here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/49799/documents/266904/default/.

Whether the Child Poverty Taskforce has held discussions with the Department for Education on the potential inclusion of family hubs in the forthcoming Child Poverty Strategy.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances for every child. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper.The Ministerial Child Poverty Taskforce co-chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has now met nine times to discuss the critical issues that drive child poverty. One such meeting in January focused on the crucial role of local services, including Family Hubs, in reducing the impact of poverty.Family Hubs offer vital services from birth to age 19, or to 25 with special educational needs and disabilities, supporting health, education, and wellbeing, particularly for families in poverty. In 2025/26, £126 million will be invested through Family Hubs and Start for Life to give every child the best start in life.The Taskforce will continue to explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term action across government to reduce child poverty, including Family Hubs.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing a national outcomes framework for family hubs.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, set out plans for spending and public sector reforms through the Spending Review 2025. This announcement confirmed departmental budgets for 2026/27 onwards and committed the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, working with parents to help give children the best start in life.This builds upon my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024, which outlined the ambition to give children the best start in life by strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.We are working within the department and alongside the Department for Health and Social Care to share further information about what the Spending Review settlement means for the continuation and expansion of the programme.

What steps she is taking to ensure that integrated family hubs are available in all communities.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, set out plans for spending and public sector reforms through the Spending Review 2025. This announcement confirmed departmental budgets for 2026/27 onwards and committed the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, working with parents to help give children the best start in life.This builds upon my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024, which outlined the ambition to give children the best start in life by strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.We are working within the department and alongside the Department for Health and Social Care to share further information about what the Spending Review settlement means for the continuation and expansion of the programme. We recognise the importance of providing local authorities with certainty of future funding across the whole programme and we will share further information when we are able to.

If she will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that all local authorities provide family hubs in their communities.

On 11 June, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, set out plans for spending and public sector reforms through the Spending Review 2025. This announcement confirmed departmental budgets for 2026/27 onwards and committed the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, working with parents to help give children the best start in life.This builds upon my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change, published in December 2024, which outlined the ambition to give children the best start in life by strengthening and joining up family services to improve support through pregnancy and early childhood.We are working within the department and alongside the Department for Health and Social Care to share further information about what the Spending Review settlement means for the continuation and expansion of the programme. We recognise the importance of providing local authorities with certainty of future funding across the whole programme and we will share further information when we are able to.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of a targeted place-based approach to service provision in the early years sector.

The government is committed to giving every child the best start in life by strengthening early intervention, supporting families to engage in play and communication, and enhancing the home learning environment. Our Plan for Change includes a national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028 and increase school readiness.There is strong evidence that the first 1,001 days, from conception to age two, are critical for a child’s cognitive, emotional and physical development. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, we are supporting families with joined-up services across health, education and early years. This includes support for infant feeding, perinatal mental health, parenting, early language development and the home learning environment.As announced in last month’s Spending Review, the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, ensuring more families across the country can access high quality, integrated support to give their children the best start in life.In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings. Our Little Moments Together campaign provides free, accessible resources that encourage parents to chat, play and read with their children.For school-age children, we continue to promote parental engagement in reading and learning at home, recognising the importance of sustained support throughout a child’s educational journey.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of promoting a culture of reading for pleasure in the home learning environment on the development of children in (a) the early years and (b) school-age children.

The government is committed to giving every child the best start in life by strengthening early intervention, supporting families to engage in play and communication, and enhancing the home learning environment. Our Plan for Change includes a national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028 and increase school readiness.There is strong evidence that the first 1,001 days, from conception to age two, are critical for a child’s cognitive, emotional and physical development. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, we are supporting families with joined-up services across health, education and early years. This includes support for infant feeding, perinatal mental health, parenting, early language development and the home learning environment.As announced in last month’s Spending Review, the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, ensuring more families across the country can access high quality, integrated support to give their children the best start in life.In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings. Our Little Moments Together campaign provides free, accessible resources that encourage parents to chat, play and read with their children.For school-age children, we continue to promote parental engagement in reading and learning at home, recognising the importance of sustained support throughout a child’s educational journey.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of community activities to support families with children in the early years.

The government is committed to giving every child the best start in life by strengthening early intervention, supporting families to engage in play and communication, and enhancing the home learning environment. Our Plan for Change includes a national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028 and increase school readiness.There is strong evidence that the first 1,001 days, from conception to age two, are critical for a child’s cognitive, emotional and physical development. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, we are supporting families with joined-up services across health, education and early years. This includes support for infant feeding, perinatal mental health, parenting, early language development and the home learning environment.As announced in last month’s Spending Review, the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, ensuring more families across the country can access high quality, integrated support to give their children the best start in life.In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings. Our Little Moments Together campaign provides free, accessible resources that encourage parents to chat, play and read with their children.For school-age children, we continue to promote parental engagement in reading and learning at home, recognising the importance of sustained support throughout a child’s educational journey.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of early interventions in the early years sector.

The government is committed to giving every child the best start in life by strengthening early intervention, supporting families to engage in play and communication, and enhancing the home learning environment. Our Plan for Change includes a national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028 and increase school readiness.There is strong evidence that the first 1,001 days, from conception to age two, are critical for a child’s cognitive, emotional and physical development. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, we are supporting families with joined-up services across health, education and early years. This includes support for infant feeding, perinatal mental health, parenting, early language development and the home learning environment.As announced in last month’s Spending Review, the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, ensuring more families across the country can access high quality, integrated support to give their children the best start in life.In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings. Our Little Moments Together campaign provides free, accessible resources that encourage parents to chat, play and read with their children.For school-age children, we continue to promote parental engagement in reading and learning at home, recognising the importance of sustained support throughout a child’s educational journey.

What plans she has to improve home learning environments to support literacy in (a) the early years and (b) school age children.

The government is committed to giving every child the best start in life by strengthening early intervention, supporting families to engage in play and communication, and enhancing the home learning environment. Our Plan for Change includes a national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028 and increase school readiness.There is strong evidence that the first 1,001 days, from conception to age two, are critical for a child’s cognitive, emotional and physical development. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, we are supporting families with joined-up services across health, education and early years. This includes support for infant feeding, perinatal mental health, parenting, early language development and the home learning environment.As announced in last month’s Spending Review, the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, ensuring more families across the country can access high quality, integrated support to give their children the best start in life.In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings. Our Little Moments Together campaign provides free, accessible resources that encourage parents to chat, play and read with their children.For school-age children, we continue to promote parental engagement in reading and learning at home, recognising the importance of sustained support throughout a child’s educational journey.

What policies her Department has on early intervention in early years education (a) during a child’s first 1001 days and (b) for children aged up to five.

The government is committed to giving every child the best start in life by strengthening early intervention, supporting families to engage in play and communication, and enhancing the home learning environment. Our Plan for Change includes a national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028 and increase school readiness.There is strong evidence that the first 1,001 days, from conception to age two, are critical for a child’s cognitive, emotional and physical development. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, we are supporting families with joined-up services across health, education and early years. This includes support for infant feeding, perinatal mental health, parenting, early language development and the home learning environment.As announced in last month’s Spending Review, the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, ensuring more families across the country can access high quality, integrated support to give their children the best start in life.In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings. Our Little Moments Together campaign provides free, accessible resources that encourage parents to chat, play and read with their children.For school-age children, we continue to promote parental engagement in reading and learning at home, recognising the importance of sustained support throughout a child’s educational journey.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of learning through play in early years on children's development.

The government is committed to giving every child the best start in life by strengthening early intervention, supporting families to engage in play and communication, and enhancing the home learning environment. Our Plan for Change includes a national target for 75% of children to achieve a Good Level of Development by 2028 and increase school readiness.There is strong evidence that the first 1,001 days, from conception to age two, are critical for a child’s cognitive, emotional and physical development. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, we are supporting families with joined-up services across health, education and early years. This includes support for infant feeding, perinatal mental health, parenting, early language development and the home learning environment.As announced in last month’s Spending Review, the government will continue to invest in and expand the Family Hubs programme, ensuring more families across the country can access high quality, integrated support to give their children the best start in life.In 2025/26, we are investing £10.7 million in home learning environment services through Family Hubs to help parents create language-rich, nurturing settings. Our Little Moments Together campaign provides free, accessible resources that encourage parents to chat, play and read with their children.For school-age children, we continue to promote parental engagement in reading and learning at home, recognising the importance of sustained support throughout a child’s educational journey.