Written questions by Trott.

What assessment she has made of potential impact of Brighton and Hove City Council new schools admission policy on school children.

This government believes admissions arrangements should be fair, lawful and support good outcomes for all children.School admission arrangements are set and applied locally by the admission authority for each school. After providing highest priority to looked after and previously looked after children, it is for the council, as the admission authority for the community and voluntary-controlled schools in its area, to decide what oversubscription criteria to apply for places at its secondary schools and in what order the criteria are applied. The purpose of consultation is to provide the local community the opportunity to express any concerns that they may have about the proposed admission arrangements.Admission arrangements must be fair, clear and objective, and comply with the school admissions code. To ensure that a school’s admission arrangements meet the needs of their local community, the admission authority is required to consult on them locally when making a change.The consultation for Brighton and Hove City Council went live on 6 December 2024 and closed on 31 January 2025. The council is required to determine the final admission arrangements for September 2026 by 28 February 2025.Once the council has determined their admission arrangements, anyone who feels they are unlawful or unfair may raise an objection to the schools adjudicator. Objections to admission arrangements must be referred to the adjudicator by 15 May in the year they were determined. The adjudicator’s role is to consider whether the admission arrangements and consultation comply with the school admissions code and admissions law. The adjudicator’s decisions are binding and enforceable.

How many staff her Department plans to recruit into the Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellent teams; and by what date the team will be fully operational.

The department’s first 20 RISE advisers are now in post and work has begun with the first RISE schools. The advisers will work alongside the department to help support schools break down the barriers to opportunity and end the link between background and success. A full list of these advisers has been published on GOV.UK.In addition to the RISE advisers in post, the department launched a recruitment campaign for a full cohort of advisers to start in the spring and summer term. We will be informing candidates of the outcome of this campaign shortly. Workforce allocations for 2025/26 have not yet been set.

With reference to his Department's consultation entitled School Accountability Reform – school profiles, improvement and intervention, published on 3 February 2025, whether schools due to receive structural intervention in early 2025 will still do so.

Schools that are still due to convert and join a high-quality multi-academy trust or are due to move into a new high-quality multi-academy trust in early 2025 will do so.

If she will make an estimate of the potential impact of cancelling the computing hubs programme on the number and proportion of pupils who are likely to receive grade A or above in A-level computing in each of the next 5 years.

The department’s continued investment in the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) for the 2025/26 financial year will continue to support the teaching of computing, increase participation in computer science qualifications at level two and three, including from female students, and support computer science A level students in achieving high grades.The NCCE will continue to deliver the ‘I Belong’ programme, which aims to improve schools’ awareness of the barriers to girls’ engagement with computing and supports them in taking a sustained course of action to improve the take up of computer science qualifications within their school.The NCCE also delivers industry-led, virtual events for pupils which raise awareness of digital opportunities and careers in sectors such as cyber and artificial intelligence, and Isaac Computer Science, an online platform supporting GCSE and A level computer science students with revision support and careers information events. In the 2022/23 academic year, 98% of the 1,297 schools with computer science A level results used Isaac.Due to the fiscal challenges inherited from the previous government, this government has had to make tough decisions across the public sector to get our finances back under control and to ensure we deliver on our priorities through our Plan for Change. Funding beyond the 2025/26 financial year will be considered through the upcoming spending review.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to language hubs on the (a) uptake of languages and (b) diversity of opportunities available to students at GCSE level.

The ongoing investment in the National Centre for Language Education (NCLE) in the 2025/26 financial year will continue to support the teaching of languages and increase participation in languages qualifications, including through continued professional development and new support models which are anticipated to reach more schools.One of NCLE’s key aims is to increase access to home, heritage and community languages. It is, however, up to schools to decide which languages are taught as part of their curricula.

How many pupils have made use of the National Centre for Computing Education’s Computing Hubs since their introduction in 2018.

The support offered by computing hubs is, for the most part, aimed at teachers only.Hubs have also previously supported the National Centre for Computing Education's (NCCE) outreach programme aimed at pupils. NCCE will continue with outreach activity in 2025/26 continuing to raise awareness of careers in computing and digital. Data for the number of pupils who have attended hub outreach events since 2018 is not available.The government will continue to fund the NCCE in the 2025/26 financial year to support the teaching of computing and increase participation in computer science qualifications.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of cancelling the computing hubs programme on the uptake of computer science level (a) two and (b) three qualifications by (i) female and (ii) male students.

The department’s continued investment in the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) for the 2025/26 financial year will continue to support the teaching of computing, increase participation in computer science qualifications at level two and three, including from female students, and support computer science A level students in achieving high grades.The NCCE will continue to deliver the ‘I Belong’ programme, which aims to improve schools’ awareness of the barriers to girls’ engagement with computing and supports them in taking a sustained course of action to improve the take up of computer science qualifications within their school.The NCCE also delivers industry-led, virtual events for pupils which raise awareness of digital opportunities and careers in sectors such as cyber and artificial intelligence, and Isaac Computer Science, an online platform supporting GCSE and A level computer science students with revision support and careers information events. In the 2022/23 academic year, 98% of the 1,297 schools with computer science A level results used Isaac.Due to the fiscal challenges inherited from the previous government, this government has had to make tough decisions across the public sector to get our finances back under control and to ensure we deliver on our priorities through our Plan for Change. Funding beyond the 2025/26 financial year will be considered through the upcoming spending review.

When she will publish the impact assessments for the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

The impact assessment was published on 30 January.

If she will make an estimate of the savings to the public purse made by cancelling the Latin Excellence Programme from March 2025.

The current contract for the Latin Excellence Programme, put in place by the previous government, is due to end on 28 February 2025. The Latin Excellence Programme has cost £2,071,000 to date since 2022. All schools on the programme will continue to have access to the programme’s curriculum resources and all students will sit their planned exams this summer.

If she will make an estimate of the savings to the public purse made by (a) cancelling computing hubs and (b) changes to language hubs.

Funding for hubs has been part of wider funding for the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) and the National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE). Funding for the NCCE and NCLE will continue in the 2025/26 financial year. It is not possible to quantify how much money will be saved through reshaping the programmes because no spending baselines for individual programmes for 2025/26 and beyond were set ahead of the spending review.NCCE and NCLE will continue to deliver high quality continuing professional development and teaching resources to support and enrich lessons which are expected to reach a greater number of teachers nationally compared to last year.

If she will make it her policy to extend the National Wraparound Childcare Programme beyond March 2026.

Any spending in future financial years will be subject to the multi-year spending review. The department will not be making spending commitments outside of that process.

If she will extend the Opening School Facilities Fund beyond March 2025.

I refer the hon. Member for Sevenoaks to the answer of 14 January 2025 to Question 22724.

How many new teachers have been recruited since 5 July 2024.

Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.Figures for the 2024/25 academic year will be published in June 2025.

With which unions she has had meetings since 5 July 2025; and when.

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.

How much funding was allocated to the Opening School Facilities Fund for (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.

In line with the contract agreed by the previous government, the department has allocated £19 million in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years to the Opening School Facilities fund. The contract is ending in March 2025, as agreed at the outset of the programme.

How many applications for VAT numbers for private school fees her Department has (a) received and (b) granted since 5th July 2024.

HMRC publishes data on the VAT population by sector on an annual basis. The latest statistics can be found here: Value Added Tax (VAT) annual statistics - GOV.UK. VAT will apply to private school and boarding fees for terms starting on or after 1 January 2025. However, this does not mean that every school needs to have registered for VAT by this date. The exact date a school needs to register for VAT depends on the value of school fee payments for terms starting on or after 1 January 2025, and the date the school receives those payments. A significant number of schools were already registered for VAT prior to the confirmation of this policy at Budget. HMRC has taken action to support private schools through the change: providing detailed guidance; running webinars; and allocating additional resource to process VAT registration applications. HMRC continues to engage with private schools and the organisations that represent them.

What her policy is on the future of the Latin Excellence Programme.

The government is delivering on its commitment to put education back at the forefront of national life and break down barriers to opportunity for all children and young people.This government inherited a £22 billion blackhole in our country’s finances and is taking the difficult decisions necessary to fix the foundations and get our economy back on track. This means prioritisation on how money is spent right across the public sector to ensure we deliver on our priorities, including protecting core funding for schools.Given this, the department has made the difficult decision not to extend the Latin Excellence Programme beyond the end of the three year contract, which will end on 28 February 2025. The department is grateful for the excellent work of the Centre for Latin Excellence and that of the schools who have participated in the programme.

What estimate she has made of the number of early years providers eligible for Employment Allowance when proposed changes to employer National Insurance contributions come into force.

Estimates of the number of early years providers eligible for Employment Allowance when proposed changes to employer National Insurance contributions come into force are not available.The eligibility of a specific employer will depend on the nature of their work, which can be determined by the employer according to HMRC guidance.

If she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the planned increase in employer National Insurance on the cost of home-to-school transport.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer took difficult decisions in order to restore economic and fiscal stability, which included increasing Employer National Insurance Contributions from April 2025. Working people’s living standards were protected by raising the National Living Wage, keeping bus fares down, and not increasing income tax, employee national insurance or VAT.Local authorities are responsible for arranging home-to-school transport and deliver this through both in-house services and a range of external providers, as such the department holds no central assessment of Employer National Insurance Contributions. Departmental officials engage regularly with local authorities to understand the challenges they face across the services they deliver.

Media and Sport, with reference to part 4 of Ofcom's publication entitled, Media Bill: Ofcom's roadmap to regulation, published in February 2024, whether Ofcom plans to publish its review of audience protection measures implemented by video-on-demand service providers.

A timeline of the steps Ofcom is taking to implement the Media Act 2024 can be found on their website at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/Media-Act-Implementation/.Ofcom’s timeline currently advises that their report concerning the audience protection measures implemented by video-on-demand service providers will be published between July and September 2025.