Written questions by Murphy.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a (a) cross-industry and (b) cross-departmental taskforce to review long-term strategy for the wraparound childcare sector.

The department’s vision is for a modern childcare system for parents of school age children that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families from the day children start primary school, no matter where they live in the country or what days or hours they work. Officials are working closely with local authorities, schools and providers to develop this.This will build on existing programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holiday Activities and Food programme and Free Universal Breakfast clubs to ensure families are supported.The government is also delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, starting with 750 early adopters. Additionally, the department recently confirmed investment of over £600 million to make Best Start Holiday Activities and Food Clubs available for the next three years.

If she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to develop a cross-government strategy for the future of school-aged childcare funding after 2026.

The department’s vision is for a modern childcare system for parents of school age children that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families from the day children start primary school, no matter where they live in the country or what days or hours they work. Officials are working closely with local authorities, schools and providers to develop this.This will build on existing programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holiday Activities and Food programme and Free Universal Breakfast clubs to ensure families are supported.The government is also delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, starting with 750 early adopters. Additionally, the department recently confirmed investment of over £600 million to make Best Start Holiday Activities and Food Clubs available for the next three years.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of sustained funding for school-aged wraparound childcare.

The department’s vision is for a modern childcare system for parents of school age children that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families from the day children start primary school, no matter where they live in the country or what days or hours they work. Officials are working closely with local authorities, schools and providers to develop this.This will build on existing programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holiday Activities and Food programme and Free Universal Breakfast clubs to ensure families are supported.The government is also delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, starting with 750 early adopters. Additionally, the department recently confirmed investment of over £600 million to make Best Start Holiday Activities and Food Clubs available for the next three years.

Whether she plans to produce a strategy on widening the availability of wraparound childcare.

The department’s vision is for a modern childcare system for parents of school age children that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families from the day children start primary school, no matter where they live in the country or what days or hours they work. Officials are working closely with local authorities, schools and providers to develop this.This will build on existing programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holiday Activities and Food programme and Free Universal Breakfast clubs to ensure families are supported.The government is also delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, starting with 750 early adopters. Additionally, the department recently confirmed investment of over £600 million to make Best Start Holiday Activities and Food Clubs available for the next three years.

Whether she plans to renew the (a) Wraparound Childcare Programme and (b) Holiday Activities and Food Programme in 2026.

The department’s vision is for a modern childcare system for parents of school age children that is high quality, affordable, accessible and inclusive for all families from the day children start primary school, no matter where they live in the country or what days or hours they work. Officials are working closely with local authorities, schools and providers to develop this.This will build on existing programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holiday Activities and Food programme and Free Universal Breakfast clubs to ensure families are supported.The government is also delivering on its pledge to provide a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children, starting with 750 early adopters. Additionally, the department recently confirmed investment of over £600 million to make Best Start Holiday Activities and Food Clubs available for the next three years.

What assessment she has made of the potential (a) implications for her policies of the (i) financial and (ii) housing pressures experienced by kinship carers and (b) impact of those pressures on the sustainability of Special Guardianship placements.

The government recognises the significant financial, and wider, pressures faced by kinship carers and their impact on the sustainability of special guardianship placements.That is why the government announced £40 million investment in a Kinship Allowance Pilot, which will test the impact of providing an allowance to kinship carers. The Expression of Interest for this pilot launched on 17 June 2025 and more information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-to-become-a-kinship-allowance-pilot-provider. The programme is expected to begin in autumn 2025 and will support approximately 5,000 kinship children.Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are enshrining the first definition of kinship care in law and mandating local authorities to publish their kinship local offer, increasing their accountability for ensuring all kinship families are getting the information they need about the support available to them.The department also funds the charity ‘Kinship’ to provide over 140 peer support groups and a free training package for kinship carers across England.

What steps she is taking to help improve coordination between public services and local authorities in cases involving safeguarding concerns for children under Special Guardianship Orders.

The multi-agency statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ outlines how sharing of information between organisations and agencies within a multi-agency system is essential to improve outcomes for children and their families, including those with Special Guardianship Orders.As part of the roll-out of the Families First Partnership Programme, the department is ensuring stronger multi-agency approaches to child protection and safeguarding for all children, including those under Special Guardianship Orders. This includes legislating for new multi-agency child protection teams and a strengthened role for education in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.£555 million will be available for 2026/27 and 2027/28 to local authorities to roll out these reforms across the country. This in addition to the £500 million made available for 2025/26, which will also continue for each year of the spending review period.‘Working together to safeguard children’ was updated in 2023 to place additional focus on strengthening multi-agency working across the whole system of help, support and protection.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of local authority compliance with the requirement to provide support plans to kinship carers under Special Guardianship Orders.

There is a general duty on local authorities to arrange for the provision of special guardianship support services in their local areas.Children who were previously looked after by a local authority, and their special guardians, have an automatic right to an assessment for special guardianship support services from the local authority that last looked after the child. Other special guardians may request an assessment, but it is at the discretion of the local authority whether to carry one out.Ofsted has a crucial role to play in upholding children’s social care standards, including the support services provided by local authorities to families and children who have special guardianship orders in place. They provide independent, up to date evaluations on the quality of support, safeguarding, and leadership, making sure children are safe and supported.In May 2025, the Law Commission began a project to consider the scope for reform to simplify and streamline the orders underpinning kinship care placements and how to better support the consideration of kinship care as an option for children who cannot remain with their parents. It will consider the adequacy and consistency of the legal orders underpinning kinship care placements, including whether the current legislation meets the needs of children and kinship carers.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of training available to school and children's social care staff on (a) recognising and (b) responding to anxiety-led behaviour in children.

This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is critical to breaking down barriers to opportunity and helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education.Support from the department includes an online resource hub that hosts practical and evidence-informed resources to support the delivery of a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. The hub includes support for responding to anxiety-related issues and can be found here: https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/.Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) continue to roll out in schools and colleges across the country, delivering evidence-based interventions for early mental health issues and supporting mental health leads with their whole school approach. As of April 2024, MHSTs covered 44% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England and the department expects coverage to have reached at least 50% of pupils and learners this year. Through expanding MHSTs, the government will make sure that every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.Statutory guidance for virtual school heads sets out that they should, where possible, work with designated teachers to ensure that schools are able to identify signs of potential mental health issues and know how to access further assessment and support where necessary. This includes ensuring that schools understand the impact that issues such as trauma and attachment difficulties can have on looked-after and previously looked-after children.Provision of continuing professional development for employed social workers is a matter for their employer. The regulator for the social work profession, Social Work England, sets the professional standards which all social workers must meet. These require social workers to promote the strength and wellbeing of people, including children, and provide or support people to access advice and services tailored to meet their needs.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the extent to which unmet support needs related to Special Educational Needs and Disability are considered in assessments of parenting capacity during child protection and pre-proceeding processes.

As a child-centred government, we are taking forward significant reform of children’s social care to rebalance the system towards earlier intervention and ensure that children and families get access to the right help, at the point of need. Our Families First Partnership programme, backed by over £500 million in 2025/26, emphasises the importance of a whole family approach throughout the system of help, support and protection.The department’s statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ encourages local authorities to consider appointing a Designated Social Care Officer who can help strengthen the links between social care services and the special educational needs and disabilities system, and co-ordinate children’s educational, health and care needs assessments with other social care assessments. The guidance is also clear that practitioners should consider the needs of parents when assessing whether a child is in need of protection. In pre-proceedings, the local authority should work in partnership with families and, where possible, any extra support or services needed to support the family should be identified and put in place.

How many planned learning hours an average T-level student is expected to undertake in 2024-25.

T Levels range in size, with planned learning hours varying across pathways depending on the needs of individual sectors. Individual providers have freedom to plan their curriculum and structure their teaching hours based on local needs, and there are significant variations in delivery patterns. On average, a T Level has around 1,200 guided learning hours across the two-year programme, in addition to an industry placement of a minimum of 315 hours and employability, enrichment and pastoral activities.

What the (a) retention and (b) pass rate is for 16 to 19 year olds studying three A level-equivalent (i) applied general and (ii) tech level qualifications.

The department does not publish retention and pass rate data for 16 to 19-year-olds for applied general and tech level qualifications equivalent in size to three A levels.However, the department does publish data on pass rates and the proportion of students who are retained to the end of their ’core aim’ (or main learning aim) of their study programme at a school or college in the ’A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results/2022-23. The data covers students at the end of 16 to 18 study in the reporting year attending state-funded schools and colleges. This includes all applied general and tech level qualifications approved for reporting in school and college performance data in that year, irrespective of the size of the qualification. For retention, the data relates to qualifications where it is the student’s core aim. This means that if a student studied both applied general and tech level qualifications, the statistics only refer to the learning aim recognised as their core aim. For pass rates, data reflects their best result if students enter multiple applied general (or tech level) qualifications, but students that enter both applied general and tech level qualifications will report outcomes for both unless they are in the same subject. The most recent published data is for the cohort of students at the end of 16 to 18 study in 2022/23 and is available for pass rates, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e869e68e-85ab-4cf7-595d-08dd3479441b, and retention which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e09fafe6-b348-4839-5950-08dd3479441b.Additionally, in 2024 the department included in the T Level Action Plan a retention rate for 16-year-olds starting a large vocational and technical qualification (VTQ) equivalent in size to three A levels in academic year 2021/22, which found that 80% of 16-year-olds were retained within two years of starting their large VTQ. This is based on all relevant aims, and not just each student's core aim. The T Level Action Plan is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66290c86b0ace32985a7e6d6/T_Level_action_plan_-_analytical_annex.pdf.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the recording and monitoring of the number of children being home-schooled in England; and whether her Department has identified any gaps in this data collection.

Keeping children safe is an absolute priority for the government.The department’s elective home education data collection shows that in autumn 2024, local authorities reported 111,700 children in home education. While this data collection is mandatory for local authorities to complete, the numbers reported are based on the voluntary registers of home educated children they hold. Parents are not required to inform their local authority that they are home educating or provide any information for these registers, which means that the data may underestimate the numbers of children in elective home education.That is why this government is going further to identify and support children as part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which is a landmark piece of legislation that will make child-centred government a reality. This Bill will introduce a requirement for all local authorities in England to keep Children Not in School registers and accompanying duties on parents of eligible children and certain out-of-school education providers to provide information for these registers. Local authorities will also have a new duty to provide support to the parents of home educating families on their registers. These proposals will enable local authorities to identify children not in school in their areas and provide support to them and, for those who are not receiving a suitable education or who are at risk of harm, to take action where this is the case.It includes a new requirement for parents to obtain local authority consent before they can home educate if their child is subject to a child protection enquiry or has a child protection plan. Local authorities will also have new powers to require any home educated child to attend school if their home or learning environment is unsuitable. These proposals will strengthen the existing system of oversight for these children.Local authorities have existing duties to safeguard all children in their areas, regardless of where they are educated. Where a child is identified as suffering or likely to be suffering significant harm, the local authority has a duty to investigate and take appropriate action and we expect them to do so. The evidence, such as the most recent Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel annual report, shows that while home education is not an inherent safeguarding risk, some children not in school are at risk of serious harm.

What safeguards are currently in place to ensure the (a) well-being and (b) safety of children who are home-schooled; and whether her Department reviews these safeguards regularly.

Keeping children safe is an absolute priority for the government.The department’s elective home education data collection shows that in autumn 2024, local authorities reported 111,700 children in home education. While this data collection is mandatory for local authorities to complete, the numbers reported are based on the voluntary registers of home educated children they hold. Parents are not required to inform their local authority that they are home educating or provide any information for these registers, which means that the data may underestimate the numbers of children in elective home education.That is why this government is going further to identify and support children as part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which is a landmark piece of legislation that will make child-centred government a reality. This Bill will introduce a requirement for all local authorities in England to keep Children Not in School registers and accompanying duties on parents of eligible children and certain out-of-school education providers to provide information for these registers. Local authorities will also have a new duty to provide support to the parents of home educating families on their registers. These proposals will enable local authorities to identify children not in school in their areas and provide support to them and, for those who are not receiving a suitable education or who are at risk of harm, to take action where this is the case.It includes a new requirement for parents to obtain local authority consent before they can home educate if their child is subject to a child protection enquiry or has a child protection plan. Local authorities will also have new powers to require any home educated child to attend school if their home or learning environment is unsuitable. These proposals will strengthen the existing system of oversight for these children.Local authorities have existing duties to safeguard all children in their areas, regardless of where they are educated. Where a child is identified as suffering or likely to be suffering significant harm, the local authority has a duty to investigate and take appropriate action and we expect them to do so. The evidence, such as the most recent Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel annual report, shows that while home education is not an inherent safeguarding risk, some children not in school are at risk of serious harm.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of free school breakfast programmes on children's health outcomes.

This government is committed to delivering on our pledge to provide free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary aged children. We have made early progress towards this, announcing that up to 750 early adopter schools will be delivering these new breakfast clubs by April 2025. We are clear on the impact that breakfast clubs can have to support children to arrive at school ready to learn and support working parents. Having a healthy breakfast at a club can help children get the energy they need to start the school day so that they are ready to learn.

What the average staff-to-student ratio was in secondary schools (a) nationally and (b) in Basingstoke constituency in each year since 2010.

Information on the school workforce, including the pupil-to-adult and pupil-to-teacher ratios at national, regional, local authority and individual school level, is published in the 'School workforce in England' statistical publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.As of November 2023, which is the latest data available, there were 468,693 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England.The table below provides the pupil-to-adult ratio and the pupil-to-teacher ratio for state-funded secondary schools in Basingstoke constituency and England for the 2010/11 to 2023/24 academic years.Pupil to adult and pupil to teacher ratios for state-funded secondary schools in Basingstoke constituency and England, by year2010/11 to 2023/241 Basingstoke constituency2England Pupil to adult ratio3, 5Pupil to teacher ratio4, 5Pupil to adult ratio3, 5Pupil to teacher ratio4, 52010/1113.815.212.114.82011/1212.817.310.5152012/1311.015.110.414.92013/1410.614.710.314.82014/1510.915.710.414.92015/1610.815.210.615.12016/1712.617.311.015.52017/1811.616.111.315.92018/1912.116.711.616.32019/2012.217.011.916.62020/2112.317.011.916.62021/2212.216.811.916.72022/2312.216.712.016.82023/2412.016.812.016.8Source: School Workforce Census.1. Workforce data as at November and pupil data as at the following January. For instance, 2023/24 relates to November 2023 workforce and January 2024 pupils.2. There were eight secondary schools in Basingstoke constituency in 2010/11 to 2016/17 and seven in 2017/18 to 2023/24.3. Pupil to adult ratio includes teachers and support staff (excluding administrative and auxiliary staff).4. Pupil to teacher ratio includes all teachers.5. The ratios are calculated using pupil numbers taken from the 'Schools, pupils and their characteristics' publication, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

What the average funding per pupil in mainstream schools was in (a) Basingstoke constituency, (b) Hampshire, and (c) England in each year since 2010.

The department cannot provide comparable funding back to 2010 due to the changes in the funding system since that time. The scope of the per pupil funding before and after the 2018/19 financial year are not directly comparable. In particular, funding for the central services provided by local authorities was split out from the schools block funding in the 2018/19 financial year, and instead funded separately through the central school services block from that year onwards.We have therefore provided the links to the published dedicated schools grant (DSG) tables from the 2018/19 to 2024/25 financial years. In these tables we provide average per-pupil funding amounts, split by primary and secondary phase, for each local authority and at national level.As the DSG is allocated at local authority level, DSG allocations are not available broken down to the level of individual constituencies. The individual allocations that schools within Basingstoke constituency receive are determined, each year, by the local funding formula set by Hampshire local authority.Links to the published DSG tables from the 2018/19 financial year onward are below:2018/19: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019.2019/20: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2019-to-2020.2020/21: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2020-to-2021.2021/22: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2021-to-2022.2022/23: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2022-to-2023.2023/24: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2023-to-2024.2024/25: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2024-to-2025.