Written questions by Hayes.

Whether she plans to introduce a national pay framework for teaching assistants.

Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.This government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024.The SSSNB will mean that in future years, employers and employee representatives will come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, including teaching assistants, to ensure they are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The SSSNB will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.Most school support staff, including teaching assistants, are currently employed on National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services pay and conditions. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. Employees covered by the NJC for local government services pay and conditions have been offered a pay increase of 3.2% from 1 April 2025, which is subject to agreement by the recognised NJC unions. The government does not play a role in this process.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) pay freezes and (b) real-terms wage reductions on the teaching assistant workforce.

Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.This government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024.The SSSNB will mean that in future years, employers and employee representatives will come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, including teaching assistants, to ensure they are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The SSSNB will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.Most school support staff, including teaching assistants, are currently employed on National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services pay and conditions. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. Employees covered by the NJC for local government services pay and conditions have been offered a pay increase of 3.2% from 1 April 2025, which is subject to agreement by the recognised NJC unions. The government does not play a role in this process.

What steps she is taking to ensure fair pay for teaching assistants.

Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.This government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024.The SSSNB will mean that in future years, employers and employee representatives will come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, including teaching assistants, to ensure they are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The SSSNB will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.Most school support staff, including teaching assistants, are currently employed on National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services pay and conditions. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. Employees covered by the NJC for local government services pay and conditions have been offered a pay increase of 3.2% from 1 April 2025, which is subject to agreement by the recognised NJC unions. The government does not play a role in this process.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) retention bonuses and (b) bursaries for teaching assistants.

Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education, including for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). They are crucial to ensuring we give children the best possible life chances.This government values and recognises the professionalism of the entire school workforce. That is why we are establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) through the Employment Rights Bill, introduced in Parliament on 10 October 2024.The SSSNB will mean that in future years, employers and employee representatives will come together to negotiate terms and conditions and pay for school support staff, including teaching assistants, to ensure they are properly recognised and rewarded for the work they do. The SSSNB will also be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook and advising on suitable training and career progression routes that recognise the varied and vital roles support staff undertake.Most school support staff, including teaching assistants, are currently employed on National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services pay and conditions. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. Employees covered by the NJC for local government services pay and conditions have been offered a pay increase of 3.2% from 1 April 2025, which is subject to agreement by the recognised NJC unions. The government does not play a role in this process.

How many teaching assistants have left the profession in the last year; and what estimate her Department has made of the cost to schools of this turnover.

Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education in schools across the country.The school workforce census shows that the full-time equivalent (FTE) of teaching assistants has increased each year since 2019/20, rising to 288,800 in 2024/25. This is an increase of 5,900 since 2023/24.A December 2024 departmental survey entitled ‘School and college voice’ found that a large majority of leaders (82%) reported recruiting teaching assistants or learning support staff since January 2024. However, these roles were commonly reported as the hardest to fill.

What assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teaching assistants since 2020.

Teaching assistants play a vital role in children’s education in schools across the country.The school workforce census shows that the full-time equivalent (FTE) of teaching assistants has increased each year since 2019/20, rising to 288,800 in 2024/25. This is an increase of 5,900 since 2023/24.A December 2024 departmental survey entitled ‘School and college voice’ found that a large majority of leaders (82%) reported recruiting teaching assistants or learning support staff since January 2024. However, these roles were commonly reported as the hardest to fill.

Whether funding allocations through the National Funding Formula will allow headteachers to maintain levels of teaching assistant support.

The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning that it will total £65.3 billion, compared to £61.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This is a 6% overall increase, which against the backdrop of a challenging fiscal picture, demonstrates the government’s commitment to enabling every child to achieve and thrive through delivery of the Opportunity Mission.This total includes part of the additional funding announced on 22 May to support schools with the cost of staff pay in the 2025/26 financial year, including for the 3.2% local government pay offer in respect of support staff.Headteachers are ultimately responsible for employment of teaching assistants in their schools, as they are best placed to understand the specific needs of their pupils and make staffing decisions accordingly. To help them to do so, we will support schools to benefit fully from the tools we already offer to benchmark and integrate resourcing and curriculum planning, such as the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. We will also introduce a new toolkit to support schools to adopt evidence-based deployment model.

What steps she is taking to ensure that schools teach about the environment.

The national curriculum in England provides a broad framework within which schools have the flexibility to develop the content of their own curricula. Topics related to the environment can be taught within all key stages of the science and geography curricula. They can also be taught within the citizenship curriculum, which is compulsory at key stages 3 and 4.The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review wants to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work. The Review Group published an interim report on 18 March, and the final report with recommendations will be published in the autumn.

What steps she is taking to increase accessible holiday club provision for SEN children requiring one to one support.

This year, the government is again investing over £200 million in the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, with all local authorities in England. The programme provides healthy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning.The HAF programme funding is primarily for school aged children from reception to year 11 (inclusive) who receive benefits-related free school meals (FSM).While the majority of funding that local authorities receive should be used for holiday club places for children in receipt of FSM, local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children, who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM, but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF provision.Local authorities are responsible for understanding the needs of the children and families in their area and ensuring that the programme reaches those who need it. In addition, they have flexibility in how the programme can be delivered to children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or additional needs, who are in receipt of FSM, ensuring it is tailored to meet the needs of those children and their families.The department’s guidance on the HAF programme 2024 provides key points for local authorities to consider when designing provisions for children with SEND or additional needs. This guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/holiday-activities-and-food-programme/holiday-activites-and-food-programme-2024.The department encourages local authorities to engage with local and national organisations, including special schools with expertise in working with children with SEND or additional needs. Local authorities are obligated to include the numbers of children with SEND or additional needs who have participated in their programme in their post provision reporting to us.Local authorities must ensure there are sufficient school places for all pupils, including those with SEND. The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review (including its sufficiency), working with parents, young people and providers.

Whether there is a mandated process for social services to be informed when a child for whom there has been a (a) Child Protection Plan, (b) Child in Need plan and (c) safeguarding concern raised is removed from school.

Schools are legally required to notify the local authority of a child’s removal from the school roll at a non-standard transition point. This relates to pupils removed from the admission register before completing the final year of education normally provided by the school, or pupils added to the admission register after the start of the first year of education normally provided by that school. Local authorities are legally responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, and for identifying children who are not receiving a suitable education if not in school. Where the latter is the case, they should commence the School Attendance Order process.Statutory guidance is clear on how local authorities, schools and other agencies should work together to help, protect, and promote the welfare of children. Where a child of school age is not a registered pupil at a school and is not receiving suitable education at home, this could be an indicator of neglect, abuse, or exploitation. Local authorities should work closely with schools and other agencies to share information effectively, identify and respond to risks of harm, and ensure children and families receive the services they need.The proposed Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December, contains new measures which, if the bill is passed, will require 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 would also have new powers under the bill to require any home educated child to attend or remain in school if their home or learning environment is deemed unsuitable.

What steps she is taking to expand (a) skills training and (b) apprenticeship schemes in the (i) renewable energy and (ii) energy efficiency sectors.

The government is committed to the UK becoming a Clean Energy Superpower, achieving clean power by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2050.The government is working to ensure that the current and future skills system in England supports workers to retrain for the low carbon economy, including for critical sectors such as renewable energy and energy efficiency. The department’s initiatives include the new growth and skills offer, which will prioritise investment that supports economic growth, increases opportunity, better meets employers’ skills needs and increases investment in skills shortage areas. The Autumn Budget 2024 announced an additional £300 million for our further education (FE) sector, as well as £300 million of capital funding for FE condition, to support the development of the skills the country needs.Over 40 of the occupational standards that underpin technical education in England directly support the clean energy industry. Others support insulation and energy efficiency in construction.The government is committed to delivering the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, which will launch in the 2026/27 academic year for courses starting from January 2027. This will broaden access to high-quality, flexible education and training by providing funding for full courses as well as modules of high-value courses. Skills Bootcamps are available to support the workforce to gain new skills, including skills for the low carbon economy.Skills England is a new national body which will bring together key partners to meet the skills needs of the next decade across all the regions and create a shared national ambition to boost England’s skills. It will provide authoritative assessments of skills needs, ensure a comprehensive suite of apprenticeships, training, and technical qualifications and work with devolved areas and regional organisations to ensure skills needs are met.Skills England will work closely with the Office for Clean Energy Jobs at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which has been set up with a focus on developing a skilled workforce in core energy and net zero sectors. Skills England published its first report in September, highlighting the skills needed to support targets on net zero, the Clean Energy Mission and UK targets for environmental improvements.Designated employer representative bodies are leading local skills improvement plans (LSIPs) across England. Education and training providers must have regard to the LSIP when making decisions on relevant provision. In order to approve an LSIP, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education must be satisfied that due consideration was given to the skills, capabilities and expertise required for jobs that directly contribute to, or indirectly support, net zero targets and adaptation to climate change or that meet other environmental goals.

What steps she is taking to ensure that breakfast clubs in primary schools are accessible for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Breakfast clubs will mean that many more pupils get a supportive start to the day and are ready to learn. They will also benefit parents and mean that many pupils who would not otherwise have had breakfast will be well fed to start the day.As confirmed at the Autumn Budget 2024, this government will triple the investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million in the 2025/26 financial year, enabling 750 early adopter schools to open breakfast clubs from April 2025. All state-funded schools, including special and alternative provision schools, will be eligible to apply. Details on the application process for schools will follow shortly.The department recognises that there will be barriers, such as staffing and transport, to opening breakfast clubs for some schools, including special and alternative provision schools. The early adopter programme will allow us to test and learn how best to overcome such barriers and refine the department’s support and advice to schools to ensure the programme works for these schools.

What steps she is taking to ensure that primary level special schools receive funding for breakfast clubs.

Breakfast clubs will mean that many more pupils get a supportive start to the day and are ready to learn. They will also benefit parents and mean that many pupils who would not otherwise have had breakfast will be well fed to start the day.As confirmed at the Autumn Budget 2024, this government will triple the investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million in the 2025/26 financial year, enabling 750 early adopter schools to open breakfast clubs from April 2025. All state-funded schools, including special and alternative provision schools, will be eligible to apply. Details on the application process for schools will follow shortly.The department recognises that there will be barriers, such as staffing and transport, to opening breakfast clubs for some schools, including special and alternative provision schools. The early adopter programme will allow us to test and learn how best to overcome such barriers and refine the department’s support and advice to schools to ensure the programme works for these schools.

What steps she is taking to ensure that breakfast clubs in primary schools are accessible for children with special educational needs and disabilities who receive school transport.

Breakfast clubs will mean that many more pupils get a supportive start to the day and are ready to learn. They will also benefit parents and mean that many pupils who would not otherwise have had breakfast will be well fed to start the day.As confirmed at the Autumn Budget 2024, this government will triple the investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million in the 2025/26 financial year, enabling 750 early adopter schools to open breakfast clubs from April 2025. All state-funded schools, including special and alternative provision schools, will be eligible to apply. Details on the application process for schools will follow shortly.The department recognises that there will be barriers, such as staffing and transport, to opening breakfast clubs for some schools, including special and alternative provision schools. The early adopter programme will allow us to test and learn how best to overcome such barriers and refine the department’s support and advice to schools to ensure the programme works for these schools.

If she will take steps to improve collaboration between local authorities and multi-academy trusts in the delivery of SEND education in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area.

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. This work forms part of the government’s Opportunity Mission, which will break the unfair link between background and opportunity, starting with giving every child, including those with SEND, the best start in life.Excellence exists in all parts of our school system, and this government believes schools can perform best when they collaborate with each other and with their local community. That is why, in the King’s Speech, the government committed to legislating on requiring all schools to cooperate with their local authorities on issues such as school inclusion and place planning.This government wants to work with all parts of our school system so that together we can ensure there is strong partnership and high quality collaboration, especially around the sharing of expertise and good practice, that helps deliver an exceptional education for children and young people with SEND. I expect all schools, regardless of type, to support each other, to drive a self-improving system.Departmental officials work closely with both Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local authority and academy trusts to bring all parts of the system together. The department will continue with its work with the local area to ensure that they deliver further improvements in services.

What steps her Department is taking to increase the availability of pastoral support for (a) children and (b) young people.

Schools and colleges are best placed to decide what pastoral support to put in place to meet the needs of their pupils. Pastoral support should promote good mental wellbeing and respond to emerging issues. There is a range of support available to schools, including a government-commissioned mental wellbeing toolkit, which is available here: https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/targeted-support/.This practical guide and tool were designed to help schools and colleges identify and embed the most effective targeted support options for their setting.To ensure the right support is available to every young person that needs it, the department has committed to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school. As of April 2024, Mental Health Support Teams cover 44% (4.2 million) of pupils in schools and learners in further education (FE) in England and are expected to cover at least 50% by the end of March 2025. The government will also be putting in place new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and will recruit an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.Pastoral support is also available to children and young people in other education settings.The department continues to work closely with the FE sector to promote and support providers to develop and implement a whole college approach to mental health and wellbeing. This is supported by the Association of Colleges refreshed Mental Health and Wellbeing Charter, published in March 2024. The department encourages colleges to sign up to effectively integrate a whole-college approach.To raise standards for mental health support in the higher education sector, the Office for Students has provided £400,000 of funding to the student mental health charity, Student Minds. This has enabled significant expansion of the University Mental Health Charter Programme, with 113 universities now signed up. The programme helps universities to adopt a whole-institution approach to mental health, bringing universities together to drive forward continuous improvement in mental health support for students.For early years, the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards and requirements all early years providers must meet to ensure that children have the best start in life and are kept healthy and safe. It sets out the importance of strong, warm and responsive relationships between staff and children. The framework is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.The EYFS also states that each child must be assigned a key person. Their role is to help ensure that every child’s care is tailored to meet their individual needs to help the child become familiar with the setting, offer a settled relationship for the child and build a relationship with their parents and/or carers.

With reference to the report by the Sutton Trust entitled Lessons Learnt, published on 28 October 2024, if she will make her policy to (a) review and (b) reform the pupil premium.

Every child, regardless of background, deserves the opportunity to progress and succeed in school and beyond, and this government is committed to breaking the link between young people’s backgrounds and their future success. The department is fully focused on supporting the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. That is why removing barriers to opportunity and raising school standards are at the heart of our mission to transform life chances and ensure all children can achieve and thrive. The department is providing over £2.9 billion of pupil premium funding in 2024/25 to improve the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils in England.The department will continue to take time to consider the various funding formulae going forward, recognising the importance of establishing a fair funding system that directs funding where it is needed. We will consider the pupil premium as part of that process, and decisions on pupil premium funding for 2025/26 will be taken later this year.The department will continue to support schools to achieve maximum impact from the pupil premium.

What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for post-16 education.

Funding for post-16 education has been discussed with my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.As announced in the Budget, the government is providing an additional £300 million for further education to ensure young people are developing the skills they need to succeed.

What assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the attainment gap for pupils in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council area.

Removing barriers to opportunity and driving high and rising standards at all schools are at the heart of the government’s opportunity mission which aims to transform children’s life chances.The Education Policy Institute's Annual Report 2024 outlined that the disadvantage gap in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is 10.2 months at the end of key stage 2 and that this grows to 16.1 months at the end of key stage 4. Far too many disadvantaged children are being failed and this government is determined to change this by raising standards and creating opportunities for all our children enabling them to achieve and thrive.This is why the department has already started work to recruit an additional 6,500 expert teachers and has launched an independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review that will look closely at key challenges to attainment.The department is also committed to making quick progress to deliver on its commitment to offer breakfast clubs in all state-funded primary schools, ensuring every primary school child is well prepared for school. The government confirmed it will triple its investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million in the 2025/26 financial year to help ensure children are ready to learn at the start of the school day and help to drive improvements to behaviour, attendance, and attainment.Alongside this, pupil premium funding is allocated to schools to support the educational outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and is worth over £2.9 billion in the 2024/25 financial year.Departmental officials also continue to work closely with the multi-academy trusts and schools in the area to promote continued collaboration, sector-led networks and initiatives to remove barriers to opportunity for all children in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

If her Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of funding for education health and care plans.

The department is acutely aware of the financial pressures that local authorities are facing because of the increasing cost of supporting children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans. The department is acting as quickly as it can to respond to these cost pressures. In the meantime, local authorities are responsible for securing appropriate support for all children with EHC plans.Funding for the 2025/26 financial year will be announced following the first stage of the government’s spending review, which is due to conclude on 30 October.