Written questions by Morton.

What additional support, will be provided to West Midlands councils in 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 to manage growing SEND costs.

The government has announced plans to address deficits through making available the High Needs Stability Grant, which will cover 90% of all local authorities‘ high needs dedicated schools grant (DSG) deficits accumulated to the end of the 2025/26 financial year, subject to the authority submitting and securing the department approval for a local special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform plan.Safety Valve agreements will come to an end and will be replaced by the new, wider approach to managing DSG deficits and delivering reform across all local areas.For the 2025/26 financial year, total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £12 billion. Of that total, the West Midlands is being allocated over £1.2 billion through the high needs funding block of the DSG. Of that amount, Walsall Council is being allocated over £67 million.

Whether the Government will maintain or reform the “safety valve” and “deliverability” programmes for local authorities following the centralisation of SEND funding; and how councils such as Walsall will be supported in the interim years until 2028-29.

The government has announced plans to address deficits through making available the High Needs Stability Grant, which will cover 90% of all local authorities‘ high needs dedicated schools grant (DSG) deficits accumulated to the end of the 2025/26 financial year, subject to the authority submitting and securing the department approval for a local special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform plan.Safety Valve agreements will come to an end and will be replaced by the new, wider approach to managing DSG deficits and delivering reform across all local areas.For the 2025/26 financial year, total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND is over £12 billion. Of that total, the West Midlands is being allocated over £1.2 billion through the high needs funding block of the DSG. Of that amount, Walsall Council is being allocated over £67 million.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill on multi-academy trusts.

I refer the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills to the answer of 22 April 2025 to Question 903828.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 83833 on Schools: Employers' Contributions, what estimate she has made of the proportion of the £3.7 billion increase in school funding for 2025-26 that will be used to meet additional costs associated with increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions.

As part of the £3.7 billion increase in funding for schools in the 2025/26 financial year, the department is providing mainstream schools and high needs settings with over £930 million to support them with the increases to employer national insurance contributions (NICs) from April 2025.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions on levels of redundancies in schools.

School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning that core school budgets will total £65.3 billion, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This includes the additional funding being provided to support schools and high needs settings, with the increases to employer National Insurance contributions from April 2025.

What steps her Department is taking to provide information on vocational pathways to young people in the same way as information on university pathways.

The department has legislated to ensure that young people are supported to develop the knowledge and understanding of all pathways at key transition points. Schools have a legal duty to provide at least six opportunities for all pupils, during school years 8 to 13, to meet providers of approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships.A range of digital and in-person support is also available through the Apprenticeship and T Levels Ambassador networks and the Skills for Careers apprenticeships support page. The page can be found here: https://www.skillsforcareers.education.gov.uk/pages/training-choice/apprenticeships.We fund the Careers and Enterprise Company to oversee a national network of 44 careers hubs that bring together schools, colleges and employers to improve the quality of careers programmes for young people. Over 400 leading employers and 3,700 business volunteers inspire young people about a range of exciting career opportunities, including the vocational and academic pathways into their sectors.Careers hubs use data and frontline insight to support conversations about barriers to take up of technical and vocational pathways. Local partners devise solutions to meet local needs.

Whether she is taking steps to improve the (a) HR and (b) strategy support provided by her Department to SMEs to help take on apprentices.

This government is continuing to cut red tape and simplify the apprenticeships system so that employers, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can focus on supporting apprentices.The government has already introduced a range of system improvements in response to employer and learner needs, including a more streamlined and timely approach to apprenticeship assessment that is being rolled out. The department has also redesigned the digital apprenticeship service to make access to apprenticeships a one-click process. This reduces the time employers have to spend entering information and approving digital apprentice records, removing significant administrative burdens on SMEs.The department is also improving the apprenticeships payments system to reduce the actions required by employers. From August 2025, we will allow training providers to add new apprenticeships on the apprenticeship service. Employers will still have ownership and need to approve all new apprenticeships added.

What steps her Department is taking to help tackle barriers to employers engaging with the (a) apprenticeship and (b) training system.

Our Industrial Strategy sets out the interventions we will make to help tackle barriers to employer engagement with the skills system. This includes introducing shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in priority sectors, the introduction of short courses in England, funded through the Growth and Skills Levy, from April 2026, and three packages targeted at skills needed in multiple Industrial Strategy sectors (digital, engineering, and the defence sector), building on our £625 million construction skills package to train up to 60,000 extra construction workers – crucial for delivering on our pledge to build 1.5 million new homesThis investment will be underpinned by deeper employer partnerships including launching Technical Excellence Colleges to develop pipelines of skilled workers for local businesses.The Chair of Skills England, in partnership with the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council, will explore how employers, individuals and local and central government work together to address national skills needs, to support jobs of the future in the growth-driving sectors, and in particular opportunities for further business engagement and investment into the skills pipeline.

What steps she is taking to encourage SMEs to participate in the apprenticeships scheme.

I refer the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills to the answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37179.

What estimate she made of the number of apprenticeship starts in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2023-24.

The number of apprenticeship starts in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency are published in the apprenticeships accredited official statistics publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/2d7a8365-ec14-40eb-96d3-08dd85738b16.These were last published in March 2025. They include full year figures for the 2023/24 academic year, and year to date figures for the 2024/25 academic year.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of ringfencing the skills levy for funding apprenticeships.

I refer the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills to the answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 40142.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing measures in connection with the Growth and Skills Levy to protect funding for (a) SMEs and (b) young people.

This government has committed to widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer, which will offer greater flexibility to employers and learners and align with the industrial strategy.As a first step, this will include shorter duration apprenticeships and new foundation apprenticeships for young people. These will help more people learn high-quality skills at work, give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives, and support the pipeline of new talent that employers will need to drive economic growth.Construction will be one of the key sectors that will benefit from foundation apprenticeships from August 2025, backed by an additional £40 million, and shorter duration apprenticeships will also be possible from August 2025.The government recognises the importance of ensuring the growth and skills offer supports small and medium-sized employers (SMEs) to access apprenticeships. Development of the offer will be informed by the results of Skills England’s analysis and engagement, including on where flexibilities will be most helpful for employers, including SMEs.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of fully funding apprenticeships for under-22s in SMEs on apprenticeship starts to date.

Since April 2024, the government pays 100% of apprentice training costs, up to the funding band maximum, for non-levy paying employers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 21, and apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care plan or have been in local authority care.Apprenticeship statistics, including starts by young people, can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.

How many new Full-Time Equivalent jobs in Ofsted are being created to support the transition to School Report Cards.

These are matters for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing one-word Ofsted judgements on parental (a) engagement and (b) understanding.

These are matters for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

What information her Department holds on the number of children who transferred from private to state schools in the first three months of (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.

Data on pupil numbers in the state-funded and private school sectors is collected in January and published in June each year. This shows how pupil numbers at different types of school have changed over time.In January 2023 there were 591,954 pupils in independent schools. In January 2024, this number had increased by 1,532 to 593,486.This data is published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f3ef2b69-9a02-4040-1972-08dd660c60ce. Pupil numbers for January 2025 will be published in June 2025.

What steps her Department is taking to help support state schools with trends in the level of demand for state school places following the application of VAT to private school fees.

As set out in HM Treasury’s tax information and impact note published on GOV.UK, the introduction of VAT is anticipated to have a very limited impact on the number of pupils in state and private schools. The department has not seen any evidence that contradicts the expectations set out in the government’s impact assessment.Ending tax breaks on private schools will help raise around £1.8 billion per year by the 2029/30 financial year for investment in public services, including state-funded education which serves 94% of children. This will help break down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education.​Local authorities are responsible for securing school places for children in their area. Pupil numbers in schools fluctuate for a number of reasons, and the school funding system is already set up to manage that. The department provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support the provision of mainstream school places, based on local authorities’ own pupil forecasts and school capacity data.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the application of VAT on private school fees on the (a) accessibility and (b) quality of state education.

As set out in HM Treasury’s tax information and impact note published on GOV.UK, the introduction of VAT is anticipated to have a very limited impact on the number of pupils in state and private schools. The department has not seen any evidence that contradicts the expectations set out in the government’s impact assessment.Ending tax breaks on private schools will help raise around £1.8 billion per year by the 2029/30 financial year for investment in public services, including state-funded education which serves 94% of children. This will help break down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education.​Local authorities are responsible for securing school places for children in their area. Pupil numbers in schools fluctuate for a number of reasons, and the school funding system is already set up to manage that. The department provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support the provision of mainstream school places, based on local authorities’ own pupil forecasts and school capacity data.

What steps her Department is taking to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to offer apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships can support small and medium sized employers (SMEs) to improve their skills base, boost productivity and develop a pipeline of future talent.To support non-levy paying employers, usually SMEs, to offer apprenticeships, the government pays the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21 years-old, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 years-old who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care. For all other apprentices, employers who do not pay the levy are required to co-invest 5% towards apprentice training costs.Employers of all sizes can also benefit from £1,000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18 years-old, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 years-old who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care. This is in recognition of the additional support that younger apprentices may require when entering employment. Employers can choose how they spend these payments.Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 where they earn less than £967 a week (£50,270 a year).Employers that need help with employing an apprentice, including accessing funding, can access the employer support GOV.UK page, which is available here: https://help.employersupport.apprenticeships.gov.uk/hc/en-gb.The apprenticeship ambassador network is a group of employers and former and current apprentices. Around 35%of the employers are SMEs. Their remit is to inspire greater numbers of employers and individuals to connect with apprenticeships.