Commons
Oral Questions
Education
22 June 2026
3 contributions
PE and Sport Premium: Primary Schools
We are determined to reverse the declining rates of activity for children and the stark inequalities we see across the country. We have confirmed £1 billion in funding for PE and school sports over three years to create stronger local partnerships to revitalise PE and school sports.
At the moment, too many children do not have access to sport and are not meeting the recommended 60 minutes of daily activity, so it is critical that we build something that supports schools, like the one the right hon. Gentleman mentioned, with national bodies to provide those opportunities. The fu…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
22 June 2026
3 contributions
SEND Provision: Finance
We are committed to prioritising early intervention and making major increases in investment in SEND, investing £4 billion more over three years. That includes £1.8 billion so that every community has experts on hand, £1.6 billion to settings for early intervention and over £200 million to train eve…
The Government are investing in special educational needs and disabilities, as I have set out. We have set out substantial investment over the next few years. We are currently consulting on special educational needs and disabilities reform. We will set out final plans on that reform after we have ca…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
22 June 2026
9 contributions
SEND: Improvement
Children with special educational needs and disabilities have been let down for too long. We are determined to transform their experiences and outcomes. We are working with young people, parents and professionals to create a system where needs are identified and met early and schools have the traini…
I would be delighted to meet the hon. Member to discuss funding. As he knows, it is an area that we are heavily investing in, with £4 billion going into early intervention to support children with special educational needs and disabilities. We will be consulting on how we fund special educational ne…
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
22 June 2026
3 contributions
Small Rural Schools
The Government recognise the essential role that small schools play in their communities, many of which are in rural areas. The national funding formula for schools accounts for the challenges faced by small schools in rural areas by providing additional funding through the lump sum and the sparsity…
I welcome the hon. Member’s taking the time to meet me to discuss the situation in his constituency and the pressure that falling birth rates are having on small schools. I have subsequently followed up on our conversation by meeting his local council about how we can work in partnership to support …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
22 June 2026
5 contributions
Children of Military Families: Educational Support
We are deeply grateful for the service of military families and recognise the additional pressures that military life puts on the education and family life of those families. We are working closely with colleagues in the Ministry of Defence to address this area. Schools receive service pupil premium…
I am visiting a garrison in North Yorkshire in similar circumstances soon to talk to families and schools about the particular pressures they face in supporting children with that high level of mobility. We are working closely on this matter, as I have set out, particularly through the SEND reforms.…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
22 June 2026
3 contributions
SEND Improvement Plans: Multi-academy Trusts
Through the national consultation and local special educational needs and disabilities reform plans, we are ensuring that multi-academy trusts play a key role in SEND reforms. New national inclusion standards will create shared expectations for all schools around inclusive education, and the SEND re…
The Government will be setting national standards for all schools, including multi-academy trusts. National inclusion standards will be developed by an independent expert panel and all schools will need to ensure they are delivered. We are also introducing new inspections for multi-academy trusts th…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 April 2026
5 contributions
Topical Questions
We are deeply grateful for the service of our armed forces families. I would welcome the opportunity to meet my hon. Friend, and I recently met members of the all-party parliamentary group on the armed forces. We will be bringing forward further admissions reforms shortly.
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that critical issue. It is an area on which we are already working closely with health colleagues, both in our support for families but also in response to children’s SEND needs. We have a meeting later, where we will discuss the matter.
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 April 2026
2 contributions
Multi-academy Trusts
This Government believe that a collaborative school system is the best way to drive high and rising standards, so that every child can achieve and thrive. In our schools White Paper, we have set out how we plan to support further collaboration while improving accountability to deliver the education …
I really welcome the hon. Lady’s question. I absolutely agree that we need to spot the early warning signs of financial failure. That is why we are bringing in a new Ofsted inspection framework for multi-academy trusts that will look at other issues, including governance and financial management.
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 April 2026
3 contributions
Sports Facilities: Secondary Schools
The Government are opening up access to music, art, drama and—crucially—sport. We want schools to have access to high-quality sports facilities so that children can achieve and thrive. The Department is improving school facilities through guidance and rebuilding programmes, with £2.1 billion of capi…
I would like to start by acknowledging the proactive response of the brilliant team at Budmouth academy in response to a recent meningitis case, and I am really pleased to hear how welcome the investment in the school rebuilding programme is at that academy. On top of that investment, the Aspiration…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 April 2026
3 contributions
Supported Internships
Last week we announced an expansion of our supported internships offer to unlock opportunities for more young people with special educational needs and disabilities, so that they can benefit from a seamless transition into the world of work. I have spoken to young people and teachers and heard how t…
I am incredibly grateful for the work of my hon. Friend in championing children with special educational needs and disabilities, both before and during her time as a Member of Parliament, and thank her for bringing her expertise to this discussion. I would be delighted to visit and see some of the w…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
13 April 2026
2 contributions
SEND Provision and Reform
I am grateful for the huge interest across the Chamber in this critically important issue. Tonight, we heard from so many different Members of Parliament the voices of children and families; I thank MPs for the efforts they have made to listen to those children and families, and to bring their voice…
I do not have much time, so I am not going to take interventions. I want to be able to answer the points that have been put to me.
Too many children have been left without provision, and parents try to explain to their children why they are not at school alongside their friends. Too many parents ar…
Commons
Proceedings
18 March 2026
24 contributions
Student Loans
I beg to move
an amendment, to leave out from “House” to the end of the Question and add:
“recognises that the Government inherited the current broken student loans system, including Plan 2, which was devised by previous administrations; welcomes the Government’s commitment to make the system fair…
I think it is really relevant to make sure that the public know who created this system—and not only created it, but froze those loans 10 times over the last 12 years— [ Interruption. ] I know that it is inconvenient for the Conservatives to be reminded of these truths, but we have lived through the…
+22 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
3 March 2026
13 contributions
SEND Provision: Local Authorities
I thank the hon. Member for Dorking and Horley (Chris Coghlan) for his powerful and sobering speech, and for securing the debate. He and I have talked before about his research, which is heartbreaking and demonstrates powerfully the need for change. We have arranged a date for me to visit and speak …
I thank the hon. Member for inviting me to speak to families in her area.
The conversations that I have had have so often been about parents battling for years to get the support that they know their children need, as the hon. Member for Dorking and Horley said, and about the powerlessness they fee…
+11 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
6 contributions
Topical Questions
We are committed to investing in schools. Our plans include an extra £1.6 billion going directly into schools and £1.8 billion going into the wider “experts at hand” service, on top of increasing funding to the schools core budget. In this Parliament, we will continue to grow our investment in both …
I really appreciate the way in which my hon. Friend has been working closely with me on this issue. The Department sets clear financial management expectations for trusts through funding agreements and the academy trust handbook, and we are bringing in inspections of multi-academy trusts to ensure g…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
3 contributions
Speech and Language Therapy
I have talked to so many families who have had to watch their children fall further behind without the speech and language support they need. Alongside measures to address local authority deficits, we are providing £1.8 billion over the next three years for local areas to develop a new “experts at h…
I am happy to reassure my hon. Friend and I thank her for her advocacy on this important issue. We are rebuilding support across the community. Best Start hubs in every community will be supported by £200 million for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and we are investing £40 …
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
2 contributions
SEND Provision: Kent
The Department has worked closely with NHS England to monitor, support and challenge Kent in making necessary SEND improvements following its area SEND inspections in 2019 and 2022. This has included regular review meetings, attendance at its SEND partnership board and commissioning the support of a…
My hon. Friend will know that we have recently announced support to local authorities like Kent in order to address 90% of their deficits. We are building three new special schools in Kent and putting in place £3.7 billion in capital investment, and the allocation for Kent will be coming onboard sho…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
2 contributions
EHCP Backlog: Cambridgeshire
The Department is providing targeted help for Cambridgeshire, including a specialist SEND adviser and sector-led improvement support from Islington council. We are actively monitoring Cambridgeshire’s recovery plan to reduce EHCP backlogs and secure better outcomes for children and families. On Mond…
The hon. Member is right: the timeliness of EHCPs has been unacceptable, and it is something that we are taking seriously. That is why we have put the extra resource in—as part of the schools White Paper, we are putting £200 million directly into councils to support their capacity—but this is someth…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
8 contributions
Supporting Children with SEND
On Monday, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education set out ambitious SEND reforms to ensure the system works better for families and children across England. It is clear that families, and the teachers and wider staff trying to support them, have been failed by the system, and that…
Accountability is a key part of our reforms, which is why Ofsted is now focused on inclusion. We have also brought in Ofsted inspections for multi-academy trusts. I very much enjoyed meeting one of my hon. Friend’s local academies, which is doing brilliant work, but I recognise that we need to put i…
+6 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 February 2026
5 contributions
Young Children’s Screen Time
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for York Outer (Mr Charters) for his really powerful and heartfelt speech.
So much of what my hon. Friend set out today really resonated with me as the mum of a two-year-old. It can be a struggle to sta…
My next sentence was going to be about the National Year of Reading. I have been travelling around the country visiting schools and it has been wonderful to see how they are embracing it. I have been hearing about schools putting on pyjama parties for parents and children to read together, and I hav…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
28 January 2026
5 contributions
Education Funding: Distribution
I thank the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings) for securing this debate on this important matter. I really appreciate her taking the time to meet me and lay out her concerns in person. We had a very constructive conversation. I echo her thanks to all the brilliant teachers and sta…
The stories the hon. Member has collected are unimaginably awful, and I commend him for listening to families and engaging with the Education Committee. We are taking its report very seriously; it is one of the documents informing our approach to reform. Conversations with families around the countr…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
19 January 2026
3 contributions
Topical Questions
I thank my hon. Friend for our recent discussion about this issue. The £3 billion we are investing in schools is precisely for sensory rooms and other investments to make schools more accessible for young people. I would be delighted to join her on a visit.
The new guidance sets out inclusion for all children and the recognition of those relationships. As the hon. Member will know, that is mandatory in secondary school, and we continue to take that work forward.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
19 January 2026
3 contributions
SEND: Blind and Partially Sighted Children
I thank my hon. Friend for her efforts in so brilliantly representing the interests of visually impaired young people and the time that she has spent with me on this important topic. I am delighted to be attending a roundtable this week that she has organised with the Royal National Institute of Bli…
We have commissioned research to strengthen the evidence base of what works to improve inclusive practice in mainstream settings, including for sensory impairment, and I look forward to discussing what more we can do together later this week.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
19 January 2026
3 contributions
Gender Questioning: Guidance in Schools
The Department for Education is currently reviewing the draft non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges on gender-questioning children, looking carefully at the consultation response. We are clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance.
This is about the wellbeing of children and young people, and it is critical that we get it right. It is therefore important that we consider the consultation responses and evidence carefully alongside the view of stakeholders and the Cass review, in order to get the guidance right for young people.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
19 January 2026
3 contributions
Academy Trusts: Governance
Robust governance is crucial to achieving a strong schools system and helping every child to achieve and thrive. The Department has set out new guidance, including the academy trust handbook, setting out core expectations and providing essential support to governors, trustees and governance professi…
I thank my hon. Friend and other colleagues who came to see me a few weeks ago about this issue and the impact it is having on their communities. We continue to work with the trust. The work of multi-academy trusts is crucial for children, families and school staff, and it is right that they are sub…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
19 January 2026
6 contributions
SEND Funding Shortfall
The autumn Budget made it clear that future special educational needs and disabilities funding will be managed as part of overall Government departmental expenditure. We have subsequently set out new investment, including £3 billion for creating 50,000 new specialist places, and £200 million for SEN…
We recognise that the size of deficits that councils are accruing while the statutory override is in place might not be manageable with local resources alone. We will be setting out more information in the local government settlement this year.
+4 more contributions in this session