Written questions by Ribeiro-Addy.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of extreme heat on students' exam performance.

Awaiting answer.

Whether she has considered the potential merits of altering the school exam period to avoid exam dates coinciding with extreme heat waves.

Awaiting answer.

Whether she has considered the potential merits of introducing a maximum safe temperature for schools.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to support schools to remain open during periods of extreme heat.

Awaiting answer.

What guidance she has issued to schools on remaining open during periods of extreme weather.

Awaiting answer.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools are fitted with HVAC units throughout the building.

Awaiting answer.

What steps she is taking to assist schools with monitoring internal temperatures.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending eligibility for free school milk until the end of the Reception year on (a) school readiness, (b) educational attainment and (c) the attainment

I refer my hon. my hon. Friend, the Member for Clapham and Brixton Hill to the answer of 23 June 2026 to Question 9524.

Whether she will be taking steps to update the school food standards to include free school milk entitlement to the end of reception.

I refer my hon. my hon. Friend, the Member for Clapham and Brixton Hill to the answer of 23 June 2026 to Question 9524.

Whether she has considered encouraging the creation of (a) local authority and (b) employer-based pools of supply staff paying in accordance with national teacher pay scales and allowing pension access without

The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework removes excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.To ensure the cap on agency fees is effectively monitored and enforced, the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) holds r...

What steps she is taking to ensure that proposed agency fee caps under the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework are effectively monitored and enforced.

The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework removes excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.To ensure the cap on agency fees is effectively monitored and enforced, the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) holds r...

What steps she is taking to mitigate variations in pay and employment conditions arising from individual school negotiations with agencies under the Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment framework.

The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework removes excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.To ensure the cap on agency fees is effectively monitored and enforced, the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) holds r...

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of school exclusions on (i) children’s (a) long-term educational outcomes, (b) mental health and (c) contact with the criminal justice system and (ii) Black

The department regularly monitors trends in suspension and permanent exclusion rates for various pupil groups and undertakes regular reviews of the evidence concerning the long-term outcomes of pupils who have experienced a suspension or permanent exclusi...

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of setting the annual level of student maintenance support at a level equivalent to a year's salary paid at the National Living Wage for a 36 hour week.

The government is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university. However, it is essential we keep our higher education system financially sustainable.To help students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds progress and excel in higher education, we are future proofing our maintenance offer by increasing loans for living costs in line with forecast inflation every academic year. This approach ensures that students from the lowest income families receive the largest year-on-year cash increases in support and provides long term certainty on the financial support students will receive while studying.The department will also provide extra support for care leavers, who will automatically become eligible to receive the maximum rate of loan from the 2026/27 academic year.Additionally, we are reintroducing targeted, means-tested maintenance grants, providing disadvantaged students with up to £1,000 extra per year on top of existing loans for living costs from the 2028/29 academic year.

What steps she is taking to a) reduce public access to and b) ensure the online security of the Children Not in School Register proposed in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

Section 436C of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill prohibits information from a local authority Children Not in School register being published or made public in a way that would include the name or address of a parent or eligible child or that would identify them. The department will highlight in statutory guidance that we expect registers to be held securely on local authority systems. Local authorities should have an appropriate data protection policy document and privacy notice regarding the processing of personal data and its secure storage and destruction. We are continuing to engage with the Information Commissioner’s office to ensure that appropriate mitigations are in place for any risks identified.

What discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on plans to end the use of strip search powers against minors.

The government is committed to introducing new legal safeguards around the strip search of children. Department officials are working with officials from the Home Office to deliver this important commitment. Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police, and the government is clear that such searches must only be conducted when absolutely necessary in order to protect people, prevent harm, or secure evidence. This must always be done with full regard for the dignity and welfare of the individual involved, particularly where the individual is a child. The ’Searching, Screening and Confiscation guidance for schools’ supports head teachers and staff to fully understand their rights and the rights of the child, so that searching powers are used in a way that ensures schools are calm, safe and supportive environments in which to learn and work.

Pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2025 to Question 95257 on Children: Data protection, whether her Department has consulted with the ICO on the safety of the increased amount of children's data to be held on the Children Not In School Register; and what steps she is taking to ensure this data is protected from data leaks and inappropriate sharing.

The department is engaging with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the Data Protection Impact Assessment for the Children Not in School registers to ensure that all data protection risks have been identified and mitigated before any processing of data begins.The department has also held discussions with both Women’s Aid and the NSPCC, and other domestic abuse organisations, such as SafeLives, on the Children Not in School registers. We recognise the importance of protecting survivors of abuse and have worked with these partners to understand the implications of the Children Not in School measures and how concerns about access to data and identification can be resolved. We will continue this engagement ahead of implementation, including to inform our statutory guidance.We will also commission and deliver training for all local authorities on the Children Not in School requirements and how they interact effectively with home education and alternative education approaches. This will be co-developed and co-delivered by home education representatives, and we will engage with relevant stakeholders, including safeguarding and domestic abuse organisations, as appropriate.Funding will be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2025 to Question 95260 on Home Education, if her Department will publish a forecast of the funding to be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.

The department is engaging with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the Data Protection Impact Assessment for the Children Not in School registers to ensure that all data protection risks have been identified and mitigated before any processing of data begins.The department has also held discussions with both Women’s Aid and the NSPCC, and other domestic abuse organisations, such as SafeLives, on the Children Not in School registers. We recognise the importance of protecting survivors of abuse and have worked with these partners to understand the implications of the Children Not in School measures and how concerns about access to data and identification can be resolved. We will continue this engagement ahead of implementation, including to inform our statutory guidance.We will also commission and deliver training for all local authorities on the Children Not in School requirements and how they interact effectively with home education and alternative education approaches. This will be co-developed and co-delivered by home education representatives, and we will engage with relevant stakeholders, including safeguarding and domestic abuse organisations, as appropriate.Funding will be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2025 to Question 95259 on Home Education, whether home education experts were consulted on any training that may be needed for frontline workers collecting data for the Children Not in School Register.

The department is engaging with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the Data Protection Impact Assessment for the Children Not in School registers to ensure that all data protection risks have been identified and mitigated before any processing of data begins.The department has also held discussions with both Women’s Aid and the NSPCC, and other domestic abuse organisations, such as SafeLives, on the Children Not in School registers. We recognise the importance of protecting survivors of abuse and have worked with these partners to understand the implications of the Children Not in School measures and how concerns about access to data and identification can be resolved. We will continue this engagement ahead of implementation, including to inform our statutory guidance.We will also commission and deliver training for all local authorities on the Children Not in School requirements and how they interact effectively with home education and alternative education approaches. This will be co-developed and co-delivered by home education representatives, and we will engage with relevant stakeholders, including safeguarding and domestic abuse organisations, as appropriate.Funding will be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2025 to Question 95260 on Home Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure any training delivered to local authorities is holistic and trauma informed.

The department is engaging with the Information Commissioner’s Office on the Data Protection Impact Assessment for the Children Not in School registers to ensure that all data protection risks have been identified and mitigated before any processing of data begins.The department has also held discussions with both Women’s Aid and the NSPCC, and other domestic abuse organisations, such as SafeLives, on the Children Not in School registers. We recognise the importance of protecting survivors of abuse and have worked with these partners to understand the implications of the Children Not in School measures and how concerns about access to data and identification can be resolved. We will continue this engagement ahead of implementation, including to inform our statutory guidance.We will also commission and deliver training for all local authorities on the Children Not in School requirements and how they interact effectively with home education and alternative education approaches. This will be co-developed and co-delivered by home education representatives, and we will engage with relevant stakeholders, including safeguarding and domestic abuse organisations, as appropriate.Funding will be provided to support local authorities to fulfil their new duties under the Children Not in School measures.