Written questions by Hinds.

With reference to paragraph 4.8 of the Autumn Budget 2024, how she plans to allocate the additional (a) SEND and (b) Alternative Provision funding.

The high needs national funding formula (NFF) will be used to allocate high needs funding to local authorities for the 2025/26 financial year. The department is taking more time to consider what changes to the NFF are needed, both to make sure that we establish a fair education funding system that directs funding to where it is needed, and to support any special educational needs and disabilities reforms that will be taken forward. The department is now in the process of calculating the high needs NFF allocations, which will provide local authorities with indicative amounts for 2025/26. We expect to publish those allocations by the end of November 2024.

With reference to paragraph 4.10 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 August 2024, HC 295, how new foundation and shorter apprenticeships are different to the model of traineeships in operation until July 2023.

This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity and to grow the economy. Too many young people are struggling to access high quality opportunities after leaving school and this government wants to ensure that more young people can undertake apprenticeships.The department is beginning work to develop new foundation apprenticeships, which will provide high quality entry pathways for young people.Apprentices are employed, and so as jobs with training, the department’s new foundation apprenticeship offer will start with the needs of employers as well as young people. Foundation apprenticeships will focus on ensuring that training is directed towards skills and staff shortage areas and offer young people a broad training offer with clear, seamless, progression into other apprenticeships.The department will set out more detail on foundation apprenticeships, including the sectors they will be available in, in due course.

With reference to paragraph 4.10 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, when she plans to announce details of new foundation and shorter apprenticeships.

This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity and to grow the economy. Too many young people are struggling to access high quality opportunities after leaving school and this government wants to ensure that more young people can undertake apprenticeships.The department is beginning work to develop new foundation apprenticeships, which will provide high quality entry pathways for young people.Apprentices are employed, and so as jobs with training, the department’s new foundation apprenticeship offer will start with the needs of employers as well as young people. Foundation apprenticeships will focus on ensuring that training is directed towards skills and staff shortage areas and offer young people a broad training offer with clear, seamless, progression into other apprenticeships.The department will set out more detail on foundation apprenticeships, including the sectors they will be available in, in due course.

With reference to paragraph 4.11 of the Autumn Budget 2024, how she plans to allocate the funding for free breakfast clubs between (a) mainstream primary schools, (b) mainstream secondary schools, (c) special schools and (d) other settings.

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 drive improvements to behaviour, attendance and attainment. This will also support parents, supporting them to work the jobs and hours they choose.This funding will support up to 750 early adopters of the new breakfast clubs starting as early as April 2025 to March 2026, as well as enabling continued support for around 2,700 schools currently on the national schools breakfast programme. All state-funded schools in England with primary-aged pupils are eligible to be an early adopter.Once rolled out nationally, breakfast clubs will be available to every school with primary-aged children.

With reference to paragraph 4.11 of the Autumn Budget 2024, whether she plans to fund breakfasts in all primary schools.

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 drive improvements to behaviour, attendance and attainment. This will also support parents, supporting them to work the jobs and hours they choose.This funding will support up to 750 early adopters of the new breakfast clubs starting as early as April 2025 to March 2026, as well as enabling continued support for around 2,700 schools currently on the national schools breakfast programme. All state-funded schools in England with primary-aged pupils are eligible to be an early adopter.Once rolled out nationally, breakfast clubs will be available to every school with primary-aged children.

What steps she is taking to monitor the potential impact of VAT on independent schools on pupil numbers in those schools.

The government predicts that there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private education sector in the UK as a result of the VAT on private schools fees policy, which takes effect from January 2025. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. It is anticipated that 35,000 of these pupils will move into UK state schools in the long-term steady state, with the remainder composed of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling.This increase in the state sector represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The number expected to move before the end of the 2024/25 academic year is around 3,000. The government’s estimate of the number of pupils leaving private schools is within the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ estimated range of 20,000 to 40,000 and is also significantly lower than some other public estimates.The government expects many of these moves to take place at natural transition points, such as from primary to secondary school, or at the beginning of exam courses. The impact on the state education system as a whole is therefore expected to be very small. The government expects the associated revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector to steadily increase to a peak of around £0.3 billion after several years.Differences in local circumstances will mean that the impacts of this policy will vary between parts of the UK. The number of pupils that would have attended private schools seeking state-funded places will vary and this will interact with other local place pressures. Local authorities and schools already have processes in place to support pupils moving between schools, and children move between the private sector and the state-funded sector every year. Local authorities will consider pressures following the removal of the VAT exemption on school fees alongside other pressures as part of the normal place planning cycle. This is business as usual. The department will be monitoring demand and capacity using our normal processes and working with local authorities to meet any pressures.Although the department does not hold information for private schools, data on the numbers of pupils in private schools is collected through the annual school census. The latest data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-53cdc8f7-fc56-4c64-a79d-ccf5047b7616-tables.

With reference to HMRC's policy paper entitled Applying VAT to private school fees, published on 30 October 2024, whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential range of the number of children leaving independent schools; and what estimate she has made of the maximum likely number.

The government predicts that there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private education sector in the UK as a result of the VAT on private schools fees policy, which takes effect from January 2025. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. It is anticipated that 35,000 of these pupils will move into UK state schools in the long-term steady state, with the remainder composed of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling.This increase in the state sector represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The number expected to move before the end of the 2024/25 academic year is around 3,000. The government’s estimate of the number of pupils leaving private schools is within the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ estimated range of 20,000 to 40,000 and is also significantly lower than some other public estimates.The government expects many of these moves to take place at natural transition points, such as from primary to secondary school, or at the beginning of exam courses. The impact on the state education system as a whole is therefore expected to be very small. The government expects the associated revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector to steadily increase to a peak of around £0.3 billion after several years.Differences in local circumstances will mean that the impacts of this policy will vary between parts of the UK. The number of pupils that would have attended private schools seeking state-funded places will vary and this will interact with other local place pressures. Local authorities and schools already have processes in place to support pupils moving between schools, and children move between the private sector and the state-funded sector every year. Local authorities will consider pressures following the removal of the VAT exemption on school fees alongside other pressures as part of the normal place planning cycle. This is business as usual. The department will be monitoring demand and capacity using our normal processes and working with local authorities to meet any pressures.Although the department does not hold information for private schools, data on the numbers of pupils in private schools is collected through the annual school census. The latest data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-53cdc8f7-fc56-4c64-a79d-ccf5047b7616-tables.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Applying VAT to private school fees, published on 30 October 2024, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential impact of the expected increase in the number of pupils at state schools in each (a) age group and (b) region.

The government predicts that there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private education sector in the UK as a result of the VAT on private schools fees policy, which takes effect from January 2025. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. It is anticipated that 35,000 of these pupils will move into UK state schools in the long-term steady state, with the remainder composed of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling.This increase in the state sector represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The number expected to move before the end of the 2024/25 academic year is around 3,000. The government’s estimate of the number of pupils leaving private schools is within the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ estimated range of 20,000 to 40,000 and is also significantly lower than some other public estimates.The government expects many of these moves to take place at natural transition points, such as from primary to secondary school, or at the beginning of exam courses. The impact on the state education system as a whole is therefore expected to be very small. The government expects the associated revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector to steadily increase to a peak of around £0.3 billion after several years.Differences in local circumstances will mean that the impacts of this policy will vary between parts of the UK. The number of pupils that would have attended private schools seeking state-funded places will vary and this will interact with other local place pressures. Local authorities and schools already have processes in place to support pupils moving between schools, and children move between the private sector and the state-funded sector every year. Local authorities will consider pressures following the removal of the VAT exemption on school fees alongside other pressures as part of the normal place planning cycle. This is business as usual. The department will be monitoring demand and capacity using our normal processes and working with local authorities to meet any pressures.Although the department does not hold information for private schools, data on the numbers of pupils in private schools is collected through the annual school census. The latest data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-53cdc8f7-fc56-4c64-a79d-ccf5047b7616-tables.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Applying VAT to private school fees, published on 30 October 2024, if she will make an estimate of potential increases in the number of pupils in secondary state education in each of the next five financial years, broken down by each local authority; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of those increases on levels of available state secondary school education places in those local authority areas.

The government predicts that there will be 37,000 fewer pupils in the private education sector in the UK as a result of the VAT on private schools fees policy, which takes effect from January 2025. This represents around 6% of the current private school population. It is anticipated that 35,000 of these pupils will move into UK state schools in the long-term steady state, with the remainder composed of international pupils who do not move into the UK state system, and domestic pupils moving into homeschooling.This increase in the state sector represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The number expected to move before the end of the 2024/25 academic year is around 3,000. The government’s estimate of the number of pupils leaving private schools is within the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ estimated range of 20,000 to 40,000 and is also significantly lower than some other public estimates.The government expects many of these moves to take place at natural transition points, such as from primary to secondary school, or at the beginning of exam courses. The impact on the state education system as a whole is therefore expected to be very small. The government expects the associated revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector to steadily increase to a peak of around £0.3 billion after several years.Differences in local circumstances will mean that the impacts of this policy will vary between parts of the UK. The number of pupils that would have attended private schools seeking state-funded places will vary and this will interact with other local place pressures. Local authorities and schools already have processes in place to support pupils moving between schools, and children move between the private sector and the state-funded sector every year. Local authorities will consider pressures following the removal of the VAT exemption on school fees alongside other pressures as part of the normal place planning cycle. This is business as usual. The department will be monitoring demand and capacity using our normal processes and working with local authorities to meet any pressures.Although the department does not hold information for private schools, data on the numbers of pupils in private schools is collected through the annual school census. The latest data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics#dataBlock-53cdc8f7-fc56-4c64-a79d-ccf5047b7616-tables.

How many full-time equivalent staff will be allocated to the Supporting Families programme in the 2025-26 financial year; and what grades those staff are.

This government is committed to improving outcomes for children and families, and to continuing to work on the reform agenda of which Early Help and Family help are a part. The Supporting Families programme is funded until March 2025. Any future funding will be determined, as is normal, by the Budget and Spending Review process. Any decisions on staffing will be made through the department’s business planning following the Spending Review.

Whether she has plans to review and amend the Supporting Families programme.

The new government is committed to improving outcomes for children and families and to continuing to consider reforms to include Early Help and Family Help.The Supporting Families programme is funded until March 2025. Any future funding will be determined, as is normal, by the Budget and Spending Review process.

What estimate her Department has made of which secondary planning areas will have a ratio of Year 7 pupil numbers forecast to estimated capacity of (a) greater than one, (b) one, (c) at or above 0.97 and below one and (d) at or above 0.95 and below 0.97 for the 2025-26 academic year; and what steps she (i) has taken and (ii) plans to take to increase capacity in each area.

Information on school place planning estimates for the 2025/26 academic year, including pupil forecasts and estimated capacity, are published at planning area level in the annual School Capacity statistics publication. This can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity. The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. We have already announced allocations up to 2025/26, for places needed by September 2026. Allocations can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations.

What estimate her Department has made of which secondary planning areas will have a ratio of pupil numbers forecast to estimated capacity of (a) greater than one, (b) one, (c) at or above 0.97 and below one and (d) at or above 0.95 and below 0.97 for the 2025-26 academic year; and what steps she (i) has taken and (ii) plans to take to increase capacity in each area.

Information on school place planning estimates for the 2025/26 academic year, including pupil forecasts and estimated capacity, are published at planning area level in the annual School Capacity statistics publication. This can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity. The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. We have already announced allocations up to 2025/26, for places needed by September 2026. Allocations can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations.

What estimate her Department has made of which primary planning areas will have a ratio of pupil numbers forecast to estimated capacity of (a) greater than one, (b) one, (c) at or above 0.97 and below one and (d) at or above 0.95 and below 0.97 for the 2025-26 academic year; and what steps she (i) has taken and (ii) plans to take to increase capacity in each area.

Information on school place planning estimates for the 2025/26 academic year, including pupil forecasts and estimated capacity, are published at planning area level in the annual School Capacity statistics publication. This can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity. The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. We have already announced allocations up to 2025/26, for places needed by September 2026. Allocations can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-need-allocations.

Whether she plans to change the eligibility criteria for free school meals.

The government is driving an agenda of change to break down the barriers of opportunity and to reduce child poverty, working across local and national government to bring about change.Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. That is why the government is committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackling the root causes, and giving every child the best start at life. To support this, a new Ministerial taskforce has been set up to begin work on the Child Poverty Strategy.The department is also committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity so that all children have the freedom to achieve and thrive in education. To support this aim, the government is committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school, to set children up for the day and ensure they are ready to learn, while supporting parents and carers to work.Disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as 16 to 18 year old students in further education, are entitled to receive free meals on the basis of low income. 2.1 million disadvantaged pupils are registered to receive free school meals (FSM) and a further 90,000 are registered to receive further education free meals. In addition, all children in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England's state-funded schools are entitled to Universal Infant Free School Meals, which benefits around 1.3 million pupils. As with all government programmes, we will keep our approach to FSM under review.

Whether she plans to change the eligibility criteria for funding for secondary school breakfast clubs.

The National School Breakfast Club Programme (NSPB) currently provides breakfast clubs in up to 2,700 participating schools, including secondary, in disadvantaged areas, supporting pupils’ attainment, wellbeing, and readiness to learn.The department is making no changes to the existing eligibility criteria for secondary schools participating in the NSBP which runs until July. Future spending commitments, including on the Breakfast Club programme, will be set out as part of the Spending Review process.

Whether her planned spending on the expansion of school breakfast clubs is contingent on the amount of revenue raised from fiscal measures targeted on people with non-domiciled status.

Matters of taxation are for my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Chancellor has announced a Budget on 30 October to be followed by a multi-year Spending Review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future spending will be subject to those events.

What estimate she has made of the number of children who will be eligible for free school meals in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

The department monitors free school meals take up, including through the annual publication of data, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.The department does not regularly publish forecasts.

What estimate she has made of the total amount of public funding for free school meals in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2023-24.

Local authorities receive their core funding for schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Since 2018/19, the DSG allocations have been calculated based on the national funding formula (NFF). The schools NFF includes a ’free school meal (FSM) factor’ which is broadly intended to cover the cost of providing free meals for eligible pupils. In 2023/24, schools received £480 for each eligible primary and secondary pupil through this factor. A total of £842 million was distributed through the FSM factor in financial year 2023/24. In addition to the FSM factor in the NFF, the department also provides additional funding for free meals through the universal infant free school meal (UIFSM) grant. This grant enables all government funded schools to offer FSM to pupils in reception, year 1 and year 2. In the 2023/24 academic year, £626 million was allocated through the UIFSM. The equivalent figures are not available for 2009/10. Prior to the introduction of the NFF in 2018/19, the DSG was calculated in a different way, without a separate ‘FSM factor’. UIFSM was introduced in 2014.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of maintaining real-terms levels of funding for the Holiday Activities and Food programme in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 financial years.

All 153 local authorities in England have been delivering the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays. The future of the HAF programme beyond 31 March 2025 is subject to the next government Spending Review taking place this autumn. The outcome of the review will be communicated in due course.