Written questions by Wilson.

How many two year olds were recorded as eligible for 15 hours of free childcare in the academic year 2024-25; and how many were unable to take up those hours due to shortage of nursery places.

Information on 15 hours free childcare entitlements is published in the education provision: children under 5 years of age statistical publication. The publication is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-provision-children-under-5/2024. Data on the number of two-year-olds eligible for the 15 hours free childcare entitlement for working parents is expected to be published in July 2025. An estimated 154,957 disadvantaged 2-year-old were eligible for 15-hours of free childcare in January 2024. Based on analyses of data from various surveys, an estimated 427,000 three and four-year-olds were eligible for the 30-hour entitlement in January 2024. Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the early education and childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. No local authority is currently reporting a sufficiency concern. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department will discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed, we support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.

How many (a) primary state-funded schools, (b) secondary state-funded schools, (c) sixth-form colleges, (d) 16-18 state-funded vocational colleges and (e) state-funded nursery schools closed in the last 12 months (i) in total and (ii) by region.

Information on closures of state-funded schools, sixth form colleges, vocational colleges and nursery schools is available on the Get Information about Schools (GIAS) website, which can be found here: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Search?SelectedTab=Establishments.GIAS records a number of different reasons for closure, including closure as a result of amalgamation, closure where a school has been replaced by a successor institution (including academy conversions), as well as outright closure of provision.

How many (a) nurseries, (b) primary schools, (c) secondary schools and (d) 16-18 colleges listed on the Schools Rebuilding Programme (i) were scheduled to be and (ii) were (A) complete and (B) in progress by 1 March 2025.

The government has committed £1.4 billion to continue the current School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) in 2025/26, reconfirming our commitment to rebuild or refurbish 518 schools and sixth form colleges across England, prioritising delivery based on need. We have handed over 28 projects, refurbished or rebuilt, in the SRP. All schools within the programme are prioritised for delivery according to the condition of their buildings, readiness to proceed, and efficiency of delivery. Expected delivery timeframes have been communicated to all responsible bodies.Just under half of SRP projects have started various stages of delivery activity. In the next financial year, we plan to increase the number of existing school rebuilding projects on which we will start delivery to 100, from 50 in the 2023/24 financial year and 75 in the 2024/25 financial year, so work can start more quickly.

On what evidential basis she does not plan to renew her Department's contract with Now Teach, in the context of meeting teacher recruitment targets.

Career changers make a valuable contribution to the teaching profession and the department remains committed to recruiting and supporting them into initial teacher training, including as part of our efforts to recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools and our colleges over the course of this Parliament. Our wider offer to all potential teachers, including career changers, supports them through their journey to apply for teacher training and during the critical early years of teaching. This includes the Get Into Teaching service, which offers one-to-one support and advice to all candidates, including career changers. The current contract for the career changers programme will come to its natural end in autumn 2026, with no option to directly renew the contract with Now Teach. The department is currently working with Now Teach to support their exit planning and ensure that the final cohort of trainees complete the programme successfully. We have no plans to reprocure the contract at this stage.The department has contracts with many organisations in support of teacher recruitment and training and continues to fund and support those organisations in line with the terms of the agreed contracts.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of renewing her Department's contract with Now Teach, in the context of meeting teacher recruitment targets.

Career changers make a valuable contribution to the teaching profession and the department remains committed to recruiting and supporting them into initial teacher training, including as part of our efforts to recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools and our colleges over the course of this Parliament. Our wider offer to all potential teachers, including career changers, supports them through their journey to apply for teacher training and during the critical early years of teaching. This includes the Get Into Teaching service, which offers one-to-one support and advice to all candidates, including career changers. The current contract for the career changers programme will come to its natural end in autumn 2026, with no option to directly renew the contract with Now Teach. The department is currently working with Now Teach to support their exit planning and ensure that the final cohort of trainees complete the programme successfully. We have no plans to reprocure the contract at this stage.The department has contracts with many organisations in support of teacher recruitment and training and continues to fund and support those organisations in line with the terms of the agreed contracts.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of career changers on meeting her target of recruiting 6,500 new teachers.

The factor in schools and colleges that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcomes is high-quality teaching. Ensuring a high-quality teaching workforce is therefore critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost life chances for every child. However, this government inherited shortages of qualified teachers across the country as the number of teachers has not kept pace with demographic change. That is why the department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and our colleges over the course of this Parliament.The department has already made good early progress towards this key pledge, including providing a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools, announcing a £233 million initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle, and confirming targeted retention incentives for shortage subjects worth up to £6,000 after tax.We have also taken steps to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing, to support retention and help reestablish teaching as an attractive profession. This includes opportunities for greater flexible working, such as allowing planning, preparation and assessment time (PPA) to be undertaken remotely, and making key resources to support wellbeing, developed with school leaders, available to teachers​.​​​​Career changers make a valuable contribution to the teaching profession and the department remains committed to recruiting and supporting them into initial teacher training, including as part of our efforts to recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers. Our wider offer to all potential teachers, including career changers, supports them through their journey to apply for teacher training and during the critical early years of teaching. This includes the Get Into Teaching service which offers one-to-one support and advice to all candidates, including targeted support for career changers.We are working with the sector to develop our approach as part of the spending review.

What recent progress she has made on recruiting 6,500 new teachers.

The factor in schools and colleges that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcomes is high-quality teaching. Ensuring a high-quality teaching workforce is therefore critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost life chances for every child. However, this government inherited shortages of qualified teachers across the country as the number of teachers has not kept pace with demographic change. That is why the department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and our colleges over the course of this Parliament.The department has already made good early progress towards this key pledge, including providing a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools, announcing a £233 million initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle, and confirming targeted retention incentives for shortage subjects worth up to £6,000 after tax.We have also taken steps to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing, to support retention and help reestablish teaching as an attractive profession. This includes opportunities for greater flexible working, such as allowing planning, preparation and assessment time (PPA) to be undertaken remotely, and making key resources to support wellbeing, developed with school leaders, available to teachers​.​​​​Career changers make a valuable contribution to the teaching profession and the department remains committed to recruiting and supporting them into initial teacher training, including as part of our efforts to recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers. Our wider offer to all potential teachers, including career changers, supports them through their journey to apply for teacher training and during the critical early years of teaching. This includes the Get Into Teaching service which offers one-to-one support and advice to all candidates, including targeted support for career changers.We are working with the sector to develop our approach as part of the spending review.

How her Department is measuring its progress on recruiting 6,500 new teachers; and whether this measurement will account for teachers that leave the profession over the remainder of the Parliament.

The factor in schools and colleges that makes the biggest difference to a young person’s educational outcomes is high-quality teaching. Ensuring a high-quality teaching workforce is therefore critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost life chances for every child. However, this government inherited shortages of qualified teachers across the country as the number of teachers has not kept pace with demographic change. That is why the department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across our schools, both mainstream and specialist, and our colleges over the course of this Parliament.The department has already made good early progress towards this key pledge, including providing a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools, announcing a £233 million initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle, and confirming targeted retention incentives for shortage subjects worth up to £6,000 after tax.We have also taken steps to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing, to support retention and help reestablish teaching as an attractive profession. This includes opportunities for greater flexible working, such as allowing planning, preparation and assessment time (PPA) to be undertaken remotely, and making key resources to support wellbeing, developed with school leaders, available to teachers​.​​​​Career changers make a valuable contribution to the teaching profession and the department remains committed to recruiting and supporting them into initial teacher training, including as part of our efforts to recruit an additional 6,500 new expert teachers. Our wider offer to all potential teachers, including career changers, supports them through their journey to apply for teacher training and during the critical early years of teaching. This includes the Get Into Teaching service which offers one-to-one support and advice to all candidates, including targeted support for career changers.We are working with the sector to develop our approach as part of the spending review.

Whether the pilot scheme to provide support for jurors on the most traumatic cases will be (a) continued and (b) widened to include more courts.

The pilot to test the need for enhanced support will conclude at the end of March and the results will be evaluated to help assess long term support needs for jurors. Those suffering distress as a result of their service are provided with guidance advising them of other services they can access, including the NHS 111 National Mental Health Helpline.

If he will amend the Climate Change Act 2008 to include International Aviation and Shipping in UK carbon budgets.

The sixth carbon budget will include the UK’s share of international aviation and shipping (IAS) emissions for the first time, in line with the previous administration’s announcement in April 2021. The sixth carbon budget has already been set at 965 MtCO2e in the Carbon Budget Order 2021, which reflects that this will include IAS. Including IAS in the carbon budget from a legal perspective means making regulations under s.30 of the Climate Change Act 2008. This Government intends to legislate for IAS inclusion at the earliest possible opportunity, subject to Parliamentary scheduling.

With reference to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, when she will lay regulations on ‘relevant accommodation’ provisions for children deprived of their liberty.

Children who need to be deprived of their liberty for their own safety are some of the most vulnerable in our society and we must do all that we can to keep them safe and help them to achieve and thrive. Better models of care are needed to ensure that these children’s needs can be met. We have commissioned independent research to review emerging provision and will conduct testing in 2025/26 to understand the models of care which provide the best outcomes for these children. We will use these learnings to inform the regulatory requirements for relevant accommodation, to ensure provision meets the needs of this vulnerable cohort of children. As such, we are continuing to consider when we expect to lay the regulations required for this measure to take effect.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in mortgage interest tax relief on private landlords since the inception of those measures in April 2017.

The previous government phased in a set of reforms to restrict finance cost relief to the equivalent of the basic rate of income tax. Before these reforms, it was available at a landlord’s marginal rate. As a result, all individual landlords now receive the same rate of tax relief on their mortgage interest, whereas previously higher rate taxpayers received more generous relief than those on lower incomes. The reforms have also reduced the disparity in income tax treatment between homeowners and landlords.

What steps his Department is taking to support research into the causes of epilepsy.

The Department funds research into epilepsy via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR committed £31.5 million of funding to 28 epilepsy research projects in the five years from April 2019 to March 2024. Additionally, over this period, more than 5,000 people were enabled to participate in epilepsy research by the NIHR Clinical Research Network, now the NIHR Research Delivery Network.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including epilepsy. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on epilepsy to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.The NIHR also works closely with other Government funders, including UK Research and Innovation, which is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and includes the Medical Research Council, to fund research into epilepsy to improve treatments and prevent poor health outcomes for patients.The Medical Research Council spends approximately £3 million each year on epilepsy research, spanning discovery science and fundamental understanding of the disease through to new approaches for diagnosis and intervention

How many dental practices stopped accepting NHS patients in (a) Twickenham and (b) London in each year since 2019.

We do not hold data on the number of practices that have stopped accepting National Health Service patients. NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK website profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. This information is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February to Question 27485, tabled on 29 January 2025 on Parking: Private Sector, if she will issue revised guidance on the operation and management of private parking facilities to private car park companies operating at (a) airports, (b) local authority car parks, (c) NHS sites, (d) supermarkets, (e) rail companies, (f) universities and (g) private residential areas.

The Government is aware of the concerns about the poor practice and behaviour of some parking operators and is determined to drive up standards.The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 places a duty on the Government to prepare a code of practice containing guidance about the operation and management of private parking facilities.This Code will contain guidance for all off-street privately managed car parking facilities.This government is determined to drive up standards in the private parking sector and will announce its plans for the new Code in due course.

If she will make an estimate of the total number of special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs) in all schools.

There were 20,346 special educational needs co-ordinators employed by state-funded schools in England in November 2023, which is the latest data available.Information on the school workforce is published in the ‘School workforce in England’ statistical publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a regulatory and competition authority for private carpark operators.

The Government is aware of the concerns about the poor practice and behaviour of some parking operators and is determined to drive up standards. We are exploring ways to give motorists the best protection and support and continue to engage with both consumer groups and the two parking trade associations. MHCLG does not hold information on the ownership of private car parks, as this is private land not managed or overseen by Government. We will announce our plans regarding the Government code in due course. In the meantime, however, I can confirm that we will consult and assess the impacts of any new measures before those are implemented.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the recommendations of the AQA report entitled Towards new assessments for Numeracy, Literacy and Digital Fluency, published in October 2023.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.The review will be driven by evidence as it seeks to deliver an excellent foundation in the core subjects of reading, writing and mathematics, and considers the key knowledge and skills, including digital, needed for future life.It will also seek to deliver an assessment system that captures the strengths of every child and young person, with the right balance of assessment methods whilst maintaining the important role of examinations.The review group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work. The final report with recommendations will be published this autumn. The department will take decisions on what changes to make to assessment and qualifications in light of these recommendations.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2025 to Question 27485 on Parking: Private Sector, if she will restrict access to DVLA records by private parking companies that consistently issue unfair parking notices.

The law permits the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to release the contact details of the registered keeper of a vehicle where the requester can demonstrate “reasonable cause” for requesting that information, and where a parking operator is a member of a trade association and adheres to sector’s code of practice. The disclosure of keeper details to private parking companies is subject to a range of safeguards to ensure the information is requested and used appropriately. We are exploring ways to give motorists the best protection and support and continue to engage with both consumer groups, two parking trade associations and DVLA.

How much funding has been allocated to each integrated care board in England to provide for child and adolescent mental services for the next financial year.

It is for individual local commissioners to allocate funding to children and young people’s mental health services to meet the needs of their local populations and this information is not collected centrally. Integrated care boards are expected to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard in 2025/26 by increasing their investment in mental health services in line with their overall increase in funding for the year.