Written questions by O'Brien.

What the real terms cost to the public purse is of Free School Meals in 2025-26; and what she expects this to be in future years.

The department published information on pupil free school meal eligibility in the annual Schools, Pupils and Characteristics publication, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25. The most recent data is based on the January (spring) school census. Under current eligibility criteria, the department spends around £1.5 billion on free lunches annually. We estimate that over 500,000 additional children will benefit from expanded free school meal eligibility from September 2026, net of the ending of transitional protections, based on data which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/estimate-of-additional-children-claiming-free-school-meals-following-expansion-of-eligibility/2025. We have set aside over £1 billion in additional funding over the multi-year spending review period to cover meal costs.

How many medical school places he expects there to be in each year up to 2031.

The total maximum fundable limit for medical school places in England set by the Office for Students is 8,230 places for the 2025/26 academic year. The limit is confirmed on an annual basis.We will publish a new 10 Year Workforce Plan later this year to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

How many and what proportion of pupils she expects to be eligible for Free School Meals (a) this year and (b) in future years.

The department published information on pupil free school meal eligibility in the annual Schools, Pupils and Characteristics publication, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25. The most recent data is based on the January (spring) school census. Under current eligibility criteria, the department spends around £1.5 billion on free lunches annually. We estimate that over 500,000 additional children will benefit from expanded free school meal eligibility from September 2026, net of the ending of transitional protections, based on data which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/estimate-of-additional-children-claiming-free-school-meals-following-expansion-of-eligibility/2025. We have set aside over £1 billion in additional funding over the multi-year spending review period to cover meal costs.

How much she plans to spend on the Best Start for Life programme in the (a) 2026-27, (b) 2027-28 and (c) 2028-29 financial years.

The department has allocated close to £1.5 billion over the next three financial years on improving family services and early years education. This funding includes both programme and capital funding, and is separate from the additional funding being provided for early years entitlements.

Representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2025 to Question 63010 on Church of England: Slavery, how much has been spent on this project so far.

From 2019 to the end of the financial year 31 December 2024 inclusive, the Church Commissioners' expenditure in connection with Project Spire was approximately £1 million. This is related to commissioning research and developing our formal responseThe Church Commissioners' spending in this period relates to forensic accountancy, risk management, consultation, engagement events, communications, governance and ancillary matters. This figure does not include any estimate of internal staff time, as it is not possible to separate this from the general administration of the Church Commissioner's Secretariat and would incur a disproportionate cost to the organisation.

What estimate she has made of the cost of the new prison at Gartree in Leicestershire.

The value of the main works for the new prison next to HMP Gartree is planned to be published later this year.

How much his Department has allocated for the (a) advertising and (b) promotion of the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy 2025, published 23 June 2025 in the (i) 2025-26 and (ii) 2026-27 financial years; and how much and what proportion of this will be spent on advertising in newspapers.

Marketing including paid advertising is necessary to reach a target audience of senior business decision makers, raising awareness of the UK’s new modern industrial strategy and the opportunities it presents for business growth. The Department of Business and Trade declares all advertising and media spend above £25,000 through its monthly transparency reporting process. These figures are published on gov.uk.

Representing the Church Commissioners, what the source of the £100 million fund for healing, repair and justice as part of Project Spire is.

I refer the Hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston to the written answer to his question published on 21st March 2025 (UIN 29047). Subject to Charity Commission authorisation the Church Commissioners intends to settle income from its general fund on a new charitable fund through which the Church Commissioners intends to deliver Project Spire.

Representing the Church Commissioners, for what reason the Church Commissioners have spent £5 million on Project Spire prior to approval from the Charity Commission.

The Church Commissioners has not spent that sum in connection with its response to historic links to African chattel enslavement (known by the project name Spire). Expenditure on this work to date has been limited to proportionate research into the Church Commissioners’ source of funds and consideration of its response to that history, with a view to maintaining public trust in the charity; and in connection with proper steps to explore regulatory authorisation by the Charity Commission.

Whether she plans to reinstate two weeks of compulsory work experience in schools.

Earlier this year, we updated the careers statutory guidance reflecting the revised Gatsby Benchmarks of good careers guidance and included the new definition of meaningful workplace experiences to raise the quality of work experience.In this guidance we also set out the vision for this government’s priority for the delivery of two weeks’ worth of meaningful work experience for all pupils over the course of their secondary education, irrespective of background.Building on the Gatsby Benchmark 6 definition for Experiences of Workplaces, we will ensure that all pupils have multiple, meaningful and varied high-quality workplace experiences, including one weeks’ worth of workplace activities between years 7-9 and one weeks’ worth of work placement between years 10-11, progressively increasing their exposure to different places of work.We are currently piloting a new flexible model of work experience, designed to reduce barriers for young people, schools and employers. The department will set out more details of the work experience guarantee in due course.

On what projects her Department plans to spend the revenue raised from VAT on independent school fees in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 financial years; and how much she plans to allocate to each project.

The Government has taken a number of decisions on tax to stabilise the public finances and support public services. Ending tax breaks for private schools will raise £1.8bn a year. To raise school standards for every child, and break down the barriers to opportunity, the government will increase the core schools budget by £2.0bn in real terms over this Spending Review (2023-24 to 2028-29). This provides a £4.7bn cash increase per year by 2028-29 (compared to 2025-26), which ensures average real terms growth of 1.1% a year per pupil.

Whether there is CCTV coverage of the perimeter of RAF Brize Norton.

RAF Brize Norton has CCTV in operation that enables remote coverage of base areas which is part of the multilayered approach to security on site.The Defence Secretary has ordered that a full security review be conducted at pace, not only at Brize Norton, but across the defence estate.

How many people in prison for offences of (a) violence against the person, (b) sexual offences, (c) robbery, (d) theft offences, (e) criminal damage and arson, (f) drug offences, (g) possession of weapons, (h) public order offences, (i) miscellaneous crimes against society, (j) fraud offences, (k) summary non-motoring, (l) summary motoring and (m) offence not recorded are of (i) Asian or Asian British, (ii) Black or Black British, (iii) Mixed, (iv) White, (v) Chinese or other, (vi) not stated and (vii) unrecorded ethnicity.

The requested information is shown in the attached table.

What assessment she has made of the level of plagiarism in the education sector; and what steps her Department is taking to tackle plagiarism.

Cheating of any kind is unacceptable. It threatens to undermine the reputation of our world-class education sector and devalues the hard work of those who succeed on their own merit.Ofqual require Awarding Organisations to have robust policies and procedures in place to prevent, detect, and deal with malpractice, including plagiarism.The Joint Council for Qualifications have published guidance to support schools and colleges to identify and address concerns about plagiarism in exams and assessments, which can be found at: https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/malpractice/plagiarism-in-assessments---guidance-for-teachersassessors/.Higher education providers are independent bodies responsible for their own approaches to preventing academic misconduct by students, including plagiarism, but are regulated in relation their assessment practices by the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS sets the expectation that assessments must be designed in a way that minimises opportunities for misconduct and facilitates its detection where it does occur.

How much funding she plans to provide to (a) the National Careers Service, (b) the Education and Training Foundation, (c) WorldSkills UK and (d) the Careers and Enterprise Company in the 2025-26 academic or financial year.

As part of our Plan for Change, the government is investing in skills in order to drive economic growth and break down barriers to opportunity. The overall programme resource budget for apprenticeships, further education and higher education in the 2025/26 financial year is £15.8 billion. This includes funding for the National Careers Service, the Education and Training Foundation, WorldSkills UK, and the Careers and Enterprise Company.

How many children were prescribed antidepressants in each year since 2007.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) holds data going back to April 2015, but not prior to this date. The following table shows the total number of patients aged 17 years old and under that were prescribed antidepressants for the financial years 2015/16 to 2023/24:Financial yearTotal identified patients aged 17 years old and under2015/1665,5942016/1765,4282017/1865,5552018/1967,6312019/2068,7942020/2165,2662021/2271,2512022/2371,2632023/2466,483Source: NHSBSA Statistical Collections, available at the following link: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/medicines-used-mental-health-englandThese cover antidepressants prescribed in England that are then dispensed in the community in England, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands.

How many and what proportion of looked after children (a) were and (b) were not Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children in each year since 2005.

Information on the number of looked after children, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC), is submitted to the department on an annual basis and is published at local authority level in our statistical release at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.Figures on the number of UASC in each year since 2005 can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/32f71e7b-83b1-4494-96d7-08dd85738b16. This table also provides data on all children looked after at 31 March from which the number and proportion of non-UASC can be calculated. Similarly, the percentage of UASC can also be derived from this table.

With reference to her Department's transparency data entitled Breakfast clubs early adopters: schools in the scheme, published on 24 February 2025 and updated on 22 April 2025, for what reason 79 schools are no longer taking part in the scheme.

I refer the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston to the answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 47782.

With reference to the Answer of 28 June 2019 to Question 267249 on Schools: Closures, what the (a) postcode, (b) local authority area and (c) rural and urban classification is of each school that has closed with no direct replacement provision in each year since 21 June 2019.

Information on closures of state-funded schools, including the urban/rural classification for each school, is available on the Get Information about Schools (GIAS) website, which can be found here: https://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.

What number and proportion of Level 7 apprenticeship (a) starts and (b) completions were for people aged (i) under 22 and (ii) 22 or over, in each year for which data is available.

The attached file shows level 7 apprenticeship starts and achievements for the 2015/16 to 2023/24 academic years broken down by learner age as requested.