Written questions by Lowe.

Whether her Department has had correspondence with Wandsworth Council on external-speaker sessions in local schools on (a) migration and (b) asylum since January 2024.

Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.

Whether her Department has issued guidance to schools on ensuring that classroom discussions involving people who have entered the UK illegally do not (a) compromise safeguarding standards and (b) expose pupils to political messaging.

Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.

What discussions her Department has had with the Quality First Education Trust regarding (a) classroom sessions and (b) external speaker events addressing (i) migration and (ii) asylum issues in the 2024/25 academic year.

Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.

What oversight her Department exercises over academy trusts that invite external speakers to address pupils on politically sensitive issues.

Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.

What guidance her Department provides to schools on obtaining parental consent before children participate in classroom sessions involving external speakers discussing their personal experiences of (a) irregular and (b) illegal migration.

Under sections 406 and 407 of the Equality Act 1996, schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure that pupils are provided with a balanced treatment of political issues.To support this, the department has published comprehensive guidance to support schools to meet their duties on political impartiality. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.The guidance states that all schools should thoroughly assess external agencies before agreeing to work with them, ensuring that the external agencies used, including materials and communication with pupils, are appropriate and adhere to schools’ legal duties on political impartiality.The guidance also sets out that most issues can be resolved locally through their existing processes for engaging with parents, carers and the wider school community, and that schools should treat concerns seriously.Additionally, all schools and colleges must have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance when carrying out their duties, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.The department has not had any contact with Quality First Education Trust or Wandsworth Council on these issues.

Whether her Department has provided funding to universities for schemes that exclude white applicants.

The department has not directly awarded funding to any such schemes within higher education.

What the value was of student loans that were written off in the last year; and what this was as a proportion of all outstanding student loans, by nationality.

The requested information can be found in the Student Loans Company’s Student loans in England publication, updated in July each year. The publication, ‘Student loans in England: 2024 to 2025’ can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2024-to-2025.The amount that has been cancelled or written off during the 2024/25 financial year, the total amount outstanding at the start of the financial year including interest and loans not yet due for repayment (after adjustments), and the proportion that write offs or cancellations make out of the starting balance can be found at: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F684c16b8da3d1b49e6797046%2Fslcsp012025.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK.These statistics are not broken down by borrower nationality. This information is not readily available and cannot be obtained within the timeframe given to respond. Figures for the 2025/26 financial year will be available in the July 2026 publication.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of (a) teachers and (b) classroom assistants (i) whose first language is not English and (ii) who have not undertaken a recognised English proficiency test.

The requested information on the first language of teachers and classroom assistants is not collected centrally.Information on the qualifications held by teachers is available in the 'School workforce in England' accredited official statistics publication. This can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.

Whether her Department has provided funding to the Centre for Hate Studies at the University of Leicester.

The department has not provided funding to the Centre for Hate Studies at the University of Leicester.

How many employees in her Department earn (a) £100,000 and (b) £166,000 or more per year.

The information requested is available in our published transparency data, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disclosure-of-scs-posts-and-salary-information.

How many and what proportion of departmental procurement contracts were awarded to British companies in the last financial year.

The department’s procurement and contract management system only collects information related to company head office addresses rather than the ‘nationality’ of a company.Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 including VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. This includes a note of the winning supplier. The service can be found here: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search.

Whether her Department plans to amend the guidance entitled School food standards practical guide, published on 13 February 2025, to encourage schools to buy British produce.

The department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance. We are currently engaging with stakeholders on the school food standards to help us understand the challenges around school food.Schools are responsible for their school meals service and how and where they choose to buy their produce. Schools can voluntarily follow the government's buying standards.Additionally, the National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February 2025, underscores the government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts, which we believe our high quality British producers are well-placed to meet.Alongside this, the government’s wider food strategy will create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system, boosting our food security, improving our health, ensuring economic growth, and delivering environmental sustainability.As with all aspects of the school food standards review, the department will review our guidance and consider our approaches to procurement of UK-grown produce.

What steps her Department is taking to support schools to source (a) fresh and (b) seasonal food produced in the UK.

The department is acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance. We are currently engaging with stakeholders on the school food standards to help us understand the challenges around school food.Schools are responsible for their school meals service and how and where they choose to buy their produce. Schools can voluntarily follow the government's buying standards.Additionally, the National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February 2025, underscores the government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts, which we believe our high quality British producers are well-placed to meet.Alongside this, the government’s wider food strategy will create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system, boosting our food security, improving our health, ensuring economic growth, and delivering environmental sustainability.As with all aspects of the school food standards review, the department will review our guidance and consider our approaches to procurement of UK-grown produce.

How many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

Unless undertaking work in an official capacity, the department only permits overseas working in limited circumstances and for short periods of time. The department’s international remote working policy considers any country outside of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as overseas including all British Overseas Territories.In line with Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office guidance, the department has currently granted temporary permission to 24 staff to work outside the UK in the following countries: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Morocco, Spain, South Africa, and Turkey.

How much her Department has spent on (a) social media promotions, (b) influencer marketing and (c) online advertising in the last 12 months.

Commercial sensitivities exist around aspects of this spend, which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.

How much their Department has spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for languages other than (i) British Sign Language and (ii) languages native to the UK for people contacting (A) their Department and (B) its agencies in 2025.

The total cost incurred by the department in providing translation services, other than British Sign Language and languages native to the UK, is £180.Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

How many fines were issued to parents for school absence in the last 12 months; and what the value was of those fines.

The most recent data held by the department covers the 2023/24 academic year and is available in the statistical release on parental responsibility measures, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures/2023-24.The information requested covering the last 12 months is not held by the department. Data for 2024/25 will be published in early 2026.

How many and what proportion of state-funded schools currently permit the wearing of the (a) niqab and (b) burqa by (i) students and (ii) staff; and whether her Department has issued any guidance on uniform policies and face coverings.

The department has published non-statutory guidance on developing a school uniform policy, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform/school-uniforms. The guidance sets out that it is for the governing body of a school to decide rules about appearance and the design of any uniform they choose to have. Schools must have regard to their obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010 and need to consider the impact of their policy on pupils who share a protected characteristic.The department does not collect data on individual schools’ uniform policies.

If they will make it their policy to not provide (a) translation and (b) interpretation for speakers of non-UK languages for services provided by their Department.

Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

What proportion of SEND support recipients were children of non-UK nationals in the latest year for which data is available.

The department does not hold information on the nationality of parents of children with special educational needs.