Written questions by Morrison.

Whether her Department collects data on (a) internal and (b) fixed-term exclusions in primary schools, broken down by race.

The department does not collect data on circumstances where schools remove a pupil from the classroom, for serious disciplinary reasons, and where they are required to spend a limited time out of the classroom. Some schools call this internal suspension.The department publishes data on suspensions and permanent exclusions in state-funded schools in England. The most recent full academic year release, covering 2023/24, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/suspensions-and-permanent-exclusions-in-england/2023-24. This has been available since 10 July 2025.Published data includes numbers and rates of suspensions, by ethnicity, in state-funded primary schools and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f3a89f3f-b18e-46c3-a167-08dde2cf2374.

How many and what proportion of requests for an Education Health and Care Plan assessment are decided within the 6 week deadline in (a) each of the ten districts of Greater Manchester and (b) England; and how many and what proportion of these requests are approved.

The total number of requests for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment which were decided within six weeks can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025. This has been available since 26 June 2025.A further breakdown of these figures showing the outcome of requests for an EHC needs assessment, which were decided within six weeks, is shown in the attached table.

What steps the Department is taking to intervene when a multi-academy trust does not investigate serious safeguarding complaints adequately.

Academy trusts must comply with their statutory safeguarding responsibilities set out in the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014. The regulations require trusts to have regard to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ and ‘Working together to safeguard children’ statutory guidance. This includes having robust procedures for managing safeguarding concerns. Each academy within a trust must have a designated safeguarding lead responsible for managing referrals and working with external agencies. Failure to act appropriately can trigger external review or intervention.The department follows up safeguarding issues, where appropriate, to obtain assurance that trusts are meeting their statutory responsibilities to safeguard all children in its schools. The department can enforce compliance through the trust’s funding agreement and the Academy Trust Handbook, which includes safeguarding obligations. Breaches may lead to formal intervention and regulatory action such as issuing a notice to improve or terminating the agreement.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of levels of consistency of safeguarding protocols in multi-academy trusts in relation to unauthorised adult access to school premises.

The safety and wellbeing of children in our schools is the department’s highest priority. We recognise the importance of robust safeguarding measures and take concerns about unauthorised adult access to school premises very seriously. The produced non-statutory guidance for schools and colleges in respect of developing a security policy. The department expects security in schools to be considered alongside statutory safeguarding responsibilities and the legal obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations. The department also issues the statutory ‘Keeping children safe in education’ guidance, including guidance on the use of school premises for non-school activities. When the department has concerns regarding the safeguarding policies of any MATs, they can then enforce compliance through the MAT’s funding agreement, in line with our published statutory guidance.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of disallowing mainstream school students from being given EHCPs on (a) autistic children in mainstream schools and (b) their families.

The government is determined to restore confidence in the system of support for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and ensure they get the chance to achieve and thrive in their education and beyond.We are working with organisations who represent parents, local authorities, SEND organisations, education settings and others on how best we can strengthen the system and deliver better support for children and their parents, and we are committed to getting this right. We will set out our proposals for SEND reform in a Schools White Paper in the autumn.The Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group has brought together experts to make recommendations on how to best meet the needs of neurodivergent children within mainstream education settings. ​We have made no decisions at the moment on the future of education, health and care plans. There will, however, always be a legal right to additional support for those with SEND.

Whether her Department plans to provide additional support to adoptee children in schools with learning disabilities.

I refer the hon, Member for Cheadle to the answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62189.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing additional support to autistic children with no other learning disabilities in mainstream schools.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed and thrive in their education and as they move into adult life.The Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, chaired by Professor Karen Guldberg, brings together experts to make recommendations on how to best meet the needs of neurodivergent children and young people within mainstream education settings, including those who are autistic.Additionally, the department is strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve inclusive practice in mainstream settings and have commissioned evidence reviews from Newcastle University and University College London. The 'What Works in SEND' research programme is researching tools that schools can use to identify the needs of neurodivergent children.The department has also invested in the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) programme, which is a national programme backed by £22 million of investment. PINS deploys specialists from both health and education workforces to build teacher and staff capacity to identify and better meet the needs of neurodivergent children, including pupils with autism. The programme is being evaluated, and the learning is informing future policy development around how schools support neurodivergent children.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of reducing the individual limit for the Adoption Support Fund for therapy on (a) adoptees and (b) their families.

The new criteria for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund will enable as many children and families as possible to access the available funding. The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children and their families. This includes reviewing the equalities impact assessment, which will be made available in the House Libraries shortly.

Whether her Department records and publishes statistics on the (a) number and (b) nature of serious safeguarding incidents and child deaths in early years settings.

Information on the number and nature of serious incident notification statistics is published annually in the Official Statistics release on serious incident notifications, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/serious-incident-notifications/2025.Information on the placement type at the time of the incident is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1c759373-93c2-4d6a-1d6e-08ddc13e16b8.

With reference to his oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Twickenham during the Oral Statement of 7 July 2025 on Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life, Official Report, column 687, whether her Department will require the provision of CCTV in early years settings.

The safety of children is our utmost priority and we continually monitor and review the early years foundation stage (EYFS) safeguarding requirements to ensure children are kept as safe as possible. The EYFS statutory framework can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.Currently, the decision to install and use camera surveillance equipment in a nursery is a matter for individual providers to determine based on their own risk assessment and policies.The department works closely with Ofsted in our work monitoring and reviewing the safeguarding requirements within the EYFS. This includes ongoing discussions regarding the merits and concerns regarding the use of CCTV in early years settings.Any proposed changes to EYFS requirements will be informed by engagement with providers, health professionals, sector stakeholders and safeguarding experts.

With reference to his oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Twickenham during the Oral Statement of 7 July 2025 on Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life, Official Report, column 687, whether inspector training for early years settings will include guidance on reviewing CCTV footage.

The safety of children is our utmost priority and we continually monitor and review the early years foundation stage (EYFS) safeguarding requirements to ensure children are kept as safe as possible. The EYFS statutory framework can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.Currently, the decision to install and use camera surveillance equipment in a nursery is a matter for individual providers to determine based on their own risk assessment and policies.The department works closely with Ofsted in our work monitoring and reviewing the safeguarding requirements within the EYFS. This includes ongoing discussions regarding the merits and concerns regarding the use of CCTV in early years settings.Any proposed changes to EYFS requirements will be informed by engagement with providers, health professionals, sector stakeholders and safeguarding experts.

What steps she is taking to review lessons learned from child deaths and serious incidents in early years settings.

The safety of children is our utmost priority and we continually monitor and review the early years foundation stage (EYFS) safeguarding requirements. The full statutory framework is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/670f8c0f366f494ab2e7b93d/EYFS_statutory__framework_for_childminders.pdf. This ongoing work includes continuous engagement with providers, health professionals, sector stakeholders and safeguarding experts. We also look closely at all serious incidents that have occurred in early years settings, taking into account advice from the aforementioned experts to assess if any changes need to be made to the EYFS safeguarding requirements to ensure children are kept as safe as possible.From September 2025, the department is strengthening the safeguarding requirements in the EYFS, including:Amendments to promote safer recruitment.Creation of new requirements for providers to follow up if a child is absent for a prolonged period of time.A new safer eating section.A safeguarding training annex and a requirement for safeguarding training to be repeated every two years.New requirements to support whistleblowing.

What steps her Department is taking to improve (a) transparency and (b) accountability in early years provision.

As announced in the recent ‘Best Start in Life’ publication, the department wants to drive higher standards through a strengthened improvement and accountability system. From next April, Ofsted will inspect all new providers on the early years register (EYR) within 18 months of opening and move towards inspecting all providers on the EYR at least once every four years.The government is committed to improving the current inspection system. This includes a new approach to reporting and removing overall effectiveness grades from all early years provision, as well as launching an early years report card system.Ofsted has delivered important changes to the way it works in response to the ‘Big Listen’ consultation, improving its culture and being more open and transparent. This important work is ongoing.

Whether Ofsted plans to update its guidance to inspectors on (a) identifying and (b) responding to (i) serious and (ii) repeated safeguarding breaches in early years settings.

The department works closely with Ofsted in our work monitoring and reviewing the safeguarding requirements within the early years foundation stage statutory framework to ensure children are kept as safe as possible.As announced in the recent Best Start in Life publication, Ofsted will receive additional investment from the department to inspect all new early years providers within 18 months of opening and move from a six to a four-year inspection cycle. It will also receive further investment for inspector training and quality assurance. All these measures will improve safeguarding across the sector.In November 2025, Ofsted will be implementing their new inspection reporting method, the Ofsted early years report card, and will publish details in a consultation response publication in September 2025. The response will include the updated education inspection frameworks, based on consultation feedback. Ofsted will also provide new operating guidance for inspectors, and inspection information documents. Within these, there will be a focus on safeguarding in the early years.

Whether she plans to introduce routine unannounced inspections in early years settings as part of Ofsted’s updated inspection schedule.

While Ofsted typically provides notice before an inspection, they can and do conduct inspections without prior notification, particularly when concerns have been raised about a setting or if a previous inspection resulted in a grade of ‘Inadequate’. Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, there were 1400 unannounced inspections (16%) in early years settings. We recognise the importance unannounced inspections and they will continue. However, routine announced inspections are also an important part of the system. We are committed to reforming and improving the current inspection system, including making inspection more supportive.We are increasing inspection frequency to ensure better oversight of the setting landscape, and more regular inspections will be most effective when accompanied by improvements to inspection quality.

If she will make it her policy to ensure that the majority of Ofsted inspections of early years settings are unannounced.

While Ofsted typically provides notice before an inspection, they can and do conduct inspections without prior notification, particularly when concerns have been raised about a setting or if a previous inspection resulted in a grade of ‘Inadequate’. Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, there were 1400 unannounced inspections (16%) in early years settings. We recognise the importance unannounced inspections and they will continue. However, routine announced inspections are also an important part of the system. We are committed to reforming and improving the current inspection system, including making inspection more supportive.We are increasing inspection frequency to ensure better oversight of the setting landscape, and more regular inspections will be most effective when accompanied by improvements to inspection quality.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of introducing unannounced inspections in early years settings on levels of continuous safety compliance.

While Ofsted typically provides notice before an inspection, they can and do conduct inspections without prior notification, particularly when concerns have been raised about a setting or if a previous inspection resulted in a grade of ‘Inadequate’. Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, there were 1400 unannounced inspections (16%) in early years settings. We recognise the importance unannounced inspections and they will continue. However, routine announced inspections are also an important part of the system. We are committed to reforming and improving the current inspection system, including making inspection more supportive.We are increasing inspection frequency to ensure better oversight of the setting landscape, and more regular inspections will be most effective when accompanied by improvements to inspection quality.

With reference to her Oral Statement on Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life of 7 July 2025, Official Report, column 680-682, whether Ofsted will publish updated inspection (a) criteria and (b) frameworks for early years settings .

Ofsted has delivered important changes to the way it works in response to the Big Listen consultation. This important work is ongoing, and together we are committed to improving the inspection system. Ofsted will publish the response to its recent consultation on ‘Improving the way Ofsted inspects education’ in September 2025. The response will include the updated education inspection frameworks, which have been iterated based on consultation feedback. The updated frameworks will inform Ofsted’s new inspection reporting method, the Ofsted report card, which will be implemented from November 2025. Ofsted report cards will provide broader and richer information about the quality of provision and outcomes for children and babies at the time of an inspection.

With reference to his oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Twickenham during the Oral Statement of 7 July 2025 on Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life, Official Report, column 687, whether she plans to publish updated statutory guidance on (a) child safety and (b) risk management in early years settings for inspectors.

The government is committed to reforming the current inspection system which includes Ofsted implementing the early years report card from November 2025 following the publication of their consultation response in September 2025. The response will include the updated education inspection frameworks, new operating guidance for inspectors, and inspection information documents where there will be a focus on safeguarding in the early years.Last year, we consulted on changes to the safeguarding requirements within the early years foundation stage statutory framework and will be implementing all proposed changes. These changes will formalise existing best practices and ensure that all early years educators have the knowledge and support they need to deliver safe, high-quality early education and childcare. These changes will be introduced in September 2025, subject to Parliamentary procedure, after which the new requirements will be included within the requirements Ofsted uses to inspect early years providers.

With reference to his oral contribution in response to the hon. Member for Twickenham during the Oral Statement of 7 July 2025 on Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life, Official Report, column 687, what consultation her Department has conducted with (a) families affected by serious incidents and (b) sector stakeholders.

The safety of children is our utmost priority, and we continually monitor and review the early years foundation stage (EYFS) safeguarding requirements to ensure children are kept as safe as possible.As part of this work, last year we held a public consultation on a number of changes to the safeguarding requirements of the EYFS. Anyone, including families affected by serious incidents could respond to the consultation.All of the safeguarding changes due to come into force in September 2025 were informed by extensive engagement with providers, health professionals, sector stakeholders and safeguarding experts and using lessons learned from previous incidents. We continue to engage with these stakeholders as part of our continuous monitoring and review of the EYFS safeguarding requirements.