The department currently collects and publishes data on the attainment, participation and progression of learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including qualification achievement, progression to level 2 and level 3, further education participation, destinations into education, employment and apprenticeships, as well as not in employment, education or training and longer-term outcomes. Statistics identify the number of learners with education, health and care plans, special educational needs (SEN) support and those with no identified SEN.

Collecting data on outcomes for students with SEND helps the department to understand their experiences, identify attainment gaps, target support more effectively, and evaluate whether policies and interventions are working.

Publishing this data adds transparency and accountability, supports research and helps encourage improvement across the sector.

The Government issued an initial response to the independent review on the day of publication, available at the link below, but we will set out the full action we are taking in response to the review recommendations in our new Mental Health Strategy to be published later this year:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-pledges-earlier-support-to-tackle-mental-health-crises

The Government issued an initial response to the independent review on the day of publication, available at the link below, but we will set out the full action we are taking in response to the review recommendations in our new Mental Health Strategy to be published later this year:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-pledges-earlier-support-to-tackle-mental-health-crises

The Government issued an initial response to the independent review on the day of publication, available at the link below, but we will set out the full action we are taking in response to the review recommendations in our new Mental Health Strategy to be published later this year:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-pledges-earlier-support-to-tackle-mental-health-crises

The England-wide Best Start in Life campaign is actively raising awareness of the under-5s screen-time guidance and driving parents and carers to practical advice to help families develop healthy screen habits. Paid advertising as part of the national campaign, including social media and search activity, signposts families directly to the guidance, including those in Yeovil.

This activity has driven significant engagement with the guidance. Between 27 March and 7 April, the guidance was the most-viewed page on the Best Start in Life website and is currently (as of 20 October) the third most viewed page. 

A range of supportive, practical communications materials are also available, including downloadable resources, such as an infographic, digital screens and social media assets, which trusted partners and local services can use to promote the guidance through their own channels and networks. Best Start Family Hubs are also being equipped with dedicated resources to support sessions and direct conversations with parents and carers in their communities.

The CBeebies Parenting Hub provides a further trusted route to reach families, signposting parents to Best Start in Life guidance alongside complementary BBC screen-time advice and resources.

Ofcom’s guidance, ‘A safer online for women and girls’, sets out measures that companies, including dating platforms, can take to reduce online misogynistic abuse, harassment, stalking and image based sexual abuse. We expect platforms to implement this guidance as well as complying with their safety duties.

Under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (Clare's Law), the police have the power to disclose information to a victim or potential victim of domestic abuse, about their partner or ex-partner's abusive or violent offending. The Government is exploring how this could be extended to other forms of VAWG, including its use within online dating platforms.

My Department monitors both the speed and quality of local planning authority decision-making. Data is published quarterly and can be found on gov.uk here.

The Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF), published on 7 July, sets out 12 immediate priority actions for the next three years. This includes systematically identifying risk factors associated with stroke such as high blood pressure. For each of the priority actions, the CVD MSF brings together national standards, key metrics and delivery ambitions over three- and ten-year horizons to drive improvement and reduce inequalities across the country. A delivery plan to support the system to implement the CVD MSF will be published later this year. More information about the CVD MSF is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cardiovascular-disease-modern-service-framework

Pupils currently receive financial education through the citizenship and mathematics curricula, and it is for schools to determine how to deliver this appropriately, considering relevant guidance and requirements.

We are taking on board Curriculum and Assessment Review recommendations to strengthen financial literacy and will be consulting later this year.

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, announced a pilot of a new complaints service for Ofsted on 16 October. This pilot introduces another level of independence to Ofsted’s complaint arrangements, where schools can request a review of how Ofsted handled their complaint including, for the first time, the outcome of the complaint and aspects linked to inspection findings. The review will be undertaken by an independent body, through a contract held by the department. Further details will be available in due course.

The schools national funding formula (NFF) distributes core funding for 5–16-year-old pupils in mainstream state-funded schools in England. The NFF allocates funding based on schools’ and pupils’ characteristics. In the current NFF, the vast majority of funding is allocated based on pupil numbers and characteristics.

The purpose of the NFF is not to give every school the same level of per pupil funding: schools with lots of pupils with additional needs, such as those indicated by measures of deprivation, low prior attainment, or English as an additional language, receive extra funding to help them meet the needs of all their pupils.

Through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Somerset local authority is receiving £6,569 per pupil on average in the 2026/27 financial year (including premises funding but excluding growth funding).

The government will continue to review the operation of the schools NFF for upcoming and future years.

The department has published a new Enrichment Framework with benchmarks to provide a clear, simple structure against which schools and colleges can evaluate their own provision, and make considered improvements to their offer, including the provision of school trips.

The UK will join Erasmus+ in 2027, opening up world class opportunities for pupils, teachers and other school staff across the UK. With the Erasmus+ scheme, schools will be able to access funding for visits to partner schools abroad. These trips have a profound impact on children, raising their aspirations and opening their minds to different cultures.

Additionally, school funding is increasing by £2.3 billion in 2026/27, meaning that the core schools budget will total £67.6 billion, compared to £65.3 billion in 2025/26.

Charitable rate relief provides up to 80% business rates relief to eligible properties. Local Authorities have powers to award further discretionary relief, including up to 100% relief.

Community-owned assets will also continue to benefit from the government’s £4.3 billion business rates support package announced at Budget 2025.

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is an environmental measure, designed to mitigate the risk of carbon leakage and ensure that these carbon-intensive imports, such as fertiliser, face a carbon cost that is comparable to that faced by equivalent goods, were they produced in the UK.

The Government has recently published illustrative CBAM rates for all covered sectors, calculated using the most recent data available at the time of publication. These figures suggest a CBAM rate on fertiliser of £1.45/tCO2e. Applying this rate (which is illustrative and will change ahead of 1 Jan) to product-level default values gives an illustrative CBAM charge of £0.50/t to £4.50/t on fertiliser products in scope. Actual liabilities may be lower where importers report verified emissions and/or can claim carbon price relief.

The illustrative rates can be found here:

Illustrative CBAM rates and worked example for Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) - GOV.UK

As these illustrative rates show, the Government expects liabilities arising from CBAM to be modest in its early years, including for fertiliser imports. As a result, CBAM is expected to have limited impacts on importers and users of CBAM goods, including the agricultural sector.

The government recognises the role community-owned businesses play in supporting local economies and keeping wealth and decision-making rooted in places such as Yeovil and Somerset. These areas have a tradition of local enterprise, which community-led business models can help sustain.

The government is working to strengthen the business support offers already available to these business models, including via local Growth Hubs, the Business Growth Service, the Help to Grow: Management programme and the British Business Bank. The government will shortly publish its response to the call for evidence on business support for co-operatives and non-financial mutuals, setting out next steps.

As the Government announced in May this year, the temporary 5p cut to Fuel Duty will be extended until the end of the year, providing certainty to motorists.

In total, the decisions taken since the 2024 general election to freeze Fuel Duty saves motorists 11p per litre or £120 per year for the average car. The Government engages regularly with a wide range of external organisations to inform and strengthen the policymaking process and carefully considers the impact of Fuel Duty on households and businesses.

The Government is committed to protecting the public from serious offenders following their release from custody.

Prior to release, the Probation Service gathers information from other agencies, such as the Police and Children’s Services to assess an offender’s risk and develop plans for their safe management in the community. Where necessary, additional licence conditions can be imposed to manage identified risks associated with online activity, including the use of dating applications. Depending on the circumstances, these may restrict access to particular platforms, require disclosure of online identities, limit contact with others, or support monitoring of compliance.

For offenders convicted of serious violent, sexual and terrorist offences Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) provide a framework through which the Probation Service, police and other agencies can work together to share information to assess and manage risk. This can include consideration of risks associated with online activity and the measures necessary to protect the public.

Compliance with licence conditions is monitored by the Probation Service, including, where appropriate, requiring offenders to provide access to electronic devices for inspection. Offenders who fail to comply may be subject to enforcement action, including recall to custody.

As part of proposed reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, the department is working in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to deliver new government-backed research on special educational needs (SEN) identification and support. This research will help strengthen the evidence base on early identification, strengths and needs assessment, and effective support for children and young people with SEN, with the aim of developing and rolling out approaches that can be integrated into education settings by 2028.

Effective early identification and intervention are critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEN.

Through the department’s programme of SEND reform, we are working to improve access to support for children and young people with SEN, including those with dyslexia. This includes the development of National Inclusion Standards, informed by evidence, to support mainstream settings to meet children and young people's needs as early as possible. The department has also commissioned a new longitudinal study of children and young people with SEN to understand experiences and outcomes over time, including on support received in education.

The government published its formal response to the CMA heating oil report on 13 October.

A Written Ministerial Statement can be found here: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament

The full response can be found here: Government response to the CMA heating oil market study - GOV.UK