My Lords, our mobile phones in schools guidance is statutory from yesterday, 1 September, and is clear that schools should be mobile phone-free environments by default. We trust school leaders to

choose the approach that works best for their setting. This includes the use of “not seen, not heard” policies if they are backed by strong enforcement to ensure that pupils do not have access to their phones during any part of the school day. We have committed to reviewing the guidance and making necessary revisions by September 2027.

The department welcomes the findings of the report from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and recognises the highlighted areas where some educational technology providers may need to improve their compliance with data protection requirements. The department is working with the ICO to address some of the highlighted areas.

As schools are data controllers in their own right, they are responsible for deciding which EdTech tools to procure to support their functions. To help schools make informed data protection decisions when procuring EdTech tools, the department produced guidance to support schools in making decisions on procuring EdTech, available at GOV.UK. This guidance is intended to help schools understand their data protection responsibilities and consider appropriate measures when selecting suppliers while safeguarding the personal data of pupils, parents and carers.

The department continues to engage with the ICO to promote good practice across the education sector.

The department supports schools to make informed decisions through published digital and technology standards, guidance on data protection, cyber security, filtering and monitoring, and advice on buying technology and services. These set clear expectations for safe, secure and effective use of technology in schools and colleges.

The department will shortly consult on a certification scheme for education technology products, including generative AI and filtering and monitoring products, to give schools clearer assurance about safety when considering products for use in classrooms. The certification scheme will build on existing digital and technology standards for schools, including the generative AI product safety standards, creating a robust model that can adapt as technology evolves.

To support schools further, the department is also investing £24 million in testbeds to evaluate the impact of education technology on outcomes, helping build the evidence base on what works for schools.

Schools and academy trusts are responsible for decisions on their own technology procurement and expenditure, within their delegated budgets and in line with relevant procurement rules.

In 2024/25, the department estimates that schools spent over £800 million on EdTech, including learning resources, admin software, laptops, desktops and tablets, which is equivalent to 1.2% of the entire school budget.

Schools in England are free to select and deploy educational technology based on their individual needs, circumstances and educational context. The department has set digital and technology standards for schools and colleges, including standards for laptops, desktops and tablets for educational use. The standards do not specify a device ratio to meet, but helps schools and colleges to get the right devices that will support their overall digital and technology strategy.

Schools, academy trusts and local authorities are responsible for complying with data protection law when adopting educational technology products.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, they must complete a data protection impact assessment where the processing of personal data is likely to result in a high risk to individuals’ rights and freedoms.

This can include, for example, large-scale processing of children’s data, profiling, biometric data or other high-risk uses.

The department published guidance for schools on data protection and procuring educational technology, which encourages schools to consider data protection from the outset and consult their data protection officer when introducing new tools. This guidance is available on GOV.UK.

Some regional bodies, including Mayoral Strategic Authorities, are already working to support local authorities across their regions, as those local authorities deliver their statutory duties relating to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The department will continue to work with regional authorities to consider how they could further support our reforms to the SEND system to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND. There will be further announcements on devolution in due course.

We have appointed an independent panel of experts, led by education and health co-chairs, to advise on what approaches, strategies, and tools should be included in the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages.

The Standards will set out the provision that ordinarily should be in every setting across the 0 to 25 system. This is in addition to the evidence-based tools, strategies and approaches for educators to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Specialist Provision Packages describe the support available for children and young people with the most complex needs. These measures are designed to create a consistent, high-quality offer, wherever they live, thereby ending the post code lottery of support.

We will develop a national cost framework for these packages, and we expect to engage with stakeholders and consult on any new funding arrangements in due course.

As we enter the new golden age of nuclear, this government has committed almost £17 billion across the Spending Review period to the most ambitious nuclear new build programme for a generation, including Sizewell C and the Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) small modular reactor programme.

The government is focused on enabling nuclear projects to support the UK's long-term energy needs, including through the Advanced Nuclear Framework, to support private sector-led advanced nuclear projects.

Furthermore, GBE-N has been tasked with identifying other suitable sites that could host a potential further large-scale nuclear project.

The department engages regularly with Mayoral Strategic Authorities on a wide range of issues, including the devolved skills powers and funding they hold, and their role as leaders in their local skills systems. Skills devolution is an important mechanism for enabling more responsive and locally tailored provision that meets the needs of learners, employers and regional economies.

The government recognises the value of empowering Strategic Authorities to shape skills provision in line with local priorities. Through ongoing engagement, the department will continue to explore opportunities to build on existing devolution arrangements, ensuring that skills investment supports local growth and delivers outcomes that reflect the needs of communities across England.

The department has published the ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper, alongside a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) consultation, which set out our plans for reform, including those relating to funding. We have also published additional information on SEND Reform for those leading and working in mainstream schools, and a summary of what the SEND reforms mean for specialist provision, including special schools, which are available on GOV.UK.

In taking forward these plans, our aim is both to establish a fair mainstream school funding system that directs funding to where it is needed, enabling improved support for children with SEND, and to create a fair, transparent system that gives specialist schools stable, predictable funding to deliver high-quality education and integrated support for children with the most complex needs. We will consult on proposals for specific funding changes as these plans are further developed.

The government has not made any assessment of the financial sustainability of the private school sector. It is for private schools, as private businesses, to ensure their businesses remain viable.

We expect that pay awards over the next three years will be covered through a combination of the funding announced at the Spending Review and from schools making a sustained contribution using the support we are making available to maximise value from their budgets.

This is a shared endeavour. We know that the government has a role to play to tackle systemic challenges at a national level, and we have established the Maximising Value for Pupils programme to help schools and groups. The new programme will provide an expanded level of support in the form of benchmark data, toolkits, commercial offers, capability building, case studies, and investment in areas such as technology.

The independent Phase 1 report from the evaluation of the Regional Care Co-operative (RCC) pathfinders to understand early implementation, led by Ecorys UK, has been completed and is currently undergoing final departmental clearance. The department expects to publish it imminently.

As part of changes introduced by Clause 11 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which will amend Section 25 of the Children Act 1989 (CA 1989) to allow for authorisation of a deprivation of liberty in ’Relevant Accommodation’ under the CA 1989, the department can confirm that the same regulation making powers that exist currently for the Secretary of State in relation to Secure Accommodation will also be available for ’Relevant Accommodation’.

It will be made clear in regulations that Secretary of State approval will be required to deprive children under the age of 13 of their liberty via Section 25 of the CA1989 in Relevant Accommodation. As per updated guidance published on 17 November, there is no such regulatory requirement regarding Secretary of State approval for applications to the High Court under its inherent jurisdiction for a deprivation of liberty order – this does not amend the requirements or guidance on the use of Section 25.

The review of mainstream free schools is necessary to ensure we provide sufficient high quality school places, whilst offering value for money and ensuring projects will not have a detrimental impact on local schools. An update will be provided as soon as possible.

My Lords, the Government have been clear that SEND pressures will be absorbed within the overall Government DEL budget from 2028-29, such that the Government would not expect local authorities to need to fund future special educational needs costs from general funds. Budgets from 2028-29 onwards, including the core schools budget, will be confirmed at the 2027 spending review.

This is a matter for the Office for Students (OfS), which has dedicated resources to investigate potential breaches of its conditions.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review found that English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measures have unnecessarily constrained subject choice, affecting student engagement and achievement, and that uptake of EBacc subjects has not translated into increased study of them at 16 to 19. Although the EBacc was intended to support GCSE entries of modern foreign languages, history and geography, full EBacc entry was just 41% in 2024/25.

The new model protects the important place of humanities and modern foreign languages. Under our proposed model, students will have to take at least one humanity or language whilst currently schools can satisfy expectations of Progress 8 without pupils taking any of these subjects.

The department will consult on the improved Progress 8 and Attainment 8 measures.