Neil Shastri-Hurst MP: written questions
4 Jul 2024–3 Jul 2025
How these years work
Our reporting years run from 4 July to 3 July, starting with the 2024 general election. They are not official parliamentary sessions. Office costs keep IPSA’s April–March financial years. Records may cover only part of a year; a missing record does not mean no work was done.
Read what this MP said, asked and contributed in Parliament.
13 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Special Educational Needs: Pupil ExclusionsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50711More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure children with SEND are not disproportionately affected by (a) school exclusions and (b) informal off-rolling in mainstream schools.
Answer: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities receive the right support to succeed in their education. We are committed to ensuring earlier intervention in mainstream schools for pupils wi...
Answered 30 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational NeedsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50710More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on improving integration between health services and local authority provision in the development of education, health
Answer: Statutory duties are clear that health and local authorities must ensure the integration of educational and training provision with health and social care provision. They must also make joint commissioning arrangements with other local partners about the ...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational Needs: AppealsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50709More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with local authorities on reducing the time taken to appeal an EHCP decision.
Answer: Whilst most education, health and care plans and assessments are agreed without recourse to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Tribunal, some families struggle to get the support they need when they need it.The department continues to w...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational Needs: Private EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50707More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve access to independent special schools for children with complex needs in regions where maintained provision is (a) limited and (b) oversubscribed.
Answer: The department recognises the vital role that special schools play in providing high-quality education and meeting the needs of children and young people. Independent special schools play their part in this, particularly in meeting low incidence needs. Ho...
Answered 16 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational Needs: ReformDepartment for EducationTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50706More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed reforms in the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan.
Answer: The special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision improvement plan was published under the previous government which did not complete a full cost-benefit analysis.The department continues to develop and test reform proposals, includ...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational NeedsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50705More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the accountability of local authorities in delivering high-quality SEND provision under the Children and Families Act 2014.
Answer: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to achieve and thrive including as they move into adult life. The department is c...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational NeedsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50704More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of education, health and care plans across different local authority areas.
Answer: An education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment ensures that a child or young person’s needs are assessed in a joined-up way across education, health and social care services.Under this assessment process, the local authority must seek information an...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational NeedsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50703More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many education, health and care plans were completed within the statutory timeframe in each of the last five years for which data is available.
Answer: Information on the number of requests for an education, health and care (EHC) plan issued within the statutory timeframe of 20 weeks, for each of the last 5 years, is shown in the table linked here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational NeedsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50702More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in the time taken for education, health and care plan assessments; and what steps she is taking to ensure local auth
Answer: The department wants to ensure that, where required, education, health and care (EHC) plan assessments are progressed promptly and, if needed, plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they need.Local...
Answered 16 May 2025
Original Parliament recordPrivate Education: VATDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 38492More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35073 on Private Education: VAT, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the additional independent school closures over the
Answer: As made clear in the HM Treasury impact assessment, the introduction of VAT is anticipated to have extremely limited impact on the number of pupils in private schools. The department has not seen any evidence that contradicts the expectations set out in t...
Answered 29 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordFirst Aid: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 3 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 35075More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of mandating CitizenAID training within the national curriculum.
Answer: All state-funded schools are required to teach about first aid as part of the statutory health education set out within the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. Independent schools are required to cover health education as pa...
Answered 22 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPrivate Education: VATDepartment for EducationTabled 3 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 35073More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the application of VAT on independent school fees on the number of independent school closures in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 f
Answer: Approximately 50 mainstream private schools close each year. There are a range of reasons for closure, including financial viability and action taken by the department where schools are not meeting standards. We expect the number of private school closure...
Answered 11 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: Charitable DonationsDepartment for EducationTabled 7 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 22474More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the value of charity given to (a) state schools and (b) local communities by independent schools in each of the last five years.
Answer: The department does not collect data about the value of charity given to state schools and local communities by private schools. Therefore, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not made an estimate of its value in each of the las...
Answered 17 Jan 2025
Original Parliament record
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4 Jul 2024–3 Jul 2025. One record per UIN and tabled date; the named department is not a measure of answer quality.
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