Oral Question·Home Office
“If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.”
Tabled: 20 October 2026Answered: 26 October 2026
Asked by
Tom Rutland
Labour — East Worthing and Shoreham
Answering Minister
the Secretary of State for the Home Department
Answer from Hansard
The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)
May I, too, take this opportunity to wish a merry Christmas to all of our teachers and school support staff when they finally get to the Christmas break? We are working at pace to recruit 6,500 new teachers. We have fully funded the 5.5% pay award, we have removed reductive headline Ofsted judgments, and we are working to reduce workloads and ensure more flexibility. We have announced a £233 million package of recruitment incentives, and we are very committed to supporting our teaching workforce.