Education Secretary Gillian Keegan to face Education Committee

Accountability hearing with the Secretary of State for Education

Wednesday 7 December at 09.30, Committee Room 15  

Watch live on parliamentlive.tv  

 The new Education Secretary Gillian Keegan will make her first appearance before the Education Committee, alongside her Department’s Permanent Secretary, Susan Acland-Hood.

It will be a wide-ranging session that touches on topics related to the cross-party Committee’s ongoing and past inquiries, and that probes numerous policy areas.

Questions on the recurring issue of teacher recruitment and retainment are likely to be put to the Secretary of State, after recent DfE data showed there were 29% fewer entrants to teacher training courses in 2022/23 than needed to hit the Government’s targets.

The Committee is also likely to take an interest in the affordability of childcare for many families, and concerns that 35% of young children fall behind in their early years development, according to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Assessments.

There may be questions about reports of high dropout rates from apprenticeships due to their poor quality, amid the Government’s new ambition to improve and expand apprenticeships.

MPs may question Ms Keegan on reports that the Prime Minister would like to introduce a ‘British Baccalaureate’ and what it might look like.

The Committee may also raise the issue of poor school attendance rates around the country following the pandemic, and query the future of the Schools Bill.

Witnesses  

From 09:30  

• Gillian Keegan MP, Secretary of State for Education
• Susan Acland-Hood, Permanent Secretary at Department for Education