Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed grouped question UIN question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1140580

registered interest
date	19/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help improve the standard of student housing.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	279376
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>Higher education providers are autonomous bodies that are independent from the government and so the government plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation.</p><p> </p><p>We have seen evidence that the standard of student accommodation is improving. For example, in 2018/19, the level of self-catered ensuite provision at institutions stood at approximately 222,000 rooms compared to approximately 203,000 in 2012/13, a 9% increase. Meanwhile, the number of self-catered standard rooms with shared facilities at institutions has declined from around 87,000 to approximately 64,000, a 26% decrease.</p><p> </p><p>The independent panel supporting the Post-18 Review of Education and Funding published their report on 30 May where they recommended the Office for Students examines the costs of student accommodation and works with students and providers to improve the quality and consistency of data about costs, rents, profits and quality. The government will consider the panel’s proposals and conclude the review at the Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 24/07/2019 06:45:39 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1140179

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Sexual Offences
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of sexual offences committed on university campuses in each of the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	278962
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>The department does not collect information on the number of sexual offences committed on university campuses. The responsibility for this, and for meeting legal obligations, lies with individual higher education (HE) providers.</p><p> </p><p>The government expects HE providers to keep records of incidents disclosed to them and act swiftly to investigate and address them. It is important to recognise that under-reporting is common and HE providers should continue to break down barriers to reporting by ensuring that students and staff feel safe and are able to disclose sexual misconduct.</p><p> </p><p>The government takes all forms of sexual harassment extremely seriously. Therefore, the government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students (OfS) to support work to address sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination in HE institutions. This includes implementation of the UUK’s sexual violence and harassment taskforce’s recommendations on handling of reports and disclosures, as well as enabling accurate data to be captured to determine the scale of the problem and track year on-year trends.</p><p> </p><p>The government expects HE providers to take these recommendations seriously. Furthermore, the government has tasked the OfS to support this work. The OfS have invested £2.45 million in projects tackling sexual harassment, including supporting the development and improvement of reporting procedures.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 23/07/2019 16:43:01 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1140357

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Higher Education: Admissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring universities in England to use contextual admissions tools to widen participation in higher education.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	278922
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Widening access and participation in higher education is a priority for this government. This means that everyone with the capability to succeed in higher education should have the opportunity to participate, regardless of their background or where they grew up.</p><p>We have made real progress in ensuring universities are open to all, with record rates of disadvantaged 18 year olds in higher education. However, we are aware that more needs to be done to ensure that background isn’t a barrier to realising potential in higher education.</p><p>Many higher education providers are already using contextual admissions, to support widening access, and the government supports this.</p><p>It’s important that higher education providers use good quality and meaningful data to identify disadvantage and under-representation. We encourage institutions to use a range of measures to identify disadvantage and under-representation, including individual-level indicators, area data (such as POLAR, Index of Multiple Deprivation or ACORN), school data, intersectional data such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service's (UCAS) Multiple Equality Measure and participation in outreach activities. The department is continuing to work with the Office for Students, UCAS and sector representatives to further explore how we can support universities to improve and enhance access to data.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 23/07/2019 07:33:37 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1140389

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Further Education: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the office for students on registration fees for further education colleges.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	278910
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>All providers are being treated equitably.</p><p> </p><p>We consulted with all providers, including further education (FE) colleges, twice, on the introduction of registration fees (from December 2016 until March 2017, and from October 2017 until December 2017). The Office for Students (OfS) separately consulted on the model for deciding how student numbers should be determined to inform the fee levels. It published the outcomes of this consultation in October 2018. Following the consultation processes, a number of additional bands were added for smaller providers compared with the original proposal. The costs for a very small provider have decreased from the second phase of the consultation, where a provider with 0-50 full-time equivalent student numbers, the lowest band, was proposed to pay £18,200. Providers with full-time equivalent student numbers of no more than 25 will now pay £12,300, and providers with more than 25 but no more than 50 (full time equivalent) will pay £15,350.</p><p> </p><p>We also considered the impact of fees more widely and published an impact assessment in March 2019. The impact assessment considered higher education providers – including FE colleges – taxpayers, the government and students. The impact assessment report stated:</p><p>‘We have … analysed Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) college accounts data for 120 FE colleges with Higher Education Funding Council for England funded learners, that have applied to register and found that FE colleges would be paying on average 0.2% of their total income in registration fees. This ranges from 0.05% to 1.3% of total income but with just one provider paying more than 1%. … these proportions are very small and highly unlikely to impede competition in the higher education market.’</p><p> </p><p>We have committed to a full review of registration fees after 2 years, when the impact of the fees on all providers will be clearer.</p><p> </p><p>I meet regularly with the Chair and officials from the OfS to discuss a wide range of issues, including the financial health of all parts of the higher education sector, which is kept under constant review by the OfS.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 278912 278913 question first answered 23/07/2019 07:17:32 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1140394

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Further Education: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the office for students registration fees on the financial viability of further education colleges.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	278912
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>All providers are being treated equitably.</p><p> </p><p>We consulted with all providers, including further education (FE) colleges, twice, on the introduction of registration fees (from December 2016 until March 2017, and from October 2017 until December 2017). The Office for Students (OfS) separately consulted on the model for deciding how student numbers should be determined to inform the fee levels. It published the outcomes of this consultation in October 2018. Following the consultation processes, a number of additional bands were added for smaller providers compared with the original proposal. The costs for a very small provider have decreased from the second phase of the consultation, where a provider with 0-50 full-time equivalent student numbers, the lowest band, was proposed to pay £18,200. Providers with full-time equivalent student numbers of no more than 25 will now pay £12,300, and providers with more than 25 but no more than 50 (full time equivalent) will pay £15,350.</p><p> </p><p>We also considered the impact of fees more widely and published an impact assessment in March 2019. The impact assessment considered higher education providers – including FE colleges – taxpayers, the government and students. The impact assessment report stated:</p><p>‘We have … analysed Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) college accounts data for 120 FE colleges with Higher Education Funding Council for England funded learners, that have applied to register and found that FE colleges would be paying on average 0.2% of their total income in registration fees. This ranges from 0.05% to 1.3% of total income but with just one provider paying more than 1%. … these proportions are very small and highly unlikely to impede competition in the higher education market.’</p><p> </p><p>We have committed to a full review of registration fees after 2 years, when the impact of the fees on all providers will be clearer.</p><p> </p><p>I meet regularly with the Chair and officials from the OfS to discuss a wide range of issues, including the financial health of all parts of the higher education sector, which is kept under constant review by the OfS.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 278910 278913 question first answered 23/07/2019 07:17:32 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1140395

registered interest
date	18/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Further Education: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the introduction of a separate office for students registration fee banding for stand alone further education colleges.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	278913
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>All providers are being treated equitably.</p><p> </p><p>We consulted with all providers, including further education (FE) colleges, twice, on the introduction of registration fees (from December 2016 until March 2017, and from October 2017 until December 2017). The Office for Students (OfS) separately consulted on the model for deciding how student numbers should be determined to inform the fee levels. It published the outcomes of this consultation in October 2018. Following the consultation processes, a number of additional bands were added for smaller providers compared with the original proposal. The costs for a very small provider have decreased from the second phase of the consultation, where a provider with 0-50 full-time equivalent student numbers, the lowest band, was proposed to pay £18,200. Providers with full-time equivalent student numbers of no more than 25 will now pay £12,300, and providers with more than 25 but no more than 50 (full time equivalent) will pay £15,350.</p><p> </p><p>We also considered the impact of fees more widely and published an impact assessment in March 2019. The impact assessment considered higher education providers – including FE colleges – taxpayers, the government and students. The impact assessment report stated:</p><p>‘We have … analysed Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) college accounts data for 120 FE colleges with Higher Education Funding Council for England funded learners, that have applied to register and found that FE colleges would be paying on average 0.2% of their total income in registration fees. This ranges from 0.05% to 1.3% of total income but with just one provider paying more than 1%. … these proportions are very small and highly unlikely to impede competition in the higher education market.’</p><p> </p><p>We have committed to a full review of registration fees after 2 years, when the impact of the fees on all providers will be clearer.</p><p> </p><p>I meet regularly with the Chair and officials from the OfS to discuss a wide range of issues, including the financial health of all parts of the higher education sector, which is kept under constant review by the OfS.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 278910 278912 question first answered 23/07/2019 07:17:32 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1138827

registered interest
date	15/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Sexual Harassment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that the sexual harassment policies of universities are fit for purpose.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	277109
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>There is no place in our society, including within higher education (HE), for any form of sexual harassment or violence. HE providers have clear responsibilities, including under the Equality Act (2010), and should have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law to investigate and swiftly address reports of sexual misconduct.</p><p>All students should be able to thrive in HE, free from barriers to both their academic and personal development. The government expects providers to address barriers preventing students from having a positive experience, and to ensure they have appropriate support in place.</p><p>The government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students to support work to address sexual harassment in HE, including implementing the recommendations of the UUK Taskforce on sexual violence and harassment, published in 2016.</p><p>Since these recommendations were published, further guidance has been published on sexual misconduct in HE. This includes the Pinsent Masons guidelines on how to handle student misconduct which may constitute a criminal offence, and separate briefings from the Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education on handling disciplinary procedures relating to sexual misconduct.</p><p>HE providers are autonomous institutions who have a duty of care to students, which includes all aspects of safeguarding and wellbeing. This is taken very seriously by providers. Providers will make decisions based on the needs of their student body, for example including support services for students facing issues relating to sexual violence and harassment. The UUK Taskforce clearly set out the need for providers to have clear care pathways and make it clear where students should be referred to within the university to access appropriate support.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 277110 277111 question first answered 18/07/2019 13:13:34 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138847

registered interest
date	15/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Sexual Harassment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of sexual harassment at universities on the prospects of the victims of that harassment.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	277110
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>There is no place in our society, including within higher education (HE), for any form of sexual harassment or violence. HE providers have clear responsibilities, including under the Equality Act (2010), and should have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law to investigate and swiftly address reports of sexual misconduct.</p><p>All students should be able to thrive in HE, free from barriers to both their academic and personal development. The government expects providers to address barriers preventing students from having a positive experience, and to ensure they have appropriate support in place.</p><p>The government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students to support work to address sexual harassment in HE, including implementing the recommendations of the UUK Taskforce on sexual violence and harassment, published in 2016.</p><p>Since these recommendations were published, further guidance has been published on sexual misconduct in HE. This includes the Pinsent Masons guidelines on how to handle student misconduct which may constitute a criminal offence, and separate briefings from the Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education on handling disciplinary procedures relating to sexual misconduct.</p><p>HE providers are autonomous institutions who have a duty of care to students, which includes all aspects of safeguarding and wellbeing. This is taken very seriously by providers. Providers will make decisions based on the needs of their student body, for example including support services for students facing issues relating to sexual violence and harassment. The UUK Taskforce clearly set out the need for providers to have clear care pathways and make it clear where students should be referred to within the university to access appropriate support.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 277109 277111 question first answered 18/07/2019 13:13:34 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138848

registered interest
date	15/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Sexual Harassment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of support provided to victims of sexual assault at universities.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	277111
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>There is no place in our society, including within higher education (HE), for any form of sexual harassment or violence. HE providers have clear responsibilities, including under the Equality Act (2010), and should have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law to investigate and swiftly address reports of sexual misconduct.</p><p>All students should be able to thrive in HE, free from barriers to both their academic and personal development. The government expects providers to address barriers preventing students from having a positive experience, and to ensure they have appropriate support in place.</p><p>The government is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students to support work to address sexual harassment in HE, including implementing the recommendations of the UUK Taskforce on sexual violence and harassment, published in 2016.</p><p>Since these recommendations were published, further guidance has been published on sexual misconduct in HE. This includes the Pinsent Masons guidelines on how to handle student misconduct which may constitute a criminal offence, and separate briefings from the Office for the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education on handling disciplinary procedures relating to sexual misconduct.</p><p>HE providers are autonomous institutions who have a duty of care to students, which includes all aspects of safeguarding and wellbeing. This is taken very seriously by providers. Providers will make decisions based on the needs of their student body, for example including support services for students facing issues relating to sexual violence and harassment. The UUK Taskforce clearly set out the need for providers to have clear care pathways and make it clear where students should be referred to within the university to access appropriate support.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 277109 277110 question first answered 18/07/2019 13:13:34 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1138914

registered interest
date	15/07/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Students
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the level of financial support available to university students.
tabling member constituency	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
tabling member printed	Hugh Gaffney
uin	277256
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Living costs support increased by 10.3% for students on the lowest incomes in the 2016-17 academic year compared to the previous system, with further inflationary increases for each year since then. The government has announced a 2.8% increase in maximum loans for living costs for the 2019-20 academic year starting in August.</p><p>An announcement on financial support for academic year 2020-21 will be made in due course.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 22/07/2019 10:01:23 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	4614 label Biography information for Hugh Gaffney