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1238422

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Tutoring Programme: Travellers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will allocate ring-fenced funding as part of the National Tutoring Programme to children from Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller communities.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	96202
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/10/2020 answer text <p>The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) will provide additional, targeted tutoring support for disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils who need the most help to catch up. It is important that decisions about what support pupils receive are made locally by those who understand their needs. Schools are encouraged to direct NTP support to those pupil premium pupils who have been hardest hit by the disruption to their education. However, they are able to exercise their professional judgement to include other disadvantaged and vulnerable children who are most in need of support.</p><p>As well as the NTP, the Department is also providing £650 million for a catch-up premium for all schools to help make up for lost teaching time. Schools can prioritise support based on individual needs, including pupils from deprived backgrounds and pupils facing other challenges, such as young carers, those working with a social worker, and those with mental health needs. Schools are free to use this funding to meet the needs of their pupils, including, for example, intervention programmes, extra teaching capacity or access to technology.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 01/10/2020 16:15:52 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1238423

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Education: Disadvantaged
	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 school closures on (a) Gypsy, Traveller and Roma pupils and (b) other pupils experiencing the poorest educational outcomes.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Zarah Sultana
	uin	96203
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/10/2020 answer text <p>The Department have commissioned an independent research and assessment agency to provide a baseline assessment of catch up needs for pupils in schools in England. They will then monitor progress over the course of the year, based on existing assessments, to help us target support. This research is a priority for the Department.</p><p>This research will make use of existing assessments that schools already choose to use and are typically taken by over one million children each year. This will allow the Department to assess how a range of groups are performing this year – including the most disadvantaged and those with historically poor outcomes.</p><p>Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department has been clear that no child should fall behind as a result of COVID-19. Now children are back in school, teachers are assessing what support their pupils need to get back on track, and head teachers have the flexibility to spend their allocation from our £1 billion COVID-19 catch up fund in the way they decide is best for their pupils, using approaches that are known to have the most impact.</p><p>The Department also continues to provide pupil premium funding, worth £2.4 billion in the current financial year, that aims to reduce the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 01/10/2020 15:18:36 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4786 label Biography information for Zarah Sultana

1238366

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Employment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has put in place following the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to support employers in (a) retaining and (b) upskilling workers (i) now and (ii) in the future.
	tabling member constituency	Wolverhampton South West
	tabling member printed	Stuart Anderson
	uin	96191
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/10/2020 answer text <p>The government is providing £2.5 billion (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations), for the National Skills Fund.</p><p>The National Skills Fund will support adults to learn and reach their potential in the labour market.</p><p>My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, recently announced that for adults who do not currently have a level 3 qualification, the government will be fully funding their first full level 3 through the National Skills Fund. We will target this level 3 entitlement at subjects and qualifications with economic value and the strongest alignment with government priorities, to ensure the best possible returns for individuals, employers and the nation.</p><p>My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, also announced the launch of our new digital bootcamps, in 6 areas, to support local regions and employers to fill in-demand vacancies. The bootcamp training courses will provide valuable skills based on employer demand and will offer a fast track to a job interview on completion. Pending the success of the initial bootcamps, we are planning to expand the digital bootcamps to more of the country from Spring 2021 and we also want to extend this model to include other technical skills training.</p><p>The government remains committed to consulting on aspects of the National Skills Fund to ensure that we develop a fund that helps adults learn valuable skills and prepare for the economy of the future. We are continuing to review the ongoing implications of the COVID-19 outbreak and we are considering the most appropriate time and approach we can take to launch the consultation, ensuring we have meaningful discussions with employers, providers and users.</p><p>Alongside the National Skills Fund, the department has been working to respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. In his Summer Economic Update, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced investment of over £500 million to deliver a package of support for people to access the training and develop the skills they will need to go on to high-quality, secure and fulfilling employment. The Skills Recovery Package included:</p><ul><li>Apprenticeships: A new payment of £2,000 to employers in England for each new apprentice they hire who is aged 24 or below, and a £1,500 payment for each new apprentice they hire who is aged 25 and over, from 1 August 2020 to 31 January 2021.</li><li>Traineeships: £111 million to triple the scale and reform traineeships for those aged 16 - 24 (25 with an Education, Health and Care plan): with additional funding available to providers in 2020-21 to support 30,000 new places. We have also introduced, for the first time, payments of £1,000 per trainee for employers who offer new or additional work placements (up to 10 trainees).</li><li>Careers information, advice and guidance: £32 million over 2 years to help 269,000 more people of all ages receive advice from the National Careers Service.</li><li>Sector-based work academy programme (SWAP): £17 million to triple the number of SWAP placements in 2020/21, enough funding to support an extra 40,000 job seekers with additional training opportunities and the chance of a job.</li></ul><p>The Chancellor of the Exchequer also announced a new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people aged 16 to 24 claiming Universal Credit. Funding available for six-month job placements will cover 100% of the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week – and employers will be able to top this wage up. Employers can apply next month and the scheme will start in autumn. There will be no cap on the number of places available.</p><p>The government appreciates the importance of adult education to improving people’s life chances. We will continue to explore options within adult education to aid the post COVID-19 recovery.</p> answering member constituency Chichester answering member printed Gillian Keegan question first answered 06/10/2020 15:20:47 answering member 4680 label Biography information for Gillian Keegan
	tabling member	4742 label Biography information for Stuart Anderson

1238375

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	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 discussions his Department has had with (a) universities who operate student accommodation and (b) private providers of student accommodation on their response to the covid-19 outbreak since March 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Luton North
	tabling member printed	Sarah Owen
	uin	96196
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/10/2020 answer text <p>The department is in frequent contact with representatives of the higher education sector, having regular interactions at both official and ministerial level with key parties, including Universities UK and the Office for Students. Officials have also been in frequent contact with representatives of private providers of accommodation, including Unipol, who operate the national codes of practice for private student accommodation providers.</p><p>I have spoken with representatives of Unite and Unipol at the Higher Education Taskforce, which the government convened in August. The Taskforce continues to work with the sector on the challenges universities, colleges and their students are facing due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>On 10 September, the government issued updated guidance for providers on reopening campuses and buildings to help providers make informed decisions about their provision, which is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses</a>.</p><p>This guidance builds on the advice provided in June, and updated in July, which universities have been using to plan for a safe return. Policies are kept under review as the situation evolves, based on the latest advice from Public Health England and evidence of the effectiveness of interventions and support for students and providers. The guidance reflects the latest scientific advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.</p><p>The department has worked with universities to ensure that they all have outbreak plans. These have been developed in conjunction with local public health teams and all have been or are being agreed with local directors of public health. The plans should cover a range of scenarios, including outbreaks in accommodation, both on and off campus.</p><p>The government has published guidance for landlords and tenants who may be affected by current events, available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-and-renting-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-and-renting-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities</a>.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 01/10/2020 14:34:59 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
	tabling member	4777 label Biography information for Sarah Owen

1238224

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children: Mental Health
	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 prioritise policy on the mental health and wellbeing of children.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	96145
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/10/2020 answer text <p>The government is committed to promoting and supporting the mental health of children and young people. The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has policy responsibility for children and young people’s mental health. We are working closely with them and taking significant steps to support the mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people in education.</p><p>We have particularly prioritised children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 outbreak. Getting children and young people back into school and college is itself key to their wellbeing. We have worked hard to ensure that all pupils and learners were able to return to a full high-quality education programme in September. Our £1 billion COVID-19 catch-up package, with £650 million shared across schools over the 2020-21 academic year, is supporting education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place.</p><p>To ensure that staff are equipped to support wellbeing as children and young people returned to schools and colleges, we made it a central part of our guidance both on remote education and on the return to school. We supported this with a range of training and materials, including webinars which have been accessed by thousands of education staff and accelerating training on how to teach about mental health as part of the new relationships, sex and health curriculum, so that all pupils can benefit from this long-term requirement.</p><p>To continue this support we are investing £8 million in the Wellbeing for Education Return programme, which will provide schools and colleges all over England with the knowledge and practical skills they need to support teachers, students and parents, to help improve how they respond to the emotional impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. The programme is funding expert advisers in every area of England to train and support schools and colleges during the autumn and spring terms. Further information about the Wellbeing for Education Return programme is available at:<br><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wellbeing-for-education-return-grant-s31-grant-determination-letter" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wellbeing-for-education-return-grant-s31-grant-determination-letter</a>.</p><p>In further education, the department has provided £5.4 million of competitive grant funding through the College Collaboration Fund and 5 of the projects funded support student and staff mental health and wellbeing through online programmes and remote support.</p><p>In the long term, we remain committed to our major joint green paper delivery programme with DHSC and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams linked to schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support. Mental health support teams are part of the commitment made in the NHS England Long Term Plan that funding for mental health services will grow faster than the overall NHS budget, creating a new ringfenced local investment fund for all ages worth at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023-24. This will mean that by 2023-24, at least an additional 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 years will be able to access support via NHS England funded mental health services.</p><p>We are also continuing to prioritise the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable children, including by supporting the £7 million ‘See, Hear, Respond service’ led by Barnardo’s, in partnership with national children’s charities and local organisations, to support vulnerable children at most risk of harm or having negative experiences on their health and wellbeing. Providing additional support through a £6.5 million COVID-19 Adoption Support Fund scheme to support 61,000 adoptive and special guardianship families and extending our £1 million mental health assessment pilots for looked-after children until March 2021. We will also be considering the issues around provision for children and young people with social, emotional and mental health issues as part of our special educational needs and disabilities review.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 06/10/2020 16:59:28 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1238300

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the process for establishing an Education, Health and Care Plan for SEND children is dependent on a diagnosis.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	96111
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/10/2020 answer text <p>As set out in the Children and Families Act 2014, local authorities must assess the need for an education, health and care (EHC) plan where a child or young person has or may have special educational needs, and where it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made in accordance with an EHC plan. A medical diagnosis of an illness or disability is not required to secure an EHC needs assessment or final EHC plan.</p><p>The special educational needs and disabilities Code of Practice sets out that local authorities may develop criteria as guidelines to help them decide when it is necessary to carry out an EHC needs assessment (and following assessment, to decide whether it is necessary to issue an EHC plan). However, local authorities must be prepared to depart from those criteria where there is a compelling reason to do so, in any particular case, and demonstrate their willingness to do so where individual circumstances warrant such a departure. Local authorities must not apply a blanket policy to particular groups of children or young persons or certain types of need, as this would prevent the consideration of a child’s or young person’s needs.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 96112 question first answered 06/10/2020 15:33:56 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1238301

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the process for establishing an Education, Health and Care Plan for SEND children is dependent on the medical model of disability and not the social model of disability.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	96112
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/10/2020 answer text <p>As set out in the Children and Families Act 2014, local authorities must assess the need for an education, health and care (EHC) plan where a child or young person has or may have special educational needs, and where it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made in accordance with an EHC plan. A medical diagnosis of an illness or disability is not required to secure an EHC needs assessment or final EHC plan.</p><p>The special educational needs and disabilities Code of Practice sets out that local authorities may develop criteria as guidelines to help them decide when it is necessary to carry out an EHC needs assessment (and following assessment, to decide whether it is necessary to issue an EHC plan). However, local authorities must be prepared to depart from those criteria where there is a compelling reason to do so, in any particular case, and demonstrate their willingness to do so where individual circumstances warrant such a departure. Local authorities must not apply a blanket policy to particular groups of children or young persons or certain types of need, as this would prevent the consideration of a child’s or young person’s needs.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 96111 question first answered 06/10/2020 15:33:56 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1238193

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Remote Education: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 September 2020 to Question 90289 on Remote Education: Coronavirus, if he will make it compulsory for schools to remotely educate whole classes rather that stating that such schools should plan to do so.
	tabling member constituency	Don Valley
	tabling member printed	Nick Fletcher
	uin	96219
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/10/2020 answer text <p>On 1 October, the Department published a temporary continuity direction which makes it clear that schools have a duty to provide remote education for state-funded, school-age children unable to attend school due to COVID-19. This will come into effect from 22 October 2020. The direction poses no additional expectations on the quality of remote education expected of schools beyond those set out in this guidance.</p><p>Alongside the direction, the Department also announced further remote education support to assist schools and further education (FE) colleges in meeting the remote education expectations set out in the schools guidance for full opening, published in July, and the autumn term guidance for FE colleges, published in August, available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools</a>; and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/what-fe-colleges-and-providers-will-need-to-do-from-the-start-of-the-2020-autumn-term" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/what-fe-colleges-and-providers-will-need-to-do-from-the-start-of-the-2020-autumn-term</a>.</p><p>The support package will be available over the coming months to schools or FE colleges seeking additional support, and can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19</a>.</p><p>For schools, the Department’s support includes 250,000 laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and development resources for staff, including a good practice guide and school-led webinars. We are also investing £1.5m of additional funding to expand the EdTech Demonstrator programme, which provides peer-to-peer support for schools and colleges. For colleges, the Department’s support package will include 80 grants of £1,000 to colleges across England, providing additional training and support for mentors and coaches specialising in assisting teachers with remote education.</p><p>The package is designed to help schools and colleges build on and deliver their existing plans in the event that individual or groups of pupils are unable to attend school because of COVID-19 in line with guidance and the law. This adds to existing support outlined in the Answer of 22 September 2020, including resources available from Oak National Academy.</p><p>Schools and colleges have worked hard over the summer and the autumn term to prepare for full reopening and to develop remote education contingency plans. This is testament to their commitment to ensuring any missed education is recovered and that we prevent the attainment gap from widening further. We have a shared responsibility for working to ensure this generation of young people do not face long-term disadvantage.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 06/10/2020 16:43:30 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4832 label Biography information for Nick Fletcher

1238153

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Students: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what risk assessment they undertook, prior to September, of the impact of students returning to universities on the transmission of COVID-19.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL8557
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>The safety and wellbeing of staff and students in higher education (HE) is always our priority and the government is doing all it can to minimise the risks to those working and studying in our HE institutions in this unprecedented situation, while mitigating the impact on education.</p><p>As with all educational settings, we continue to monitor the situation closely and follow the latest scientific advice, adapting policies as the situation changes. Our guidance for providers on reopening campuses takes account of the latest scientific advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, which has been considering the risks of reopening HE institutions. The guidance is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses</a>.</p><p>The government has drawn on the expertise of the HE taskforce that we set up for this purpose, and we have been providing robust public health advice and regular updates to the sector to help it to plan carefully to keep students and staff as safe as possible. As our guidance makes clear, we expect providers to conduct risk assessments and consider appropriate measures to ensure that they minimise risks to the wellbeing of staff and students while delivering the high quality education for which our HE providers are known.</p><p>We have worked with universities to ensure that they all have outbreak plans. These have been developed in conjunction with local Public Health Teams and all have been or are being agreed with local Directors of Public Health. The plans cover a range of scenarios and ensure providers are prepared to respond quickly to an outbreak in their educational setting or wider community.</p> answering member printed Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay question first answered 12/10/2020 15:35:42 answering member 4728 label Biography information for Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1238172

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Children and Young People: Coronavirus
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increased pressures facing organisations which provide support to children and young people as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
	tabling member printed	Lord Hayward
	uin	HL8520
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/10/2020 answer text <p>The government is aware that the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in increased pressure on the full range of organisations which provide support to children and young people, including local authorities’ children’s services and voluntary sector organisations, as well as schools, colleges and early years settings.</p><p>The department has been working closely with local authorities to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, setting up dedicated Regional Education and Care Teams (REACTs), comprising of education and social care staff from the department and Ofsted. The teams work closely with the Association of Directors of Children’s Services and with local authorities. The REACTs have weekly calls with directors in each region of the country and follow up with individual councils of concern as necessary.</p><p>The department also conducts the fortnightly Vulnerable Children and Young People survey, which goes out to all local authorities in England. This provides an overview of how children’s services are operating and includes information such as the number of referrals to children’s social care services, social worker contact with vulnerable children and numbers of children going into care. A report of data from Waves 1 to 8 of the survey can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vulnerable-children-and-young-people-survey" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vulnerable-children-and-young-people-survey</a>.</p><p>The government has provided an unprecedented package of support for those that support vulnerable children through both statutory and voluntary services. This support package includes £3.7 billion of additional funding to support local authorities in meeting COVID-19-related pressures, including in children’s services. This funding is un-ringfenced, recognising local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major COVID-19 service pressures in their local area. The support also includes the Adoption Support Fund, which has provided £8 million to help families under pressure as a result of the outbreak. It also includes the Innovation Programme, which has funded more than £12 million for 14 projects related to areas including domestic violence and supporting teenagers at risk of exploitation.</p><p>Additionally, this support package includes funding of more than £7 million to Barnardo’s for the See, Hear, Respond service, which offers targeted help to vulnerable children, young people and their families affected by COVID-19 and the measures put in place to stop its spread. It also includes a £7.6 million joint fund between the department and the Home Office for national children’s charities operating in England and Wales that offer services to safeguard vulnerable children and that have financially suffered due to the impact of COVID-19. We have also provided funding to other charities working with vulnerable children, including Grandparents Plus, Family Rights Group, FosterTalk, the Care Leavers Association, Become, Drive Forward Foundation and Adoption UK.</p><p>This funding is in addition to the joint investment from the department and the Home Office in the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s helpline of £1.6 million and additional £310,000 to enhance Childline. In addition, approximately £10 million has already been committed to the Family Fund, helping families with children that have complex needs and disabilities through grants for equipment that makes their lives easier while implementing social distancing measures, including computers, specialist equipment and educational toys.</p><p>We know children and young people’s wellbeing and mental health has been affected in various ways during the last 6 months. We have advised schools and colleges to place emphasis on pastoral and wellbeing support, provided new resources on mental health as part of the relationships, health and sex education curriculum and hosted national webinars for education settings and local partners. The government is investing £8 million to launch the new Wellbeing for Education Return programme, which will train experts in local authorities to provide schools and further education providers all over England with the knowledge and practical skills they need to support teachers, students and parents to help improve how they respond to the emotional impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>The government is making available a catch-up package worth £1 billion, including a catch-up premium worth a total of £650 million to support schools to make up for lost teaching time. Alongside the universal catch-up premium, we are launching a £350 million National Tutoring Programme to provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who need the most help.</p><p>We have also made a wide-ranging package of support available to the early years sector. Many settings have used the furlough scheme and we have also continued to pay local authorities by bulk-buying childcare places under our entitlements for free hours for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. We will continue to pay local authorities for those hours this autumn term even if fewer children are attending settings. We have asked local authorities to pass this funding on in full.</p><p>Our latest guidance on supporting vulnerable children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services</a>.</p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 12/10/2020 15:49:56 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
	tabling member	863 label Biography information for Lord Hayward