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1171755

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Education: Standards
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What steps his Department is taking to improve quality and choice in the provision of (a) further and (b) higher education.
	tabling member constituency	Cheadle
	tabling member printed	Mary Robinson
	uin	900256
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/01/2020 answer text <p>We are increasing funding to improve participation for 16 to 19 year olds, introducing T-Levels, investing in further education (FE) and providing support for college improvement.</p><p>The Office for Students and Ofsted hold higher education and FE providers to account for delivering quality and successful outcomes.</p><p>The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework incentivises quality teaching, and new digital tools support student choice.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 20/01/2020 17:46:20 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4406 label Biography information for Mary Robinson

1151212

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Business: South Basildon and East Thurrock
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	What recent steps she has taken to support businesses in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.
	tabling member constituency	South Basildon and East Thurrock
	tabling member printed	Stephen Metcalfe
	uin	900057
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to making the UK the best place to start and grow a business.</p><p> </p><p>BEIS has unveiled several new measures to support business across the UK, including an £88 million boost for productivity and the publication of the SME Finance Charter.</p><p> </p><p>We have also invested £591 million to South East Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers South Basildon and East Thurrock, to empower local areas to reach their potential, boosting national productivity and growth.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 22/10/2019 13:43:57 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4092 label Biography information for Stephen Metcalfe

1170497

	registered interest
	date	13/01/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Department for Education: Pay
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the increase in the National Living wage announced by the Government on 31 December 2019, what discussions he is having with private sector companies undertaking facility management work for his Department to ensure that the cost of wage increases for their employees are not passed on to his Department.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	2516
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2020 answer text <p>Facilities Management (FM) at the Department for Education offices is delivered via the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) FM contract.</p><p> </p><p>Changes to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage are covered by the ‘change of law’ provisions within the MoJ FM contracts. As a result, the MoJ discusses with each of the FM service providers the potential impact of any such changes in order to assess the financial impact, considering the overall contractual terms and conditions.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 17/01/2020 16:58:18 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1166771

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Higher Education
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his oral answer of 9 September 2019, Official Report, column 476, which higher education institutions the Government is working closely with; and what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the diversity of (a) the higher education sector and (b) small and specialist education institutions in the event of the UK leaving the EU without an agreement.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	6219
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Education is working closely with higher education (HE) representative bodies – including Universities UK, GuildHE, Independent HE, Russell Group and others, representing the full spectrum of HE providers across the UK – to ensure we communicate the government’s Brexit guidance, including on No Deal, effectively to providers. Through the Office for Students, we have also communicated guidance to all HE providers on its register for providers.</p><p>On 28 October, we updated our GOV.UK page to help providers understand the action they need to take. This links to wider government guidance on the range of issues providers need to consider, from helping EU staff and students to continue living in the UK after 2020 to how to register for the government’s guarantee on Erasmus+ funding. This page can be found here and we will continue to keep it updated: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-exit-no-deal-preparations-for-higher-education-institutions/eu-exit-no-deal-preparations-for-higher-education-institutions" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-exit-no-deal-preparations-for-higher-education-institutions/eu-exit-no-deal-preparations-for-higher-education-institutions</a>.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 04/11/2019 17:39:59 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1167359

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Department for Education: Digital Technology
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who is responsible for digitisation in his Department; and what mechanisms the person with responsibility for digitisation uses to champion digitisation.
	tabling member constituency	North Norfolk
	tabling member printed	Norman Lamb
	uin	7660
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The Chief Digital Officer (CDO), Emma Stace, is responsible for leading Digital Delivery across the Department for Education (DfE).</p><p> </p><p>The DfE Transformation Aims involve promoting user-centred, end-to-end service design and delivery across the whole department.</p><p> </p><p>The CDO and policy directors have jointly sponsored scoping work to identify opportunities for the development of digital services to deliver better outcomes for our users and continue the transformation of DfE into a service delivery department.</p><p> </p><p>The Digital, Data and Technology (DDT) Directorates within DfE are supporting the government-wide focus on the development of “digital maturity”, developing the department’s processes, tools, infrastructure and capabilities. In support of this, the CDO is promoting the development of the community of service owners, sharing experience and best practice and identifying how the DfE can continue to develop to better support the development and delivery of digital services. This includes work to grow and develop DDT capability across the department, including through improving recruitment, training and procurement.</p><p> </p><p>The DfE works with the Government Digital Service to provide assurance against the Government Service Standards, to ensure that the services being delivered are high quality, user centred, and delivering value to users.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 04/11/2019 14:28:06 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	1439 label Biography information for Norman Lamb

1169952

	registered interest
	date	10/01/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Students: Data Protection
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Office for Students plans to publish (a) a register of the recipients of students' personal confidential data and (b) its terms of reference on data distribution.
	tabling member constituency	Oxford West and Abingdon
	tabling member printed	Layla Moran
	uin	1921
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2020 answer text <p>The Office for Students (OfS) was established through the Higher Education and Research Act (2017), which gave it operational independence in the regulation of the higher education sector. This extends to the holding and sharing of different types of data. In December 2018 the OfS published its data strategy, setting out:</p><p>“Where we share data with third parties in support of our regulatory activities, we will only do so where we can be sure that the rights and privacy of individuals are assured. We will ensure that those that process students’ data on our behalf operate to the same high standards. Our uses of data should never go beyond those that students might expect from a responsible regulator acting in their interests.”</p><p>Further to this, the OfS Data Protection and Privacy Policy sets out how it complies with data protection legislation. This is available here: <a href="https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/ofs-privacy" target="_blank">https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/ofs-privacy</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore grouped question UIN 1920 question first answered 16/01/2020 11:24:47 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4656 label Biography information for Layla Moran

1170258

	registered interest
	date	13/01/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: Fossil Fuels
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government is proactively encouraging universities to divest from fossil fuel based activities.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	2580
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2020 answer text <p>The government wants the public and higher education sectors to lead by example through reducing energy use and driving decarbonisation across the UK economy. Last year I published an article calling on Universities to lead the climate change debate:</p><p><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/climate-change-carbon-neutral_uk_5d08a9cae4b0ea7c4a4f220b" target="_blank">https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/climate-change-carbon-neutral_uk_5d08a9cae4b0ea7c4a4f220b</a>.</p><p>It is an important issue for universities to consider and we will continue to engage with them on this.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 16/01/2020 17:01:05 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1169947

	registered interest
	date	10/01/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Erasmus+ Programme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it his policy to negotiate continued membership of the Erasmus programme as part of the future relationship between the UK and the EU.
	tabling member constituency	Oxford West and Abingdon
	tabling member printed	Layla Moran
	uin	1918
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2020 answer text <p>Under the Withdrawal Agreement Erasmus participation is protected for the transition period. Students, young people and learners will be able to participate fully and for the duration of their exchange in the remainder of the current programme and organisations can continue to bid for Erasmus+ funding to the end of 2020. Organisations should continue to apply for funding as usual.</p><p>As stated in the Political Declaration, the UK is open to participate in certain EU programmes, such as the next Erasmus+ programme (2021-27), if it is in our interest to do so.</p><p>The UK government is preparing for every eventuality and are considering a wide range of options with regards to the future of international exchange and collaboration in education and training, including potential domestic alternatives.</p><p>As my right Hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, has made clear, the government wants to work to continue to build academic cooperation between the UK and the EU. As we enter negotiations on our future relationship with the EU, we want to ensure that UK and European students can continue to benefit from each other’s world-leading education systems.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 15/01/2020 17:55:32 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4656 label Biography information for Layla Moran

1150974

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of unconditional university offers on the motivation of students.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
	tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
	uin	2921
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2019 answer text <p>The department is concerned about an increase in unconditional offers, in particular conditional unconditional offers, and any adverse impact they may be having on students’ motivation and restricting student choice. The independent regulatory body for higher education, the Office for Students (OfS), will be monitoring types of offers and their impact as part of its wider review of admissions, which is underway.</p><p>The OfS has powers set down in legislation to take action if it has evidence that a higher education provider is acting in a way that harms the prospects of students, through restricting the choice and opportunity available to them, or failing to deliver successful outcomes.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 24/10/2019 14:23:59 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill

1172097

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Academic Freedom
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to take steps in response to proposals by Sheffield university to pay some students to monitor and report on statements made by other students which might be regarded as micro-aggressions; what progress he has made on bringing forward proposals to safeguard free speech in colleges and universities; and if he will draw the lessons of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four to the attention of college and university staff during this 70th anniversary year of the author’s death.
	tabling member constituency	New Forest East
	tabling member printed	Dr Julian Lewis
	uin	5319
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/01/2020 answer text <p>This government will ensure that our universities are places where free speech can thrive and work to strengthen academic freedoms. The freedom to express views openly, challenge ideas and engage in robust debate is crucial to the student experience and to democracy. Lawful freedom of speech and the right to discuss all kinds of issues is an integral part of our higher education system.</p><p> </p><p>Under the Education (No 2) Act (1986), higher education providers have a specific duty to take reasonably practicable steps to secure freedom of speech within the law for staff, students and visiting speakers. Higher education providers also have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010).</p><p> </p><p>Higher education providers should discharge their responsibilities fully and have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law and to investigate and address incidents reported to them. Universities, as autonomous bodies regulated by the Office for Students, should ensure that they are balancing their legal duties carefully and proportionately.</p><p> </p><p>The government worked with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who published clear guidance in February 2019 on freedom of speech in higher education to support higher education providers and students’ unions in delivering their duties.</p><p> </p><p>The government will be looking closely at how well higher education providers are meeting their obligations and will consider whether further action is needed, working with a range of partners.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 29/01/2020 17:37:56 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	54 label Biography information for Sir Julian Lewis