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838326

	answering body	Department for Education
	house id	2
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>Since 2011, local authorities have been under a duty to provide a range of short breaks services. This requires them to consult upon and publish a short breaks duty statement. This should set out what is available locally, how to access these services, and any eligibility criteria.</p><p> </p><p>To support this, the department made £800 million available in grants between April 2011 and March 2015, plus £80 million of capital funding to support new projects. The department offers support and challenge to help ensure local authorities meet their statutory requirements on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The department has funded innovative grants that promote best practice for delivering services; and continues to consider how we can best support local authorities who are working to deliver sustainable short breaks provision.</p><p> </p><p>The government is able to oversee how much local authorities have planned to spend on short breaks provision through authorities’ annual section 251 returns. This information can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/section-251-2016-to-2017" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/section-251-2016-to-2017</a> (see attached).</p><p> </p><p>Departmental surveys such as the Children’s Services Omnibus gather information on SEND services provided by local authorities, including short breaks.</p><p> </p><p>There are also opportunities through the new Ofsted and Care Quality Commission SEND inspection frameworks for local areas to consider how well they are providing for the education, health and care needs of those with SEND. This includes their need for short breaks services. A thematic ‘one year on’ report published by the two inspectorates in October 2017 found that ‘children and young people who have SEND and their families typically had good access to high-quality short breaks’ (attached).</p>
	tabling member	4577 label Biography information for Baroness Bertin

1083407

	answering body	Department for Education
	house id	2
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The government already provides funding via the Office for Students to support subjects where the costs of teaching exceed the income that providers receive through tuition fees. This includes agricultural courses with elements of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Current rates of high-cost funding are included in the ‘Office for Students: Guide to funding 2018-19’, attached.</p><p>Future funding for higher education will be announced in the forthcoming Spending Review following the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding, which is currently underway.</p><p> </p>
	tabling member	3343 label Biography information for Baroness Byford

1083408

	answering body	Department for Education
	house id	2
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>Distance learning offers excellent possibilities to open up choice and opportunity to people from a diverse range of backgrounds, including those from rural areas, and the government believes it should be widely available at a range of educational levels. Student support for tuition at higher education (HE) level is available for students who want to study on a part-time basis or by distance learning.</p><p> </p><p>The National Retraining Scheme (NRS) is an ambitious, far-reaching programme to drive adult retraining. It will help individuals to respond to the changing labour market, redirect their careers and secure better, more secure jobs of the future.</p><p> </p><p>To inform the design of the scheme, the Flexible Learning Fund is supporting 31 pilot projects across England with a total value of £11.4 million. The projects are designing and testing innovative, flexible learning that is easy to access. The pilots are aimed at adults who are working, or who are returning to work, with either low or intermediate skills. A range of delivery methods are being tested; most of the projects will make use of on-line technologies to a degree, as well as ‘blended learning’ that combines online and face-to-face learning.</p><p>My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has previously announced that Educational Technology (Edtech) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) would be a key feature of the NRS. Technological innovation and development, including in AI, will play an important part in improving the learning experience, design and effectiveness of online training.</p><p> </p><p>The government has committed up to £30 million of funding. Working closely with the technology industry we will look to innovate, test and develop ways in which technological solutions can directly answer the specific needs of NRS users alongside all learners. Details of the funding will be announced in spring 2019.</p><p> </p><p>It is only right that HE providers offer a range of options which suit all students, and that students have a real choice about where and how to study. The Review of Post-18 Education and Funding will consider how we can encourage and support more learning that is flexible, like part-time and distance learning, and enable more people to study close to where they live. The review will report later this year.</p><p> </p><p>The regulatory system is also a means of opening up HE to a more diverse range of provision and therefore to a wider range of students. The Higher Education and Research Act, which came into law in 2017, placed a duty on the Office for Students to consider other modes of study when promoting choice and opportunity in the provision of HE.</p><p> </p><p>Through recent HE reforms, we are working to support and encourage high quality new and innovative provision that has a strong offer for students, helping providers to navigate the regulatory system and we will continue to work with new providers to tackle any barriers that might arise.</p>
	tabling member	3343 label Biography information for Baroness Byford

1024226

	answering body	Department for Education
	house id	2
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>​​Both the Department for Education (DfE) and Office for Students (OfS) were made aware of the decision to defer the planned speech by the Israeli Ambassador. The DfE’s Further Education/Higher Education coordinator has been in contact with the institution.</p><p>​Freedom of speech is a crucial element of higher education and government and OfS are committed to championing it and to promoting open debate and challenge. Universities are autonomous bodies and are responsible for taking their own decisions around how to manage events and mitigate risks; handling of individual cases is not dictated by government or by the OfS. The OfS has powers to intervene if providers are not following their own free speech codes of practice</p>
	tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech

1024227

	answering body	Department for Education
	house id	2
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The previous Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation held a free speech summit in May, where sector leaders agreed to collectively develop a single piece of guidance. The government has worked alongside sector leaders to set out key principles for universities and student unions managing free speech. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission will be publishing guidance in 2019 on how to ensure that freedom of speech within the law is upheld effectively in higher education institutions, whilst acknowledging their other legal duties.</p><p> </p>
	tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech

1024228

	answering body	Department for Education
	house id	2
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The government is deeply committed to protecting freedom of speech within the law. The freedom to express views openly, challenge ideas and engage in robust debate is crucial to the student experience and to democracy. Individuals should never be in a position where they can be stopped from expressing an opinion perfectly lawfully. Institutions are required to balance risks and legal obligations with a view to ensuring freedom of speech wherever reasonably practicable.</p><p>The Joint Committee on Human Rights held an inquiry into freedom of speech in universities earlier this year, which looked in detail and collected evidence in relation to upholding freedom of speech in universities. Drawing on information from the inquiry, which found the current regulatory landscape protecting freedom of speech to be extremely complex, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and key partners in the higher education sector have worked with the Department of Education to develop a single piece of guidance, which will set out key principles. This guidance will enable universities and student unions to understand their obligations for protecting and supporting free speech.</p>
	tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech

628237

	answering body	Department for Education
	house id	2
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>Open and robust debate is how students should challenge those they disagree with. There is no place for students that use intimidation or violence to attempt to shut down the free and open exchange of ideas.</p><p>Universities have a legal duty to secure freedom of speech for their members, students, employees and visiting speakers, and must have clearly set out policies for how they will ensure that this can happen. Universities also have a clear responsibility to provide a safe and inclusive environment and no staff or student should ever feel threatened or intimidated. It is also essential that they have clear policies and procedures to ensure that all students and staff can live and work without discrimination, intimidation or harassment. We expect universities to demonstrate how they will act swiftly to investigate and address hate crime, including anti-Semitic related incidents, reported to them.</p><p>We have asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), in their role as regulator, to engage with University College London (UCL) to ensure that their policies and procedures for events with external speakers are fit for purpose and were implemented appropriately in this instance. UCL have issued a statement on 11 November 2016 regarding the incident, which sets out that they have launched an immediate investigation.</p><p>In September 2015 we asked Universities UK (UUK) to set up a Harassment Taskforce. The Taskforce has recently published a report which sets out that universities should adopt a zero-tolerance approach to harassment and hate crime. The report has been attached to this answer. We must now ensure that the work of the Taskforce goes on to make a real difference to students across the country. The Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation has asked UUK to survey progress in six months and make sure universities are doing all they can to protect the safety and security of their students. We hope that the new guidelines for universities issued alongside the UUK Taskforce report will help universities in effectively tackling incidents such as these.</p>
	tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech

641826

	answering body	Department for Education
	house id	2
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The Government condemns antisemitism wherever it occurs, including on university campuses. Universities and student societies need to be robust in tackling these kinds of issues. Universities are autonomous and have processes for dealing with concerns and complaints where they are raised, unless there are regulatory issues to be addressed.</p><p>The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) holds ongoing discussions (both formal and informal) with institutions, including the University of Oxford, on a regular basis. As the regulator, HEFCE has established procedures for following on up concerns raised about universities. No concerns have been raised with HEFCE about the implementation by the University of Oxford of its policies and procedures on this issue.</p>
	tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech

714282

	answering body	Department for Education
	house id	2
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The Student Loans Company publishes an annual statistical first release on student loans in England that provides statistics on loan outlays, repayment of loans and borrower activity. The latest release is attached.</p><p>In addition to this, in February 2016 the Department published a Joint Repayment Strategy which includes an assessment of actions to trace borrowers and to recover loans where avoidance or evasion is identified. This publication isalso attached.</p>
	tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech

733197

	answering body	Department for Education
	house id	2
	type	WrittenParliamentaryQuestion
	answer	answer answer text <p>The Fulbright programme provides important opportunities for education exchanges between the UK and the US. We have received no communication from the US government to inform us of any proposal to cut funding of the Fulbright Programme.</p>
	tabling member	3756 label Biography information for Baroness Deech