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1352734

registered interest
date	06/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What progress has been made on catch-up learning for pupils in response to the disruption caused by the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Hackney South and Shoreditch
tabling member printed	Dame Meg Hillier
uin	903334
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2021 answer text <p>Since June 2020, we have announced over £3 billion to help children to catch up, including over £950 million in flexible funding to schools and £1.5 billion for tutoring. Over 500,000 children were invited to take part in summer schools nationwide. Over 200,000 have started tutoring, with more starting shortly.</p> answering member constituency South Staffordshire answering member printed Gavin Williamson question first answered 06/09/2021 16:06:28 answering member 4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson
tabling member	1524 label Biography information for Dame Meg Hillier

1352737

registered interest
date	06/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Migrant Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	If he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to assist Afghan scholars who have been validated by the Council for At-Risk Academics to take up their sponsored posts offered by universities in the UK.
tabling member constituency	New Forest East
tabling member printed	Dr Julian Lewis
uin	903337
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/09/2021 answer text <p>The government is committed to providing protection for vulnerable people fleeing Afghanistan, including Afghan students and scholars. In its first year, the Afghan citizens’ resettlement scheme will welcome up to 5,000 vulnerable Afghans to the UK, who have been forced to flee the country, with up to a total of 20,000 in the long-term. Further details will be announced in due course.</p> answering member constituency South Staffordshire answering member printed Gavin Williamson question first answered 06/09/2021 16:01:29 answering member 4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson
tabling member	54 label Biography information for Sir Julian Lewis

1338266

registered interest
date	21/06/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps his Department is taking to support more young people into technical and further education.
tabling member constituency	South East Cornwall
tabling member printed	Mrs Sheryll Murray
uin	901527
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>The Skills for Jobs White Paper sets our plans to transform technical education and is focused on giving people the skills they need, in a way that suits them, so they can get great jobs in sectors the economy needs and boost productivity.</p><p>Our reforms will put employers at the heart of the skills system and by 2030, almost all technical courses will be on employer-led standards, ensuring that the education and training people receive are directly linked to the skills needed for jobs.</p><p>We have been raising the quality and prestige of technical education by introducing T Levels, which are a high-quality technical alternative to A levels with an industry placement, and are reforming higher technical education (Level 4/5) to make it a more popular and prestigious choice that provides the skills employers need.</p><p>The Plan for Jobs introduced last year provides a package of support to ensure young people have the skills and training to go on to high quality, secure and fulfilling employment. This includes incentives for employers to take on new apprentices, supporting the largest-ever expansion of Traineeships, giving school and college leavers the opportunity to study high value Level 2 and 3 courses, and funding more vocational training placements to support the delivery of sector-based work academy programme (SWAP) placements.</p> answering member constituency South Staffordshire answering member printed Gavin Williamson question first answered 21/06/2021 16:41:57 answering member 4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson
tabling member	4100 label Biography information for Mrs Sheryll Murray

1338275

registered interest
date	15/06/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Facilities
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 schools improve (a) canteens, (b) playgrounds and (c) other facilities.
tabling member constituency	Stockton South
tabling member printed	Matt Vickers
uin	901520
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/06/2021 answer text <p>The Department allocates condition funding each year to schools and those responsible for school buildings to maintain and improve the condition of their estates, including canteens, playgrounds and other facilities. We have allocated £11.3 billion in condition funding since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed in this financial year. As part of that, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has been allocated over £1.3 million this financial year to invest in improving the condition of its schools. Allocations are informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate.</p><p>My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced a new, ten-year School Rebuilding Programme in June 2020, which will replace poor condition school buildings with modern, energy efficient designs. We have announced the first 50 schools to benefit, as part of a commitment to 500 rebuilding projects over the next decade. We expect to confirm a further 50 projects this year and plan to consult on the approach to prioritising future projects later in 2021.</p><p>In addition, the existing Priority Schools Building Programme has been rebuilding or refurbishing buildings in poor condition at over 500 schools across England.</p> answering member constituency South Staffordshire answering member printed Gavin Williamson question first answered 21/06/2021 16:44:54 answering member 4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson
tabling member	4844 label Biography information for Matt Vickers

1311928

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Lifetime Skills Guarantee
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps his Department is taking to support take-up of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
tabling member constituency	Stoke-on-Trent Central
tabling member printed	Jo Gideon
uin	914738
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2021 answer text <p>From 1 April the government is supporting any adult who does not have A levels or equivalent to access almost 400 fully funded level 3 courses as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee.</p><p>We are investing £95 million over the current Spending Review period, which includes a funding uplift to give providers the support they need, to scale-up provision and meet the needs of adult learners as we build back better from the COVID-19 outbreak. We have been working closely with local areas and providers to support delivery of the Free Courses for Jobs offer from 1 April.</p><p>We have also worked with the National Careers Service to ensure Careers Advisers can provide information about the training available to customers and we will publicise the offer, including through social media and stakeholder channels, to ensure we reach adults that can take advantage of this offer.</p><p>There are a number of shorter courses that can help adults progress in the labour market, so they can pick a course that fits their life. We are continuing to work with the sector and potential learners to understand barriers to learning and how we can support adults to take up this offer.</p><p>Furthermore, we have introduced Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving adults aged 19 and over the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. Skills Bootcamps are employer-led initiatives which aim to meet local demand.</p><p>Wave 1 Skills Bootcamps have been oversubscribed due to high demand. So far, nearly 2,800 adults started courses on over 80 different Skills Bootcamps across the 6 areas where we rolled out the trailblazers.</p><p>We are investing £43 million as part of the National Skills Fund to expand the digital and technical Skills Bootcamps across all regions of England. With this funding, we can assist employers across England to fill their vacancies.</p><p>Following a competitive application process, successful bids for the second wave of Skills Bootcamps will be announced in due course and we are anticipating that this second wave of Skills Bootcamps will train approximately 20,000 individuals across England.</p><p>Local areas are working closely with Skills Bootcamps to advertise them and encourage learners to take up this opportunity. This includes encouraging learners from underrepresented groups to ensure a diverse cohort, reflective of the local population.</p><p>We have worked with Department for Work and Pensions to align the employment and skills support offer. Later this month, the Department for Work and Pensions’ Train and Progress campaign will be further enhanced by an increase in the amount of time Universal Credit claimants can take part in full-time training to 12 weeks, up from the current 8 weeks, helping them gain the skills and qualifications needed for good jobs.</p><p>The change will ensure Universal Credit claimants can access sector-specific training provided as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, including Skills Bootcamps and some of the free level 3 qualifications while receiving the financial support they need.</p> answering member constituency South Staffordshire answering member printed Gavin Williamson grouped question UIN 914753 question first answered 26/04/2021 17:18:24 answering member 4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson
tabling member	4817 label Biography information for Jo Gideon

1311929

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Lifetime Skills Guarantee
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps his Department is taking to support take-up of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
tabling member constituency	Hertford and Stortford
tabling member printed	Julie Marson
uin	914753
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2021 answer text <p>From 1 April the government is supporting any adult who does not have A levels or equivalent to access almost 400 fully funded level 3 courses as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee.</p><p>We are investing £95 million over the current Spending Review period, which includes a funding uplift to give providers the support they need, to scale-up provision and meet the needs of adult learners as we build back better from the COVID-19 outbreak. We have been working closely with local areas and providers to support delivery of the Free Courses for Jobs offer from 1 April.</p><p>We have also worked with the National Careers Service to ensure Careers Advisers can provide information about the training available to customers and we will publicise the offer, including through social media and stakeholder channels, to ensure we reach adults that can take advantage of this offer.</p><p>There are a number of shorter courses that can help adults progress in the labour market, so they can pick a course that fits their life. We are continuing to work with the sector and potential learners to understand barriers to learning and how we can support adults to take up this offer.</p><p>Furthermore, we have introduced Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving adults aged 19 and over the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. Skills Bootcamps are employer-led initiatives which aim to meet local demand.</p><p>Wave 1 Skills Bootcamps have been oversubscribed due to high demand. So far, nearly 2,800 adults started courses on over 80 different Skills Bootcamps across the 6 areas where we rolled out the trailblazers.</p><p>We are investing £43 million as part of the National Skills Fund to expand the digital and technical Skills Bootcamps across all regions of England. With this funding, we can assist employers across England to fill their vacancies.</p><p>Following a competitive application process, successful bids for the second wave of Skills Bootcamps will be announced in due course and we are anticipating that this second wave of Skills Bootcamps will train approximately 20,000 individuals across England.</p><p>Local areas are working closely with Skills Bootcamps to advertise them and encourage learners to take up this opportunity. This includes encouraging learners from underrepresented groups to ensure a diverse cohort, reflective of the local population.</p><p>We have worked with Department for Work and Pensions to align the employment and skills support offer. Later this month, the Department for Work and Pensions’ Train and Progress campaign will be further enhanced by an increase in the amount of time Universal Credit claimants can take part in full-time training to 12 weeks, up from the current 8 weeks, helping them gain the skills and qualifications needed for good jobs.</p><p>The change will ensure Universal Credit claimants can access sector-specific training provided as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, including Skills Bootcamps and some of the free level 3 qualifications while receiving the financial support they need.</p> answering member constituency South Staffordshire answering member printed Gavin Williamson grouped question UIN 914738 question first answered 26/04/2021 17:18:24 answering member 4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson
tabling member	4768 label Biography information for Julie Marson

1254232

registered interest
date	23/11/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps his Department has taken to provide financial support to schools for non-covid-19 related emergencies during 2020.
tabling member constituency	Rutland and Melton
tabling member printed	Alicia Kearns
uin	909085
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>During an emergency situation, responsibility and liability for school buildings remains with the responsible body, whether that be the local authority or academy trust. The local authority (no matter the governance of the school(s) impacted) also has the responsibility to ensure that sufficient pupil places are made available for children in the area.</p><p>Whilst responsibility sits with those bodies, the Department for Education has a clear interest in the safety of pupils and staff and ensuring that the education system functions appropriately. In emergency situations, the department works with responsible bodies to understand what support or advice is needed on an individual basis.</p><p>Responsible bodies will need to contact their own insurers to understand the financial support available to them in the first instance. The department also provides an alternative to commercial insurance via the Risk Protection Arrangement and we have been able to support many schools through this.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Staffordshire answering member printed Gavin Williamson question first answered 23/11/2020 18:36:29 answering member 4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson
tabling member	4805 label Biography information for Alicia Kearns

1254235

registered interest
date	23/11/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Teachers: Recruitment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps he is taking to increase (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teachers.
tabling member constituency	Bexleyheath and Crayford
tabling member printed	Sir David Evennett
uin	909089
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>Great schools need great teachers. We are transforming the support for teachers to attract more people to teaching and enable them to thrive. We are working with the profession to create the career pathways and development opportunities to make teaching more than a match for other highly-regarded professions.</p><p>We have started to roll out the Early Career Framework – the biggest teaching reform in a generation – providing the solid foundations for a successful career in teaching, backed by up to £130 million a year in funding when fully rolled out in 2021. Early roll-out from autumn 2020 is taking place in selected areas (North East, Greater Manchester, Bradford and Doncaster).</p><p>We are also launching new National Professional Qualifications, offering high-quality professional development for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice, to those leading multiple schools across trusts.</p> answering member constituency South Staffordshire answering member printed Gavin Williamson question first answered 23/11/2020 17:03:41 answering member 4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson
tabling member	1198 label Biography information for Sir David Evennett

1254237

registered interest
date	23/11/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Construction
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps he is taking to build new schools.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Elliot Colburn
uin	909079
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>Through the free schools programme, this government has funded thousands of high quality new school places across the country.</p><p>We have approved 225 applications from groups that we are now working with to establish new free schools. This includes 73 special and 9 alternative provision free schools.</p><p>The Priority Schools Building Programme is replacing or refurbishing buildings at 537 schools.</p> answering member constituency South Staffordshire answering member printed Gavin Williamson question first answered 23/11/2020 17:00:15 answering member 4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson
tabling member	4775 label Biography information for Elliot Colburn

1254239

registered interest
date	23/11/2020
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	What steps he is taking to close the gap in (a) educational outcomes and (b) levels of wellbeing between disadvantaged children and their peers.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
uin	909083
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/11/2020 answer text <p>All children have had their education disrupted by the the COVID-19 outbreak. The government has announced a catch up package worth £1 billion, including a ‘Catch up Premium’ worth a total of £650m to support schools to make up for lost teaching time.</p><p>To help schools make the best use of this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation has published a support guide for schools with evidence-based approaches to catch up for all students and a further school planning guide: 2020 to 2021.</p><p>Alongside this universal grant, a National Tutoring Programme worth £350 million will deliver proven, successful interventions to the most disadvantaged young people. Research shows high quality individual and small group tuition can add up to 5 months of progress for disadvantaged pupils.</p><p>Schools continue to receive the pupil premium each quarter. As schools’ original pupil premium strategies will not have been delivered since March, and the pupils’ needs will have changed or intensified, we recommend that, as part of the planning for needs-based universal catch up, school leaders review their pupil premium strategy and amend it to reflect the new situation from this term.</p><p>We have put in place an unprecedented range of action to help schools to develop whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing, including our £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return training; and trials of approaches to promote positive mental wellbeing in schools, which aim to provide evidence on what works in a school setting to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.</p><p>We recognise that disadvantaged children may not have access to the resources to undertake remote education. That’s why we’ve invested over £195 million to support access to remote education and online social care.</p><p>As part of this, we’re making over 340,000 laptops and tablets available this term to support disadvantaged children in year 3 to 11 whose face-to-face education may be disrupted. This supplements over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers, which have already been delivered during the summer term. This represents an injection of over half-a-million laptops and tablets by the end of the year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Staffordshire answering member printed Gavin Williamson question first answered 23/11/2020 18:37:59 answering member 4108 label Biography information for Sir Gavin Williamson
tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves