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1202817

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Further Education: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he will take to ensure that students have full access to online learning while college and university campuses are closed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
tabling member printed	Chi Onwurah
uin	58700
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>When lockdown began, higher education providers reacted rapidly to move provision online (in many cases within 24 hours), to ensure that students were able to access teaching and assessment. The vast majority of providers are currently planning to move to blended or dual provision for the next academic year. They have redesigned courses and timetables to be suitable for these new styles of delivery, front-loaded the next academic year with more online friendly provision and moved areas which require practical, face-to-face teaching or assessment to the back of the academic year.</p><p> </p><p>The Office for Students (OfS) has published information and guidance for providers and students, including frequently asked questions on a broad range of issues. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education has also published a series of guides to support higher education providers to secure academic standards and to support student achievement during the outbreak.</p><p> </p><p>The government is aware of the disproportionate impact that the COVID-19 outbreak will have on some students. Officials are working with the sector to identify what further steps may be necessary. The government has already worked closely with the OfS to help clarify that providers can draw upon existing funding to provide hardship funds and to support disadvantaged students impacted by COVID-19. Providers are able to use the funding, worth around £23 million per month for June and July, towards student hardship funds, including the purchase of IT equipment and mental health support as well as to support providers’ access and participation plans.</p><p> </p><p>Using this facility, providers have been supporting those with practical access issues through the provision of IT equipment including laptops and Wi-Fi dongles to ensure that they are able to continue their studies online.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 16/06/2020 10:13:29 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4124 label Biography information for Chi Onwurah

1202880

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Academies: Discrimination
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons academy-related discrimination cases are outside the remit of the Education and Skills Funding Agency; and what options people have in an academy setting to pursue a discrimination case.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	58728
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>The law covering discrimination is the Equality Act 2010. This applies to all maintained and independent schools, including academies, and maintained and non-maintained special schools in England.</p><p>The Act makes it unlawful for the responsible body of a school to discriminate against, harass or victimise a pupil or potential pupil:</p><ul><li>in relation to admissions;</li><li>in the way it provides education for pupils;</li><li>in the way it provides pupils access to any benefit, facility or service; or</li><li>by excluding a pupil or subjecting them to any other detriment.</li></ul><p> </p><p>If an individual feels that discrimination has taken place, in the first instance these cases could be resolved informally with the school. Should this fail to satisfactorily resolve the issue, then an official complaint can be made to the academy.</p><p>If the complainant feels that the trust has not followed its complaints procedure, they can escalate this to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). The ESFA will assess the trust’s compliance with their complaints policy but cannot overturn the decision itself or suggest remedy.</p><p>Formal proceedings in relation to a contravention of the education provisions of the Act will be brought in a county court. If the court rules that there has been a contravention, then it has the power to award an appropriate remedy, including any award of damages.</p><p>Specialist tribunals which have experience and knowledge of disability issues will hear cases of contravention of the education provisions on grounds of disability. In England this will be the First-tier Tribunal. If the Tribunal rules that there has been a contravention, then it has the power to make an order of a remedy, which it sees as appropriate.</p><p>The Department has set out advice on the Equality Act on GOV.UK, which is available at:<br><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 16/06/2020 16:44:31 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1202886

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Free School Meals: Southwark
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary school children receive free school meals in (a) Camberwell and Peckham and (b) the London Borough of Southwark.
tabling member constituency	Camberwell and Peckham
tabling member printed	Ms Harriet Harman
uin	58602
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/06/2020 answer text <p>The most recent figures for number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals come from the school census for January 2019, published on 27 June 2019. 2,658 pupils in primary schools in Camberwell and Peckham constituency were eligible for and claiming free school meals in January 2019, and 5,732 primary school pupils in the whole of the London Borough of Southwark.</p><p> </p><p>Further information can be found in the annual “School, pupils and their characteristics” statistical release which is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Figures relating to January 2020 are due to be published on 25 June 2020.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 16/06/2020 13:32:24 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	150 label Biography information for Ms Harriet Harman

1202888

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
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	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to ensure that pupils who were eligible but did not return to school during the covid-19 outbreak on 1 June 2020 for safety reasons are not disadvantaged academically.
tabling member constituency	City of Durham
tabling member printed	Mary Kelly Foy
uin	58785
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2020 answer text <p>We want to avoid any child, whatever their background or location, falling behind as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>Pupils in Reception, year 1 and year 6 have been returning to school in smaller class sizes, alongside the children of critical workers and vulnerable children of all ages, who continue to be able to attend. From 15 June, secondary schools and colleges have been providing some face-to-face support for years 10 and 12 and students aged in the first year of a two-year study programme, who are due to take key exams next year.</p><p>School leaders have explained that the level of challenge and nature of provision of remote education will vary across schools, and that schools need the flexibility to plan and provide remote education that is suitable for their circumstances. This includes considering the age of pupils. Remote education for younger children will typically need more involvement from parents, and parents are facing a range of pressures at this time. The Department has worked with teachers and school leaders to develop guidance on planning a curriculum and on remote education practice during COVID-19, which is at: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-practice-for-schools-during-coronavirus-covid-19" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-practice-for-schools-during-coronavirus-covid-19</a>.</p><p>The Government has committed over £100 million to boost remote education. This includes: providing devices and internet access for those who need it most, ensuring every school that wants it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education, and offering peer support from schools and colleges leading the way with the use of education technology.</p><p>To support the hard work of schools in delivering remote education, the new Oak National Academy, launched at the start of the summer term provides at least 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to year 10. By 14 June, 3.4 million unique users had accessed the Oak National Academy website and 11.9 million lessons had been viewed.</p><p>For pupils who may not have access to technology, offline education resources are also available through the many hard copy resources offered by publishers across the country and from the BBC, which is broadcasting lessons on television. Its Bitesize Daily TV shows were watched by over 2 million households on iPlayer in the first two weeks of transmission.</p><p>We are working with a range of partners to explore how schools can best help their pupils to make up for time spent out of school.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 19/06/2020 13:57:44 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4753 label Biography information for Mary Kelly Foy

1202889

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Further Education: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the (a) quality of education at universities and (b) the attainment of students of universities that are planning to operate online during the 2020/21 academic year.
tabling member constituency	City of Durham
tabling member printed	Mary Kelly Foy
uin	58786
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2020 answer text <p>Higher education providers reacted rapidly to move provision online (in many cases within 24 hours), to enable higher education students to complete the 2019/20 academic year. Providers are currently planning to move to blended or dual provision for the next academic year. They have redesigned courses and timetables to be suitable for these new styles of delivery, as well as front-loading the year with more online friendly provision and moving areas which require practical, face-to-face teaching or assessment to the back of the academic year.</p><p>Providers have also demonstrated a high level of agility while addressing issues around infrastructure, changing course content and developing new methods of assessment. To help support disadvantaged students impacted by COVID-19, the government has worked closely with the Office for Students (OfS) to clarify that providers can draw upon existing funding worth around £23 million per month for June and July, towards student hardship funds, including the purchase of IT equipment.</p><p>The OfS has published information and guidance for providers and students, including frequently asked questions on a broad range of issues. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education has also published a series of guides to support providers to secure academic standards and to support student achievement during the outbreak. The OfS has made it clear that all higher education providers must continue to meet conditions related to the quality of their courses and the standard of qualifications that they award. This means ensuring that higher education courses are high quality, that students are supported and achieve good outcomes and that standards are protected.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 18/06/2020 16:24:21 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4753 label Biography information for Mary Kelly Foy

1202898

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
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	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support smaller schools with the implementation of Government guidance on social distancing during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	58645
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2020 answer text <p>Thanks to the huge efforts everyone has made to adhere to strict social distancing measures, the scientific advice indicates the transmission rate of coronavirus has decreased and, based on all the evidence, we have been able to begin our cautious and phased approach to the wider opening of schools.</p><p> </p><p>We have provided guidance to schools on GOV.UK on implementing protective measures to lower the risk of transmission. These include ensuring that anyone with symptoms does not attend their education settings, promoting high standards of hand and respiratory hygiene, regular cleaning of touched surfaces, and minimising contact and mixing.</p><p>School leaders are best placed to understand their own local circumstances and take decisions about what will work for their school buildings, staff and communities.</p><p>Each setting’s circumstances will be slightly different. Any primary school that cannot accommodate the smaller groups that we are asking for at any point should discuss options with their local authority or trust. This might be because there are not enough classrooms or spaces available in the setting or because they do not have enough available teachers or staff to supervise the groups. If necessary, settings have the flexibility to focus first on continuing to provide places for priority groups and then, to support children’s early learning, settings should prioritise groups of children as follows:</p><ul><li>early years settings - 3 and 4 year olds followed by younger age groups</li><li>infant schools - nursery (where applicable) and reception</li><li>primary schools - nursery (where applicable), reception and year 1</li></ul><p>Our assessment, based on the latest scientific and medical advice, is that we need to continue to control the numbers attending school to reduce the risk of increasing transmission. Therefore, secondary schools are able to have a quarter of the year 10 and year 12 cohort (for schools with sixth forms) in school at any one time.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 58646 question first answered 19/06/2020 13:53:42 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1202899

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
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	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that the number of pupils that are permitted to return to school in compliance with covid-19 social distancing guidance is appropriate for smaller schools.
tabling member constituency	Romford
tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
uin	58646
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2020 answer text <p>Thanks to the huge efforts everyone has made to adhere to strict social distancing measures, the scientific advice indicates the transmission rate of coronavirus has decreased and, based on all the evidence, we have been able to begin our cautious and phased approach to the wider opening of schools.</p><p> </p><p>We have provided guidance to schools on GOV.UK on implementing protective measures to lower the risk of transmission. These include ensuring that anyone with symptoms does not attend their education settings, promoting high standards of hand and respiratory hygiene, regular cleaning of touched surfaces, and minimising contact and mixing.</p><p>School leaders are best placed to understand their own local circumstances and take decisions about what will work for their school buildings, staff and communities.</p><p>Each setting’s circumstances will be slightly different. Any primary school that cannot accommodate the smaller groups that we are asking for at any point should discuss options with their local authority or trust. This might be because there are not enough classrooms or spaces available in the setting or because they do not have enough available teachers or staff to supervise the groups. If necessary, settings have the flexibility to focus first on continuing to provide places for priority groups and then, to support children’s early learning, settings should prioritise groups of children as follows:</p><ul><li>early years settings - 3 and 4 year olds followed by younger age groups</li><li>infant schools - nursery (where applicable) and reception</li><li>primary schools - nursery (where applicable), reception and year 1</li></ul><p>Our assessment, based on the latest scientific and medical advice, is that we need to continue to control the numbers attending school to reduce the risk of increasing transmission. Therefore, secondary schools are able to have a quarter of the year 10 and year 12 cohort (for schools with sixth forms) in school at any one time.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 58645 question first answered 19/06/2020 13:53:42 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1202930

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
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: Social Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the reports published in May 2020 by Barnardo's, the Children's Society, Action for Children, the NSPCC and the National Children's Bureau entitled Children’s and young people’s services: funding and spending 2010-11 to 2018-19 and Pressures on children’s and young people’s services: a deep dive, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for children's services in response to the findings of those reports.
tabling member constituency	Poplar and Limehouse
tabling member printed	Apsana Begum
uin	58817
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2020 answer text <p>The government announced at the Local Government Finance Settlement that English councils' core spending power is rising by over £2.9 billion this financial year. This includes £1 billion of new grant funding that can be used flexibly by local authorities to deliver adult and children’s social care services. Further to this, the government has provided over £3.2 billion of additional funding to support local authorities in meeting COVID-19 related pressures including on children’s services. We will keep this under very close review over the coming weeks and months.</p><p>Longer term funding considerations are a matter for the next Spending Review.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 18/06/2020 16:41:16 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4790 label Biography information for Apsana Begum

1202934

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential to the use civic buildings as venues for educational capacity during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Bosworth
tabling member printed	Dr Luke Evans
uin	58807
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2020 answer text <p>As part of national social distancing measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, we have had to limit the numbers of children and young people attending schools to ensure that pupils and staff attending could do so safely. Scientific advice indicates that a phased return that limits the number of children in education settings and how much they mix with each other will help to control the rate of transmission.</p><p>Additionally, to reduce social contact, the Government has required by law certain businesses and venues to close to members of the public – with some legal exceptions. Details of these requirements are available on GOV.UK: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close-guidance" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close-guidance</a>.</p><p>Therefore, it is not possible at this time for schools to use these venues.</p><p>These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review.</p><p>We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers, carers and teachers. We are working to bring all children and young people back into education from September.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 19/06/2020 13:42:28 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4781 label Biography information for Dr Luke Evans

1202944

registered interest
date	11/06/2020
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	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing compensation to schools that have been required to cancel planned foreign trips as a result of the covid-19 pandemic and have no insurance cover; and what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on that compensation.
tabling member constituency	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
tabling member printed	Jonathan Edwards
uin	58679
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/06/2020 answer text <p>Schools who have had to or are in the process of cancelling overseas or domestic trips should check with their travel agents or credit card companies regarding securing refunds in the first instance.</p><p>If unable to recoup their full costs from the above sources, those academies and schools signed up to the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) for schools (an alternative to commercial insurance) should contact the RPA scheme administrators, whilst those academies/schools not covered by this scheme should contact their individual insurance companies.</p><p>The Department is continuing to discuss the issue of school trip cancellation and cost recovery with key government partners and representative bodies of the travel and insurance sectors.</p><p>Furthermore, we continue to advise schools to review any/all future trip and travel plans that they may have in light of current government advice on travel and social distancing.</p><p>Insurance for schools is a matter for devolved administrations.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 19/06/2020 13:22:40 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	3943 label Biography information for Jonathan Edwards