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1232215

registered interest
date	08/09/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Business: Training
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist businesses to deliver online skills training to staff.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL7946
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2020 answer text <p>To equip people better to use digital tools and to adapt to the social distancing measures of COVID-19, the government launched The Skills Toolkit in April 2020. This offers a wide-range of digital and numeracy courses for all skills levels.</p><p>Courses are available for free to the public, offering an opportunity for individuals to upskill and build on their CV. Everything from ‘everyday maths’ to an introductory 70 hour course on coding. We want to significantly grow the range of the courses on offer and will therefore be launching an expanded platform shortly.</p><p>From August 2020, we have introduced a new digital entitlement that will enable adults with no or low digital skills to undertake new improved digital qualifications free of charge. These entitlements are based on new national standards, which set out the digital skills that people need in life and in work.</p><p>We are also providing £2.5 billion, over the course of this Parliament, for the National Skills Fund to help adults learn valuable skills and prepare for the economy of the future.</p><p>The government is also supporting the Digital Boost platform, which provides digital support for small businesses and charities in the UK that have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The platform is building a community of skilled digital expert volunteers, who are providing one-to-one support to small businesses and charities free of charge to help them improve their digital capability, build sustainable incomes through digital channels, reach more customers online and stay competitive during the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond.</p><p>The government has launched Local Digital Skills Partnerships (Local DSPs) in 7 regions across England to bring together cross-sector regional and national partners to work collaboratively to tackle regional skills gaps. These have been supporting regional economic recovery, for example, working closely with Growth Hubs to understand the challenges businesses and individuals are facing and collating useful resources to support people around digital during this time.</p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 22/09/2020 16:25:46 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1232119

registered interest
date	07/09/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: 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 number of children who do not have adequate access to computing devices or digital connectivity and who have not yet received support from the scheme to provide laptops and 4G dongles.
tabling member printed	Lord Watson of Invergowrie
uin	HL7912
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2020 answer text <p>The department has already delivered over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers to local authorities and academy trusts for children who would not otherwise have access, as part of over £100 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care.</p><p>The department allocated laptops, tablets and routers to local authorities and academy trusts based on its estimates of the number of eligible children that did not have access to a device through other means, such as a private device or through school. Local authorities and academy trusts were responsible for distributing the devices, being best placed to know which children and young people need access to one.</p><p>Where local authorities and academy trusts identified a need greater than their initial allocation, they could provide evidence and request more devices. No valid request for additional devices was denied.</p><p>The department has published data on devices delivered through the programme here: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data</a>.</p><p>The department are now supplementing this support by making an initial 150,000 additional devices available in the event face-to-face schooling is disrupted as a result of local COVID-19 restrictions. These devices will be owned by the school, academy trust or local authority that receives them and can be loaned out to help children to access education and catch up support.</p><p>Schools will be able to use these devices to support disadvantaged pupils who would not otherwise be able to access remote education in years 3 to 11. Schools will also be able to order devices for disadvantaged children across all year groups who are shielding as a result of official advice, all year groups who attend a hospital school that is required to close and those completing their key stage 4 at a further education college that is required to close.</p><p>The targeting of devices through this scheme will be continually reviewed to ensure support is offered in the most effective way given the number of schools disrupted and the number of devices available at the time.</p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 22/09/2020 15:58:57 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	1241 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Invergowrie

1232122

registered interest
date	07/09/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	GCE A-level and GCSE: Assessments
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 statement by the Chair of Ofqual on 2 September that GCSE, AS and A-Level exams may take place online in 2021.
tabling member printed	Lord Watson of Invergowrie
uin	HL7914
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/09/2020 answer text <p>The department believes that examinations and assessments are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance, and we expect next year’s examination series to go ahead.</p><p>We continue to work closely with Ofqual, the exam boards and groups representing teachers, schools and colleges to consider our approach to GCSE, AS and A level exams and other assessments in 2021, to ensure that next year’s exam series proceeds fairly and smoothly.</p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 22/09/2020 15:37:51 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	1241 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Invergowrie