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1384588

registered interest
date	03/12/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Ethiopia: Humanitarian Aid
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of the £29 million of humanitarian aid allocated to people affected by the conflict in northern Ethiopia, announced on 15 October 2021, has been given to aid agencies working in Tigray and neighbouring regions.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	86601
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2021 answer text <p>The majority of the £29 million of humanitarian funding announced on 15 October has been allocated to needy communities in Tigray and neighbouring Afar and Amhara.</p><p>£18.4 million has been allocated to humanitarian projects in Tigray and the neighbouring regions, including health supplies, nutrition, water and sanitation, and protection services. £9 million has been allocated to Ethiopia-wide humanitarian funding mechanisms (the International Committee of the Red Cross and Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund) which distribute resources according to where the greatest needs are. We expect the majority of those funds will also reach Northern Ethiopia given the significant needs due to the conflict. The remaining £1.6 million has been used to provide additional staff for humanitarian agencies scaling up in Northern Ethiopia, including Gender-Based Violence specialists, and improve data and analysis on the humanitarian situation.</p><p>Overall, the UK has provided more than £76 million of funding to respond to the humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict, making the UK the second largest donor.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 08/12/2021 17:35:56 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1384589

registered interest
date	03/12/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Ethiopia: Armed Conflict
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Ethiopian counterpart on the need to ensure that all sides in the conflict in northern Ethiopia and the Tigray region commit to (a) allowing unfettered access to (i) international aid agencies and (ii) international observers and (b) restoring lost communications where they have been removed.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	86602
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2021 answer text <p>The UK is at the forefront of international efforts to improve access for humanitarian agencies working in conflict affected regions of northern Ethiopia.</p><p>I have called on all parties in Ethiopia to urgently agree a ceasefire, allow humanitarian aid through, and restore communications and banking services. I spoke with Ministry of Foreign Affairs State Minister Redwan on 18 November, stressing the need for all parties to the conflict to engage in peace talks, lift the blockade on humanitarian aid into Tigray, and end ethnically targeted arrests. I spoke to the Ethiopian Minister of Justice Gedion on 6 December and pressed for an end to the fighting and for peace talks. I have continued to emphasise the need for a ceasefire through recent calls with my international counterparts, including Kenya and the African Union.</p><p>Since November 2020 The Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs has travelled to Tigray on several occasions to assess the humanitarian situation. The UK's Ambassador to Ethiopia travelled to Tigray last month. We continue to highlight the urgent need for unfettered access for humanitarians and the restoration of communication and banking services to all parties to the conflict.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 08/12/2021 17:35:36 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1384590

registered interest
date	03/12/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Ethiopia: Armed Conflict
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2021 to Question 58899, on Tigray: Armed Conflict, what recommendations have been put forward following the scoping mission into gender-based violence in northern Ethiopia and the Tigray region.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	86603
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/12/2021 answer text <p>In June we deployed an expert from the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative UK Team of Experts to conduct an initial scoping mission to identify ways to enhance the response to gender-based violence in Tigray. Their recommendations are being taken forward by the FCDO. This includes the deployment of a Gender Based Violence and Gender Adviser, who is now in post and enhancing the integration of gender into humanitarian and human rights initiatives. Other recommendations being acted upon include: the provision of capacity building support to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission; a new project to work with women's rights-focused organisations to enhance support services to survivors of violence; new research into the drivers and dynamics of conflict-related sexual violence; and efforts to ensure strong collaboration with and UK leadership on all forms of gender based violence in the international community.</p><p>We are continuing to develop options to address the immediate needs of survivors, prevent further sexual violence and deliver justice and accountability.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 08/12/2021 17:36:35 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1352304

registered interest
date	03/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
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 developmental benefits of expanding 30 hours free childcare for three- and four-year-olds to all low-income families.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	42044
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>All 3 and 4- year-olds are entitled to 15 hours free childcare each week, providing children with high-quality early education. Eligible working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds are eligible for an additional 15 hours (30 hours) to help them with the additional costs associated with childcare.</p><p>The Effective pre-school, primary and secondary education project suggested there was no evidence that full-time provision (of 10 sessions per week) resulted in better outcomes for children than part-time provision (for example, 5 sessions per week). Findings suggest that an extended period of pre-school experience on a part-time basis is likely to be more advantageous than a shorter period of full-time provision. Further information can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eppse-3-to-14-years" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eppse-3-to-14-years</a>.</p><p>The 2017 Study of Early Education and Development (SEED) report showed mixed outcomes at age 3 from childcare used at ages 2 to 3. Some measures showed some improvement with additional hours of childcare (such as cognitive outcomes, socio-emotional outcomes and peer problems) but some measures showed detrimental outcomes (such as emotional self-regulation). Further information can be accessed here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627098/SEED_ECEC_impact_at_age_3.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627098/SEED_ECEC_impact_at_age_3.pdf</a>.</p><p>The 2018 SEED Report concerned the impact of early education at ages 2 to 4 on child outcomes at age 4, and the importance of the early years home environment. The report suggested that outcomes were more strongly associated with demographics and the home environment than time spent in childcare. It did not find that the amount of childcare per week had any greater effect on the most disadvantaged children, although on one outcome, it had a greater effect on moderately disadvantaged children. The report can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738725/SEED_Impact_Age_4_Report_September_2018.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738725/SEED_Impact_Age_4_Report_September_2018.pdf</a>.</p><p>When 5-year-olds were assessed in 2019, nearly three-quarters of the country’s youngest children had achieved a good level of development. This is a substantial improvement, when around half of children achieved that same level of development in 2013, when comparable data is first available.</p><p>As part of the COVID-19 education recovery strategy we have invested £17 million on the delivery of the Nuffield Early Language Intervention - improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most during the outbreak. Two-thirds of eligible mainstream primary schools have signed up for this programme, the majority of these have free school meal rates above the national average. We estimate 90,000 reception age children will get extra support with their speech and language development.</p><p>In June 2021 we also announced an additional £1.4 billion to support education recovery for children aged 2 to 19 in schools, colleges and early years settings, including £153 million which will provide the opportunity for evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners. This includes new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 42045 question first answered 10/09/2021 16:14:20 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1352305

registered interest
date	03/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Day Care
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 tackle the educational gap between children of three and four years from low income families in receipt of 15 hours free childcare and those in receipt of 30 hours free childcare.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	42045
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>All 3 and 4- year-olds are entitled to 15 hours free childcare each week, providing children with high-quality early education. Eligible working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds are eligible for an additional 15 hours (30 hours) to help them with the additional costs associated with childcare.</p><p>The Effective pre-school, primary and secondary education project suggested there was no evidence that full-time provision (of 10 sessions per week) resulted in better outcomes for children than part-time provision (for example, 5 sessions per week). Findings suggest that an extended period of pre-school experience on a part-time basis is likely to be more advantageous than a shorter period of full-time provision. Further information can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eppse-3-to-14-years" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eppse-3-to-14-years</a>.</p><p>The 2017 Study of Early Education and Development (SEED) report showed mixed outcomes at age 3 from childcare used at ages 2 to 3. Some measures showed some improvement with additional hours of childcare (such as cognitive outcomes, socio-emotional outcomes and peer problems) but some measures showed detrimental outcomes (such as emotional self-regulation). Further information can be accessed here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627098/SEED_ECEC_impact_at_age_3.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627098/SEED_ECEC_impact_at_age_3.pdf</a>.</p><p>The 2018 SEED Report concerned the impact of early education at ages 2 to 4 on child outcomes at age 4, and the importance of the early years home environment. The report suggested that outcomes were more strongly associated with demographics and the home environment than time spent in childcare. It did not find that the amount of childcare per week had any greater effect on the most disadvantaged children, although on one outcome, it had a greater effect on moderately disadvantaged children. The report can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738725/SEED_Impact_Age_4_Report_September_2018.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738725/SEED_Impact_Age_4_Report_September_2018.pdf</a>.</p><p>When 5-year-olds were assessed in 2019, nearly three-quarters of the country’s youngest children had achieved a good level of development. This is a substantial improvement, when around half of children achieved that same level of development in 2013, when comparable data is first available.</p><p>As part of the COVID-19 education recovery strategy we have invested £17 million on the delivery of the Nuffield Early Language Intervention - improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most during the outbreak. Two-thirds of eligible mainstream primary schools have signed up for this programme, the majority of these have free school meal rates above the national average. We estimate 90,000 reception age children will get extra support with their speech and language development.</p><p>In June 2021 we also announced an additional £1.4 billion to support education recovery for children aged 2 to 19 in schools, colleges and early years settings, including £153 million which will provide the opportunity for evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners. This includes new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 42044 question first answered 10/09/2021 16:14:20 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1329371

registered interest
date	04/06/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Disability
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 benefits of funding additional therapies for disabled children.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	10531
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/06/2021 answer text <p>We know how important access to therapy services are for pupils and students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), which is why we are clear in our guidance that specialists, therapists, clinicians and other support staff should provide interventions as usual. The guidance is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings</a>.</p><p>Additionally, in the Chief Nurse’s letter of 7 October 2020 to Directors of Nursing, she made it clear that maintaining support for families is a priority and that professionals supporting children and families should not be redeployed to other services.</p><p>We are committed to helping all children and young people with SEND and have prioritised those who attend specialist settings by providing additional uplifts both in the 2020 Catch-up Premium and in the 2021 Recovery Premium. They, along with the pupil premium funding, can be used to support disadvantaged children and young people’s wider needs if required, including the provision of therapies. Additionally, specialist settings will also receive an uplift to deliver summer schools and will have the flexibility to plan provision based on pupils need.</p><p>We continue to encourage schools and colleges to work collaboratively with their local authority, clinical commissioning group and health providers to ensure that children and young people with SEND have access to appropriate therapies and support.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 10229 question first answered 09/06/2021 10:06:46 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1313452

registered interest
date	11/05/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Mental Health 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 Department for Education's press release, £79 million to boost mental health support for children and young people, published on 5 March 2021, what plans his Department has to provide mental health and wellbeing support to schools that will not be covered by one of the new mental health support teams.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	370
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/05/2021 answer text <p>Children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing is priority for the department and we have a long-term joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England - introducing new mental health support teams linked to schools and colleges and incentivising all schools and colleges to identify and train a senior mental health lead.</p><p> </p><p>The £79 million is additional NHS England funding for children and young people’s mental health support, which will include increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams. The support will grow from the 59 set up by last March to around 400 by April 2023, supporting nearly 3 million children. This increase, on top of the investment in NHS mental health services set out in the 10-year plan, means that millions of children and young people will have access to significantly expanded mental health services.</p><p> </p><p>Alongside this, we have now confirmed that up to 7,800 schools and colleges in England will be offered funding worth £9.5 million to train a senior mental health lead from their staff in the next academic year, which is part of the Government’s commitment to offering this training to all state schools and colleges by 2025. Training will provide senior leads with the knowledge and skills to develop or introduce a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing in their setting, which encourages staff to develop their own understanding of issues affecting their pupils, giving young people a voice in how their school or college addresses wellbeing and working with parents and monitoring pupils where appropriate. Information on this is available here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/958151/Promoting_children_and_young_people_s_emotional_health_and_wellbeing_a_whole_school_and_college_approach.pdf/" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/958151/Promoting_children_and_young_people_s_emotional_health_and_wellbeing_a_whole_school_and_college_approach.pdf/</a>.</p><p> </p><p>We will also fund an adapted ‘Link' programme which is designed to improve partnerships between health and education leaders in local areas, raise awareness of mental health concerns and improve referrals to specialist help when needed.</p><p> </p><p>The support schools are providing to their pupils following the return to face-to-face education should include time devoted to supporting mental health and wellbeing, which will play a fundamental part in supporting recovery. The return to education settings is being supported by a £700 million package, which includes a new one-off Recovery Premium for state primary, secondary and special schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged students. This will help schools to provide their disadvantaged pupils with a one-off boost to the support, both academic and pastoral, that has been proved most effective in helping them recover from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and can be used for mental health and wellbeing support.</p><p> </p><p>We have supported schools to put the right pastoral support in place through the Wellbeing for Education Return scheme in the 2020/21 academic year, which provided free expert training, support and resources for staff dealing with children and young people experiencing additional pressures from the last year – including trauma, anxiety, or grief.</p><p> </p><p>The department has convened its Mental Health in Education Action Group, to look at the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and staff in nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities, as well as considering what additional support is required. The action group highlighted that schools and colleges need help to understand, navigate and access the range of provision available locally, so as a first step we are providing £7 million additional funding to local authorities to provide further expert support to do this through the Wellbeing for Education Recovery programme.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 17/05/2021 10:11:12 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1311546

registered interest
date	22/04/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Health
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing an annual survey of children's wellbeing.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	185980
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2021 answer text <p>The wellbeing of children and young people is a priority for this government. It is central to achieving the aims of the department and we have committed to publishing ‘State of the Nation: Children and Young People’s Wellbeing’ reports annually to bring together publicly available data, including that collected regularly by the Office of National Statistics on wellbeing.</p><p>On 10 October 2020, the department published the second annual report which focused on children and young people’s experience associated with wellbeing during the COVID-19 outbreak. The report is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-nation-2020-children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-nation-2020-children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing</a>. The report has helped the government, children and young people’s services, schools, parents and anyone interested in children and young people’s wellbeing to understand their experiences of the COVID-19 outbreak, the measures put in place to reduce the impact of the outbreak, and the broader effects on society.</p><p>We are continuing to monitor the emerging evidence on the experiences of children and young people during the outbreak to ensure the support measures being put in place by the government, including in the longer term, are informed by the most up-to-date evidence.</p><p>In particular, Public Health England is monitoring the impacts of the outbreak, including on children and young people, and is publishing regular surveillance reports. Their report about population mental health and wellbeing in England during the COVID-19 outbreak was last updated on 8 April 2021: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-mental-health-and-wellbeing-surveillance-report" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-mental-health-and-wellbeing-surveillance-report</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 27/04/2021 11:59:49 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1275799

registered interest
date	12/01/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the Government plans to base early years entitlement funding on January 2021’s attendance figures during a national lockdown and not pre-pandemic attendance levels, as it did in the Autumn 2020 term.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	136573
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2021 answer text <p>Whilst we recognise childcare attendance has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, we saw attendance rise over the autumn term from 482,000 on 10 September 2020 to 759,000 on 17 December 2020. On 17 December, the government therefore announced a return to funding early years settings on the basis of attendance. Under these arrangements, local authorities should ensure that providers are not penalised for short-term absences of children (for example sickness, arriving late or leaving early, or a family emergency) through withdrawing funding, but use their discretion where absence is recurring or for extended periods taking into account the reason for the absence and the impact on the provider.</p><p>While early years settings remain open for all children, we know that attendance was lower in the first week of January 2021 than it was before Christmas. We are looking at the attendance data and will continue to keep the funding position under review.</p><p>The Early Years Census count will go ahead this week as expected. To support local authorities, we have issued further advice about how to conduct the census count this year. In summary we have taken the view that where a child is reasonably expected to attend early years provision, and that provision is made available to them by the provider, their expected hours should be recorded in the Early Years Census. This means children who, were it not for the impact of COVID-19 on either their own personal circumstances or on the operation of their early years setting, would be attending early years provision will be included in the census count. This includes children who have previously attended the provision and children who were expected to start attending the provision in January 2021. Where the provider is temporarily closed due to circumstances such as staff infections or isolation periods, they should return their expected levels of provision for census week. Where the provider chooses not to offer the entitlements – i.e. to close, or only offer a limited provision to children of key workers - then they should not make a return for a child who is not being offered a place.</p><p>We stay in regular contact with the early years sector and have heard from them already on this subject. We publish regular official statistics on attendance in early years settings, available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak-23-march-2020-to-4-january-2021" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak-23-march-2020-to-4-january-2021</a>. The next release is due on Tuesday 19 January. We will be closely monitoring both parental take-up of places and the capacity and responses of providers, and will keep under constant review whether further action is needed.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 18/01/2021 17:33:16 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes

1243380

registered interest
date	14/10/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care: 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 number of children in care who do not have access to (a) digital devices or (b) data in order to access remote support from social services in the event they or their social worker are required to self-isolate; and what steps is he taking to improve access.
tabling member constituency	Dulwich and West Norwood
tabling member printed	Helen Hayes
uin	103585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/10/2020 answer text <p>During the summer term, the department delivered over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers to disadvantaged children who would not otherwise have access, as part of over £160 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care.</p><p>The department distributed laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers to disadvantaged children in Year 10, children receiving support from a social worker and care leavers. This is to ensure these children and young people could continue to access remote education and vital, online social care services online during COVID-19 restrictions.</p><p>The department is now supplementing this support by making an additional 250,000 laptops and tablets available to schools in the event that face-to-face schooling is disrupted as a result of local COVID-19 restrictions and children become reliant on remote education.</p><p>We are also working with the major telecommunications companies to improve internet connectivity for disadvantaged and vulnerable families who rely on a mobile internet connection. We are piloting an approach where mobile network operators are providing temporary access to free additional data offering families more flexibility to access the resources that they need the most.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 19/10/2020 16:47:03 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4510 label Biography information for Helen Hayes