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1274010

registered interest
date	06/01/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Nurseries: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the effect on the viability of (a) academy trust nurseries and (b) maintained school nurseries of local authorities returning to funding following the child from 1 January 2021.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	133856
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>During the COVID-19 outbreak, we have provided unprecedented support to the early years sector by continuing to fund the free childcare entitlements, making grants and loans available and ensuring early years providers can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for their non-government funded income, and childminders the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.</p><p>While 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 792,000 on 10 December 2020. On 17 December 2020, the government therefore announced a return to funding early years settings on the basis on attendance.</p><p>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>The national lockdown announced by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on 4 January 2021 means the number of children attending childcare will drop although early years settings remain open for all.</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://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak</a>. The next release is due on Tuesday 19 January 2021. 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><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 15/01/2021 14:53:58 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1274016

registered interest
date	06/01/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education: Asylum
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 improve access to education for asylum seekers while awaiting the outcome of their applications.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	133859
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2021 answer text <p>Access to post-16 education for asylum seekers is governed by funding rules in further and higher education.</p><p>In further education, asylum seekers aged 19 and over who have lived in the UK for 6 months or longer while awaiting the outcome of their application, and no decision on their claim has been made, are eligible to receive funding through the Adult Education Budget. For asylum seekers aged 16-19, we will fund those who have applied for asylum as well as those who have been granted asylum status by the Home Office.</p><p>In higher education (HE), eligibility requirements for student support usually means that a student resident in England should have ‘settled’ status or a recognised connection with the UK and have been a resident of the UK and Islands for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of the course. However, an exception to the 3 year ordinary residence requirement is made for students with refugee status and humanitarian protection. This means that immediate access to HE student support is available once a person has been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection by the Home Office.</p><p>A considerable subsidy has been built into the student loan scheme, which is targeted to those who are likely to remain in England (or at least the UK) indefinitely, so that the general public benefits of their HE will be to the country’s advantage. There are no plans to extend eligibility to HE student finance to asylum seekers awaiting a Home Office decision on their claim as there is no guarantee that they will go on to be granted a relevant status.</p> answering member constituency Chichester answering member printed Gillian Keegan question first answered 15/01/2021 14:31:44 answering member 4680 label Biography information for Gillian Keegan
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1229689

registered interest
date	28/08/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Academies: Uniforms
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued to academy trusts on ensuring the affordability of school uniforms.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	81909
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2020 answer text <p>It is for the governing body of a school (or in the case of academies, the academy trust) to decide whether there should be a school uniform, what it will be and how it should be sourced. To support them to do this the department issues best practice guidance which can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform</a>.</p><p>This makes clear that high priority must be given to cost considerations. The Department’s guidance clearly states that uniform items should be easily available for parents to purchase and schools should keep compulsory branded items to a minimum. It also states that schools should avoid single supplier contracts, but where schools do choose to enter into such contracts, they should be subject to a regular competitive tendering process.</p><p>No school uniform should be so expensive as to leave pupils or their families feeling unable to apply to a school. The Government is pleased to support the Private Members' Bill to ‘Make provision for guidance regarding the cost aspects of school uniform policies’ which was recently introduced to Parliament on 5 February. This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to ensuring that school uniform costs are reasonable.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 08/09/2020 16:26:53 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis