Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the level of financial support available to university students.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Living costs support increased by 10.3% for students on the lowest incomes in the 2016-17 academic year compared to the previous system, with further inflationary increases for each year since then. The government has announced a 2.8% increase in maximum loans for living costs for the 2019-20 academic year starting in August.
An announcement on financial support for academic year 2020-21 will be made in due course.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to promote learning about climate change in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Topics related to climate change are included in both the science and geography curricula and qualifications. Primary school science pupils are taught about how weather changes across the four seasons, and look at how environments can change as a result of human actions.
In secondary school, science pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect this has on the climate. This is expanded on in GCSE science where pupils will consider the evidence for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change. As part of GCSE geography pupils will look at the causes, consequences of and responses to extreme weather conditions and natural weather hazards.
In 2017, the Department also introduced a new environmental science A level. This will enable students to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve air quality outside schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Outdoor air quality is a responsibility of local authorities. Where there are concerns about air quality, a local authority must prepare an air quality action plan. The Department has recently published guidance (Building Bulletin 101) on achieving good indoor air quality in new and refurbished schools.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is he taking to support children in need.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government continues to implement its reform programme as set out in ‘Putting Children First’ (2016), towards our aim that all children, no matter where they live, should have access to the same high quality care and support to meet their needs. This includes stronger initial training and clarity about the knowledge and skills social workers need in their jobs and creating an environment where innovation can flourish and frontline practice is driven by evidence. The government is also taking decisive action to improve services in inadequate local authorities through our interventions programme and by implementing a new Improvement Strategy for local authorities at risk of failing.
The government recently launched a review of Children in Need, publishing extensive data on the outcomes of this cohort and launching a call for evidence, which closed on 1 July 2018. Through the Children in Need review we are continuing to build our evidence base – both on the educational outcomes of Children in Need, and on what works to improve these outcomes. To do this, we are engaging with professionals and organisations who support Children in Need and with three What Works Centres – the Education Endowment Foundation, Early Intervention Foundation, and the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care.