Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish earlier than 17 February the information entitled Devices and internet connectivity data: progress update.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has published new data on the delivery of devices as of 12 January 2021. This information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data.
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people.
This includes over 750,000 laptops and tablets that have been delivered to schools, trusts and local authorities by the end of last week.
The Department has also partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online as well as delivering 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.
The Department is grateful to EE, O2, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, and Vodafone. We continue to invite a range of mobile network providers to support the offer.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of apprentices employed by companies in which the director has been ineligible for covid-19-related financial support during the outbreak in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Wirral.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We do not have data on the number of apprentices employed by companies in which the director has been ineligible for financial support following the COVID-19 outbreak.
The government has introduced a wide range of support to help businesses of all sizes to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and to allow employers to furlough employees who have been unable to continue working, including apprentices, through the Job Retention Scheme.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the percentage of children in Wirral eligible to attend school under the current government guidance; and what assessment has he made of the public health implications of that percentage of children attending school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
During this period of national lockdown, schools should allow only vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers to attend. All other pupils and students should not attend and should learn remotely until February half term.
Every school will have a different number of children of critical workers who need to attend. It is important that on site provision is provided for these pupils, and there is no limit to the numbers of these pupils who may attend. Schools should not limit attendance of these groups.
Limiting attendance does not suggest that schools and colleges have become less safe for young people. Instead, limiting attendance is about supporting the reduction of the overall number of social contacts in our communities. Overall social contact across areas and the country is being reduced, rather than individually by each institution.
The new variant appears to affect all ages, but we have not seen any changes in the severity of the disease among any age groups, including children and young people. Most children and young people have no symptoms or very mild illness only. As cases in the community rise, there will be an increase in the number of children with COVID-19, but only very rarely will they require admission to hospital.
Under the national lockdown, the expectation is that everyone should work from home where possible. School leaders are best placed to determine the workforce that is required in school, taking into account the updated guidance for those staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable. The expectation is that those staff not attending school will work from home where possible.
For vulnerable children and young people, the children of critical workers, and their teachers who should still attend school or college, as they did in March to July, the system of protective measures means that any risks are well managed and controlled.
The Department publishes national level data on pupil attendance weekly: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Data relating to the current school term will be published on 19 January.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the percentage of children in Wirral eligible to attend school under current Government covid-19 guidance; and what assessment has he made of the risk to teachers and support staff of that number of children attending school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
During this period of national lockdown, schools should allow only vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers to attend. All other pupils and students should not attend and should learn remotely until February half term.
Every school will have a different number of children of critical workers who need to attend. It is important that on site provision is provided for these pupils, and there is no limit to the numbers of these pupils who may attend. Schools should not limit attendance of these groups.
Limiting attendance does not suggest that schools and colleges have become less safe for young people. Instead, limiting attendance is about supporting the reduction of the overall number of social contacts in our communities. Overall social contact across areas and the country is being reduced, rather than individually by each institution.
The new variant appears to affect all ages, but we have not seen any changes in the severity of the disease among any age groups, including children and young people. Most children and young people have no symptoms or very mild illness only. As cases in the community rise, there will be an increase in the number of children with COVID-19, but only very rarely will they require admission to hospital.
Under the national lockdown, the expectation is that everyone should work from home where possible. School leaders are best placed to determine the workforce that is required in school, taking into account the updated guidance for those staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable. The expectation is that those staff not attending school will work from home where possible.
For vulnerable children and young people, the children of critical workers, and their teachers who should still attend school or college, as they did in March to July, the system of protective measures means that any risks are well managed and controlled.
The Department publishes national level data on pupil attendance weekly: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Data relating to the current school term will be published on 19 January.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the percentage of children under the age of 12 in Wirral eligible to attend school under the current Government guidance; and what assessment has he made of the public health implications of that percentage of children under the age of 12 attending school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
During this period of national lockdown, schools should allow only vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers to attend. All other pupils and students should not attend and should learn remotely until February half term.
Every school will have a different number of children of critical workers who need to attend. It is important that on site provision is provided for these pupils, and there is no limit to the numbers of these pupils who may attend. Schools should not limit attendance of these groups.
Limiting attendance does not suggest that schools and colleges have become less safe for young people. Instead, limiting attendance is about supporting the reduction of the overall number of social contacts in our communities. Overall social contact across areas and the country is being reduced, rather than individually by each institution.
The new variant appears to affect all ages, but we have not seen any changes in the severity of the disease among any age groups, including children and young people. Most children and young people have no symptoms or very mild illness only. As cases in the community rise, there will be an increase in the number of children with COVID-19, but only very rarely will they require admission to hospital.
Under the national lockdown, the expectation is that everyone should work from home where possible. School leaders are best placed to determine the workforce that is required in school, taking into account the updated guidance for those staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable. The expectation is that those staff not attending school will work from home where possible.
For vulnerable children and young people, the children of critical workers, and their teachers who should still attend school or college, as they did in March to July, the system of protective measures means that any risks are well managed and controlled.
The Department publishes national level data on pupil attendance weekly: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Data relating to the current school term will be published on 19 January.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with Zurich Municipal on (a) fire safety in schools and (b) their findings published 5 September 2020 that schools in England are nearly twice as likely to suffer a blaze as other types of buildings; and what his Department’s policy is on sprinkler systems in new school buildings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Fires in school buildings are very rare and in the vast majority of cases are confined to the room or object of origin or cause no damage, resulting in minimal or no disruption to education.
Department officials met Zurich Municipal on 14 December 2020. We expect that dialogue to continue early this year, and in due course to be able to gain a better understanding of the impact of fire on schools and pupils, based on the data that underpins the Zurich report, Home Office fire and rescue incident statistics, as well as on the data the Department will continue to collect from its Risk Protection Arrangement.
At present, sprinklers must be fitted in new schools where they are deemed necessary to keep pupils and staff safe. All new school building projects must also comply with building regulations, including on fire safety. The Department is due to launch a full public consultation on Building Bulletin 100 in early 2021, which will consider the implementation of various fire safety measures, including sprinkler systems.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2020 to Question 115702, for what reason his Department has not made an assessment of the effect of school fires on levels of educational attainment; whether his Department plans to start collecting that information; and what assessment he has made of the importance of that information to understanding the wider impact of school fires.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Fires in school buildings are very rare and in the vast majority of cases are confined to the room or object of origin or cause no damage, resulting in minimal or no disruption to education.
Department officials met Zurich Municipal on 14 December 2020. We expect that dialogue to continue early this year, and in due course to be able to gain a better understanding of the impact of fire on schools and pupils, based on the data that underpins the Zurich report, Home Office fire and rescue incident statistics, as well as on the data the Department will continue to collect from its Risk Protection Arrangement.
At present, sprinklers must be fitted in new schools where they are deemed necessary to keep pupils and staff safe. All new school building projects must also comply with building regulations, including on fire safety. The Department is due to launch a full public consultation on Building Bulletin 100 in early 2021, which will consider the implementation of various fire safety measures, including sprinkler systems.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) pupils and (b) teachers absent from (i) primary, (ii) secondary and (iii) special schools in each (A) region and (B) local authority area for the weeks beginning (1) 5 October, (2) 12 October, (3) 2 November and (4) 9 November 2020 for which information is available; and if he will publish weekly breakdowns on a monthly basis.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We collect data on both the open status of schools, the number of schools that have indicated they have sent children home due to COVID-19 containment on a daily basis, and the total number of pupils in attendance. This data is published from this collection at a national level as part of the official statistics series. The publication can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Data is published from 9 September 2020, but prior to 12 October 2020 information on pupils isolating was not collected.
The department intends to publish regional and local authority level data on 15 December. Also, the department intends to publish school workforce attendance data from the new year. This data will be included as part of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid 19) outbreak’.
The frequency of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid 19) outbreak’ will be reviewed in the new year.
The department is constantly reviewing the content of its publications. Announcements about future content will be made through the official statistics release page: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) special schools are closed due to the covid-19 outbreak in each (i) region and (ii) local authority area for the weeks beginning (A) 5 October, (B) 12 October, (C) 2 November and (D) 9 November 2020; and if he will publish that weekly information on a monthly basis.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We collect data on both the open status of schools, the number of schools that have indicated they have sent children home due to COVID-19 containment on a daily basis, and the total number of pupils in attendance. This data is published from this collection at a national level as part of the official statistics series. The publication can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Data is published from 9 September 2020, but prior to 12 October 2020 information on pupils isolating was not collected.
The department intends to publish regional and local authority level data on 15 December. Also, the department intends to publish school workforce attendance data from the new year. This data will be included as part of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid 19) outbreak’.
The frequency of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid 19) outbreak’ will be reviewed in the new year.
The department is constantly reviewing the content of its publications. Announcements about future content will be made through the official statistics release page: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) pupils and (b) teachers attending (i) primary, (ii) secondary and (iii) special schools in each (A) region and (B) local authority area in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will publish that data on a monthly basis.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We collect data on both the open status of schools and number of schools that have indicated they have sent children home due to COVID-19 containment on a daily basis. This data is published from this collection at a national level as part of the official statistics series. The publication can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Data is published from 9 September 2020, but prior to 12 October 2020 information on pupils isolating was not collected.
The Department intends to publish regional and local authority level data on 15 December. Also, the Department intends to publish school workforce attendance data from the new year. This data will be included as part of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid 19) outbreak’.
The frequency of the publication ‘Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (Covid 19) outbreak’ will be reviewed in the new year.
The Department is constantly reviewing the content of its publications. Announcements about future content will be made through the official statistics release page: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics