Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Disabled Children’s Partnerships report, Left Behind, published on 16 July 2021, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding in that report that over half of local authorities have failed to meet their legal targets for providing Education, Health and Care plan assessments.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 make clear that local authorities must complete an education, health and care plan (EHCP) assessment within twenty weeks from when the request is received, unless certain prescribed exceptional circumstances that are spelt out in paragraph 9:42 of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice apply.
We use data to monitor local authority performance and to provide challenge and support to those local authorities where there are long-standing delays. Each year we also deliver a training programme to local authorities, health, and social care staff on their statutory duties for EHCPs and reviews, and we have continued to do this on a virtual basis.
In addition, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission re-started their revisit programme to areas that received a Written Statement of Action in May, with the full inspection programme re-starting in June. Our team of SEND Advisers and colleagues in NHS England are continuing to work with authorities with a Written Statement of Action to help improve performance.
More broadly, The Department for Education is currently undertaking a review of the SEND system, which is making good progress in identifying the reforms needed to improve support for children and young people with special educational needs and their families.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made towards establishing a Takaful-based funding structure for financial support for students in higher and further education.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
The government is considering the Alternative Student Finance (ASF) product carefully and will provide a further update with the full and final conclusion of the Post-18 Review of Education and Funding. The interim report of the review was published on 21 January 2021, and the review is scheduled to conclude alongside the next multi-year Spending Review. An update on the ASF product will be provided at that time.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support he is giving to special schools to ensure that children with Education, Health and Care Plans are able to attend school safely.
Answered by Vicky Ford
During national lockdown restrictions, special schools and special post-16 settings should continue to welcome and encourage pupils to attend full-time (or as per their usual timetable) where parents and carers wishes for their child to be able to attend (or for post-16s, where the young person wishes to attend). This is because we know that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and their families, can be disproportionately impacted by being out of education. The Department for Education (DfE) has published new guidance on the period during the national lockdown, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak#history.
It is important that staff in these schools continue to be supported. The rapid asymptomatic testing programme will include testing staff, vulnerable pupils and students, and children of key workers, including those within special schools and special post-16 settings. Further announcements on the roll out of testing to staff in primary schools will follow in due course, to help support the reopening of education settings.
As outlined in the department’s published guidance, additional use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for COVID-19 related purposes is only needed in a small number of cases, such as if a pupil or student becomes ill with COVID-19 symptoms and a distance of 2 metres cannot be maintained, or when undertaking aerosol generating procedures. If a pupil or student already has routine intimate care needs that involve the use of PPE, the same PPE should continue to be used. Public Health England have advised that the current guidance on the system of controls, including the use of PPE and face coverings, should continue to be followed.
The PPE portal can be used by residential special settings to access COVID-19 PPE. These providers will have received an email invitation to register with the portal. Depending on local arrangements, special schools and special post-16 settings may be able to access PPE for their COVID-19 needs via their local authority or local resilience forum.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are independent experts advising the government on which vaccine(s) the UK should use and provide advice on who should be offered them. JCVI advises that the first priorities for the COVID-19 vaccination should be the prevention of mortality and the maintenance of the health and social care systems, and as the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases with age, prioritisation is primarily based on age. This prioritisation captures almost all preventable deaths from COVID-19. In the next phase of the vaccine rollout, JCVI have asked that the Department of Health and Social Care consider occupational vaccination in collaboration with other government departments. The DfE will input into this cross-governmental exercise.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will update the Restricting attendance during the national lockdown: schools guidance to include guidance for special schools.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We published guidance on the 7 January 2021 setting out how we want all schools, including special schools and specialist post 16 provision, to operate during this new lockdown. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
We will continue to update guidance and support in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he has issued to special schools on the provision of in-person education for children with education, health and care plans during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department published ‘Guidance for full opening: special schools and other specialist settings’ in July 2020, and this has been regularly updated. This guidance supports special schools and other specialist provision to provide in-person education for children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans. Further information on this guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings.
Due to the national restrictions introduced on 7 January 2021, we published new guidance setting out how we want all schools, including special schools and specialist post 16 provision to operate during this new lockdown. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
We will continue to update guidance and support in due course, providing more detailed advice and support for special schools.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Office for Students on (a) the level of in-person teaching provided by universities and (b) the value for money for student of university teaching during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State of Education, and I hold regular meetings with the Office for Students (OfS) leadership. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, these meetings have also involved regularly reviewing and monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and assessment, including the level of in-person teaching provided by universities and the value for money that students are receiving. I have consistently made it clear to the OfS that quality and standards must be maintained.
As I set out in a letter to MPs on 9 October and in a letter to Vice-Chancellors on 2 November, the government’s clear and stated expectation is that, whether higher education providers are delivering face-to-face, online or blended provision, they must continue delivering a high quality academic experience that helps all students achieve qualifications that they and employers value. If there are concerns, the OfS has the powers to act. The OfS has made it clear that HE providers must continue to comply with registration conditions relating to quality and standards, which set out requirements to ensure that courses are high-quality, that students are supported and achieve good outcomes and that standards are protected.
HE providers must continue to comply with their legal obligations under the Equality Act (2010), ensuring that education and learning is accessible to all students. When making changes to the delivery of their courses, HE providers need to consider how they support all students, particularly the most vulnerable, to achieve successful academic and professional outcomes.
The OfS has published information for HE providers, providing practical guidance on how best to ensure students continue to receive a high quality academic experience. The OfS will keep this guidance under review to ensure it remains relevant to the developing circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education has also published a series of guides to support providers to secure academic standards and to support student achievement during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The OfS is taking very seriously the potential impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on teaching and learning and is regularly engaging with all registered HE providers. It is actively monitoring those providers which have moved provision predominantly online due to COVID-19 restrictions to ensure that they maintain the quality of their provision, that it is accessible for all and that they have been clear in their communications with students about how arrangements for teaching and learning may change throughout the year.
The OfS is also following up directly with HE providers where they receive notifications from students, parents or others raising concerns about the quality of teaching on offer. The OfS is also requiring HE providers to report to them when they are not able to deliver a course or award a qualification. If the OfS has concerns, it will investigate further.
Students have rights under consumer law that they can rely on if they are dissatisfied with their HE provider’s response to COVID-19. In the first instance, students should speak to their provider to see if they can resolve their issue. We expect student complaints and appeals processes to be operated flexibly, accessibly and sympathetically by providers to resolve any concerns. If a student at a provider in England or Wales is not satisfied with their provider’s final response, they should go to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, which has published guidance on this issue.