Asked by: Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to make changes to (1) standards, or (2) guidance, for the (a) construction, and (b) specification, of new school buildings, in respect of either (i) classroom ventilation, or (ii) air purification, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Schools should always create a healthy indoor environment for occupants, this includes keeping spaces ventilated to reduce the concentration of pathogens in the air, such as COVID-19. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the department have emphasised the importance of ventilation and provided guidance to settings on ventilation requirements.
In 2018, the department published Building Bulletin 100, guidance for school design on ventilation, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality. This includes the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines and Air Quality Standards Regulation 2010 for indoor air quality. The full publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-100-design-for-fire-safety-in-schools.
Furthermore, the department sets environmental standards for centrally delivered new schools and sets a minimum specification for ventilation to address healthy indoor air quality.
The current version was updated recently and published in November 2021. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/output-specification-generic-design-brief-and-technical-annexes.
Asked by: Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, in pounds, of the total cost of the higher energy use in schools as a result of following their advice to keep windows in classrooms open as a form of ventilation; and what estimate they have made of the average extra cost for each (1) primary school, and (2) secondary school.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has provided schools with guidance on how to manage ventilation, in addition to providing over 360,000 CO2 monitors to state-funded education providers in England. As well as helping to identify areas that are poorly ventilated, CO2 monitors can be useful to help schools balance good ventilation with keeping classrooms warm.
Ensuring adequate ventilation does not need to be at the expense of keeping classrooms warm. Schools do not need to keep windows fully open at all times. Opening windows regularly for 10 minutes, or a small amount continuously can still improve ventilation substantially. The department's guidance has also been clear that when CO2 monitors indicate good ventilation, there is no need to open additional windows.
Maintaining adequate ventilation remains the responsibility of individual providers. The department does not hold the information requested on the increase in energy usage or costs due to opening windows, as this will vary according to a range of factors including how individual schools manage ventilation in their estate.
The department recognises that schools will be facing cost pressures in the coming months, particularly due to the increase in energy prices. The department is looking carefully at how this will impact schools. All schools can access a range of school resource management tools to help them get the best value from their resources, including two Schools Commercial Team recommended deals for energy costs and ancillary services relating to energy, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-a-dfe-approved-framework-for-your-school.
Asked by: Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, in kWh, of the total amount of higher energy consumption in schools as a result of their advice to keep windows in classrooms open as a form of ventilation; and what estimate they have made of the average extra consumption for each (1) primary school, and (2) secondary school.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has provided schools with guidance on how to manage ventilation, in addition to providing over 360,000 CO2 monitors to state-funded education providers in England. As well as helping to identify areas that are poorly ventilated, CO2 monitors can be useful to help schools balance good ventilation with keeping classrooms warm.
Ensuring adequate ventilation does not need to be at the expense of keeping classrooms warm. Schools do not need to keep windows fully open at all times. Opening windows regularly for 10 minutes, or a small amount continuously can still improve ventilation substantially. The department's guidance has also been clear that when CO2 monitors indicate good ventilation, there is no need to open additional windows.
Maintaining adequate ventilation remains the responsibility of individual providers. The department does not hold the information requested on the increase in energy usage or costs due to opening windows, as this will vary according to a range of factors including how individual schools manage ventilation in their estate.
The department recognises that schools will be facing cost pressures in the coming months, particularly due to the increase in energy prices. The department is looking carefully at how this will impact schools. All schools can access a range of school resource management tools to help them get the best value from their resources, including two Schools Commercial Team recommended deals for energy costs and ancillary services relating to energy, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-a-dfe-approved-framework-for-your-school.
Asked by: Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on their trial in Bradford of air purification technology suitable for classroom contexts.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The study of air cleaning units in primary schools, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, is run by the class-ACT (air cleaning technology) consortium and led by the Centre for Applied Educational Research at the University of Leeds.
The trial has provided valuable informal interim feedback on the practicalities of introducing ACT in schools. These interim findings have been published by the Class-ACT consortium as a 10-step guide for schools, published in the Times Educational Supplement on 27 January. This article can be found here: https://www.tes.com/magazine/analysis/general/covid-schools-ventilation-10-step-guide-using-air-cleaning-units.
The study of air cleaning technologies is still ongoing, findings are planned to be published in late 2022.
Asked by: Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have undertaken any (1) engagement, or (2) analysis, of the impact of a free school meals programme for all primary school pupils.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The provision of free school meals to children from out-of-work or low income families is of the utmost importance to this government.
Under the benefits-related criteria, the department provides a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children. This ensures they are well nourished and can concentrate, learn, and achieve in the classroom.
The department spends around £600 million per year to ensure an additional 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy, and nutritious meal at lunchtime, following the introduction of the universal infant free school meal (UIFSM) policy in 2014.
Under this government, eligibility for free school meals has been extended several times to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. This includes the introduction of UIFSM and further education free meals.
We think it is right that provision is aimed at supporting the most disadvantaged, those out of work or on the lowest incomes. We do not have any plans to extend universal provision. but we will continue to keep all free school meal eligibility under review, to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.
The department is also permanently extending free school meal eligibility to children from all groups with no recourse to public funds. This will come into effect for the start of the 2022 academic year summer term.
Asked by: Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the First Minister of Wales regarding the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist - Opposition Whip (Lords)
The UK Government has regular contact with the First Minister of Wales on a range of issues, including how the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will help to level up communities in Wales.
Through its share of the £2.6 billion UKSPF, we will boost productivity, jobs and living standards right across Wales whilst empowering local leaders to restore local pride and a sense of community. This is in addition to the investment Wales will receive though other local growth funds such as the Levelling Up Fund and the Community Ownership Fund.
Asked by: Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise awareness of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021; and what plans they have to work with the White Ribbon charity as part of that work.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The ground-breaking Domestic Abuse Act received Royal Assent in April of this year. The Act will provide further protection to the millions of people who experience domestic abuse, strengthens the measures to bring perpetrators to justice and transforms the support we give to victims ensuring they have the protection they deserve.
The Home Office has worked with the sector to keep them appraised of the implementation of the Act. The Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, published in July of this year and informed by the 180,000 responses we received to our Call for Evidence also makes a commitment to a national communications campaign. We are also publishing a Domestic Abuse Strategy this year, to complement the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
The Home Office is continually working across government to champion and coordinate with the charity sector on such vital issues.
Asked by: Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many schools do not have a qualified teacher in a subject they offer.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Legislation does not specify that teachers must have a degree in a particular subject or discipline. It is the Teachers’ Standards that specify the subject knowledge required for the award of qualified teacher status. All trainee teachers must meet these by the time they complete their training.
Of the 2,957 state-funded secondary schools in England that supplied data on curriculum subjects taught and the subject of qualifications held by their teachers, there were 1,256 schools, equivalent to 42%, where at least one subject was taught for which none of its teachers held a relevant post A level qualifications in that subject.
The most common subjects where no teachers in a school held a relevant post A level qualification in the subject were: computing (293 schools); Spanish (271); media studies (225); ICT (206); religious education (153); citizenship (105) and engineering (105).
To reduce burden during the COVID-19 outbreak, schools were not required to provide information on teacher qualifications in 2020. Therefore, the information provided relates to the November 2019 School Workforce Census.
Information on subjects taught and teacher post A level qualifications is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Asked by: Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children on school rolls have not returned to school since the beginning of the current school year; and how many of these are (1) asylum seekers, (2) refugees, or (3) in the care system.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department does not hold data on the number of children who have not returned to school since the beginning of the current school year.
Education is a protective factor for children in care and can be an important lifeline. That is why the department worked closely with local authorities across the country to make sure schools remained open for these pupils throughout national restrictions.
Asked by: Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many schools have met the threshold specified in the Department for Education document Contingency framework: education and childcare settings for further steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19 within schools since the beginning of the academic year; and whether they will publish regular updates on this.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department does not collect the data in question and does not currently have any plans to publish regular updates on this. However, we closely review data, analysis and advice from a number of different sources – including the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, and the Office for National Statistics. We also continue to work closely with local authorities and their Directors of Public Health to inform our planning and response.
The contingency framework describes the principles of managing local outbreaks of COVID-19 in education and childcare settings and sets out the measures that settings should be prepared for if they were advised to take extra measures to help break chains of transmission. It also sets out thresholds for managing COVID-19 cases and when settings should consider seeking public health advice.
As the guidance outlines, local authorities, Directors of Public Health (DsPH) and health protection teams (HPTs) can recommend measures described in the framework in individual education and childcare settings as part of their outbreak management responsibilities.
We have worked with the UKSHA to develop the thresholds outlined in the contingency framework. These are designed to help settings identify when it might be sensible to seek public health advice when it appears that COVID-19 might be spreading between people who closely mix in the setting. Identifying a group that is likely to have mixed closely will be different for each setting.
DsPH or HPTs will give settings advice reflecting the local situation. In areas where rates are high, this may include advice that local circumstances mean that the thresholds for extra action can be higher than set out in the contingency framework. This will take into account a range of factors reflecting the setting’s particular situation and local circumstances. If they judge that additional action should be taken, they might advise the setting to take some or all of the other measures described in the contingency framework.