Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use in schools, colleges and universities of Chinese-made surveillance cameras made by companies which are currently subject to US sanctions and investment bans.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Educational settings including schools, colleges and universities have delegated budget responsibility and can procure surveillance, security and CCTV systems autonomously.
For the procurement, sourcing and installation of surveillance, security and CCTV systems, the Department for Education will recommend and default to specification that includes as a minimum High Definition 1080P systems, compliant to BS EN 50132-7:2012 or BS EN 62676-4:2015.
The Department for Education does not mandate (or exclude) a country of origin for products and have made no assessments on the use of any specific products or vendors. Any decision regarding specific exclusion would be made at a broader cross-government level, with the Department for Education following that advice and communicating to schools via standard guidance and regular communications. In January, the government announced the provision of new guidance and support for UK public sector bodies, which will include schools, to exclude suppliers where there is sufficient evidence of human rights violations in any of their supply chains.
The Department for Education utilises existing guidance provided via the National Cyber Security Centre and will reiterate this to the Education sector via our scheduled communications to ensure schools remain aware and vigilant. More information can be found here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/consumers-urged-secure-internet-connected-cameras and here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/connected-places-security-principles/about-the-principles.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the partnership between the University of the West of England Bristol and the Chinese company NeuSoft, given the latter’s work on a facial recognition surveillance system.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
As autonomous bodies, decisions regarding partnerships lie with individual higher education providers. We encourage the sector to collaborate with international partners and universities must be security minded in their approach in order to safeguard our core values. University due diligence processes should consider reputational, ethical and security risks.
At the request of my right hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Higher and Further Education, Universities UK, on behalf of the sector and with government support, published guidelines in October 2020 to help universities tackle security risks related to international collaboration.
We continuously strengthen protective measures and expect universities to do the same.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what assessment they have made of the cost for universities to charter flights to ensure that students from China are able to return for in-person studies in the UK, and (2) what details it holds on the universities which have chartered these flights.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The government has provided no financial support to higher education providers for the purpose of chartering flights for international higher education students from China to travel to the UK, for the academic year 2021/22.
The government has received applications from Queen’s University Belfast, as well as three consortia of higher education providers seeking approvals for charter flights for Chinese students while scheduled direct flights remain suspended between the UK and mainland China. The three consortia comprise 16, 24, and 55 named higher education providers respectively. The airlines involved have chartered the planes to travel companies, which sell tickets to the students. The airlines and travel agencies take the financial risk.
The government is proud that so many international students choose to study here and is looking forward to safely welcoming them in the new academic year. We have worked closely with the sector to ensure that international students will be appropriately supported and welcomed, including with quarantine requirements. Universities UK International has published bespoke self-isolation guidance for higher education providers to help them prepare for the arrival of students.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have provided any financial support to universities which have chartered flights to the UK to ensure that students from China are able to return for in-person studies in the UK.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The government has provided no financial support to higher education providers for the purpose of chartering flights for international higher education students from China to travel to the UK, for the academic year 2021/22.
The government has received applications from Queen’s University Belfast, as well as three consortia of higher education providers seeking approvals for charter flights for Chinese students while scheduled direct flights remain suspended between the UK and mainland China. The three consortia comprise 16, 24, and 55 named higher education providers respectively. The airlines involved have chartered the planes to travel companies, which sell tickets to the students. The airlines and travel agencies take the financial risk.
The government is proud that so many international students choose to study here and is looking forward to safely welcoming them in the new academic year. We have worked closely with the sector to ensure that international students will be appropriately supported and welcomed, including with quarantine requirements. Universities UK International has published bespoke self-isolation guidance for higher education providers to help them prepare for the arrival of students.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total number of students from China currently studying in the UK; which universities in the UK have more than 10 per cent of students originating from China; and what estimate they have made of the total amount of money raised annually by universities from students from China.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students enrolled in higher education. Latest statistics refer to the academic year 2019/20.
Counts of student enrolments at UK higher education providers are available by level of study and country of domicile for the academic years 2014/15 to 2019/20 in Table 28 of HESA’s Higher Education Student Data pages, available here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-28.
In the academic year 2019/20, there were 141,870 students enrolled at UK higher education providers who were domiciled in China prior to study.
Appended to this answer is a table listing higher education providers where 10% or more of their student body was domiciled in China prior to study in the academic year 2019/20.
Financial information available from HESA is not collected for specific countries of origin, so cannot be provided.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many students from African countries are enrolled to study in UK universities.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students enrolled in higher education. Latest statistics refer to the academic year 2019/20.
Counts of student enrolments at UK Higher Education Providers (HEPs) are available by level of study and region of domicile for the academic years 2014/15 to 2019/20 in Table 28 of HESA’s Higher Education Student Data pages: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-28.
In the academic year 2019/20, there were 33,290 undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled at UK HEPs who were domiciled in Africa prior to study.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which higher education institutions have sought to amend their Royal Charters in each of the past three years; which changes were proposed in each case; and why those institutions made any such proposals.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Requests by chartered higher education providers for amendments to their governance arrangements are received and co-ordinated by the Privy Council Office.
The Privy Council Office consults the advisers to the Privy Council, including the Department for Education, in reviewing these requests, in order to gain the necessary advice to inform the Privy Council’s recommendation to Her Majesty on whether Her approval may be given to the chartered bodies’ proposals.
The Privy Council Office records requests it has received, but does not separately identify the changes proposed and the reasons for the request. Each case is treated on its own merits and case papers filed on a unique basis. The Privy Council Office and the department have carried out a preliminary co-ordinated scoping of both of their records, and this has revealed about 40 instances where a case was opened for a chartered body seeking to amend its governance arrangements during the period 2018-20.
To answer the questions raised more fully would take very considerable time and resource to achieve, as the needed information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
However, all higher education provider chartered body amendments which have been approved by Her Majesty in Council can be found at: https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/orders/.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to facilitate access to education for the children of people entering the UK under the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa scheme; what assessment they have made of (1) the scale of demand for school places for these children, and (2) where such demand will arise; and what discussions they have had with (a) Local Education Authorities, and (b) Regional Schools Commissioners, about ensuring that plans are in place to meet this demand.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The government’s estimate of the number of British National (Overseas) citizens that may migrate to the UK was set out in an Impact Assessment published on 22 October, available here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1147/impacts/2020/70. The dependants of British National (Overseas) citizens from Hong Kong choosing to settle in the UK have a right to attend school in the UK. Local authorities hold the statutory duty to provide sufficient school places.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have written to all local authorities in England to update them on the new immigration route for BN(O) citizens and will be communicating further with those areas which may see higher numbers arriving to support their planning.
The department is fully involved in planning and communications with local authorities, including Regional Schools Commissioners. We are using data from the 2020 Spring School Census and the 2011 National Census to inform planning and are working with Home Office to monitor BN(O) and BN(O) dependant arrivals.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many branches of the Confucius Institute are active in universities in England; and what plans they have to determine how many universities in England give financial support to branches of the Confucius Institute.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
A number of UK higher education providers host Confucius Institutes. As autonomous, independent organisations, they bear the responsibility of ensuring that their partnerships are managed appropriately, with the right due diligence. The Department for Education does not collate information on the funding arrangements for Confucius Institutes, but continues to support the higher education sector to promote mutually beneficial international partnerships and UK values. We encourage providers to contact the department if they have any concerns regarding their international collaborations.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Resolution Foundation Class of 2020: Education leavers in the current crisis, published in May, in particular its (1) finding that youth unemployment in Britain could reach one million over the coming year, and (2) recommendation that policies should be pursued to assist young people to continue to study, including the provision of maintenance support.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We welcome the focus that the Resolution Foundation report draws to the challenge of supporting young people to progress into work and training.
The Government is actively considering ways to help young people continue to develop the skills they will need for the future.?We want to give young people the best chance to succeed, despite these challenging and unsettling times.
As part of raising the participation age legislation Local Authorities have duties to track all academic age 16 and 17 year olds, identify those not in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming so and supporting them to re-engage in education or training. This includes a September guarantee where Local Authorities need to ensure that all year 11 students and year 12 students on a one year course have a suitable offer of education or training for the following September.
The department provides a range of financial support for students aged 16 to19, to enable them to participate and stay in further education, including free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of travel, books, equipment, IT and connectivity, plus support for childcare and residential costs. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-education-financial-support-for-students
For those learners aged 19 and over, the DfE supports a broad spectrum of learning provision from non-formal, unaccredited learning which helps to engage disadvantaged learners through to Apprenticeships and Traineeships where learners can gain the skills and qualifications needed to get into work.
Learners aged 19 or over who are studying on a further education course and facing financial hardship may be eligible for Learner Support to pay for things like: accommodation and travel, course materials and equipment and childcare. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/learner-support
On apprenticeships, we are continuing to support employers and training providers in dealing with, and responding to, the impacts of COVID-19. While we do not yet know the full impact of COVID-19, our priority is ensuring that apprentices and employers can continue to access high quality training, both now and in the future. We continue to support traineeships and have introduced flexibilities to enable providers to continue to deliver them where possible, given that traineeships will play an important part in supporting young people back into learning and work.
In early June this year, we launched a £7 million Alternative Provision Transition Fund to enable Alternative Provision schools to support all their Year 11 pupils to transition successfully into post-16 settings this summer, and avoid becoming NEET.