Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to provide free menstrual products to all school children in England.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Department for Education published statistics in March 2018 which shows that while absence rates related to illness are slightly higher in girls than boys, the gap in absence rates between boys and girls is very similar regardless of disadvantage. This suggests period poverty does not have a significant, nation-wide impact on attendance. However, no girl should be held back from reaching her potential because of her gender or background and we are keeping this matter under close review.
Schools are best placed to identify and address the needs of their pupils; have discretion over how they use their funding; and can make sanitary products available to disadvantaged pupils if they identify this as a barrier to attainment or attendance.
We support schools in addressing the needs of disadvantaged pupils through the provision of the Pupil Premium, equivalent to more than £2.4 billion of additional funding this year alone.
Our guidance on ‘Sex and Relationship Education’ and the draft ‘Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education’ guidance (both attached) encourages schools to make sensitive arrangements to help girls cope with menstruation. Lastly, as a government, in the previous round of the Tampon Tax Fund we provided £1.68 million for the ‘Let’s Talk. Period’ project, which is distributing sanitary products to young women and girls in need across England.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for extending the £400 million of extra capital funding for schools, announced in this year's autumn statement, to further education colleges; and whether they have any plans to provide such funding in future.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that £400 million will be made available to schools in 2018-19. This funding is not available to further education (FE) colleges, as these receive capital funding in a different way from schools.
FE colleges are eligible for capital funding via the £12 billion Local Growth Fund, of which £130 million is for skills capital. This is administered by Local Enterprise Partnerships. The government has also recently announced £38 million capital funding for the first providers of T levels. We understand the pressure FE colleges are facing and are considering future capital funding arrangements for FE colleges through the Spending Review in 2019.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Harrison Centre for Social Mobility's Social Mobility Pledge initiative.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Social Mobility Pledge initiative represents an excellent opportunity for businesses to become Social Mobility Pledge accredited employers, by committing to enhance support for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We would encourage all employers to sign-up to the pledge.
The pledge fits with the aims of the government’s own strategies for social mobility, including the Careers and Industrial Strategies and ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’, which is the government’s national plan to support children and young people to reach their full potential.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the report by the National Union of Students, Class dismissed: Getting in and getting on in further and higher education, published on 23 April, what steps they plan to take to tackle the 'poverty premium' in tertiary education in order for working class students to excel in post-16 educational settings.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Widening participation remains a priority for this government, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from further or higher education and apprenticeships regardless of their background. “Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential,” published in December 2017, set out our plan for improving social mobility through education. A copy of this report was deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on 19 December 2017.
The 16 - 18 Bursary Fund provides financial help to young people in further education who need help with costs such as travel and essential course equipment. Annual bursaries of up to £1,200 are available to vulnerable students such as those in care, care leavers and those receiving certain income or disability benefits in their own right. £130 million was allocated for discretionary bursaries to institutions in 2017 to 2018. A further £34 million was allocated in 2017 to 2018 for free meals.
Changes to the student finance system have allowed more 18 year olds to enter higher education than ever before, including the highest ever number from disadvantaged backgrounds. Students from the lowest-income households starting their courses in 2018 to 2019 will have access to the largest ever amounts of cash-in-hand support for their living costs. Support for living costs increased by 10.3% for eligible students on the lowest incomes in 2016 to 2017 compared with the previous system, with further increases of 2.8 per cent for the current academic year. The government has announced a further 3.2 per cent increase in 2018 to 2019.
A young person on an apprenticeship will receive at least the national minimum wage, which increased to £3.70 per hour in April 2018. The Apprenticeship Pay Survey 2016 estimates that the average gross hourly pay for apprentices in England was £6.70 an hour for level 2 and 3 apprentices and £9.83 for higher level apprenticeships.
For apprentices claiming benefits in their own right, financial support is available for those on low incomes. Young people may be able to claim Universal Credit or Tax Credits to help with living costs. Universal Credit is also an in-work benefit, so young claimants in work on low wages, including apprentices under contract, can continue to claim housing support.
Delivering more, better quality apprenticeships will make sure that more people from lower socio-economic backgrounds can gain the skills and training they need to build successful careers. The new funding model supports apprentices who are training on frameworks from disadvantaged areas by providing a cash payment to providers for training apprentices who live in the top 27 per cent of deprived areas.
The Review of Post-18 Education and Funding aims to ensure that everyone from every background can access tertiary education. There will be an extensive programme of engagement with stakeholders and experts, including students and recent graduates. An independent panel will publish their report at an interim stage before the government concludes the overall review in early 2019.