Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential (1) social, and (2) economic, benefits of expanding the School Milk Subsidy Scheme to provide a free one third of a pint portion of milk to all primary school age children each day attending school.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Milk is an excellent food for children’s growth and development. This is why, as part of the School Food Standards, schools are already required to ensure milk is available to all pupils who want it during school hours. The National School Milk Subsidy Scheme can be used by primary schools to reduce the cost of milk for all their pupils.
Thanks to Universal Infant Free School Meals, pupils under seven years old are already eligible for free milk when it is offered as part of their school lunch. Older pupils entitled to benefits related free school meals are also eligible for free milk when made available during the school day. This is in addition to the free milk provided for children under five-years-old thanks to the Nursery Milk Scheme.
As with free school meals, the department believes it is important to support those most in need and to ensure policy remains affordable and deliverable for schools. The department does not have plans to change the current eligibility conditions for the scheme.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans to form an independent crash investigation unit for bus safety incidents where serious injury or death has or might have occurred, based on the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Air Accidents Investigation Branch, and Marine Accident Investigation Branch.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We have no plans to form an independent investigation unit specifically for bus safety incidents. However, as Lord Hampton is aware, the Automated Vehicles Bill includes measures for the Secretary of State to appoint ‘inspectors of automated vehicle incidents’. These inspectors will have the necessary powers to conduct safety investigation on self-driving vehicles to ultimately increase road safety across the transport mode. If it was the case that a self-driving vehicle was involved in an incident with a bus, or the bus was self-driving, then these inspectors could investigate it.
More widely, our National Bus Strategy, published in 2021, made clear that the bus sector must strive for the highest safety standards, upheld by the Traffic Commissioners. The Strategy required all Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to publish a local Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). The Department was clear that BSIPs should include plans on how LTAs and local bus operators will work together to ensure that bus services are safe and perceived to be safe by all. This may include measures such as appropriate passenger safety training for bus drivers to deal with emergency situations on or off the bus, and encouraging bus operators to liaise with local police and other stakeholders to address safety concerns.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 26 October (HL10658), whether they will undertake to publish the finalised annual version of Keeping Children Safe in Education in the school summer term in future, given that even minor changes can cause issues with planning.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department currently has no plans to alter the established publication timings for ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’. The department publishes a near final version of the guidance in late spring or early summer.
Schools and colleges are familiar with the department’s approach which ensures that schools and colleges have sufficient time to digest revisions and to plan any necessary training, ahead of implementation in the next school year.
It is rare for material changes to be made between the ‘for information’ version and the final publication in September. Where this does occur, changes are strictly limited to reflect vital information in response to unexpected or emerging issues and are made to support schools and colleges to better safeguard children.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to confirming final updates to their statutory guidance Keeping children safe in education: statutory guidance for schools and colleges, in the summer term of the academic year with effect from 1 September of the next academic year to enable schools (1) to update their safeguarding policies, and (2) implement staff training, in readiness for 1 September when the statutory guidance becomes effective.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), is updated annually in the summer term, for information to enable schools and colleges to plan for the commencement of the guidance in September.
For 2023, KCSIE was published for information on 6 June 2023, with a final version with only minor changes published on 1 September 2023.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from the Secretary of State for Education to all members of the House of Lords on 24 August where she stated that "we’ve also seen some really encouraging trends in the subjects that pupils are choosing to study, with more students opting to take core academic subjects this year", how they define core "academic subjects"; and why they are so encouraged by the uptake of those subjects.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Core academic subjects are defined as those that are included within the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). The EBacc is made up of English language and literature, mathematics, the sciences, including computer science, either history or geography, and a modern or ancient language.
The department is encouraged by the increased uptake in these core academic subjects because they are essential for many degrees, and they provide a sound basis for a variety of careers beyond the age of 16. In particular, they can enable pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to follow a curriculum which will give them similar post-16 options as their non-disadvantaged peers, fostering greater social mobility.
The EBacc’s core academic subjects provide a strong foundation for all pupils regardless of whether that want to take an academic, technical, or vocational route post-16.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the burden on school staff caused by subject access requests.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In February 2023, the department updated the Data Protection in Schools guidance, which provides advice covering Subject Access Requests (SARs). The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/data-protection-in-schools.
The department is developing the Education Privacy Assurance Scheme, which will provide targeted training, guidance, and templates on a range of data protection subjects. The department is prioritising responding to SARs as the first release in the next 12 months. This will help provide a consistent approach that is adopted by schools across the sector.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Penn Elcom Global Parcel Theft Report 2022, published in October 2022, what action they expect Ofcom to take in response to parcel theft, and when.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Ofcom is the designated, independent regulator for the postal sector. The Government has no role in its regulatory decisions.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, it is the seller’s responsibility to ensure items ordered are delivered and Ofcom requires postal operators to take all reasonable steps to minimise exposure of postal packets to risk of loss, theft, damage or interference in terms of an essential requirement.
In its 2022 review of postal regulation, Ofcom recognised that the safety and security of parcels remains a key consumer concern and will continue to monitor the issue.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the finding by Citizens Advice in 2021 that 5.5 million people had a parcel lost or stolen in the 12 months leading up to 31 July 2021, what plans they have to persuade courier companies to include parcel tracking in their base level of service.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is for retailers to determine the delivery services they make available to their customers and the Government has no plans to ask courier companies to provide tracking as standard.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, it is the seller’s responsibility to ensure items ordered are delivered and Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the postal sector, has imposed an ‘Essential Condition’ requiring relevant parcel delivery companies to take all reasonable steps to minimise exposure of postal packets to risk of loss, theft, damage or interference.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to give the Health and Safety Executive the powers to be more proactive in investigating suspected dangerous buildings, to prevent rather than react to incidents.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Building Safety Act 2022 requires the Building Safety Regulator to keep the safety and standards of all buildings under review.
For buildings defined as higher risk under the Building Safety Act 2022, essentially multi-residential buildings at least 18m in height or with seven storeys or more, those responsible are required to take proportionate and effective steps to manage fire and structural safety risks. Where this is not demonstrated, the Regulator will be able to use its enforcement powers to require improvements to prevent incidents before they take place.
For buildings not in scope of the new higher-risk buildings regime, local authorities and fire and rescue services have powers to investigate dangerous buildings and compel building owners to address safety risks under the Housing Act 2004, Building Act 1984, and Fire Safety Order 2005. These powers also continue to apply in respect of higher-risk buildings. Local authorities and fire and rescue services have also been granted new powers in the form of remediation orders under the Building Safety Act.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage Ofqual to adopt the stance of Dr Matthew Glanville, Head of Assessment Principles and Practice at the International Baccalaureate, that the use of artificial intelligence by pupils should be "embraced" as "an extraordinary opportunity".
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ofqual is the independent regulator of qualifications and assessments for England and is accountable to Parliament and not to Ministers. Ofqual has statutory objectives to maintain standards and promote public confidence in qualifications.
As part of this remit, we know Ofqual is working closely with awarding organisations to consider the implications of pupils’ use of artificial intelligence (AI), including the opportunities and risks it may bring. We will continue to work closely with them on this going forward.
The International Baccalaureate Organisation has confirmed it will not allow pupils to pass off AI-generated work as their own in their assessments. Ofqual’s rules, to which they are subject, require that grades must accurately reflect pupils’ attainment.