Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what reassurance they can give to teachers, parents and children that they will be safe from contracting COVID-19 when schools reopen; and what financial and other support will be provided should anyone in those categories catch the virus.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We want to get children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to be educated and learn. We will only do this provided that the five key tests set by Government justify the changes at the time.
Children, young people and teachers’ safety is our top priority. This is why we are taking a phased approach to opening for more children, to limit the risk of increasing the rate of transmission. We have also issued guidance to childcare settings, schools and colleges on the protective measures they should put in place to reduce risk further. These include children and young people staying within their new, smaller, classes wherever possible and limiting contact between different groups. We have also set out a range of additional protective measures including frequent cleaning, encouraging good hand and respiratory hygiene, reducing ‘pinch points’ (such as parents dropping children off at the start and end of day), and using outdoor space.
Staff and pupils in all settings will be eligible for testing if they become ill with coronavirus symptoms, as will members of their households. A negative test will enable children and young people to get back to childcare or education, and their parents to get back to work. A positive test will ensure rapid action to protect their classmates and staff in their setting.
With regard to financial support, schools will continue to receive their core funding allocations – as determined by the local authority for maintained schools and through the general annual grant for academies. In addition, we have announced a fund for schools to cover specific additional costs as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak; this remains open and should be used by schools as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they postponed this week’s announcement on schools funding; and when they will make such an announcement in order that schools can plan their budgets in good time for the new academic year.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
No announcement on school funding was planned for the week commencing 15 July.
At the 2015 Spending Review the government set out planned spending on education up to 2019-20. Spending plans beyond 2019-20 will be set at the next Spending Review, and we cannot pre-empt these decisions.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the impact on overseas student numbers wishing to study in the UK of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The recently published International Education Strategy stated the government’s ambition to increase the number of international students hosted by UK universities to 600,000 by 2030, from 458,000 currently. The government is committed to this ambition regardless of the outcome of negotiations with the EU. We have made no estimate of the number of overseas students that will attend UK higher education institutions (HEIs) in the future.
The department recognises that prospective students and providers are concerned about what EU exit means for study and collaboration opportunities. To help give certainty, on May 28 2019, we announced guarantees on student finance for EU nationals. These guarantees are not altered if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. EU nationals (and their family members) who start a course in England in the 2020/21 academic year or before will continue to be eligible for ‘home fee’ status and student finance support from Student Finance England for the duration of their course provided they meet the residency requirement. We will provide sufficient notice for prospective EU students on fee arrangements ahead of the 2021/22 academic year and subsequent years in future.
We have also provided certainty for EU nationals wanting to come to the UK after Brexit. In the event that a deal is not agreed with the EU, arrangements for European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss citizens arriving for 3 months or less after free movement ends will not look any different. To stay longer than 3 months during the transitional period, newly arrived EEA and Swiss citizens will need to apply for permission. Subject to identity and criminality checks, they will be given European Temporary Leave to Remain for a further 36 months. If EEA or Swiss citizens want to stay in the UK for longer than 36 months, for example to complete a 4-year course, they will need to apply and qualify for an immigration status under the main study routes of the UK’s new skills-based immigration system. Alternatively, EEA and Swiss citizens will be able to apply under Tier 4 of the Points Based System for a student visa to cover the full length of their course.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they are making for UK citizens to be able to study in France after the UK has left the European Union; and what advice, if any, they provide to those who wish to do so.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have made clear in the recent political agreement (published on 14 November) that the UK remains committed to continued cooperation with the EU on education. In the attached government white paper, ‘The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union[1]’, we also set out our desire to facilitate mobility for students and young people, enabling them to continue to benefit from world leading universities and the cultural experiences the UK and EU Member States – including France – have to offer.
With the caveat that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”, in principle the UK will continue to benefit from all EU programmes, including Erasmus+, until the end of the current budget plan, and applications should continue as normal. The UK is also open to exploring participation in the successor scheme to the current Erasmus+ Programme. We welcome the attached proposals for the 2021-2027 successor scheme to Erasmus+ (published on 30 May), and are considering these carefully; we will continue to participate in discussions on these proposals while we remain in the EU. Ultimately, UK participation in the successor programme is a matter for negotiations on our future relationship with the EU.
[1] The white paper can be found via this link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/725288/The_future_relationship_between_the_United_Kingdom_and_the_European_Union.pdf.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the collapse of Carillion may have on the numbers of engineering apprenticeships.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has been working closely with Carillion and the department to closely monitor the impact on apprentices and apprenticeship provision following the collapse of Carillion.
The government’s priority is to minimise disruption to apprentices and is intent on finding new employers for the apprentices that have been affected by the liquidation of Carillion. The ESFA has taken steps to protect learners by identifying the Construction Industry Training Board , as the best placed alternative provider.
There were 45 apprentices within the engineering and manufacturing technologies sector subject area and those relate specifically to plumbing and heating and electro technical frameworks. They fall within construction trades alongside the vast majority of Carillion apprenticeships.
37 of these apprentices were employed directly by Carillion, along with five other employers offering employment to the remaining eight apprentices. Therefore, we anticipate little impact on availability of engineering apprenticeships because these frameworks were sub-contracted by Carillion and therefore not directly impacted by their collapse.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, based on the latest funding formula, what will be the anticipated funding per pupil of Cheltenham schools in 2019–20; and what the equivalent figure was in 2015–16.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
In 2017/18, the average funding for Cheltenham schools was £4,157 per pupil. We do not hold the equivalent figure per pupil for 2015/16, as we have not previously calculated funding on a constituency basis.
In 2019/20, under the national funding formula, illustrative average funding for Cheltenham schools would be £4,310 per pupil, based on 2017/18 pupil data.
Local authorities will continue to set their own local formulae, which will determine individual schools’ budgets in their areas for the next two years, in consultation with local schools.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are monitoring academies and free schools that seek to change their nominal catchment areas in order to ensure that local parents have the final say on such proposals.
Answered by Lord Nash
School admission arrangements are set and applied locally. Each school has an admission authority to set its admission arrangements. For academies and free schools, it is the academy trust. Where changes are proposed to admission arrangements, the admission authority must first publicly consult on those arrangements, including with local parents. If no changes are made to admission arrangements, they must be consulted on at least once every seven years to ensure admissions arrangements continue to meet local needs. However, we will shortly be consulting on requiring admission authorities to consult on their admission arrangements at least once every four years.
There is no requirement within the School Admissions Code (‘the Code’) for any school to adopt a catchment area. Where they do, the Code makes it clear that the catchment must be fair and not discriminate against any social or ethnic group, or those with disabilities.
If parents are concerned about changes to a school’s catchment area they can object to the Schools Adjudicator. The Adjudicator can require any state-funded school to amend its admission policy, if it breaches the Code.