Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) reducing the (i) scope and (ii) funding of the Oak National Academy arms-length body and (b) pausing procurement processes until a new curriculum partner can be found following the withdrawal of United Learning.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
As an integral part of the process to set up Oak National Academy as an arm’s length body (ALB), the department carefully considered the scope and minimum viable funding that will enable the ALB to deliver its vital objectives and provide value for money. Progress will be monitored throughout Oak’s lifetime and will be factored into the body’s ongoing evaluation and two-year review.
Oak National Academy’s forthcoming procurement will identify curriculum partners, ensuring all teachers are able to access leading curriculum thinking and expertise, drawn from across the education sector.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact on revenue for education authors on converting the Oak National Academy to an arms-length curriculum body.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
As an integral part of the process to set up Oak National Academy as an arm’s length body, the department produced a business case which included an assessment of potential market impact. This business case will be published shortly.
Monitoring market impact will be a priority throughout Oak National Academy’s lifetime and will be factored into the body’s ongoing evaluation and two-year review.
Where Oak needs to use existing third-party content, such as texts, Oak will seek to have an overarching licence with relevant licensing bodies wherever feasible (or direct relationships with rights holders where necessary) so the rights holder gets full payment for their work.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on establishing a national Special Education Needs and Alternative Provision board as part of the Government's SEND review.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department remains committed to publishing the government’s response to the green paper consultation in a national special educational needs and disability (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) improvement plan by the end of the calendar year. This will set out the government’s response to the consultation, and the next steps for delivering these reforms.
The department also intends to establish the SEND and AP Board by the end of the calendar year.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department will publish the Government's national Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision improvement plan.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department remains committed to publishing the government’s response to the green paper consultation in a national special educational needs and disability (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) improvement plan by the end of the calendar year. This will set out the government’s response to the consultation, and the next steps for delivering these reforms.
The department also intends to establish the SEND and AP Board by the end of the calendar year.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on the commercial education market of converting the Oak National Academy to an arms-length body producing state-financed curriculum materials.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
As an integral part of the process to set up Oak National Academy as an arm’s length body, the department produced a business case which included an assessment of potential market impact. This business case draws upon market engagement and evidence provided by the market and will be published shortly. Monitoring market impact will be a priority throughout Oak National Academy’s lifetime and will be factored into the body’s ongoing evaluation and two-year review.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact the Oak National Academy’s proposed creative commons licensing on education authors’ moral rights of attribution and integrity.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Oak National Academy is undertaking ongoing market engagement while finalising its plans for procurement. It is considering a range of potential licensing arrangements that will ensure third-party intellectual property rights will be respected. The invitation to tender will be released shortly.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with teachers on converting the Oak National Academy to an arms-length curriculum body.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Oak’s future and operating model was discussed with teachers and others in the sector in multiple forums. My hon. Friend, the former Minister for School Standards held roundtable discussions with teachers and school leaders from a range of schools and multi-academy trusts. The department held a series of public webinars for teachers, school leaders, and sector bodies. Plans for Oak’s future have also been discussed with teacher representatives, including school leaders and unions, and teacher viewpoints have been collected through surveys.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of installing air purifiers such as (a) HEPA filters and (b) Corsi-Rosenthal boxes in classrooms to help reduce the risk of covid-19 infection.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
As of 24 June 2022, the Department has delivered more than 386,000 CO2 monitors to state-funded settings to help them assess how well ventilated their teaching spaces are.
Where an area of poor ventilation has been identified that cannot be resolved through simple measures, settings were able to apply for an air cleaning unit to use while the underlying ventilation issue is addressed.
All eligible applications received for air cleaning units have been fulfilled, with over 8,000 units now delivered. The Department also enabled settings to purchase air cleaning units at a competitive price directly from suppliers at the online marketplace. All air cleaning units supplied by the Department and available on the marketplace are HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) units that meet an approved technical specification.
Natural ventilation is best where that is achievable, and the Department has robust evidence that in the vast majority of cases, teaching spaces and classrooms benefit from sufficient natural ventilation. That evidence includes the responses to our recent survey of settings using the CO2 monitors which was published on 24 January. The findings showed that only 3% of settings reported sustained high CO2 readings (above 1500ppm) that could not be remedied through quick fixes or remedial building works.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support students in full-time higher education with the rising cost of living.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The department recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen and impacted students this year. Many higher education (HE) providers have hardship funds that students can apply to for assistance.
To support disadvantaged students and those in need of additional help, the department has confirmed in our guidance to the Office for Students (OfS) on funding for the 2022/23 financial year that universities will continue to be able to support students in hardship through their own hardship funds and the student premium, for which up to £261 million is available for the 2022/23 academic year.
We have also worked closely with the OfS to clarify that English providers can draw upon this funding now, to provide hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by cost-of-living pressures.
Maximum grants and loans for living costs have also been increased by 2.3% this 2022/23 academic year. Students who have been awarded a loan for living costs for the 2022/23 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2022/23 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.
In addition, maximum tuition fees, and the subsidised loans available from the department to pay them remain at £9,250 for the 2022/23 academic year, in respect of standard full-time courses. The department is also freezing maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years. As well as reducing debt levels for students, the continued fee freeze will help to ensure that the HE system remains sustainable while also promoting greater efficiency at providers.
The Energy Price Guarantee announced on 8 September will save the average household at least £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October. This is in addition to the £400 energy bills discount for all households. Students who buy their energy from a domestic supplier are eligible for the energy bills discount.
As part of the package of support for rising energy bills, the government is also giving a council tax rebate payment of £150 to households that were living in a property in council tax bands A to D as their main home on 1 April 2022. This includes full-time students that do not live in student halls or in property that is not considered a House in Multiple Occupation for council tax purposes.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the recent report published by Higher Education Policy Institute on hidden homelessness among university students.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
No student should ever have to worry about their residential accommodation whilst balancing their studies. Although the department plays no role in the provision of student accommodation, we are investing £2 billion over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
Universities and private accommodation providers are ultimately autonomous and responsible for setting their own rent agreements but we have always encouraged them to review their policies to make sure that their accommodation policies are fair, clear and have the interests of students at heart.
For any student with concerns, we recommend them reaching out to their university, many of whom have hardship funds that students can apply to for financial assistance.
The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that have impacted students. Therefore, in order to support disadvantaged students and those who need additional help, we have confirmed in our guidance to the Office for Students (OfS) on funding for the 2022-23 financial year that in addition to their existing hardship funds, universities can continue to be able to support students in hardship by drawing on the student premium, for which up to £261 million is available for academic year 2022/23.