Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that children in school are not exposed to high levels of air pollution.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published the Building Bulletin 101, which provides non-statutory guidance on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings.
Local outdoor air quality is the responsibility of local authorities who should prepare air quality action plans to ensure the level of pollutants is reduced. In January 2019, the government published the Clean Air Strategy setting out plans to deal with all sources of pollution. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-air-strategy-2019.
Guidance on good estate management for ventilation in schools is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools/health-and-safety.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the report from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology entitled Indoor Air Quality, published on 26 September 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department publishes non-statutory guidance on indoor air quality in ‘Building Bulletin 101: Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in school’ (BB101).
BB101 is regularly reviewed to ensure that it aligns with best practice and industry standards to deliver high-quality school environments. The department will assess the report of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) for any relevant new information.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185868 on Air Pollution: Schools, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the minimum filter class from BS EN 13779.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s guidance, ‘Building Bulletin 101: Ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality’, refers to BS EN 13779 (Ventilation for non-residential buildings: performance requirements for ventilation and room-conditioning systems) as additional guidance specifically on filtration, which describes how minimum filtration classes can be applied to schools.
BS EN 13779 is owned by the British Standards Institute and the department has not made any specific tests in relation to this standard.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Oral Statement from the Secretary of State for the Home Department of 4 December 2023 on Legal Migration, Official Report, column 41, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the changes to immigration rules announced in that Statement on higher education institutions.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government seeks to ensure that there is a fair and robust migration policy, whilst maintaining the UK’s place as a top destination for the best and brightest students from around the world. The department remains committed to the ambitions set out in the government’s International Education Strategy to host 600,000 international students per year, and to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per year, both by 2030. The department is hugely proud to have met its international student recruitment ambition two years running.
However, the level of legal migration remains too high. As a result, on 4 December 2023, the government announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration and curb abuse and exploitation of the country’s immigration system.
The department expects the UK to remain a highly attractive study destination. The UK has 4 universities in the top 10, and 17 in the top 100. The UK has a highly sought after higher education experience, which is respected by students across the globe.
The department will work closely with the Home Office, Department for Business and Trade, and other governmental departments to assess the impact of these changes on higher education providers.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to next update the guidance entitled BB 101: Ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality 2018, published on 23 August 2018.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The advice in ‘Building Bulletin 101: Ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality’ remains current. The Department has no plans to update this guidance at this time.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has taken recent steps to increase the number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds who have access to early years education settings.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Education is a devolved matter. This response outlines the information for England only.
Two-year-olds from disadvantaged families can access 15 hours of free early education. This includes low-income households, looked-after children, and children with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. The aim of the entitlement is to support children’s early development. The eligibility criteria target those children that are the least likely to attend, but who evidence shows are most likely to benefit. As of January 2022, 72% of eligible families were taking up their free place.
In addition to this, 92% of three and four-year-olds are accessing the universal entitlement. This offers 15 hours free early education to all three and four-year-olds to support them to prepare for school.
The department works closely with local authorities to support them to engage parents and understand barriers preventing parents from accessing their place.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Centre for Social Justice’s report entitled Cracks in Our Foundations, published February 2023, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of that report's findings on (a) primary school teachers' views on the impact of support for children with speech, language and communication needs on foundational skills post pandemic, (b) head teachers' use of local NHS or out-of- school speech therapist services for speech and language support in their school and the availability of those services and (c) trends in demand for speech and language needs support post pandemic.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department wants every child to achieve well in their early years, at school and in further education, and ensuring that speech and language needs are identified early is crucial to enable the right support to be put in place. Schools are required to have arrangements in place to identify speech and language needs early. These arrangements should involve collaborative working between school staff, family and the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO).
The department recognises that equipping the sector to deliver reform for children and young people is a long-term challenge, and we know that the impact of the cost of living, compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, will make this even more complex.
The government’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan committed to introducing a new SENCO National Professional Qualification, which will ensure SENCOs consistently receive high-quality, evidence-based training. The government is investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector to upskill early years practitioners in undertaking the Early Years Foundation Stage two-year-old progress check, including funding for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention.
We are also taking a number of cross-government measures to address the impact of the pandemic on access to specialist services.
To support the supply of more speech and language therapists and occupational therapists to the NHS, since September 2020 all eligible undergraduate and postgraduate degree students have been able to apply for a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year, with further financial support available for childcare, accommodation, and travel costs. In partnership with NHS England, we are also funding Early Language and Support for Every Child pathfinders, which will trial new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years and primary schools.
In our SEND and AP Improvement Plan the department has also committed to working with the Department of Health and Social Care to take a joint approach to SEND workforce planning, informed by a stronger evidence base. We will establish a steering group in 2023 to oversee this work. We have also committed to producing a suite of SEND and AP practice guides to equip frontline professionals to make best use of provision and identify needs early, accurately and consistently. Speech and language development is one of the areas we will prioritise.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to include organisations supporting people with SEND in the Steering Group to oversee the joint approach to SEND workforce planning.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published on 2 March 2023, set out that the Department for Education will work with the Department of Health and Social Care to take a joint approach to SEND workforce planning, informed by a stronger evidence base. We will establish a steering group in 2023 to oversee this work, which will feed into the National SEND and AP Implementation Board. We are currently considering the membership of the steering group, and further details will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on air pollution on young people in education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has not made an assessment on the effects of air pollution on pupils. The Department is aware, as reported in the Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report 2022, that air pollution can affect children’s lung development, asthma, development problems, wheezing and coughs among other health effects. This report can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1124738/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-air-pollution-dec-2022.pdf.
The Department is collaborating with other Government Departments and several academic institutions on air quality projects. The School Air Quality Monitoring for Health and Education project was initiated, with funding and support from the Department to understand the air quality in UK schools. The findings from these projects will inform our guidance and standards for school buildings.
In 2018, the Department published Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), establishing guidance for school design on ventilation, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality. This guidance sets out the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines and Air Quality Standards Regulation 2010 for indoor air quality. BB101 requires the indoor environment of new or refurbished school buildings to be monitored by recording temperature and levels of carbon dioxide.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the letter of 2 November 2022 from the SEND in The Specialists Coalition on the specialist workforce for children and young people.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from Members of Parliament, stakeholders, and the public. It is important that organisations such as the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, the National Deaf Children’s Society, and others, share their experiences.
The department knows that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities frequently require access to additional support from a broad specialist workforce across education, health, and care. As set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, the department is taking steps to increase the capacity of the specialist workforce.
The department is currently considering the feedback and will be publishing a full response to the Green Paper in an Improvement Plan early this year. A response to the letter of the 2 November will also be sent very shortly.