Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on improving ventilation in classrooms in England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is not aware of any recent discussions between my right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on improving ventilation in classrooms.
The Department’s policy is to support schools to improve ventilation to help avoid viruses and respiratory infections. Maintaining adequate ventilation ultimately remains the responsibility of individual schools.
Since Autumn 2021, the Department has delivered over 600,000 CO2 monitors to state-funded settings, including early years, schools and further education providers. Final deliveries are due to be made by March 2023.
In addition, the Department has provided over 8,400 air cleaning units so far for poorly ventilated teaching spaces in state-funded schools, where quick fixes to improve ventilation are not possible.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make the free period products scheme permanent.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The period products scheme launched in January 2020, and has most recently been extended until July 2024.
The department will make information available about any extensions or changes to the scheme in due course.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will issue guidance to schools and colleges on consulting with students on period products in the context of the free period products scheme.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Guidance regarding the free period products scheme, including the new range of products available was updated on 8 September, the same day eligible organisations can order. This was developed in line with research from schools and colleges, and period product experts. The guidance states that schools and colleges know their learners best and, therefore, have the freedom to select the most suitable products for their learners considering cost and type of product. All eligible organisations were emailed in early September to remind them of their log in details and a link to the guidance will be provided.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate the free period products scheme.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The period products scheme launched in January 2020, and has most recently been extended until July 2024. Take up of the scheme is monitored regularly by the department and our supplier, phs. Within the first two years of the scheme, 94% of secondary schools and 90% of post-16 organisations had ordered at least once. These organisations have older students and therefore are more likely to have a higher proportion of students in scope, compared to primary schools.
The department publishes statistics regarding the scheme’s operation, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/period-products-scheme-management-information.
The department is considering opportunities to publish further management information in the future, as well as the need for further research into the scheme to evaluate its impact.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to evaluate the impact of the free period products scheme in schools and colleges on the availability of those products in those settings.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The period products scheme launched in January 2020 and has most recently been extended until July 2024. Take up of the scheme is monitored regularly by the department and our supplier, phs. Within the first two years of the scheme, 94% of secondary schools and 90% of post-16 organisations had ordered at least once. These organisations have older students and therefore are more likely to have a higher proportion of students in scope, compared to primary schools.
The department is considering opportunities to publish further management information in the future, as well as the need for further research into the scheme to evaluate its impact.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the University of Exeter's progress to becoming net zero by 2050.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
No specific assessment is made by government departments of individual educational institutions to assess their progress to becoming net zero by 2050. This includes the University of Exeter.
We have supported the Queen’s Jubilee Challenge for the FE and HE sector to accelerate a sector-led review, so that by 2024 all FE and HE settings will be reporting their emissions via a standardised framework.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what fiscal steps he is taking to support Welsh students who are attending university in England with costs of renting student accommodation in England.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Devolution means that there are a range of policies and approaches to higher education (HE) which differ between the four administrations who deal with higher education policy in the United Kingdom. It is for each administration to decide how they deploy their resources and develop their HE system. Devolution allows for the different treatment of UK students in respect of student support within different parts of the UK.
The government plays no role in the provision of student residential accommodation. Universities and private accommodation providers are autonomous and are responsible for setting their own rent agreements. We encourage universities and private landlords to review their accommodation policies to ensure they are fair, clear and have the interests of students at heart.
If a student thinks their accommodation provider is treating them unfairly, they can raise a complaint under the accommodation codes of practice as long as the provider is a code member. The codes can be found at: https://www.thesac.org.uk/, https://www.unipol.org.uk/the-code/how-to-complain and https://www.nrla.org.uk/about-us/code-of-practice.
We recognise that in the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak, some students may face financial hardship. Our grant funding to the Office for Students (OfS) for the current financial year includes an allocation of £5 million to HE providers in England in order to provide additional support for student hardship. This is to mitigate hardship due to COVID-19 impacts on the labour market which particularly affect, for example, students relying on work to fund their studies. In our guidance to the OfS on funding for the 2021/22 financial year we made clear that the OfS should protect the £256 million allocation for the student premiums to support disadvantaged students and those that need additional help.
Many providers have hardship funds that students can apply to for assistance should the COVID-19 outbreak affect individuals’ finances in academic year 2021/22.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to support Welsh students who are attending university in England with the costs of renting student accommodation in England.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Devolution means that there are a range of policies and approaches to higher education (HE) which differ between the four administrations who deal with higher education policy in the United Kingdom. It is for each administration to decide how they deploy their resources and develop their HE system. Devolution allows for the different treatment of UK students in respect of student support within different parts of the UK.
The government plays no role in the provision of student residential accommodation. Universities and private accommodation providers are autonomous and are responsible for setting their own rent agreements. We encourage universities and private landlords to review their accommodation policies to ensure they are fair, clear and have the interests of students at heart.
If a student thinks their accommodation provider is treating them unfairly, they can raise a complaint under the accommodation codes of practice as long as the provider is a code member. The codes can be found at: https://www.thesac.org.uk/, https://www.unipol.org.uk/the-code/how-to-complain and https://www.nrla.org.uk/about-us/code-of-practice.
We recognise that in the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak, some students may face financial hardship. Our grant funding to the Office for Students (OfS) for the current financial year includes an allocation of £5 million to HE providers in England in order to provide additional support for student hardship. This is to mitigate hardship due to COVID-19 impacts on the labour market which particularly affect, for example, students relying on work to fund their studies. In our guidance to the OfS on funding for the 2021/22 financial year we made clear that the OfS should protect the £256 million allocation for the student premiums to support disadvantaged students and those that need additional help.
Many providers have hardship funds that students can apply to for assistance should the COVID-19 outbreak affect individuals’ finances in academic year 2021/22.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to WPQ 75126, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2021 to Question 75126 on UN Climate Conference 2021: Government, how many Ministers in his Department travelled to COP26 by airplane.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Four ministers attended COP26 including myself, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend, the Minister for Skills, and my hon. Friend, the Minister for the School System. Ministers took the train to COP26 in Glasgow. Any unavoidable carbon emissions from COP26 will be offset, including those associated with travel.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of his Department's energy usage in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Details of the Department’s energy usage for financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20 are available in the consolidated annual report and accounts publications, which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports.
The annual report for financial year 2020/21 will be published later in the year, which will include details on the cost of energy for that period.