Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support he will make available to parents of children with special educational needs over the summer holidays 2020.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Supporting the most vulnerable children, young people and adults is a priority for us, especially at this time. This is a challenge unlike any we have faced in our lifetimes. We know that this period is particularly hard for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), their families and those who support them. Co-production with families, partnership and communication remain critical.
Short breaks (or ‘respite care’) are funded opportunities for disabled children and young people to be cared for away from the family homes, which local authorities have a statutory duty to provide. Local authorities are best placed to understand the needs of their local area and to commission provision appropriately. We have published guidance to support providers in operating safely and emphasised the importance of prioritising the delivery of service which support disabled children and young people.
On 2 July 2020, the government announced that an additional £500 million funding will be available for additional expenditure across local government services, taking the total additional funding made available to local authorities to £3.7 billion. This can support local authorities to deliver their respite offers (in line with their existing duties) and to address increased costs.
On 19 May 2020, the department announced that the family fund will receive funding of £37.3 million in 2020-21 to help low income families with seriously ill or disabled children (over 75,000 families). £10 million of the total has been committed specifically in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Our Holiday Activities and Food Programme is integral to our approach to provide healthy food and activities to children over the summer. On 22 June, we announced 17 local authority areas that will benefit from our holiday activities and food programme this summer 2020, providing thousands of children with access to healthy meals and enriching activities, building on the success of the 2018 and 2019 programmes. This programme is open all children eligible for free school meals in those areas, including those with SEND.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2020 to Questions 61818, 61819 and 61820 on Children: Ethnic Groups and with reference to his statement in that Answer that his Department does not centrally hold that information, for what reasons the information is not held centrally; and whether his Department plans to gather and hold that information in the future.
Answered by Nick Gibb
When making decisions about asking schools to welcome back more children, Ministers have had due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and to advance equality of opportunities and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not, as required by section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.
We continue to keep our assessment of those matters under review. This has been an in depth and ongoing assessment of the impacts of the Government’s policy, including on groups with protected characteristics such as race. The assessments continue to form an active part of the decision-making process.
Importantly, we know that some staff, parents and pupils may be anxious about returning to school. Where individuals are concerned about their comparatively increased risk from coronavirus, due to factors including ethnicity, age, sex and comorbidities, we are asking school leaders to discuss concerns and provide reassurance of the measures they are putting in place to reduce the risk, in line with our guidance.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2020 to Questions 61818, 61819 and 61820 on Children: Ethnic Groups and with reference to his statement in that Answer that his Department does not centrally hold that information, how his Department has assessed the effect of schools' policies on BAME people; and if he will place a copy of the methodology and conclusions of that assessment in the Library.
Answered by Nick Gibb
When making decisions about asking schools to welcome back more children, Ministers have had due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and to advance equality of opportunities and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not, as required by section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.
We continue to keep our assessment of those matters under review. This has been an in depth and ongoing assessment of the impacts of the Government’s policy, including on groups with protected characteristics such as race. The assessments continue to form an active part of the decision-making process.
Importantly, we know that some staff, parents and pupils may be anxious about returning to school. Where individuals are concerned about their comparatively increased risk from coronavirus, due to factors including ethnicity, age, sex and comorbidities, we are asking school leaders to discuss concerns and provide reassurance of the measures they are putting in place to reduce the risk, in line with our guidance.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of potential effect of the decision to reopen schools following the covid-19 lockdown on the number of acute respiratory outbreaks in schools reported by Public Health England on 18 June 2020 in its Weekly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance report; and if he will place a copy of that assessment in the Library.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In its weekly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance report, Public Health England (PHE) provides information on the number of acute respiratory outbreaks in schools. The Department continues to engage with PHE and other organisations to ensure our guidance reflects the most up to date scientific advice.
We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers, carers and teachers. Children returning to educational and childcare settings in greater numbers will also allow more families to return to work.
In all schools and nurseries, preventing the spread of COVID-19 involves dealing with direct and indirect transmission. Our guidance sets out a range of approaches and actions to do this. These can be seen as a hierarchy of controls that, when implemented, creates an inherently safer system, where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of the number of acute respiratory outbreaks in schools as reported by Public Health England in its Weekly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance report on 18 June 2020 included people from BAME backgrounds.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In its weekly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance report, Public Health England provides information on the number of acute respiratory outbreaks in schools. They do not have detail on the proportion of this number who are from BAME backgrounds.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of his Department's decision to reopen schools on 1 June 2020 following the covid-19 outbreak on (a) BAME children and adults and (b) people with other protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010; and if he will place a copy of that assessment in the Library.
Answered by Nick Gibb
When making decisions about asking schools to welcome back more children, we have had due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and to advance equality of opportunities and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not as required by section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. We continue to keep our assessment of those matters under review.
In respect of BAME children and adults specifically, we continue to assess the emerging evidence, including Public Health England’s review into disparities in COVID-19 outcomes and the report on the impact of COVID-19 on BAME groups, and consider what this means for the education system.
There is further work to do to understand the key drivers of these disparities and the relationships between the different risk factors. In the meantime, we continue to encourage schools to be particularly sensitive to the needs and concerns of BAME pupils, parents and carers, and staff, considering if any additional measure or reasonable adjustments may need to be put in place to mitigate those concerns.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the children who have continued to attend school during the covid-19 outbreak are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children who have reattended school from 1 June 2020 following the covid-19 outbreak are from BAME backgrounds.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the staff who have continued to work onsite in schools during the covid-19 outbreak are from Black, Asian and minority ethic backgrounds.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of staff working in schools since 1 June 2020 are from BAME backgrounds.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information requested is not held centrally.