Catherine McKinnell

We know that businesses in arts, culture, entertainment and hospitality have been hit hard by this pandemic. That's why we secured an unprecedented £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund of which over £1 billion has so far been allocated so far to over 3000 organisations.

This is along a world class package of broader economy measures worth hundreds of billions, including the furloughing scheme and the Self Employed Income Support Scheme

Ministers and officials have had regular meetings and discussions with industry, Ofcom and other stakeholders on a range of issues over the last three months, including online safety. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.

The government is committed to delivering nationwide coverage of gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible by encouraging network build by Openreach and a range of alternative competing networks. Gigabit broadband will provide customers in urban areas with access to faster and more resilient broadband.

To support this objective, we are taking action to remove barriers to the commercial roll out of faster broadband. For example, we have introduced legislation into Parliament to make it easier to connect tenanted properties where there are unresponsive landlords. In addition, we have plans to mandate connectivity in new builds, and are working with the Department for Transport to reform the streetworks regime to make it quicker and easier to deploy new networks.

Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2019 found that 2% of all urban properties (approximately 322,000 premises) in the UK could receive a fixed broadband connection that was above the threshold for the Universal Service Obligation but below 30Mbps, the typical minimum speed delivered by Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology. These statistics consider only fixed network provision.

The Department does not hold the information about how many or what proportion of properties are specifically connected using Fibre to the Cabinet technology. Many urban properties can also access 30 Mbps speeds or more using cable networks, as well as 4G and 5G mobile services capable of delivering broadband speeds above the Universal Service Obligation thresholds.

The Ofcom Connected Nations Report 2019 found that 1% of all urban properties (approximately 161,000 premises) in the UK were unable to access a fixed broadband connection that met the minimum speed thresholds under the Universal Service Obligation (USO). However, the vast majority of these premises are likely to be able to access a 4G or 5G mobile service that provides USO level download and upload speeds or higher and will not therefore be eligible for an upgraded connection under the Universal Service Obligation.

The speed and technical requirements of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) were set on the basis of advice from Ofcom that they would meet broadband requirements of a typical household, including both voice and video calls, and the government’s consultation on the USO. The USO acts as a digital safety net for households unable to access a broadband service that meets these requirements at present. The government is committed to keeping the USO specification under review in light of consumer’s evolving needs and connectivity usage trends.

Under benefits-related criteria, the department provide a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well nourished, and can concentrate, learn, and achieve in the classroom.

Under this government, eligibility for free school meals has been extended several times, including through the introduction of universal infant free school meals, and further education free school meals.

The department are permanently extending free school meal eligibility to children from all groups with no recourse to public funds. This will come into effect for the start of the summer term.

Whilst take-up of free school meals is strong, we want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility.

To support this, the department provides an eligibility checking system to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. The department have also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals and provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals. We continue to explore ways that the verification process can be improved.

As announced in the Spring Statement, the government is continuing to provide targeted cost of living support for households most in need. From April 2022, the government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of household essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion.

Under benefits-related criteria, the department provide a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well nourished, and can concentrate, learn, and achieve in the classroom.

Under this government, eligibility for free school meals has been extended several times, including through the introduction of universal infant free school meals, and further education free school meals.

The department are permanently extending free school meal eligibility to children from all groups with no recourse to public funds. This will come into effect for the start of the summer term.

Whilst take-up of free school meals is strong, we want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility.

To support this, the department provides an eligibility checking system to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. The department have also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals and provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals. We continue to explore ways that the verification process can be improved.

As announced in the Spring Statement, the government is continuing to provide targeted cost of living support for households most in need. From April 2022, the government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of household essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion.

Under benefits-related criteria, the department provide a free healthy meal to around 1.7 million children, ensuring they are well nourished, and can concentrate, learn, and achieve in the classroom.

Under this government, eligibility for free school meals has been extended several times, including through the introduction of universal infant free school meals, and further education free school meals.

The department are permanently extending free school meal eligibility to children from all groups with no recourse to public funds. This will come into effect for the start of the summer term.

Whilst take-up of free school meals is strong, we want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility.

To support this, the department provides an eligibility checking system to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. The department have also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals and provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals. We continue to explore ways that the verification process can be improved.

As announced in the Spring Statement, the government is continuing to provide targeted cost of living support for households most in need. From April 2022, the government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of household essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion.

As noted in the previous response, we do not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that would be entitled to a free school meal (FSM) but do not make a claim.

There are now 1.7 million pupils eligible and claiming FSM. This information is published annually in the Statistical First Release: Schools, pupils and their characteristics. The latest available data was published in June 2021, based on the January 2021 census. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2021.

Under this government, eligibility for FSM has been extended several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century.

We want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming FSM, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. We have taken a number of steps to support this, as set out in the previous response.

The department wants as many eligible pupils as possible to claim their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility.

Since December 2016, when the referenced question was asked, the department has continued to develop and provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. We have continued to provide a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals.

The department has also provided guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals.

Pupil premium allocations for the 2021/22 financial year have been published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2021-to-2022.

The Department has also published the impact of moving to using the October census for the pupil premium for mainstream and special schools. This is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pupil-premium-effective-use-and-accountability.

The calculation of pupil premium allocations is resource intensive. There are no plans to calculate hypothetical allocations showing what each school would have received if the pupil premium had been allocated on a different basis.

On 16 December, we wrote to all local authorities to inform them of their individual indicative allocation of funding for the Holiday Activities and Food programme 2021. We are working closely with colleagues from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to finalise grant determination documentation, which will be published on the GOV.UK website in due course.

There are no plans to publish a comprehensive dataset from the October 2020 (Autumn) school census.

Data collected in the autumn census on exclusions relates to the 2019/20 academic year and is expected to be published in July 2021. No data was collected on pupil absence in the autumn census 2020.

The Department release annual National Statistics in the Schools, pupils and their characteristics publication, based on the Spring Census, collected in January. This includes data on pupil numbers by characteristics including gender, age, free school meals eligibility, language, and ethnicity, alongside data on class sizes and school numbers. The latest release is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

Further information on Special Educational Needs is also produced from the Spring Census and released in the ‘Special educational needs in England’ publication, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england.

Palliative care can help children with life limiting or life ending conditions to have a good quality of life where they get treatment, care and support. Regular palliative care can enable parents to work and also can prevent escalation of needs later on.

While the government has not done any recent assessment of the economic benefits of short breaks for respite for children who need palliative care, local authorities have a statutory duty to assess the social care needs of disabled children and young people, and to provide respite care where necessary. Where it is appropriate, local authorities can fund respite care provided by hospices, either as a short-term stay or as a service provided to the child or young person in the family home by the hospice team. Local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups regularly liaise to plan and commission the most appropriate package of respite care for the children and young people with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition in their area.

The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) has been set up as part of the Government’s £1 billion response to support disadvantaged pupils to catch up from disruption to their education. The tuition partners pillar, delivered by the Education Endowment Fund (EEF), has 32 approved tuition partners, selected against a robust set of criteria, to provide high-quality subsidised tuition to schools.

The NTP tuition partners will support schools in all regions of England through a good blend of national and regional providers. Additional places have been allocated to regions with the largest numbers of disadvantaged pupils and in regions where access to tutoring has historically been lower. Regional allocations were determined by taking as a baseline the proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium within a region and then adjusting to recognise the disparities in current levels of tutoring provision. This also reflected the allocations made to Opportunity Areas and the North East of England. The programme opened to schools on 2 November and, working with EEF, we will continue to monitor tuition take-up throughout the course of this academic year to ensure that the NTP is taken up by schools with pupils who need the most support.

Further information on how schools can access tuition partner support can be found here: https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/faqs.

The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) has been set up as part of the Government’s £1 billion response to support disadvantaged pupils to catch up from disruption to their education. The tuition partners pillar, delivered by the Education Endowment Fund (EEF), has 32 approved tuition partners, selected against a robust set of criteria, to provide high-quality subsidised tuition to schools.

The NTP tuition partners will support schools in all regions of England through a good blend of national and regional providers. Additional places have been allocated to regions with the largest numbers of disadvantaged pupils and in regions where access to tutoring has historically been lower. Regional allocations were determined by taking as a baseline the proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium within a region and then adjusting to recognise the disparities in current levels of tutoring provision. This also reflected the allocations made to Opportunity Areas and the North East of England. The programme opened to schools on 2 November and, working with EEF, we will continue to monitor tuition take-up throughout the course of this academic year to ensure that the NTP is taken up by schools with pupils who need the most support.

Further information on how schools can access tuition partner support can be found here: https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/faqs.

The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) has been set up as part of the Government’s £1 billion response to support disadvantaged pupils to catch up from disruption to their education. The tuition partners pillar, delivered by the Education Endowment Fund (EEF), has 32 approved tuition partners, selected against a robust set of criteria, to provide high-quality subsidised tuition to schools.

The NTP tuition partners will support schools in all regions of England through a good blend of national and regional providers. Additional places have been allocated to regions with the largest numbers of disadvantaged pupils and in regions where access to tutoring has historically been lower. Regional allocations were determined by taking as a baseline the proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium within a region and then adjusting to recognise the disparities in current levels of tutoring provision. This also reflected the allocations made to Opportunity Areas and the North East of England. The programme opened to schools on 2 November and, working with EEF, we will continue to monitor tuition take-up throughout the course of this academic year to ensure that the NTP is taken up by schools with pupils who need the most support.

Further information on how schools can access tuition partner support can be found here: https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/faqs.

The Department wants to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe, and equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. That is why we have made Relationships Education compulsory for primary school age pupils, Relationships and Sex Education compulsory for secondary school age pupils and Health Education compulsory for pupils in all state funded schools.

The statutory duty to implement the new subjects has now come into force. However, considering the circumstances faced by our schools, the Department is reassuring schools that they have flexibility over when they discharge their duty within the first year of compulsory teaching.

The statutory guidance sets out that as part of Relationships Education, all primary aged pupils will be taught the importance of respecting others, even when they are very different from them, or make different choices or have different preferences or beliefs. Pupils will also be taught what a stereotype is, and how stereotypes can be unfair, negative or destructive.

Schools can also teach about racism and religion in personal, social, health and economic education and citizenship education where pupils can develop their understanding of the diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the UK and the need for mutual respect and understanding. All state funded schools are required by legislation or by their funding agreements to teach religious education to all registered pupils aged 5 to 18 years. Teaching religious education is also part of schools’ activity to meet their legal duty to promote young people’s spiritual, moral and cultural development.

Schools are required to actively promote fundamental British values, including democracy as well as the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faith and beliefs.

The information requested is set out in the attached table.

The information requested is set out in the attached table.

The figures requested are provided in the attached table.

The numbers of looked-after children as at 31 March in a foster placement with a relative or friend, under all legal statuses, are published annually in table A2 of the statistical release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019.

As set out in my response of PQ 18831 (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-02-21/18831/) on 23 February 2020, under section 34 of the Children Act 1989, children who are subject to a care order can apply to the court to make an order for contact with any named person, including their siblings. The child’s social worker or the Independent Reviewing Officer can assist the child in obtaining legal advice or in establishing whether an appropriate adult is able and willing to provide such assistance or bring the proceedings on his/her behalf.

Contact can be very important in helping children and young people develop their sense of identity and understand their lives and their sense of self. The government believes that contact between a looked after child and their siblings is very important and should be encouraged.

Ultimately, contact arrangements should be focused on, and shaped around, the child’s needs. The child’s welfare is the paramount consideration at all times and each child’s wishes and needs for contact should be individually considered and regularly assessed.

The number of children previously looked after counted for Pupil Premium Plus in each local authority in 2020-21 are shown in the attached table, including the number of those on (a) special guardianship order, (b) child arrangements order, (c) residence order and (d) adoption order.

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sally Collier, to write the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The Department is discussing arrangement for the autumn GCSE and A level examination series with Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator. Ofqual will set out further proposals for consultation as soon as possible.

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sally Collier, to write the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced to the House on 18 March, the Government has taken the difficult decision to cancel all examinations due to take place in schools and colleges in England this summer, as part of the fight to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The Department’s priority is to ensure that students can move on as planned to the next stage of their lives, including starting university, college or sixth form courses, an apprenticeship or a job. For students at Key Stage 4 taking GCSEs and technical awards, we will ensure they are awarded a grade which reflects their work. Our intention is that a grade will be awarded this summer based on the best available evidence, including any non-examination assessment that students have completed. This will apply to home-schooled pupils and to other private candidates where the head of the examination centre is confident that they and their staff have seen sufficient evidence of students’ achievements to make objective judgements. If they wish to do so, home-schooled students and others will have the option to sit an examination as soon as is reasonably possible after the beginning of the academic year.

Ofqual is urgently exploring whether there are alternative options for those students who do not have an existing relationship with an examination centre and who need results this summer for progression purposes. Ofqual published a consultation on the treatment of private candidates and other issues on 15 April.

Our school and college leaders are central to the country’s response to this current crisis.

School and college staff who are pregnant should follow the central guidance from Public Health England (PHE). The guidance states that anyone who is pregnant should be particularly stringent in following social distancing measures. The Government would expect all employers to support any staff who are pregnant and at risk. The guidance from PHE is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people.

Social distancing guidance for educational settings has been published, and states that staff at an increased risk of serious illness as a result of COVID-19, such as those that are pregnant, should work from home where possible, and education and childcare settings should endeavour to support this. This additional guidance is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-social-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings.

From Friday 20 March, schools, colleges and early years settings are closed to everyone except children of critical workers and vulnerable children, as part of the country’s ongoing response to COVID-19.

Guidance has been issued to schools setting out how they should record attendance at this time.

The Government has also introduced emergency legislation to allow a suspension of the requirement on parents to secure regular school attendance for their child of compulsory school age.

The Government has asked local authorities to suspend any penalty notice action or prosecutions for COVID-19 related absence with immediate effect. Local authorities should update their Code of Conduct for issuing penalty notices to make this clear. New cases should not be taken forward and any cases from 16 March should be withdrawn. This approach should also be applied to prosecutions for non-attendance.

On 19 March, the government published guidance for schools, giving them the flexibility to provide meals or shop vouchers to the 1.3 million children entitled to free school meals if they are no longer attending school, either due to closures or as a result of self-isolating at home.

The guidance can be viewed at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance.

COVID-19 is clearly an unprecedented situation and the department’s highest priority.

We are working closely with colleagues across government to ensure that appropriate arrangements and support are in place for all the department’s sectors – from early years and childcare to schools and children’s social care, and for vulnerable groups including children with complex health and care needs.

The government has published guidance for implementing isolation in atypical settings, such as special settings, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-isolation-for-residential-educational-settings.

We have also published questions and answers about the provisions being made for vulnerable children and young people: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people.

On 16 March, the Government announced that all exams due to take place in schools and colleges in England this summer would be cancelled as part of the fight to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The Department’s priority is to ensure that students can move on as planned to the next stage of their lives, including starting university, college or sixth form courses or apprenticeships in the autumn. For GCSE, A and AS level students, we will make sure they are awarded a grade which reflects their work. Our intention is that a grade will be awarded this summer based on the best available evidence, including any non-exam assessment that students have already completed. The qualifications regulator Ofqual is working urgently with the exam boards to set out proposals for how this process will work and more information will be provided as soon as possible. Given that exams will not be taking place, the normal special consideration arrangements will not apply to the awarding of grades this summer.

We recognise that some students may nevertheless feel disappointed that they haven’t been able to sit their exams. If they do not believe the correct process has been followed in their case, they will be able to appeal on that basis. In addition, if they do not feel their calculated grade reflects their performance, they will have the opportunity to sit an exam, once schools and colleges are open again. The existing special consideration arrangements will apply to any students who experience exceptional circumstances when sitting those exams: as we expect that many fewer students will be sitting the exams than in a normal exam series we are confident that the exam boards’ existing systems will be able to cope with the likely volume of such requests.

It remains our intention to undertake a review of the regulations, as committed to during the passage of the Children and Social Work Bill, as soon as resources permit. In the meantime, we are clear that allowing reasonable contact between looked after children and their siblings is absolutely right where this is in the best interests of the children involved and the Children Act 1989 already provides for this.

Information on children looked after as at 31 March 2019 by placement is published in Table A2 of the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2018 to 2019’, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019.

The information requested on family context is not held centrally.

Data relating to the year ended 31 March 2020 will be released in Autumn 2020, in line with our publication schedule.

The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The latest figures on children taken into care by age and placement type are published for England at 31 March 2019 in Table A1 and A2 of the statistical release ‘Children Looked after in England including adoptions: 2018:2019’ which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019.

Figures on children by age and placement type have also been published separately, at local authority and regional level, in the underlying data table ‘CLA2019’. These are available at the same link.

Information on children looked after as at 31 March 2019 by placement is published in Table A2 of the annual statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2018 to 2019’, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019.

The information requested on family context is not held centrally.

Data relating to the year ended 31 March 2020 will be released in Autumn 2020, in line with our publication schedule.

Information on the number of children who started to be looked after by individual age group and within a week of birth is shown in the attached table.

Table C2 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England (including adoption): 2018 to 2019’ is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019 and includes information for the same population of children by placement type.

Information on the number of children who started to be looked after by individual age group and within a week of birth is shown in the attached table.

Table C2 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England (including adoption): 2018 to 2019’ is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2018-to-2019 and includes information for the same population of children by placement type.