Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on ensuring that Northern Ireland can continue to participate in the Erasmus+ programme after the end of the transition period.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The UK will continue to participate fully in the current (2014-2020) Erasmus+ programme under the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with the European Union (EU). This means that the projects successfully bid for during the current programmes will continue to receive EU funding for the full duration of the project. This includes projects where funding runs beyond 2020 and the end of the transition period.
With regards to the next Erasmus+ programme (2021-27), the government remains open to considering participation in elements of the next Erasmus+ programme, provided that the terms are in the UK’s interests. Future participation is subject to our ongoing negotiations with the EU.
Ministers regularly meet to discuss the ongoing negotiations, including the UK’s consideration of programmes participation. While international relations remain a reserved matter, the UK government is committed to working closely with the devolved administrations throughout negotiations with the EU to ensure a future relationship that works in the interests of the whole of the UK.
In parallel, the government is continuing to develop a domestic alternative to Erasmus+, to ensure we are prepared for every eventuality. We are working closely with other government departments and the devolved administrations as we work towards a UK-wide domestic alternative scheme.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with (a) the Northern Ireland Executive and (b) other devolved institutions in Northern Ireland on creating a co-ordinated policy to provide assistance to students financially affected by continuing obligations to pay rent on student accommodation during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
As my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.
Housing and student maintenance loans are devolved matters, as is higher education. However, the department has been working closely with colleagues in Northern Ireland to discuss a range of higher education areas affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
English-domiciled students anywhere in the UK are continuing to receive scheduled payments of loans towards their living costs for the remainder of the current, 2019/20, academic year. Many higher education providers will have hardship funds to support students in times of need, including emergencies.
We have worked closely with the Office for Students to enable providers in England to draw upon existing funding to increase hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by COVID-19. As a result, providers will be able to use the funding, worth around £23 million per month for April and May, towards student hardship funds.
Students with a part-time employment contract should speak to their employer about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19), which has been set up to help pay staff wages and keep people in employment.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with counterparts in the devolved Administrations on the refunding of tuition fees paid by students who have had their tuition interrupted as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Education is devolved and it will be for each administration to determine the actions they wish to take.
We are working closely with sector representative bodies in England to understand the impact of COVID-19 and the immediate financial implications for students and providers, and we are working with universities to make sure all reasonable efforts are being made to enable students to continue their studies to the best of their abilities.
The government has made it clear that if universities are unable to deliver adequate online teaching then it would be unacceptable for students to be charged for any additional terms of study, which would effectively mean that they were being charged twice. We only expect full tuition fees to be charged if online courses are of good quality, fit for purpose and help students progress towards their qualification. If universities want to charge full fees, they will have to ensure that the quality is there.
Whether or not an individual student is entitled to a refund of their fees will depend on specific contractual arrangements between the student and their university. Students ordinarily should not expect any fee refund if they are receiving adequate online learning and support.
In the first instance, students should speak to their university. We expect student complaints and appeals processes to be operated flexibly, accessibly and sympathetically by institutions to resolve any concerns. Students who are not satisfied with their institution’s final response can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education to consider their complaint if their institution is based in England or Wales.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to university students tied into rental agreements during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
As my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by Covid-19.
Students will continue to receive scheduled payments of loans towards their living costs for the remainder of the 2019/20 academic year.
While it is for universities and private accommodation providers to make their own decisions about charging rents to absent students, we would encourage them to consider the fairness of doing so and to clearly communicate their policies to students. It is also important to stress that accommodation providers should not have instructed any student to leave. If any accommodation provider did formally instruct a student to leave the property then it would be unacceptable to continue to charge student rents.
Students who are tenants with individual private landlords should discuss the possibility of an early release from their lease. As tenants, students are entitled to support such as repayable rent reductions or postponements and assurances that eviction proceedings cannot begin against them for 3 months if they are impacted by Covid-19. However, students renting under licence (which is the case in most halls of residence) are ineligible for this support.
Students with a part-time employment contract should speak to their employer about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19 - which has been set up to help pay staff wages and keep people in employment.
We have also asked that higher education providers pay particular attention to the additional financial hardships that are being faced by student staff who have been reliant on income from campus-based jobs at this time.
If a student thinks that their accommodation provider is treating them unfairly, they can raise a complaint under the accommodation codes of practice as long as their 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.rla.org.uk/about/nrla-code-of-practice.shtml.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on ensuring that students tied into private rental agreements are supported during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
As my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.
Housing and student maintenance loans are devolved matters, as is higher education. However, the department has been working closely with colleagues in Northern Ireland to discuss a range of higher education areas affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The government encourages universities and private hall providers to be fair in their decisions about rent charges for this period.
Students who are tenants with individual private landlords should discuss the possibility of an early release from their lease.
If a student thinks that their accommodation provider is treating them unfairly, they can raise a complaint under the UK accommodation codes of practice as long as their provider is a code member. The codes can be found at: https://www.thesac.org.uk/ and https://www.unipol.org.uk/the-code/how-to-complain. The code of practice for the Landlords Association for Northern Ireland is at: https://www.lani.org.uk/about/code-of-practice/.
Students with a part-time employment contract should speak to their employer about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19) which has been set up to help pay staff wages and keep people in employment.