Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department provides to Afghan nationals relocated under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (b) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme on applying for higher education in the UK.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
From 1 August 2022, people who have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), will qualify for student support and home fee status in relation to new higher education (HE) courses, if they have been resident in the UK and Islands since the grant of such leave. They will also qualify for advanced learner loans for further education courses. Students who qualify for leave on this basis will not need to demonstrate three years ordinary residence in the UK and Islands before the start of their course.
Guidance for Afghan nationals applying for HE courses can be found at the following links:
This guidance is being updated to reflect the recent changes to HE student support for persons with leave under ARAP and ACRS.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Afghan nationals with Indefinite Leave to Remain relocated under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (b) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme are eligible for student loans.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
From 1 August 2022, people who have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), will qualify for student support and home fee status in relation to new higher education (HE) courses, if they have been resident in the UK and Islands since the grant of such leave. They will also qualify for advanced learner loans for further education courses. Students who qualify for leave on this basis will not need to demonstrate three years ordinary residence in the UK and Islands before the start of their course.
Guidance for Afghan nationals applying for HE courses can be found at the following links:
This guidance is being updated to reflect the recent changes to HE student support for persons with leave under ARAP and ACRS.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Afghan nationals with regularised Indefinite Leave to Remain relocated under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (b) Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme will pay (i) home fees or (ii) overseas fees in higher education in the UK.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
From 1 August 2022, people who have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), will qualify for student support and home fee status in relation to new higher education (HE) courses, if they have been resident in the UK and Islands since the grant of such leave. They will also qualify for advanced learner loans for further education courses. Students who qualify for leave on this basis will not need to demonstrate three years ordinary residence in the UK and Islands before the start of their course.
Guidance for Afghan nationals applying for HE courses can be found at the following links:
This guidance is being updated to reflect the recent changes to HE student support for persons with leave under ARAP and ACRS.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing to Pupil Referral Unit schools that are not awarded special needs funding.
Answered by Will Quince
Additional funding has been made available to the core schools budget for allocation in the 2022-23 financial year as a result of the 2021 Spending Review. The way that this funding is being allocated reflects differences in how pupil referral units (PRU), special schools and mainstream schools are funded.
Mainstream schools are funded through local funding formulae, and the extra funding allocated to the department following the 2021 Spending Review is being allocated in the 2022-23 financial year as a supplementary grant. This is because it was not possible for the department to decide on allocations, and for local authorities to include those within their local formulae, in time.
PRUs, special schools and the equivalent academies, on the other hand, are funded from the high needs block of the dedicated schools’ grant (DSG). In December 2021, the department announced additional allocations to local authorities of high needs DSG funding for the 2022-23 financial year, totalling £325 million. The differences in costs and funding for PRUs mean that centrally setting supplementary per-pupil funding rates, as we have done for the supplementary funding for mainstream schools, was not appropriate. Therefore, the department decided that it was better that local authorities decide how to allocate the additional funding to those types of schools, with the same flexibilities as they must deploy the rest of the DSG allocations of high needs funding.
PRUs should, therefore, discuss with their local authority any increases as part of the top-up funding paid from authorities’ high needs budgets. Each local authority now knows how much of the additional £325 million high needs funding it will be allocated in the 2022-23 financial year. Nationally, this is an increase of 4% to the high needs allocations announced in July 2021. Authorities should be able to afford some increase to their top-up funding for PRUs and other schools, where that is required to meet the cost increases they are facing.
Funding for PRUs comes from mainstream schools’ budgets, for those pupils placed by those schools, as well as from local authorities. There is no distinction in the national funding system between those pupils in PRUs who have special needs, and those who are there for other reasons.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the impact of excluding Pupil Referral Unit schools from the Schools Supplementary Grant on children (a) with behavioural difficulties and (b) in care.
Answered by Will Quince
Additional funding has been made available to the core schools budget for allocation in the 2022-23 financial year as a result of the 2021 Spending Review. The way that this funding is being allocated reflects differences in how pupil referral units (PRU), special schools and mainstream schools are funded.
Mainstream schools are funded through local funding formulae, and the extra funding allocated to the department following the 2021 Spending Review is being allocated in the 2022-23 financial year as a supplementary grant. This is because it was not possible for the department to decide on allocations, and for local authorities to include those within their local formulae, in time.
PRUs, special schools and the equivalent academies, on the other hand, are funded from the high needs block of the dedicated schools’ grant (DSG). In December 2021, the department announced additional allocations to local authorities of high needs DSG funding for the 2022-23 financial year, totalling £325 million. The differences in costs and funding for PRUs mean that centrally setting supplementary per-pupil funding rates, as we have done for the supplementary funding for mainstream schools, was not appropriate. Therefore, the department decided that it was better that local authorities decide how to allocate the additional funding to those types of schools, with the same flexibilities as they must deploy the rest of the DSG allocations of high needs funding.
PRUs should, therefore, discuss with their local authority any increases as part of the top-up funding paid from authorities’ high needs budgets. Each local authority now knows how much of the additional £325 million high needs funding it will be allocated in the 2022-23 financial year. Nationally, this is an increase of 4% to the high needs allocations announced in July 2021. Authorities should be able to afford some increase to their top-up funding for PRUs and other schools, where that is required to meet the cost increases they are facing.
Funding for PRUs comes from mainstream schools’ budgets, for those pupils placed by those schools, as well as from local authorities. There is no distinction in the national funding system between those pupils in PRUs who have special needs, and those who are there for other reasons.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure health and social care students who are under the age of 18 and unable to receive a second dose of the covid-19 vaccine are able to complete their work placements in care homes.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The government knows that vaccines save lives which is why, earlier this year, plans were set out to make COVID-19 vaccines a condition of deployment for adults in care homes to protect those who are more vulnerable to COVID-19.
Vaccinated people are less likely to experience severe symptoms of COVID-19, be admitted to hospital or die from it and there is evidence that they are less likely to pass the virus on to others.
The current exemption from the requirement to be fully vaccinated to work in a care home is expected to continue. This applies to those with specific medical conditions, pregnant women and those aged under 18 as set out in operational guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaccination-of-people-working-or-deployed-in-care-homes-operational-guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-of-people-working-or-deployed-in-care-homes-operational-guidance.
16 -17-year-olds who work in the health and social care sector, including students undertaking work placements, have been eligible for 2 vaccinations since the beginning of phase 1 of the vaccination programme roll out. Following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's announcement, all 16–17-year-olds are now eligible for 2 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The department encourages further education providers to work with employers to understand the vaccination requirements for students undertaking work placements in their health or care setting.
Further information can be found on the ACAS website and the guide for employers on gov.uk:
https://www.acas.org.uk/working-safely-coronavirus/getting-the-coronavirus-vaccine-for-work.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Education on the potential impact of the new requirement for care home workers to be fully vaccinated against covid-19 on health and social care students' ability to complete their (a) work placements and (b) qualifications.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The government knows that vaccines save lives which is why, earlier this year, plans were set out to make COVID-19 vaccines a condition of deployment for adults in care homes to protect those who are more vulnerable to COVID-19.
Vaccinated people are less likely to experience severe symptoms of COVID-19, be admitted to hospital or die from it and there is evidence that they are less likely to pass the virus on to others.
The current exemption from the requirement to be fully vaccinated to work in a care home is expected to continue. This applies to those with specific medical conditions, pregnant women and those aged under 18 as set out in operational guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaccination-of-people-working-or-deployed-in-care-homes-operational-guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-of-people-working-or-deployed-in-care-homes-operational-guidance.
16 -17-year-olds who work in the health and social care sector, including students undertaking work placements, have been eligible for 2 vaccinations since the beginning of phase 1 of the vaccination programme roll out. Following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's announcement, all 16–17-year-olds are now eligible for 2 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The department encourages further education providers to work with employers to understand the vaccination requirements for students undertaking work placements in their health or care setting.
Further information can be found on the ACAS website and the guide for employers on gov.uk:
https://www.acas.org.uk/working-safely-coronavirus/getting-the-coronavirus-vaccine-for-work.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure (a) students (b) mechanics in South Yorkshire have access to the (i) skills and (ii) training needed to service electric vehicles.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The department is committed to playing its part in supporting the labour market transition to net zero. This includes supporting key sectors including automotive and boosting green skills in regions such as South Yorkshire. Building on the Skills for Jobs White Paper and the recent publication of the net zero strategy, the department’s skills reforms will strengthen links between employers and providers, support workers in high carbon sectors with the transition, and help to build a pipeline of future talent. We have a range of existing programmes which support green skills for young people and adults in key sectors such as automotive. These include:
The Green Apprenticeship Advisory Panel (GAAP) has also endorsed the following apprenticeship standards that are available and relevant to electric vehicle service and repair:
Working with employers, the GAAP will continue to review existing apprenticeships standards to ensure they can further accommodate skills needs linked to key green sectors including automotive.
To support young people and adults to progress towards a green career, the department will ensure a strengthened system of employer-led standards are in place, underpinning apprenticeships, T-Levels, and new higher technical qualifications. We need employers in low-carbon sectors to play a central role in designing and developing qualifications and training; and demonstrate where there is demand for green skills, so that we can pivot our key skills programmes accordingly.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues in the Department for Education on the potential effect of (a) tuition fees and (b) student loans on regional education outcomes.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and I regularly engage with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.