Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to help support students with increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that have impacted students. Many higher education (HE) providers have hardship funds that students can apply to for assistance. There is £261 million of student premium funding available this academic year to support disadvantaged students who need additional help. The department is also working with the Office for Students to ensure universities support students in hardship using both hardship funds and drawing on the student premium.
All households will save on their energy bills through the Energy Price Guarantee and the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme discount. Students who buy their energy from a domestic supplier are eligible for the energy bills discount. The Energy Prices Act passed on 25 October includes the provision to require landlords to pass benefits they receive from energy price support, as appropriate, onto end users. Further details of the requirements under this act are set out in the legislation.
A HM Treasury-led review is being undertaken to consider how to support households and businesses with energy bills after April 2023.
Decisions on student support are taken on an annual basis. The government has continued to increase living costs support each year with a 2.3% increase to maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for this academic year, 2022/23.
Students who have been awarded a loan for living costs for the 2022/23 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2022-23 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.
The government is currently considering options for changes to loans and grants for living and other costs for the 2023/24 academic year starting in August 2023 and an announcement will follow in due course.
The UCAS end of cycle report shows that in 2022 we had record numbers of 18-year-olds getting into university, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. An English 18-year-old from a disadvantaged background today is 86% more likely to go to university than in 2010.
The department’s widening participation publication from 2022 shows that progression to HE has increased across all students, including those from ethnic minority backgrounds. Black pupils have seen the greatest increase in the proportion entering HE by age 19, increasing from 44.1% in 2009/10 to 62.1% in 2020/21.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on improving skills training in Kingston upon Hull North constituency.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department regularly discusses skills matters with other government departments, including the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, but not specifically about individual constituencies.
The department is investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the Parliament to ensure individuals across the country, including those living in Kingston upon Hull North, have access to the skills they need to build a fulfilling career in jobs the economy needs.
The department has boosted funding by an extra £1.6 billion for 16-to-19 education in 2024/25 compared with 2021/22. This is the biggest increase in 16-to-19 funding in a decade, and will help to fund the additional students anticipated in the system, 40 extra hours per student, and an affordable increase in funding rates per 16-to-19 student.
This additional funding will help providers such as Hull College, Wyke Sixth Form College, and Wilberforce Sixth Form College, who serve the Kingston upon Hull area. Collectively, their curriculum offer includes T Levels, apprenticeships, an extensive range of qualifications from Entry Level to Higher Education, and adult education programmes. Across each institution, their provision is shaped in collaboration with local employers to ensure it meets local skills needs.
Within Kingston upon Hull, there are several providers that are offering T Levels or preparing to do so. Wyke Sixth Form College and Wilberforce Sixth Form College commenced delivery of T Levels in 2021. Hull College, Ron Dearing UTC and St Mary’s College (academy) all plan to commence T Level delivery in 2023. There are also several other local further education colleges offering T Levels to students in the area, such as East Riding College (Part of TEC Partnership) and Bishop Burton College who are both located in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire.
The department is increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25 and supporting employers in all sectors and all areas of the country to use apprenticeships to develop the skilled workforces they need. Since May 2010, there have been a total of 11,880 apprenticeship starts in Kingston upon Hull North.
The department has also introduced the Free Courses for Jobs scheme, which enables adult learners nationwide without a level 3 qualification (or learners with any qualification level but earning below the National Living Wage) to gain a qualification for free.
In addition, there is the introduction of Skills Bootcamps which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with an employer. Residents in the Kingston upon Hull North Constituency can access engineering Skills Bootcamps being delivered in the city, such as Fibre Engineer and Heat Pump Engineer Skills Bootcamps as well as a range of Skills Bootcamps available online.
The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) with funding of £1.34 billion in the 2022/23 academic year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to help them gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to mandate higher education institutions and local authorities to work together to ensure appropriate provisions are in place to house the numbers of students that universities are admitting.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Neither the Department for Education nor the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities have made such an assessment. It is for local areas, through their Local Plans, and in response to local needs and concerns, to determine the level of student accommodation required in their area.
Universities and private accommodation providers are autonomous. The department plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation, whether the accommodation is managed by universities or private sector organisations.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to introduce an emergency cost of living provision to the student maintenance loan; and what plans the Government has to review the maintenance loan increase in future years to ensure that it reflects rising inflation.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Decisions on student support are taken on an annual basis. The department has continued to increase living costs support with a 2.3% increase for maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for the current academic year, 2022/23. Students who have been awarded a loan for living costs for the 2022/23 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2022/23 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.
In addition, maximum tuition fees and the subsidised loans available from the department to pay them, remain at £9,250 for the 2022/23 academic year in respect of standard full-time courses.
The department is also freezing maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years. As well as reducing debt levels for students, the continued fee freeze will help to ensure that the Higher Education (HE) system remains sustainable while also promoting greater efficiency at providers.
The department is reviewing options for uprating maximum loans and grants for the 2023/24 academic year, and an announcement will follow in the Autumn. We need to ensure the HE student finance system remains financially sustainable and the costs of HE are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university. At a time of tight fiscal restrictions, we will need to consider spending on student finance alongside other priorities.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will review student maintenance loan household income thresholds and outline a plan update those thresholds to reflect the real terms value compared with 2008.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Decisions on student support are taken on an annual basis. The department has continued to increase living costs support with a 2.3% increase for maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for the current academic year, 2022/23. Students who have been awarded a loan for living costs for the 2022/23 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2022/23 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.
In addition, maximum tuition fees and the subsidised loans available from the department to pay them, remain at £9,250 for the 2022/23 academic year in respect of standard full-time courses.
The department is also freezing maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years. As well as reducing debt levels for students, the continued fee freeze will help to ensure that the Higher Education (HE) system remains sustainable while also promoting greater efficiency at providers.
The department is reviewing options for uprating maximum loans and grants for the 2023/24 academic year, and an announcement will follow in the Autumn. We need to ensure the HE student finance system remains financially sustainable and the costs of HE are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university. At a time of tight fiscal restrictions, we will need to consider spending on student finance alongside other priorities.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to help ensure that the potential impact of the cost of living crisis on school meals does not affect the health of children.
Answered by Will Quince
The provision of healthy school meals, free to those children who are eligible for them, is of the utmost importance to the government. The department is holding regular meetings with other government departments and food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues, including public sector food supplies.
All contracts for school food are held at school, multi-academy trust, or local authority level. Schools are responsible for the provision of both free and paid-for meals, and how much to spend on school food provision.
Under the benefits-related criteria, the department provides a free healthy meal to around 1.9 million children, ensuring they are well-nourished and can concentrate and learn. The department also spends around £600 million per year ensuring around 1.25 million infants enjoy a free, healthy, and nutritious meal at lunchtime, following the introduction of the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy in 2014.
The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living. These are global challenges, and this is why the government is providing over £15 billion in further support, targeted particularly at those with the greatest need. This package is in addition to the over £22 billion announced previously, with government support for the cost of living now totalling over £37 billion this year. This includes an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of household essentials, on top of what the department has provided since October 2021. This brings total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. In England, this will take the form of an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £421 million, running from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. Devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to improve the current provision of education on sexual health.
Answered by Robin Walker
The introduction of compulsory relationships, sex, and health education (RSHE) in schools from September 2020 will increase young people’s knowledge in several areas of men's and women's health. The department is clear in its ‘Relationships and sex education and health education’ statutory guidance that pupils in secondary schools should be taught the facts and the law about sex, sexuality, and sexual health in an age-appropriate and inclusive way. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
The department has given schools the flexibility to design the content of their curriculum to support their cohort of pupils and have signposted them to expert advice on reproductive health.
It is important that teachers have the confidence to teach RSHE effectively, including teaching about sexual health. To help schools with this, the department has published a range of online teacher training modules covering each of the key subject areas. The modules are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health. The module on ‘Intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health’ indicates that by the end of secondary school, pupils should know the facts about reproductive health, including fertility, and the potential impact of lifestyle on fertility for men and women.
In September 2020, the department also published non-statutory implementation guidance, ‘Plan your relationships, sex and health curriculum’, and funded the delivery of a train the trainer and peer support programme to schools from April 2020 to July 2021. The programme reached 4,800 schools.
The department has contracted with IFF Research to undertake a national survey of school leaders, RSHE leads and RSHE teachers, supported by qualitative research with school staff and pupils. The research will test whether schools are implementing the requirements with sufficient quality and help us to understand barriers and facilities to quality implementation, to inform any further support offers.
Additionally, the Schools White Paper commits to further strengthening RSHE and Ofsted plans to undertake a review of personal development in schools, which includes RSHE. The report will be published later this year.