Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his timetable is for informing education institutions of the outcome of their bid for funding from the Turing Scheme.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Turing Scheme is providing funding for 372 eligible organisations who successfully applied for the 2021/22 academic year, with over 41,000 expected participants. Of these, 13 organisations were Welsh, and these were provided with £5,170,829 of funding. Data on expected participant numbers at these Welsh institutions is not currently available. More details of the funding provided for the 2021/22 academic year is available here: https://www.turing-scheme.org.uk/project-community/funding-results/.
Regarding the number of educational establishments in Wales receiving Turing Scheme funding for 2022/23 and student numbers for 2022/23, we have no data on this yet as applications for the 2022/23 academic year have yet to be made. Data on this will only be available after bids are considered and results are known.
The timetable for applications for Turing Scheme funds for the 2022/23 academic year will be published on the Turing Scheme website on 28 February 2022, along with the programme guide and application guide for this year. The Turing Scheme website is available here: www.turing-scheme.org.uk.
The Turing Scheme is a genuinely UK-wide scheme. There is no proportioning of funds between nations; all will be considered on a competitive basis, as set out in the programme guide.
Fee waivers for Turing Scheme participants are managed on an institutional level.
The Erasmus+ UK National Agency publishes information on the amount of funding received by institutions for Erasmus+ projects from the UK National Agency and the European Commission. Data for each institution, across academic years 2014/15 to 2020/21 is available here: https://erasmusplus.org.uk/funding-results.html. Figures on Erasmus+ student participation will also be published here: https://erasmusplus.org.uk/statistics.html.
At the above statistics website, selecting “Project Mobilities & Outputs”, Table 2 of the file “2014-2019 Higher education mobility statistics” contains the number of outgoing Erasmus+ students by country of provider for academic years 2014/15 to 2018/19. Data for academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21 is not published.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average response time was for his Department to respond to an enquiry from an MP once an enquiry had been received by the MP (a) hotline and (b) account management team in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
The government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from MPs, either directly or on behalf of their constituents.
The department does not have an MP hotline or an account management team for MPs. Data on the timeliness of responses to correspondence from MPs and Peers for 2019 and 2020 is published on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers. Data for 2021 will be published by the Cabinet Office in due course.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that non-departmental Government bodies that report to his Department do not change their redundancy policy prior to the completion of a full consultation with staff.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s arm's length bodies (ALBs) are usually responsible for the management of their own staff terms and conditions, including the need to consult with staff on any changes. Governance arrangements are in place to ensure the Department has oversight of any changes which require Departmental input or approval and to ensure this is managed compliantly. The guidance about the Department’s overall approach to ALBs, as set out in the Cabinet Office guide to public bodies, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/partnerships-with-arms-length-bodies-code-of-good-practice.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Construction Industry Training Board on recent changes to its redundancy policy; and if he will make an assessment of the effect of those changes on staff.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The Industrial Training Act 1982, delegates employment matters to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). Schedule 1 (11) of the Act states, ‘An industrial training board may appoint such officers and servants, upon such terms as to remuneration, pension rights and other conditions of service, as the board may determine.’
The Department maintains ongoing dialogue with the CITB and is sighted on key activity impacting on CITB colleagues.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of steel procured by his Department was produced in the UK, in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Based on data available, the Department estimates that the proportion of steel procured by the Department that has been produced in the UK is as follows:
The above data excludes the tonnage that may have been used for modular projects – which would be minimal given the small quantities of modular schools delivered to date.
Data collection on steel usage, source and type only commenced in 2017 as a result of Procurement Policy Note 15/16, issued by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department will complete its internal review of health and safety advice to schools; when she plans to publish revised advice on school trips and travel; and whether that advice will take into account risks posed by poor driver accommodation and driver fatigue.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s internal review of its health and safety advice is ongoing. Officials are currently working with key stakeholders to ensure schools are provided with appropriate and up-to-date advice, including information about the potential risks associated with travel on school trips. The Department will publish revised health and safety advice later in the year.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Oral Answer of 4 July 2016 to Question 905617, on Mindfulness in Schools, when she plans to publish the results of the national survey.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The survey will provide the first nationally representative assessment of activities carried out by schools and colleges to support their pupils’ and students’ mental health and development of character traits.
The fieldwork for the survey has now begun and the Department expects to publish the results early in 2017.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children with a postal address in Wales attended a school in England in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information requested is published in the ‘Schools, pupils and characteristics: January 2015’ statistical first release, tables 14a to 14c, which is available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received on the BUSK campaign for safe coach transport in relation to coach tour companies being contracted for long-distance school trips.
Answered by David Laws
I am aware of the BUSK campaign for safe coach transport. The safety of children and young people is of the utmost importance. All school employers must adhere to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. They must conduct a risk assessment and put measures in place to minimise any known risk. Where schools use a coach tour company to provide transport for their trip, we expect them to apply sensible and proportionate health and safety measures to assess the company’s suitability.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues to schools on the sleeping conditions for coach drivers on long-distance school trips.
Answered by David Laws
The Department for Education issues advice to schools on health and safety, making them aware of their statutory duty to conduct a risk assessment and put measures in place to minimise any known risks. This advice does not provide specific guidance on sleeping conditions for coach drivers, since this would be for an employer to consider as part of the risk assessment. The Department is currently reviewing this advice to include reference to British Standard 8848:2014 which provides guidance on the risks of driver fatigue.