Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to remove asbestos from schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department follows expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which states that as long as asbestos-containing materials are in good condition, well protected either by their position or physical protection, and are unlikely to be worked on, it is usually safer to manage them in place. Where that is not the case, the duty holder should have it removed, and the Department provides significant condition funding which can be used for this purpose.
Since 2015, the Department has allocated £11.3 billion to those responsible for school buildings for essential maintenance and improvements, including removal or encapsulation of asbestos when such is the safest course of action. This includes £1.8 billion committed for financial year 2021-22.
Through the Priority School Building Programme, the Department has been rebuilding or refurbishing buildings in the worst condition at over 500 schools across the country. My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced a new 10-year rebuilding programme for schools, which will replace poor condition buildings with modern, energy efficient designs. The Department has announced the first 50 schools to benefit from the programme, as part of a commitment to 500 projects over the next decade.
In July 2019, the Department published information from the Asbestos Management Assurance Process (AMAP) designed to understand the prevalence of asbestos in schools and how well it is managed. Of the 19,522 (88.4%) state-funded schools in England which participated, a total of 15,796 (80.9%) of participating schools stated some asbestos was present on their estate. The responses also suggested that there were no systemic failures in the management of asbestos in schools.
The Department takes the issue of asbestos in schools seriously, and is committed to supporting schools, local authorities and academy trusts to fulfil their duty to manage asbestos safely. We have taken significant steps in recent years to strengthen schools’ approach to managing asbestos. In addition to conducting the AMAP, the Department published updated guidance on effectively managing asbestos in schools in October 2020, working closely with HSE experts, union representatives and other sector representatives to do so.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance has been provided to Primary Schools on the wearing of facemasks by teaching staff within a classroom setting.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As new evidence or data emerges, the Government updates its advice accordingly to ensure that all our schools and colleges have the right safety measures in place.
The Department recently published updated guidance for schools to support the return to full attendance from 8 March 2021, which includes updated advice on face coverings. The guidance can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/schools-coronavirus-covid-19-operational-guidance.
As our updated guidance outlines, in primary schools, face coverings should be worn by staff and adult visitors in situations where social distancing between adults is not possible, for example, when moving around in corridors and communal areas. Children in primary school do not need to wear a face covering.
Some individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings. This applies to those who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability, or if you are speaking to or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expression to communicate. The same exemptions should be applied in schools, and we would expect teachers and other staff to be sensitive to those needs.
We continue to work closely with Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care and stakeholders across the sector to ensure that our policy is based on the latest scientific and medical advice.
These measures will be in place until Easter. We will keep this under review and update guidance at that point.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many laptops have been (a) requested by schools for home learning and (b) delivered as of 14 January 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. As of Monday 18 January, over 800,000 laptops and tablets had been delivered to schools, trusts and local authorities.
The number of devices available for each school, trust or local authority is based on children eligible for free school meals and takes into account existing devices available in schools. Schools, trusts and local authorities are responsible for distributing the laptops and tablets and are best placed to know which disadvantaged children and young people need access to a device.
The Government is providing this significant injection of devices on top of an estimated 2.9 million laptops and tablets already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. On 12 January, we announced that we will be providing a further 300,000 devices over the course of this term.
Figures on the number of devices delivered, including by local authority, are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data/2021-week-3. These figures are broken down by local authority and academy trust.
We have also partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online as well as delivering 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils were attending (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in person on (a) 5 January 2021 and (b) 12 January 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The requested data is presented in the table below. Please note that schools were not asked to complete the educational settings survey from 5 January while the survey was changed to reflect the changes in the national lockdown, Therefore, we present figures for 4 January instead.
| 4 January 2021 | 12 January 2021 | ||
| Response rate[1] (%) | Overall attendance[2] (%) | Response rate (%) | Overall attendance (%) |
State-funded Primary[3] | 45 | 65 | 86 | 21 |
State-funded Secondary[4] | 47 | 5 | 85 | 5 |
On Monday 4 January, many schools were expected to still be on Christmas break or have planned inset days[5]. The response rate to the survey of educational settings on 4 January was low and nearly half of responding schools reported an inset day or non-COVID related closure (47%). Therefore, figures for 4 January 2021 exclude schools in areas expected to still be on Christmas break and those that reported inset days or non-COVID related closures.
Figures have not been adjusted for non-response and are therefore may not be nationally representative.
[1] Response rates are included for context.
[2] Attendance figures are for in person attendance.
[3] Includes ‘middle deemed primary’ schools.
[4] Includes ‘middle deemed secondary’ and ‘all-through schools’.
[5] The vast majority of schools in the following local authorities were expected to still be on Christmas break on 4 January: Suffolk, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, Rutland, Bury, Stockport, Wigan, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Central Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, West Berkshire, North Yorkshire. Some schools in other local authorities were also still on Christmas break or had inset days - academies are not required to follow local authority term dates and schools can set their own inset days.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of people (a) applying for and (b) securing places at higher education institutions were from (i) working class and (ii) disadvantaged backgrounds for the academic year 2019-20.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
It is more crucial than ever before that we tap into the brilliant talent that our country has to offer, and make sure that university places are available to all who are qualified by ability and attainment to pursue them and who wish to do so.
In the 2019/20 applications cycle, 11.4% of English 18 year olds applying for higher education were from disadvantaged backgrounds (POLAR4 Q1), and 11.3% of English 18 year olds accepted onto higher education places, were from disadvantaged backgrounds. This compares to 10.4% of English 18 year old applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds, and 9.7% of accepted English 18 year old applicants, in the 2011/12 applications cycle.
It is vital that students applying to university in 2021 have extra time to carefully consider their applications and make the best choices for their future. As such, for students applying to enter university in 2021, the UCAS deadline for most courses has been pushed back to 29 January 2021. We are encouraging universities to be flexible when making offers to individual students whose education has been disproportionally and adversely impacted from the COVID-19 outbreak, to ensure that these students are able to receive fair offers for 2021.
All higher education providers wanting to charge higher level fees must also have an Access and Participation Plan agreed by the Office for Students in which they set out the measures they intend to take to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds and under-represented groups can access and succeed in higher education.
We have just launched a consultation on options for reforming the higher education admissions system in favour of post-qualification admissions. We are asking respondents to work with us to identify ways in which the system can be made to work better for disadvantaged students, particularly in terms of being able to access the most selective universities.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the number of people from (a) working class and (b) disadvantaged backgrounds (i) applying for and (ii) securing places at higher education institutions.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
It is more crucial than ever before that we tap into the brilliant talent that our country has to offer, and make sure that university places are available to all who are qualified by ability and attainment to pursue them and who wish to do so.
In the 2019/20 applications cycle, 11.4% of English 18 year olds applying for higher education were from disadvantaged backgrounds (POLAR4 Q1), and 11.3% of English 18 year olds accepted onto higher education places, were from disadvantaged backgrounds. This compares to 10.4% of English 18 year old applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds, and 9.7% of accepted English 18 year old applicants, in the 2011/12 applications cycle.
It is vital that students applying to university in 2021 have extra time to carefully consider their applications and make the best choices for their future. As such, for students applying to enter university in 2021, the UCAS deadline for most courses has been pushed back to 29 January 2021. We are encouraging universities to be flexible when making offers to individual students whose education has been disproportionally and adversely impacted from the COVID-19 outbreak, to ensure that these students are able to receive fair offers for 2021.
All higher education providers wanting to charge higher level fees must also have an Access and Participation Plan agreed by the Office for Students in which they set out the measures they intend to take to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds and under-represented groups can access and succeed in higher education.
We have just launched a consultation on options for reforming the higher education admissions system in favour of post-qualification admissions. We are asking respondents to work with us to identify ways in which the system can be made to work better for disadvantaged students, particularly in terms of being able to access the most selective universities.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many sure start centres there were in Yorkshire and the Humber region in (a) 2010 and (b) 2020.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Based on the information supplied by local authorities, the table attached shows the number of Sure Start children’s centres in the Yorkshire and Humber region in 2010 and 2020.[1]
[1] Source: Downloaded from Get Information about Schools database https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk. Based on information supplied by local authorities as at 11 January 2020. These figures may be different to previous answers, and could change again in future, since local authorities may update their data at any time.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the (a) advice and (b) guidance provided by (i) the Chief Medical Officer and (ii) Public Health England which informed the decision to allow nurseries to remain open during national lockdown restrictions from 6 January 2020.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Schools have been restricted since 6 January 2021, not because they are unsafe but because additional measures are needed to contain the spread of the virus. The wider significant restrictions in place as part of the national lockdown to contain the spread of the virus in the community enable us to continue prioritising keeping nurseries and childminders open, supporting parents and delivering the crucial care and education needed for our youngest children.
Early years settings remain low risk environments for children and staff. Current evidence suggests that pre-school children (0 to 5 years) are less susceptible to infection and are unlikely to be playing a driving role in transmission which is referred to in the 65th SAGE meeting, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/935102/sage-65-meeting-covid-19-s0863.pdf.
There is no evidence the new strain of the virus causes more serious illness in either children or adults and there is no evidence that the new variant of coronavirus disproportionately affects young children.
Public Health England (PHE) advice remains that the system of controls are the right measures for early years settings, which reduce risks and create inherently safer environments.
Early years settings have been open to all children since 1 June 2020 and there is no evidence that the early years sector has contributed to a significant rise in virus cases within the community. Early modelling evidence from SAGE evidenced in the report Modelling and behavioural science responses to scenarios for relaxing school closures’ showed that early years provision had a smaller relative impact on transmission rate when modelled with both primary schools and secondary schools. The report is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/886994/s0257-sage-sub-group-modelling-behavioural-science-relaxing-school-closures-sage30.pdf.
We continue to prioritise keeping early years settings open in full because of the clear benefits to children’s education and wellbeing and to support working parents. Caring for the youngest age group is not something that can be done remotely.
PHE have endorsed a ‘system of controls’ which are the set of actions all early years settings must take. They are outlined in more detail in the ‘Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak’ guidance, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.
These build on the hierarchy of protective measures that have been in use throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. When implemented in line with a revised risk assessment, these measures create an inherently safer environment for children and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced for children and staff.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to address regional inequalities in the UK for A-Level attainment.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is committed to levelling up school standards and opportunities for all children, including those studying A levels. The Department does this through a mixture of policies that support disadvantaged pupils wherever they live in the country, as well as through extra support for places that fall behind.
Through the 16-19 funding formula, we provide additional funding to support disadvantaged students from economically deprived areas as well as students who have low prior attainment in maths and English. In the 2020/21 academic year, we allocated over £500 million of disadvantage funding (almost 10% of core programme funding).
For the 2020/21 academic year, we have also made up to £96 million available specifically for colleges, sixth forms and other 16-19 providers, to provide small group tutoring activity for disadvantaged 16-19 students whose studies have been disrupted through the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The evidence is clear that early intervention is the best way to address educational inequalities that appear at A level and beyond. The Department is spending £2.4 billion this year through the pupil premium to tackle educational inequality in the school system, as well as investing in a number of reforms to improve the quality of teaching. The Early Career Framework reforms and support for newly qualified teachers is the biggest teaching reform in a generation. In autumn 2020, the Department launched the early roll-out of the Early Career Framework reforms for eligible schools in the North East, Greater Manchester, Bradford and Doncaster. Meanwhile, the Department’s Opportunity Areas and One North East programmes are helping to raise standards in areas of the country that face particular challenges.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the change in the percentage gap from 2018 to 2019 between local authority areas with the highest proportion of A-Level results achieved at AAB or higher, and local authority areas with the lowest proportion of A-Level results achieved at AAB or higher.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The published data available from the Department’s most recent release showed a narrowing of the percentage gap between the local authorities with the highest and lowest AAB proportions between 2017/18 and 2018/19 academic years. The gap fell from 48.4ppts to 38.8ppts; the difference in 2017/18 and 2018/19 respectively in the proportion of students achieving AAB or higher, where Reading and Knowsley local authorities recorded the highest and lowest proportions in both years. This information is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results/2019-20.
However, it is important to note that data for the worst performing and best performing local authorities sit at the extremes of the data, and as such naturally fluctuate from year to year. It would not be prudent for the Department to draw out significant policy implications from the change in the gap in just one year.
The Department remains committed to high attainment for all students across the UK. Since 2011, we have reformed the national curriculum, GCSEs and A levels to set world-class standards across all subjects and invested heavily in improving the quality of teaching.
UCAS sector-level data on higher education entry rates by English region shows that in 2020, 18 year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds were proportionally 80% more likely to enter full time higher education than in 2009. This data is available here: https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-sector-level-end-cycle-data-resources-2020.