Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the return of children to education in academic year 2019-20 will be voluntary.
Answered by Nick Gibb
From the week commencing 1 June, at the earliest, we will be asking primary schools to welcome back children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups. We will only do this provided that the five key tests set by the Government justify the changes at the time. We are asking school to plan on this basis, ahead of confirmation that these tests are met.
We have published guidance on implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings:
By returning pupils gradually, settings can initially reduce the number of children and young people in classrooms compared to usual and put protective measures in place to reduce risks.
Eligible children – including priority groups - are strongly encouraged to attend their education setting, unless they are self-isolating or they are clinically vulnerable. Parents will not be fined for non-attendance at this time and schools and colleges will not be held to account for attendance levels. Further guidance for parents and carers can be found here:
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether grandparents who have no underlying health conditions and are under the age of 70 can provide childcare for their grandchildren when parents return to work during the covid-19 oubreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Our staying alert and safe (social distancing) guidance explains the measures that will help everyone to stay alert and safe as we continue to respond to the challenges of COVID-19.
Grandparents may only provide childcare for their grandchildren if they live as part of the same household. It is still not permitted to leave your house to visit friends and family in their home.
The government is looking at how to facilitate greater contact with close family or friends and will explain how this can be done safely in the coming weeks.
The guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, whether he has plans to provide financial support to students that are required to pay private rent for their accommodation after being encouraged by their university to return home.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Students will continue to receive scheduled payments of loans towards their living costs for the remainder of the current, 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.
We understand that, to date, 75 higher education providers have waived or refunded rents with 3 more making rent adjustments on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to make additional funding available to cover childcare costs for key workers during the covid-19 outbreak who would normally rely on relatives for childcare.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Early years and childcare settings are closed except for children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home. The list of critical workers is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision.
On 17 March 2020, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that we will continue to pay local authorities for free early years entitlement places for 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds. We will publish guidance shortly to set out how local authorities can use their free entitlement funding differently, redistributing it in exceptional cases and in a clearly focused and targeted way, in order to secure childcare for the children of critical workers and for vulnerable children at this time, where their usual arrangements are no longer possible.
Guidance, including details of additional business support available, for early years and childcare providers is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support students in year 9 that have missed out on education as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is committed to ensuring that children can continue to learn at home in these very difficult circumstances. We recognise that many schools and colleges have already shared resources for children who are at home, and we are grateful for this.
The Department has issued guidance for schools which signposts to an initial list of free online resources identified by educational experts and teachers. Many other suppliers have also helpfully made their resources available for free. The guidance is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources.
The Department has also issued information, guidance and support to parents and carers of children who are learning from home at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supporting-your-childrens-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
Leading state schools have collaborated to open The Oak National Academy, which was launched online on 20 April. This new initiative is led by 40 teachers who have assembled video lessons and resources for any teacher in the country to make use of if they wish to do so. 180 video lessons will be provided each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to Year 10. Additionally, the BBC has developed resources for families as part of a comprehensive new education package, which is now available on TV and online at BBC Bitesize.
The Government has also committed over £100 million to boost remote education. This includes, providing devices and internet access for those who need it most, ensuring every school that wants it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education, and offering peer support from schools and colleges leading the way with the use of education technology. Further information can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-technology-for-remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether students will receive maintenance loans whilst their schools or colleges are closed during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Student Loans Company (SLC) will make term 3 (summer term) tuition fee payments as scheduled and college students will continue to receive maintenance payments on the scheduled dates, whether or not campuses are closed or learning has been moved online.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
What recent estimate he has made of the number of looked after children being placed in out-of-area placements as a result of the unavailability of a place in their home local authority.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The most recent figures show that 20% of all looked-after children were placed more than 20 miles from home, which is a concern.
Moving a child away from their home area is not a decision to be taken lightly and we have strengthened legislative safeguards in relation to children placed out of their local area. The needs of the child are paramount when deciding the right care placement. Local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that there is sufficient provision for their looked after children.
We want to reduce out of area placements, but they will always be part of the care landscape. Sometimes circumstances make it the right decision for a child to be placed elsewhere, for example when they are at risk from sexual exploitation, trafficking or gang violence.
We’re helping to improve commissioning of placements, including providing funding through our £200 million children’s social care Innovation Programme. We are also providing seed funding to fostering partnerships to increase sufficiency of foster parents.
We have committed to undertaking a review of the care system. We have been clear that this review will be bold and broad, taking a fundamental look across children’s social care, with the aim of better supporting, protecting and improving the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people.