Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with representatives of the devolved governments on the future of the Erasmus+ scheme.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The UK as a whole participates in the Erasmus+ Programme and the department is the national authority for the programme in the UK. The department oversees the work of the UK National Agency, which is responsible for the management and delivery of the programme across the UK, including in the devolved administrations.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and I regularly discuss matters relating to education and exiting the EU with the devolved administrations. For example, last month I met with my counterparts from the devolved administrations to discuss higher education in relation to our exit from the EU, which included a discussion on Erasmus+.
Department officials also hold regular meetings on the topic of Erasmus+ with officials from the devolved administrations to ensure close cooperation on this matter.
The department will continue to closely engage with the devolved administrations going forward and ensure that their views are taken into account with regards to the future of the Erasmus+ Programme.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to replace access to funding universities receive from the Erasmus+ programme for UK students undertaking placements abroad before 2020 in the event that the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019 without a deal.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
In the event that the UK leaves the EU with no agreement in place, the government’s underwrite guarantee will cover the payment of awards to UK applicants for all successful Erasmus+ bids submitted before the UK exits the EU.
Further details are set out in the technical notice published in August 2018. We will provide further advice shortly.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Withdrawal Agreement on the involvement of (a) UK students and (b) UK universities in ERASMUS+.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, UK entities' right to participate in EU programmes during the current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), including Erasmus+, will be unaffected by the UK's withdrawal from the EU for the lifetime of projects financed by the current MFF.
Following ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement, UK universities and students participating in the current Erasmus+ programme will be able to continue to bid for funding, participate in and lead consortia, until programme closure in 2020.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report entitled It might be best if you looked elsewhere: An investigation into the schools admission process, whether his Department has acted on the recommendations made in that report.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants fair access to a good school place for every child and routinely keeps the school admissions system under review. In setting their admission arrangements, admission authorities must ensure the practices and the criteria used to decide the allocation of places are fair, clear, objective and comply with admissions law and equalities law.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the inclusion of physically disabled children in schooling.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government takes seriously its role in promoting inclusion and equality in education settings and the Equality Act 2010 (together with Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014) is a foundation stone on which our special educational needs (SEN) and disability system sits. The Equality Act requires all schools (whether maintained or academy) to produce an accessibility plan. These plans are about ensuring that all aspects of school life are accessible to disabled pupils. The Act also requires local authorities to produce accessibility strategies with the same aims as the school-level plan, but with different coverage.
We have funded the Schools Development Support Agency, working with pdnet to deliver a contract to improve knowledge, skills and capability of the school workforce. Pdnet standards have been developed for the early years, schools and post 16 settings, along with level 1 training for schools raising awareness of physical disabilities. Further information about pdnet is available on http://pdnet.org.uk/.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2018 to Question 176361 on Disabled Students' Allowances, when that research will be published.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The department expects to receive the research in December 2018, and will publish its findings soon after.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2018 to Question 165610 on Disabled Students' Allowances, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the decrease in the number of students taking up disabled students' allowances since the introduction of the £200 contribution for computer equipment.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The overall spend on Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) equipment was expected to fall because of the introduction of the £200 contribution for computers. Students are under no obligation to take up any support recommended: some may use their recommended assistive software on an existing laptop, whilst others may find that the accessibility options offered on standard software packages meet their needs. Students in receipt of DSAs continue to be funded for a suite of tools to suit their assessed needs in relation to their course, as well as additional non-IT support.
The government is keen to better understand the impact of DSAs on eligible students, including that of recent DSAs reforms. The department has commissioned a research project to explore this, and will respond to the research findings when they are available.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2018 to Question 161192 on disabled Students' Allowance, what statistics on the uptake of disabled students' allowance his Department records; and whether the uptake of that allowance has decreased since the introduction of the £200 contribution for computer equipment.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Statistics on the uptake of Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) are collected and published as National Statistics by the Student Loans Company (SLC). The most recent figures, published in November 2017, show the uptake of the DSAs equipment allowance amongst full time undergraduate students domiciled in England fell from 28,000 in 2014/15 to 23,400 in 2015/16, the year the £200 contribution was introduced. The SLC National Statistics data are available at https://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded/england-higher-education.aspx.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to review the requirement of a £200 contribution by students before equipment is provided under the disabled students’ allowance; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The department has no plans to review the requirement for the £200 contribution to the cost of computer equipment. Computers are a mainstream cost for all students and it is therefore right that students eligible for the disabled students’ allowance (DSA) should contribute towards the cost of their DSAs-recommended computer equipment.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the change in the number of disabled students taking up the specialist equipment allowance element of the disabled student allowance scheme.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The most recent data shows that, for full-time undergraduate students domiciled in England, 4,600 fewer students were in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) equipment in 2015/16 than in 2014/15. The full data is available at: http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded/england-higher-education.aspx. This fall was expected as the £200 student contribution to the costs of computer hardware took effect from September 2015.
We are keen to better understand the impact of DSAs on eligible students, including that of recent DSA reforms. We have recently commissioned a research project to explore this and we will respond to the research findings when they are available in spring 2018.