Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what childcare support the Government provides for (a) student nurses, (b) midwives and (c) paramedics; and what plans he has to increase that level of support.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Support for childcare available to students, including student nurses, midwives, and paramedics includes the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance. These schemes are available for full-time students with dependent children.
Since September 2020, for additional financial support to help with childcare costs, all eligible nursing, midwifery, paramedics and other allied health profession students have received a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year. Eligible students with child dependants can also access a further £2,000 per academic year.
In addition to the above childcare support for students, all parents are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education which is available to all three and four-year-olds regardless of family circumstances.
Working parents of three and four-year-olds may also be eligible for an additional 15 hours of free childcare if they earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum or living wage and under £100,000 per year. Students who participate in paid work in addition to their studies and meet the income requirements will be eligible for the additional hours.
Parents who meet these income criteria may also be able to receive support from Tax-Free Childcare, which can be worth up to £2,000 per year for children aged 0-11, or up to £4,000 per year for disabled children aged 0-16.
Further information on the childcare offers available to parents can be accessed at: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide additional support to universities seeking to increase the number of places for students who want to study medicine.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
The goverment funded an expansion of medical school places by 1,500 between 2017 and 2020, and student numbers were temporarily increased further by 616 in 2020 and 742 in 2021. There are no plans to increase the number of publicly funded medical school places beyond this, but we continue to keep this under review.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has held with representatives of the universities sector on reopening residential accommodation for students who return to the UK from abroad and who will need to provide a UK residential address in order to comply with the requirement to quarantine for 14 days.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
We are in discussions with Universities UK and other sector representatives on a regular basis to ensure that international higher education students are welcomed to the UK and we expect international students to be supported upon arrival by their chosen university during these unprecedented times.
We welcome the actions of Universities UK, who have set out principles for the sector to consider as it prepares for the autumn term, including encouraging higher education providers to think about how to support students during the self-isolation period.
The department has also published guidance to support providers in making decisions on re-opening campuses and buildings to students and staff ahead of the academic year 2020/21. Further information on this guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses.
International students who are considering studying at a UK higher education provider from September 2020 should contact their chosen university to find out how they are adapting to the COVID-19 outbreak, including how international students can prepare themselves for an autumn start.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has held with Public Health England on the need for personal protective equipment provision for teaching staff at schools in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has worked closely with Public Health England (PHE) and stakeholders on our approach and guidance throughout the Department’s COVID-19 response. We have worked with PHE to devise a hierarchy of controls for all education settings which, when implemented, will create an inherently safer system where the risk of transmission of the infection is substantially reduced. This includes measures such as ensuring that anyone with symptoms does not attend their education settings, cleaning hands regularly, good respiratory hygiene, regular cleaning of touched surfaces, minimising contact and mixing and, where needed, use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
The majority of staff in schools and nurseries will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work, even if they are not always able to maintain distance of 2 meters from others. Our guidance sets out clearly the limited circumstances in which PPE is required in educational settings, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings-including-the-use-of-personal-protective-equipment-ppe.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children of key workers have attended school in (a) Shropshire and (b) Telford and Wrekin since 23 March 2020 or the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On Monday 21 April, national data on pupil attendance in educational establishments between Monday 23 March and Friday 17 April was published, and is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings.
The data indicates that 84,000 children attended school on Friday 17 April, of which 62,000 were classed as children of critical workers.
The data is collected from individual schools and the published figures include estimates for non-response. Equivalent estimates have not been made at local authority level.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to promote apprenticeships in (a) The Wrekin constituency and (b) Shropshire.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
We have introduced a wide range of reforms to improve the quality of apprenticeships and to encourage employers across England to create more high-quality apprenticeship opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. This year, 2019-20, funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion; double what was spent in 2010.
Since May 2010 there have been 4,392,000 apprenticeship starts in England. Of these 35,260 apprenticeships starts have been in Shropshire unitary authority, with 18,090 in The Wrekin parliamentary constituency.
From August 2020 all starts will be on the new apprenticeship standards which are replacing frameworks. These are designed and driven by industry to create apprenticeships that are high-quality, providing employers in Shropshire and across England, with the skills they need. Over 510 standards have already been approved for delivery to apprentices.
We are working hard to encourage take up of our apprenticeship programme. The third phase of the Fire it Up campaign launched in January, targeting groups to widen participation in apprenticeships. Our 13th annual National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) took place in February. Nearly 900 events were held across the country, aiming to change perceptions of apprenticeships.
To ensure that young people hear about all the education and employment options available to them, in January 2018 we introduced a legal requirement for schools to give training providers the chance to talk to pupils about technical qualifications and apprenticeships. We offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) project to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. In the last academic year, ASK reached over 300,000 students.
We are working with Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Local Authorities, to develop a sub-regional Apprenticeship Ambassador Network for the Shropshire area. This will also include a Young Ambassador Network. We are working closely with CapGemini and West Midlands NHS Partnership Trust to develop their apprenticeship programmes and recruitment in the local area. We are also supporting an apprenticeship and skills event in March where employers and colleges from the Shropshire/Telford/Hereford areas will be promoting apprenticeships.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding will be allocated to PE out of the Healthy Pupil Capitals Programme in England and Wales for 2017 to 2022; what the source of these funds will be; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
As announced by the Secretary of State for Education on 17 July, we will invest £100 million from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy in 2018-19 for healthy pupils’ capital. The funding will improve school facilities to support a range of healthy pupils’ activities, including PE and sports, after school activities and healthy eating. We are not planning to prescribe a particular amount of this funding to be used exclusively for PE, as we believe the investment should be informed by schools’ local priorities across this wider range of healthy pupils’ activities.
In addition, we are doubling the Primary PE and School Sport Premium to £320m a year from September 2017 using revenue generated from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.