Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the sustainable long-term funding of disabled children’s social care ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review in the autumn.
Answered by Vicky Ford
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and his department, discuss a range of issues, including children’s social care funding with HM Treasury, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and other government departments on a regular basis.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Disabled Children’s Partnership's Left Behind report published on 16 July 2021, what steps his Department will take to help ensure every parent carer can access the respite care they need to look after their child safely during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
I refer the hon. Members for the City of Durham, Bath, and Stockton North to the answer I gave on 2 June 2021 to Question 7328.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Disabled Children’s Partnerships report, Left Behind, published on 16 July 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing additional funding to tackle social isolation in disabled children and young people.
Answered by Vicky Ford
I refer the hon. Members for the City of Durham, Bath, and Stockton North to the answer I gave on 2 June 2021 to Question 7328.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure that schools in (a) County Durham and (b) across England are adequately ventilated to limit the spread of covid-19 ahead of the 2021-22 academic year.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s guidance states that, when a school or college is in operation, it is important to ensure that it is well ventilated and that a comfortable teaching environment is maintained. This can be achieved by a variety of measures including using mechanical ventilation systems and/or natural ventilation, such as opening windows. In all cases, actions should be taken to encourage fresh air into the building, whilst striking a balance with thermal comfort. This guidance applies to all schools in England.
The Department continues to review the ventilation requirements set out in its guidance, including considering whether monitoring carbon dioxide (CO2) levels would be appropriate, and is working with Public Health England and ventilation experts on a pilot project to measure CO2 levels in typical classrooms.
The Department continues to keep the protective measures under review based on the latest scientific evidence and advice as this continues to evolve.
The guidance for schools can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what reports he has received on university students being charged additional fees by landlords if they are told to self-isolate due to the covid-19 outbreak at their term time accommodation beyond the end of their tenancy; and what steps the Government plans to take to support students in that position.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Universities and private accommodation providers are autonomous and are responsible for setting their own rent agreements. The government plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation whether the accommodation is managed by universities or private sector organisations.
If a student is contractually committed to move home and has been told to self-isolate, they should seek to delay their move until all members of their household have come to the end of their self-isolation period. All parties involved should prioritise agreeing amicable arrangements to change move dates where someone is self-isolating or has tested positive.
There is no prohibition on moving house where necessary, and anyone in England who wishes to move house can do so. This includes forming new households and moving into and out of shared student accommodation and houses in multiple occupation. Guidance is available here for: landlords and tenants on renting and COVID-19: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-and-renting-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities.
If a student thinks their accommodation provider is treating them unfairly, they can raise a complaint under the accommodation codes of practice as long as their provider is a code member. The codes can be found here:
https://www.thesac.org.uk/, https://www.unipol.org.uk/the-code/how-to-complain, https://www.nrla.org.uk/.
The government is aware of the disproportionate impact the crisis will have on some students and we recognise that in these exceptional circumstances some students may face financial hardship. The department has worked with the Office for Students (OfS) to clarify that providers are able to use existing funds, worth around £256 million for this academic year, towards hardship support. The government has made an additional £85 million of student hardship funding available to higher education (HE) providers in the 2020/21 academic year. Providers have flexibility in how they distribute the funding to their students, in a way that best prioritises those in greatest need.
We know that not all students will face financial hardship. The current measures aim to target support for students in greatest need and the government continues to monitor the situation to look at what impact this funding is having.
Some students may also be eligible for a one-off payment of £500 through the NHS Test and Trace Support Payment scheme, if they are required to self-isolate. Information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/test-and-trace-support-payment.
It is vitally important that universities continue to make sure that students feel as supported as possible should they have to self-isolate. This robust package of support needs to include mental health and wellbeing support, daily communications and ensuring students have access to suitable free or affordable food.
Universities UK have also produced a checklist for providers to support students who are required to self-isolate as well as bespoke guidance for HE providers on how to prepare for and care for students who are required to self-isolate on arrival in the UK. We encourage providers to review this guidance when considering how best to support their international and other students arriving from overseas.
The OfS have published a statement on support for students in self-isolation during the COVID-19 outbreak, available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/blog/ofs-student-panel-statement-on-support-for-students-in-self-isolation-during-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic/.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will publish a priority list for school rebuilds to allow the conditions of schools to be compared.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In February 2020, the Department announced the first 50 of 500 projects to replace or refurbish buildings through the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP). Further information on the projects is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-first-50-schools.
The Department does not hold a priority list for school rebuilds, beyond the schools confirmed for the SRP. We collect data on the condition of school buildings through the Condition Data Collection (CDC) programme. The CDC programme collected data on 22,031 schools, comprising 63,942 teaching blocks, across 9 geographical regions of England, between 2017 and 2019. The CDC programme followed a predecessor programme, the Property Data Survey (PDS) which ran from 2012 to 2014. A third condition data collection programme (CDC2) is now underway, to update the Department’s condition data. Further information on CDC2 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-data-collection-2-cdc2-programme.
The prioritisation process for the second round of 50 SRP projects is ongoing, informed by data from CDC as well as further investigations and site visits. The process that the Department is using to prioritise these projects is explained here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme/school-rebuilding-programme.
The Department plan to consult later this year on the approach to prioritising schools for the SRP. Following this, we will confirm the approach for future projects.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will publish a list of schools to be rebuilt under the School Rebuilding Programme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In February 2020, the Department announced the first 50 of 500 projects to replace or refurbish buildings through the School Rebuilding Programme (SRP). Further information on the projects is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-first-50-schools.
The Department does not hold a priority list for school rebuilds, beyond the schools confirmed for the SRP. We collect data on the condition of school buildings through the Condition Data Collection (CDC) programme. The CDC programme collected data on 22,031 schools, comprising 63,942 teaching blocks, across 9 geographical regions of England, between 2017 and 2019. The CDC programme followed a predecessor programme, the Property Data Survey (PDS) which ran from 2012 to 2014. A third condition data collection programme (CDC2) is now underway, to update the Department’s condition data. Further information on CDC2 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-data-collection-2-cdc2-programme.
The prioritisation process for the second round of 50 SRP projects is ongoing, informed by data from CDC as well as further investigations and site visits. The process that the Department is using to prioritise these projects is explained here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme/school-rebuilding-programme.
The Department plan to consult later this year on the approach to prioritising schools for the SRP. Following this, we will confirm the approach for future projects.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to require schools to carry out on-site supervised lateral flow testing at the start of the 2021-22 school year before allowing new year seven students to commence home testing.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Testing in schools and colleges should continue until the end of summer term. Further information on testing arrangements over the summer break and autumn term will be made available shortly.