Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to introduce education on public health in schools as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The new subject of health education became compulsory in all state-funded schools from September 2020, alongside relationships education in primary schools and relationships and sex education in secondary schools.
The statutory guidance provides a clear description of what pupils should be taught about in health education. This includes mental wellbeing, internet safety and harms, physical health and fitness, healthy eating, drugs, alcohol and tobacco, health, and prevention, basic first aid and the changing adolescent body.
The topic of health and prevention includes content that is particularly relevant to the COVID-19 outbreak, such as how bacteria and viruses are spread and treated and the importance of hygiene, including handwashing. The subject also covers the facts and science relating to immunisation and vaccination.
To support schools to deliver this content, the Department has produced teacher training modules which are available on GOV.UK. The Department’s guidance for schools during the COVID-19 outbreak includes detailed advice on public health duties, and is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he is having with university representatives on students who have signed contracts for university accommodation in relation to courses that have no in-person teaching as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government is committed to ensuring that students that have been living away from home are able to return home at the end of term, if they choose to do so. Higher education (HE) providers should ensure they have plans for how they support students to return home safely. As part of these plans, HE providers should plan to have moved all teaching online by 9 December, at the very latest, for a short period until the end of the autumn term. We expect providers to stagger the end of face to face provision between 3 to 9 December, both between faculties and universities in the same city (and region if possible).
Anyone who remains at university after 9 December will run the risk of having to undertake a period of isolation of up to 14 days at university, if they contracted COVID-19, or were identified as a contact of someone who had, and would therefore be at risk of not being able to travel home for the end of term break.
The government plays no direct role in the provision of accommodation, whether university or privately owned.
Officials speak regularly with representatives of private and university owned accommodation, as well as sector bodies. The government worked closely with universities to ensure they were well prepared for the return of students, and we have published guidance to help them keep students and staff as safe as possible. Protecting students’ education and wellbeing is vital, so we are supporting universities to continue delivering a blend of online and face-to-face learning where possible in a COVID-secure way. More information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses.
Libraries and study spaces on campus should remain open to students and staff, for educational purposes, and must continue to maintain COVID-secure measures. This is important to ensure that student learning can continue as planned while the national restrictions are in place.
Students who have an accommodation contract and, because of COVID-19, think it may no longer fit their requirements, should talk directly to their housing provider.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published guidance on consumer contracts, cancellation and refunds affected by the outbreak of COVID-19. This sets out the CMA’s view on how the law operates to help consumers understand their rights and help businesses treat their customers fairly. This guidance can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-to-investigate-concerns-about-cancellation-policies-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-consumer-contracts-cancellation-and-refunds.
Students may be entitled to refunds from accommodation providers depending on the terms of their contract and their particular circumstances. If students need help, organisations such as Citizens Advice offer a free service, providing information and support.
If a student thinks that 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 at: https://www.thesac.org.uk/; https://www.unipol.org.uk/the-code/how-to-complain and https://www.rla.org.uk/about/nrla-code-of-practice.shtml.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance is available for schools on best practice for supporting children who have reported child sexual abuse from another child at the school.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department provides two documents to assist schools in managing any report of sexual violence and sexual harassment. Both provide detailed information on schools’ legal responsibilities, advice on managing reports of abuse, victim support and provide links to specialist advice and support.
The statutory guidance, which schools must give regard to, for keeping children safe in education is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.
Advice on sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sexual-violence-and-sexual-harassment-between-children-in-schools-and-colleges.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) funding and (b) other support for the adoption of survivors of child sexual abuse.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Adopters are legally entitled to an assessment of their needs and their adoptive child’s needs, including assessment of need for financial support, therapeutic services, advice and guidance.
Sexual abuse can have both short-term and long-term effects and children and young people may experience a range of issues including: anxiety and depression; post-traumatic stress; feelings of shame and guilt; and relationship problems with family and friends. Therapeutic support can help children recover from their experiences and the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) is available for children who have left care through adoption and special guardianship to access this kind of support. The types of therapeutic support available through the ASF include play therapy, psychotherapy, family therapy and extensive life story work.
The government has invested significantly in the ASF, which has provided more than £177 million for therapeutic support to over 62,000 families since it launched in 2015. Local authorities and regional adoption agencies also fund other types of support to adoptive families. The government continues to review the support provided to all adoptive children and this issue will be discussed as part of the forthcoming spending review. We have also tasked the Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board with improving support to adoptive families.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of school closures on the educational attainment of (a) Gypsies, Travellers and Roma pupils and (b) other pupils experiencing the poorest educational outcomes.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Although no full assessment has been made regarding the effect that school closures have had on the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, the Department has commissioned an independent research and assessment agency to provide a baseline assessment of catch up needs for pupils in schools in England. They will then monitor progress over the course of the year, based on existing assessments, to help us target support across the system. This research will make use of existing assessments that schools already choose to use and are typically taken by over one million children each year. This will allow the Department to assess how a range of groups are performing this year, including the most disadvantaged and those with historically poor outcomes.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department has made it clear that no child should fall behind as a result of COVID-19. Now children are back in school, teachers are assessing what support their pupils need to get back on track, and head teachers have the flexibility to spend their allocation from our £1 billion COVID-19 catch up fund in the way they think is best for their pupils, using approaches that are known to have the most impact. The Department also continues to provide pupil premium funding, worth £2.4 billion in the current financial year, which aims to reduce the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that children from Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller communities are reached as part of the National Tutoring Programme for children; and if he will ring-fence funding from that programme for those communities.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) will provide additional, targeted tutoring support for disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils who need the most help to catch up. It is important that decisions about what support pupils receive are made locally by those who understand their needs. Schools are encouraged to direct NTP support to pupil premium pupils who have been hardest hit by the disruption to their education. Schools are also able to exercise their professional judgement to include other disadvantaged and vulnerable children who are most in need of support.
As well as the NTP, the Department is also providing £650 million for a catch-up premium for all schools to help make up for lost teaching time. Schools can prioritise support based on individual needs, including pupils from deprived backgrounds and pupils facing other challenges, such as young carers, those working with a social worker, and those with mental health needs. Schools are free to use this funding to meet the needs of their pupils, including, for example, intervention programmes, extra teaching capacity or access to technology.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether sports clubs outside schools will be allowed to operate due to the covid-19 outbreak in September 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As of 4 July, providers offering out-of-school activities to children, such as sports clubs, including those not based on school premises, have been able to open for both indoor and outdoor provision with safety measures in place.
Out-of-school provision will continue to be permitted to operate during the autumn. The Department has updated the guidance for providers of holiday and after-school clubs and other out-of-school settings during the COVID-19 outbreak to outline the protective measures that settings should put in place to minimise the risk of infection and transmission of the virus, and to operate as safely as possible when all children return to school. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's report entitled, Tackling racial harassment: Universities challenged, published in October 2019, what progress he has made on tackling racial disparities in employment at universities.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Racial harassment is unacceptable, and we cannot tolerate staff and students being victims of it at our world-leading universities. There is no place in our society - including within higher education – for any form of harassment, discrimination or racism. Universities have clear responsibilities in this regard.
As independent and autonomous institutions, higher education providers are responsible for the contracts and conditions of employment that they offer to their staff. We expect universities to follow fair recruitment and employment practices in accordance with the requirements of the Equality Act (2010) to ensure that all job applicants and existing staff, regardless of race, have the opportunity to progress in their careers.
This government will continue to work closely with key partners, and the Office for Students, to drive progress on matters of racial harassment and inequality in higher education.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, ith reference to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's report entitled, Tackling racial harassment: Universities challenged, published in October 2019, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of racial harassment of staff in employment by universities.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Racial harassment is unacceptable, and we cannot tolerate staff and students being victims of it at our world-leading universities. There is no place in our society - including within higher education – for any form of harassment, discrimination or racism. Universities have clear responsibilities in this regard.
As independent and autonomous institutions, higher education providers are responsible for the contracts and conditions of employment that they offer to their staff. We expect universities to follow fair recruitment and employment practices in accordance with the requirements of the Equality Act (2010) to ensure that all job applicants and existing staff, regardless of race, have the opportunity to progress in their careers.
This government will continue to work closely with key partners, and the Office for Students, to drive progress on matters of racial harassment and inequality in higher education.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the funding required to enable schools to (a) build and (b) rent additional teaching space during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All pupils, in all year groups, will return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term. On 2 July we published guidance to help schools prepare for this. The guidance can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
Schools are advised to maximise the use of their site and any associated available space, such as rooms in an associated place of worship for schools with a religious character, if feasible. We do not, however, consider it necessary for schools to make significant adaptations to their site to enable them to welcome all children back to school. We also do not think schools will need to deliver any of their education on other sites (such as community centres and village halls) because class sizes can return to normal and spaces used by more than one class or group can be cleaned between use.
As stated in our guidance, schools should use their existing resources when making arrangements to welcome all children back for the autumn. There are no plans at present to reimburse additional costs incurred as part of that process.
Schools have been able to claim additional funding for exceptional costs incurred due to COVID-19 between March and July 2020, such as additional cleaning required due to confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases and increased premises costs to keep schools open for priority groups during the Easter and summer half term holidays. Schools have also continued to receive their core funding allocations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Following last year’s Spending Round, school budgets are rising by £2.6bn in 2020-21, £4.8bn in 2021-22 and £7.1bn in 2022-23, compared to 2019-20.