Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many employees in her Department work on matters related to covid-19.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In March 2022, there were approximately 185 employees working in COVID-19 specific teams.
From the end of March 2022, related COVID-19 work has been spread across several teams within the Department. The information on how many employees work on matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will detail the losses and special payments valued at under £300,000 for his departmental group as defined by section A4.10.7 in HM Treasury's Managing Public Money for (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The losses and special payments valued at under £300,000 for the departmental group for the years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 as already held on the record of losses for the public sector organisations within the departmental group, in accordance with Managing Public Money (Annex A4.10.7), or as otherwise held for the purposes of special payment disclosures, are set out in the attached tables. These disclosures are consistent with the organisations’ obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department and its agencies remove all internal covid-19 related policies, restrictions and mask mandates.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, all Civil Service employers have followed government guidance in setting out their internal COVID-19 related policies. This includes complying with the ‘Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19)’ guidance, which sets out the key actions organisations should take to protect employees and customers to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in workplaces. This guidance was followed along with carrying out health and safety risk assessments that include the ongoing risk from COVID-19. It is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-covid-19.
In line with the government's plans to live with COVID-19, the department does not operate a mask mandate, though to encourage individual liberty, it does support an employee’s individual choice to wear a mask if they would like to. The guidance advises that people continue to wear face coverings in crowded and enclosed settings where they come into contact with people they do not normally meet, when rates of transmission are high. Civil Service employers will continue to follow this guidance and align their policies accordingly.
After two years of working from home and hybrid working, all employees are capable of working from home, and we encourage them to follow the government's common sense guidance to work from home if they have COVID-19 and are exhibiting only mild symptoms.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2021 to Question 40787 on Free Schools: Sports, if he will set out the location and nature of the (a) indoor and outdoor facilities for sport and (b) site for additional sporting facilities referred to in the Answer.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
One in a Million Free School currently has access to an indoor creative arts studio area and an outdoor single Multi-Use Games Area on site. The department does not hold information on the off-site facilities that the school is currently accessing. The site that the department has identified to provide additional sporting facilities for the school is on Bolton Road in Bradford and the department is currently in the process of assessing its suitability for use by the trust.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2021 to Question 33181 on Free Schools: Sports, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the sporting facilities at One in a Million Free School.
Answered by Nick Gibb
One in a Million Free School currently has access to both indoor and outdoor facilities for sport, either within the school grounds or through off site arrangements. The Department has identified a site to provide additional sporting facilities for the school.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his current policy is on the wearing of face coverings in his (a) Department, (b) departmental agencies and (c) related bodies during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department has followed, and continues to follow, the latest Government guidance in relation to managing the risk of COVID-19 in the workplace, including any variations between the four nations of the UK.
In England, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ‘Working Safely during coronavirus (COVID-19)’ guidance provides sensible precautions employers can take to manage risk and support their staff. The guidance is available via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-covid-19/offices-factories-and-labs#offices-7-2.
It is for individual employers to determine which mitigations are appropriate to adopt as they review their workplace risk assessments in light of the updated guidance. Face coverings, which are no longer required by law, are one possible mitigation employers could adopt if the situation warranted it.
The Department fully supports individuals who choose to wear a face covering in the workplace.
Other related bodies to the Department set their own policies on how their staff should work in offices and are not required to report this back centrally.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of free schools which do not yet have adequate sporting facilities.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All free schools have indoor facilities for sport and are required to have suitable outdoor provision for physical education. This could be through sports facilities within the school grounds or through off-site arrangements.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 15 December 2020, HCWS652, what steps he has taken to phase out unconscious bias training in his Department.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In October 2020, the Department began phasing out the unconscious bias training by removing the product from the mandatory training schedule.
Following the Ministerial Statement on 15 December 2020, in January 2021 the Department fully removed unconscious bias training.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to make teaching on the risks of gambling addiction compulsory in PSHE lessons in secondary schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has made relationships education compulsory for all primary schools, relationships and sex education compulsory for all secondary school pupils and health education compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools. Health education includes teaching pupils about the risks associated with gambling. The statutory guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
These subjects will make sure that children and young people are taught about the risks associated with gambling and are able to make informed decisions about their own actions. These subjects will also support pupils to understand the importance of their mental wellbeing and promote safe online behaviour. For example, under the topic of internet safety and harms, the guidance sets out that young people should be taught about the risks related to online gambling, including the accumulation of debt, how advertising and information is targeted at them and how to be a discerning consumer of information online.
To support schools to deliver this content, the Department has produced teacher training modules. This includes teaching pupils about the risks associated with gambling as part of health education. A link to the training modules is available on GOV.UK and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health#primary-teacher-training-modules.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of masks on levels of (a) learning and (b) development in secondary school students.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department continues to work closely with other Government Departments throughout its response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care, as well as stakeholders across the sector. The Department is continuing to work to ensure that our policy is based on the latest scientific and medical advice, in order to develop comprehensive guidance based on the PHE-endorsed ‘system of controls’ and to understand the effect of these measures on staff, pupils and parents.
On 22 February, the Department published ‘Evidence summary: COVID-19 - children, young people and education settings’, which includes a section on face coverings, details of which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evidence-summary-covid-19-children-young-people-and-education-settings.
The Department recently published updated guidance for schools to support the return to full attendance, which includes updated advice on face coverings. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
In addition, the Department also published updated guidance on the use of face coverings in education for schools and other education institutions that teach people in Years 7 and above in England which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-in-education.
As the guidance outlines, in settings where pupils in Year 7 and above are educated, we recommend that face coverings should be worn by staff and pupils when moving around the premises, such as in corridors and communal areas where social distancing cannot easily be maintained.
Since 8 March, the Department has recommended that face coverings should also be worn by staff and pupils in classrooms and in other learning environments, such as workshops, and during activities, unless social distancing can be maintained.
The best available scientific evidence is that, when used correctly, wearing a face covering may reduce the spread of COVID-19 droplets in certain circumstances, helping to protect others.
We recognise that the wearing of face coverings may impact communication, but, on balance, increased use of face coverings will strengthen the current safety measures in place in schools following the increased transmissibility of new COVID-19 variants and whilst prevalence remains high in the community.
We are recommending these additional precautionary measures for a for a time limited period until Easter. As with all measures, we will keep this under review and update guidance as necessary.