Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support is being given to British nationals studying at universities in Ukraine until the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier in 2022, who have not been able to complete their degree courses.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
Universities in Ukraine are striving to maintain the education of their students under extremely challenging conditions. This includes through the provision of online distance learning for students enrolled at Ukrainian universities, but who now live in another country, including in the UK. Students should speak with their education provider in Ukraine to understand what support is available to them to continue their studies, including through the UK twinning programme, which provides support to Ukrainian providers by establishing partnerships with universities in the UK.
Students may also wish to explore their options with providers in the UK and the department encourages them to speak with prospective providers to see what options are available to them. Institutions in England have been urged to consider students’ circumstances sensitively and show as much flexibility as possible.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any funding from the public purse has been allocated to the Family Hubs Network, founded by Lord Farmer, as part of the Government’s rollout of the Family Hub Model Framework.
Answered by Will Quince
The government has announced a £300 million package to transform services for parents, carers, babies, and children in half of local authorities across England. This includes £82 million to create a network of family hubs.
The department will set out more detail in due course on how this new funding will be allocated. This builds on a £12 million family hubs transformation fund, which will support at least 12 local authorities in England to transform to a family hub model of service delivery. The family hubs model framework, published alongside the application guide for the family hub local transformation fund, provides information to local authorities bidding for transformation funding. Guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-transformation-fund.
The vast majority of government investment in family hubs will be allocated through councils and other public bodies. No funding has been allocated to the Family Hubs Network run by Lord Farmer. The department holds no contracts with the Family Hubs Network Ltd, and all government contracts are procured through fair and open competition.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the relationship is between the Family Hubs Local Transformation Fund and the Family Hubs Network.
Answered by Will Quince
The government has announced a £300 million package to transform services for parents, carers, babies, and children in half of local authorities across England. This includes £82 million to create a network of family hubs.
The department will set out more detail in due course on how this new funding will be allocated. This builds on a £12 million family hubs transformation fund, which will support at least 12 local authorities in England to transform to a family hub model of service delivery. The family hubs model framework, published alongside the application guide for the family hub local transformation fund, provides information to local authorities bidding for transformation funding. Guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-hubs-transformation-fund.
The vast majority of government investment in family hubs will be allocated through councils and other public bodies. No funding has been allocated to the Family Hubs Network run by Lord Farmer. The department holds no contracts with the Family Hubs Network Ltd, and all government contracts are procured through fair and open competition.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Student Loan Company’s eQuote portal for securing student support services and technology from assistive technology service providers, what timescale is planned for the rollout of the tender procurement process that will replace the current interim eQuote portal.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The e-quote system has been introduced as an interim measure to increase transparency of pricing and provide the department and the Student Loans Company (SLC) with improved access to data and information on the costs and supply of assistive technology. This is particularly important considering the concerns made public by the Competition and Markets Authority last year in relation to allegations of price-fixing of supplies to disabled students.
There are a number of quality measures in place for the equipment and associated services procured through SLC’s e-quote portal. All equipment procured through the e-quote portal must meet the relevant specification set by SLC and the department. The department has also set out its expectations for the standards that assistive technology service providers should meet in a guidance document published here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/exchange-blog/2021/march/02032021-guidance-for-assistive-technology-service-providers-atsps/.
In addition to this, SLC conducts a regular student satisfaction survey to identify any issues that students may experience so that they can be addressed.
On the question of factors other than price, it is an essential criterion that the package of support quoted for meets the student’s needs and the relevant specification. Quotes are sourced only from suppliers who are registered with the department and are therefore required to comply with the standards referenced above. The system selects the most cost-effective solution once these requirements have been met, in line with SLC’s responsibilities for securing value for money for Disabled Students’ Allowance expenditure.
On the question of the timeframe for the procurement, SLC is due to publish a Prior Information Notice on 4 February 2022 which will set out further details.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Student Loan Company’s eQuote portal in (a) securing high quality student support services and technology from assistive technology service providers, (b) evaluating the extent that the quality of services both achieves and exceeds the minimum standards required to be allowed to bid and (c) adequately weighting the incorporation of factors aside from price in terms of the contracts recommended through the portal to customers.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The e-quote system has been introduced as an interim measure to increase transparency of pricing and provide the department and the Student Loans Company (SLC) with improved access to data and information on the costs and supply of assistive technology. This is particularly important considering the concerns made public by the Competition and Markets Authority last year in relation to allegations of price-fixing of supplies to disabled students.
There are a number of quality measures in place for the equipment and associated services procured through SLC’s e-quote portal. All equipment procured through the e-quote portal must meet the relevant specification set by SLC and the department. The department has also set out its expectations for the standards that assistive technology service providers should meet in a guidance document published here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/exchange-blog/2021/march/02032021-guidance-for-assistive-technology-service-providers-atsps/.
In addition to this, SLC conducts a regular student satisfaction survey to identify any issues that students may experience so that they can be addressed.
On the question of factors other than price, it is an essential criterion that the package of support quoted for meets the student’s needs and the relevant specification. Quotes are sourced only from suppliers who are registered with the department and are therefore required to comply with the standards referenced above. The system selects the most cost-effective solution once these requirements have been met, in line with SLC’s responsibilities for securing value for money for Disabled Students’ Allowance expenditure.
On the question of the timeframe for the procurement, SLC is due to publish a Prior Information Notice on 4 February 2022 which will set out further details.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the indicative thresholds for numbers of infection set by his Department in its contingency framework, in the context of the latest data on transmission of covid-19 in schools and other educational settings.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department has worked with the UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) to develop the thresholds outlined in the contingency framework. These are designed to help schools identify when it might be sensible to seek public health advice. It is not mandatory to seek public health advice when these thresholds are reached, and the thresholds alone do not guarantee that there is an ‘outbreak’ in the school. They are intended as a guide to indicate where there may be a substantial increase in transmission within the school.
Schools should continue to use their reasonable judgement when it appears that COVID-19 might be spreading between people who closely mix and seek advice from the department’s helpline or through locally agreed support if they have any concerns. We believe that the protective measures in place in schools continues to strike the right balance between managing the transmission risk and reducing disruption to education.
The department remains prepared to step measures up or down in response to the latest epidemiological data. The department will continue to monitor it closely and will not hesitate to amend or update policy and guidance if it is necessary to help protect people’s health and support maximising face-to-face education.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of the Government's recommendation for students, staff and visitors in schools and other educational settings to (a) socially distance or stay in bubbles and (b) wear face coverings on transmission of covid-19 in those settings.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department’s priority is for all nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities to deliver face-to-face, high-quality education to all pupils and students and to minimise disruption to education. We have worked closely with the UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) throughout our response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including to revise our guidance from step 4 when the government relaxed most restrictions across all parts of society.
At step 4, the Department removed the recommendation for schools and colleges to keep pupils and students in consistent groups (‘bubbles’). Face coverings are also no longer recommended in nurseries, schools, colleges and universities. The control measures that remain in place in nurseries, schools, colleges and universities aim to strike a balance between managing transmission risk and reducing disruption to education. These include maintaining good hygiene, keeping spaces well ventilated, and following public health advice on testing, self-isolation and managed confirmed cases.
All nurseries, schools, colleges and universities should have contingency plans in place describing what they would do if children, pupils, students, or staff test positive for COVID-19, or how they would operate if they were advised to reintroduce any additional measures. The contingency framework sets out the measures that all nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities should be prepared for if they were advised to take extra measures to help break chains of transmission. It also sets out thresholds for managing COVID-19 cases and when nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities should consider seeking public health advice. The contingency framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-local-restrictions-in-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings.
There has been an increase in case rates amongst children since the return of schools, but evidence continues to show that children and young people remain at a very low risk of serious illness from COVID-19. Following the success of the vaccine rollout amongst older and more vulnerable populations, the department is now focusing on maximising the number of children and young people in face-to-face education and minimising the disruption that control measures can cause.
The department continues to closely review data, analysis, and advice from a number of different sources, including UKSHA, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, and the Office for National Statistics. We also continue to work closely with local authorities and their Directors of Public Health to inform our planning and response. The department will continue to keep all measures under review in partnership with health experts and informed by the latest scientific evidence and advice.