Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether supporting children and young people with colour blindness is covered in teacher training programmes.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Quality of teaching is the most important in school factor for improving the outcomes for all children. This is particularly important for pupils with additional needs.
The Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework (ITT CCF), published in November 2019, has been designed around how to support all pupils to succeed and seeks to widen access for all, including those pupils identified within the four areas of need set out in the special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice.
The ITT CCF is based on the best peer-reviewed evidence about what works and is designed to emphasise the importance of high quality teaching. The framework therefore deliberately does not detail approaches specific to particular additional needs, but what makes the most effective teaching.
In addition to the mandated minimum set out in the ITT CCF, the Department expects ITT providers and their partners to continue to tailor their curricula to the needs of their trainees and for the subject, phase and age range that the trainees will be teaching. Where relevant, this may include specific training for supporting children and young people with colour blindness.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding (a) Durham County Council and (b) each other council in the North East has received from the Holiday Activities and Food programme in 2021.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department-funded holiday activities and food (HAF) programme, which has provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children, has been expanded to every local authority across England this year and is backed by up to £220 million of funding. It builds on previous programmes, including last summer’s, which supported around 50,000 children across 17 local authorities.
Durham County Council has been allocated a maximum of £2,532,180 to deliver HAF programmes over Easter, summer, and Christmas 2021.
The maximum allocations for the other councils in the North East are as follows:
Darlington - £519,040
Gateshead - £902,440
Hartlepool - £664,030
Middlesbrough - £1,143,010
Newcastle upon Tyne - £1,846,420
North Tyneside - £896,960
Northumberland - £1,128,130
Redcar and Cleveland - £743,920
South Tyneside - £831,630
Stockton-on-Tees - £980,900
Sunderland - £1,491,000
Further to this, the Department for Work and Pensions has extended the COVID Local Support Scheme (previously the COVID Winter Grant Scheme) for every English council, to the 30 September, with an additional £160 million.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to introduce (a) a level 3 apprenticeship or (b) construction T-level in plastering, painting and bricklaying.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Jennifer Coupland, to write to the honourable member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to schools for carrying out covid-19 track and trace on pupils and staff.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has issued guidance which covers how to manage cases of COVID-19 amongst the school community. This recommends that schools keep a record of pupils and staff in each group, and any close contact that takes places between pupils and staff in different groups, to help identify close contacts.
Schools may receive support through the dedicated advice service introduced by Public Health England (PHE), which can be reached through the Department’s helpline on 0800 046 8687 or their PHE local health protection team if the case is escalated.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he will take to ensure smaller further education institutions are treated equitably in their applications for transformation funding.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
All further education (FE) colleges and designated institutions in England were invited to apply to stage 1 of the two stage FE Capital Transformation Fund in January 2021, by setting out proposals for investment to tackle poor condition across their estates.
Stage 1 of the bidding process closed on 22 March and the department is assessing bid applications. All applications will be assessed on their own merits against the criteria and process set out in the published stage 1 guidance. Applications which meet the funds criteria will be prioritised for invitation to stage 2 of the bidding process based on the level of condition need addressed. The methodology used for prioritising applications at stage 1 was developed so that all colleges, regardless of size, are treated equitably.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the claw back provisions announced in the Education & Skills Funding Agency guidance entitled ESFA 2020 to 2021 end of year reconciliation for adult education budget (AEB) and advanced learner loans bursary (ALLB) grant funded providers, updated on 7 June 2021, for (a) vocational and (b) other courses undertaken in alternative provision settings unable to be delivered in a non-online setting during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We are lowering the reconciliation threshold for the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) grant funded adult education budget (AEB) adult skills, including non-formula funded community learning and 19-24 traineeships, and Advanced Learner Loan Bursary (ALLB) fund providers for the 2020-21 academic year, from 97% and 100% respectively, to 90%.
Our primary aim is to support providers to continue to deliver as much quality provision as possible, including above the 90% threshold, whether that be face-to-face where permitted, online or otherwise remotely, and including through subcontracting (for AEB-funded provision only) where that is in line with our subcontracting conditions set out in the rules and contracts.
We acknowledge the situation is still difficult for providers but equally we know that many providers have been able to deliver very successfully remotely during lockdown and the return to face-to-face learning should enhance further providers’ ability to deliver.
We are monitoring the situation carefully and, in particular, if there are providers that may need further support.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his Department's planned expenditure is for the Pause programme in the 2021-22 financial year; and what funding it allocated to that programme in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Pause have so far been awarded £29,000 in the 2021-22 financial year. This covered a data analyst to gather the evidence base for and demonstrate the impact of the new regional approach in the North of England.
The department has awarded Pause a total of £7.8 million in the last three financial years.
In the 2018-19 financial year, Pause were awarded £2.2 million. This was to roll out the model and implement a care leaver pilot that targeted young women (aged 16-25) who have been in care and have experienced one or more children being removed.
In the 2019-20 financial year, Pause were awarded £2 million to continue expansion of the model and open new practices.
In the 2020-21 financial year, Pause were allocated £3.6 million to test a regional approach to the North West and North East regions and implement a single Pause practice in six individual local authorities.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many IT devices have been given to disadvantaged children to enable them to attend school remotely in (a) North West Durham constituency, (b) County Durham and (c) England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £300 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing over one million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. This includes over 560,000 laptops and tablets that have already been delivered to schools, academy trusts and local authorities in 2020.
As of 18 December 2020, 1,808 devices have been delivered directly to Durham Local Authority. Devices have also been delivered to academy trusts that have schools located in Durham Local Authority, which are not included in this figure. This is because it is for academy trusts, which may have schools in several Local Authorities, to determine how best to distribute the devices they have received. It is not possible to provide figures on the number of devices received specifically by schools in the North West Durham constituency, because schools in a specific constituency will have received devices from their Local Authority or, if they are an academy, from the trust of which they are part.
More information on the number of devices delivered as of the 18 December can be viewed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/946954/Devices_and_4G_wireless_routers_data_as_of_December.pdf.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has held with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on providing additional financial support to outdoor education providers following the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has introduced an unprecedented and comprehensive package of support, worth more than £200 billion, to help as many individuals and businesses as possible during this difficult period. This includes small business grants, the coronavirus loan guarantee schemes, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), the deferral of VAT and income tax payments, and more. The measures introduced have been designed to be accessible to businesses in most sectors and across the UK.
Further measures have been announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that build on the significant support already available and set out how current support will evolve and adapt. These measures include the extension of the CJRS until the end of March 2021, the extension of the deadline for applications for the Bounce Back Loan scheme and other loan schemes until 31 January 2021, and increased support for the self-employed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grants. Further guidance about how the Government is supporting businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak is available here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.
Furthermore, businesses in England that are forced to close due to national or local restrictions will receive up to £3,000 per month. Local authorities in England will also receive one-off funding of £1.1 billion to support businesses more broadly over the coming months as a key part of local economies.
The Government will continue to work closely with local authorities, businesses, business representative organisations, and the financial services sector to monitor the implementation of current support and understand whether there is additional need. Businesses can also access tailored advice through the Freephone Business Support Helpline, online via the Business Support website or through their local Growth Hubs in England.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department has allocated to the PAUSE scheme in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Pause scheme received £4.2 million in round one of the department’s Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme (2014-2016) to pilot the programme in 7 sites.
The Pause scheme was then funded a further £6.8 million in round two of the programme (2017-2020) to scale and spread the Pause model to 9 new local authority areas, including to develop and implement a care leaver pilot for young women (aged 16-25) who have been in care and who have experienced one or more children being removed.
In 2020-21, Pause was funded £3.6 million by the department to test a regional approach to the scheme in the North West and North East regions and to implement a single Pause practice in 6 individual local authorities.