Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government has plans to undertake a review of the statutory child to carer ratio for children in early years nursery education.
Answered by Vicky Ford
To support early years providers during the COVID-19 outbreak, and to allow them greater flexibility to respond to changes in workforce availability and potential fluctuations in demand, the government has temporarily disapplied and modified certain elements of the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework including on staff qualifications and ratios.
The disapplications are intended to remain in effect throughout the COVID-19 outbreak or until the government stipulates otherwise. The changes set out in the disapplications, including the requirements relating to staff ratios and qualifications, are reviewed on a monthly basis to ensure they remain appropriate and are consistent with wider government advice.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether free school transport arrangements will be maintained on the same terms for school children from families of low income who are required to travel by bus from one local education authority to another.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide free home to school transport for eligible children. A child is eligible if they are of compulsory school age, attend their nearest suitable school and it is more than the statutory walking distance from their home. The statutory walking distance is 2 miles for children under the age of 8 and 3 miles for children aged 8 and over. A child is also eligible if they live within the statutory walking distance but could not reasonably be expected to walk to school because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problems, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so.
There are additional entitlements to free home to school transport for those children who are eligible for free school meals, or if a parent they live with receives the maximum amount of Working Tax Credit. These are known as extended rights and are intended to support low income families in exercising school choice. Under the extended rights criteria, a child is eligible if they are aged 8 to 10 years, attend their nearest suitable school and it is more than 2 miles from their home, they are aged 11 to 16 years, and attend one of their three nearest suitable schools which is between 2 and 6 miles from their home; or they are aged 11 to 16 years, attend a school that is between 2 and 15 miles from their home that their parents have chosen on the grounds of their religion or belief and, having regard to that religion or belief, there is no suitable school nearer to their home.
The duty applies even if the school an eligible child attends is in the area of another local authority.
There is no intention to change these requirements.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free laptops have been made available in (a) Durham County Council and Darlington Borough council area and (b) each parliamentary constituency in the Durham County Council and Darlington Borough council area for school children since the closure of schools in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education and social care services, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers.
We are providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in Year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in Year 10 do not have internet connections, we are providing 4G wireless routers.
The Department of Education has ordered over 200,000 laptops and tablets and allocated devices to local authorities and academy trusts based on its estimates of the number of eligible children that do not have access to a device. Local authorities and academy trusts are best place to identify and prioritise children and young people who need devices. The Department is working to provide these devices in the shortest possible timeframe; deliveries to local authorities began in May and has continued throughout June.
The Department has published information about how many laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers we have delivered or dispatched to local authorities and academy trusts as of 14 June, which can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data. This includes 1,424 devices to Durham County Council and 410 devices to Darlington Borough Council for children with a social worker and care leavers.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will take steps to continue the National School Breakfast Programme during the May half-term holiday during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.
Our latest guidance for schools is set out below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings.
Alongside our national approach to supporting pupils claiming free school meals, we are committed to supporting schools and children who benefit from our breakfast club programme. This programme operates during term-time periods.
Our suppliers Family Action, along with Magic Breakfast, are in contact with schools on the programme where possible. They are working closely with them to target the children most in need to continue to provide them with a healthy breakfast.
Family Action have reported that over 1000 schools in disadvantaged areas are registered to receive breakfast deliveries from this programme during the COVID-19 outbreak. These schools are located nationwide across England.
Schools on the programme can choose to support children in the way which works best for them. This may include parents collecting food parcels from open schools or breakfast food ‘drop offs’ to families. This should be arranged alongside the school’s wider support for children on free school meals. Schools must follow Public Health England’s advice on social distancing at all times.
These are rapidly developing circumstances. We will continue to keep the situation under review and to keep Parliament updated accordingly.
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 is taking to ensure that university students in their final year receive the support they need during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government is doing all it can to keep staff and students at our universities safe in this unprecedented situation, while mitigating the impact on education. I have written to students to outline the support available and we continue to work closely with the sector, putting student wellbeing at the heart of these discussions. The letter to students is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/7becd51c-f4a5-486d-a2b6-9d43c0042ba8/minister-donelan_message-to-students.pdf.
My clear expectation is that universities should make all reasonable efforts to enable students to continue and complete their studies; for their achievements to be reliably assessed; and for qualifications to be awarded securely. Despite the significant disruption being felt across the higher education sector, students deserve appropriate support and recognition for their hard work and dedication - many universities and colleges have moved rapidly to develop new ways of delivering courses through online teaching and alternatives to traditional end-of-course exams. The Office for Students has also recently confirmed that providers are able to use the student premium to support students to access IT equipment and internet connectivity where needed.
Students will continue to receive scheduled payments of loans towards their living costs for 2019/20. Both tuition and living costs payments will continue irrespective of closures or whether learning has moved online.
Many students will be feeling uncertain and anxious and it is vital that students can still access the mental health support that they need. Many providers are bolstering their existing mental health services and adapting the delivery of these services to means other than face-to-face. These services are likely to be an important source of support to students during this period of isolation.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government plans to take to incorporate the Environment Bill and it's proposals into the teaching of STEM subjects in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is important that young people are taught about the issues addressed by the Environment Bill, including protecting the environment, climate change, and sustainability. Relevant topics are already included in both the science and geography curricula and qualifications.
In primary school science, pupils are taught about how environments can change as a result of human actions. They will learn about animals’ habitats, including that changes to the environment may pose dangers to living things. In secondary school science, pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect this has on the climate. They will also learn about the efficacy of recycling and the importance of biodiversity. In GCSE science, pupils will consider the evidence for anthropogenic causes of climate change. They will study the impact of increased levels of carbon dioxide and methane and how this can be mitigated, alongside other pollutant gases. Pupils will also learn about renewable and non-renewable energy sources.
In secondary school geography, pupils will be taught about how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate, and how human activity relies on the effective functioning of natural systems. As part of GCSE geography, pupils will look at the causes, consequences of and responses to extreme weather conditions and natural weather hazards. In 2017, the Department introduced a new environmental science A Level. This will enable students to further study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled.
Sustainability content will also be included in T Levels – the new post-16 technical study programmes. In setting the content, the T Level panels of employers and industry experts must consider the inclusion of sustainability as relevant to their sector. In construction, T Level students will be required to learn about renewable energy and emerging technologies to support energy efficiency.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of Ofsted monitoring of schools' policies on reading material provided to pupils for reading at home.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to my hon. Friend 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 content the PHSE curriculum contains on gambling; and whether that content has been updated to include reference to (a) loot boxes and (b) other new forms of gambling made accessible within games.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department wants to equip young people for adult life in Britain and for them to make a positive contribution to society. From September 2020, relationships education will be compulsory for all primary school-aged pupils, relationships and sex education will be compulsory for all secondary school-aged pupils, and health education will be compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.
The subjects will support all young people in terms of managing risk and making informed decisions, as well as in key aspects such as mental wellbeing and online behaviour. Under the topic of internet safety and harms, the statutory 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. The statutory guidance is available here:
Schools have the flexibility to cover content on loot boxes and gambling within computer games, when teaching these subjects. Similarly, such topics can be covered within e-safety teaching as part of the computing curriculum.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure cross-education authority travel provision is provided in rural areas to increase the school choice available to parents.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Local authorities (LAs) have a statutory duty to provide free home to school transport for all eligible children. A child is eligible for free home to school transport if they are of compulsory school age and:
They attend their nearest suitable school and it is more than the statutory walking distance from their home. The statutory walking distance is 2 miles for children under the age of 8 and 3 miles for children aged 8 and over, or;
They attend their nearest suitable school and cannot reasonably be expected to walk there because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the route is unsafe.
Transport is provided to the nearest suitable school, regardless of whether that school is in a different LA.
There are additional rights to free home to school transport for children from low income households. These are known as ‘extended rights’ and are intended to help low income families exercise school choice in circumstances where transport may otherwise be a barrier. A local authority is required to provide free transport to pupils eligible for free school meals or whose parents are in receipt of maximum working tax credit, and:
The nearest suitable school is beyond 2 miles (for children over the age of 8 and under 11), or;
The suitable school is between 2 and 6 miles (if aged between 11 and 16, and there are not three or more suitable nearer schools), or;
The school is between 2 and 15 miles and is the nearest school preferred on the grounds of religion or belief (aged 11 to 16).
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Government has (a) in place and (b) to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that school uniform costs are minimised.
Answered by Nick Gibb
No school uniform should be so expensive as to leave pupils or their families feeling unable to apply to a school. The Government is pleased to support the Private Member’s Bill to ‘Make provision for guidance about the cost aspects of school uniform policies’, which was recently introduced to Parliament on 5 February 2020. This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to ensuring that school uniform costs are reasonable.