Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of (a) higher education institutions and (b) student unions on the availability of support for students with energy bills.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Up-front loans are available as a contribution towards students’ living costs while attending university with the most support available for students from the lowest income backgrounds.
Maximum grants and loans for living costs were increased by 3.1% this academic year, and we have announced that they will increase by a further 2.3% next year, the largest ever amounts of support in cash terms. In addition, we are freezing maximum tuition fees for 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years.
The government recognises many households will need support to deal with rising energy costs, which are being affected by global factors and has therefore announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in the 2022/23 financial year.
This includes a £200 discount on energy bills this Autumn for domestic electricity customers in Great Britain which will be paid back automatically over the next five years and a £150 non-repayable Council Tax Rebate payment for all households that are liable for Council Tax in Bands A-D in England.
The government is also making available discretionary funding of £144 million to be provided to support vulnerable people and individuals on low incomes.
Many providers have hardship funds that students can apply to for assistance should individuals’ finances be affected in the 2021/22 academic year.
Grant funding to the Office for Students (OfS) for the 2021/22 financial year included an allocation of £5 million to HE providers in England in order to provide additional support for student hardship.
In our guidance to the OfS on funding for the 2021/22 financial year we made clear that the OfS should protect the £256 million allocation for the student premiums to support disadvantaged students and those that need additional help. The 2022/23 financial year guidance to the OfS confirms universities will continue to be able to support students in hardship through the student premium. Ministers’ Strategic Priorities Grant guidance letter to the OfS asks that the OfS looks to protect the student premium in cash terms for the 2022/23 financial year.
Advice is available from providers and from other sources online to help students manage their money while they are attending their courses.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether all eligible minors evacuated under Operation Pitting are currently attending UK schools.
Answered by Robin Walker
All children resident in the UK are entitled to access education irrespective of their immigration status.
Working with local councils and other networks, all school-age children and young people who arrived during Operation Pitting have now been placed in schools. We continue to work closely with local councils where we have information of Afghan families being relocated.
Operation Warm Welcome is a cross-government effort to ensure Afghans arriving in the UK receive the vital support they need to rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education, and integrate into their local communities.
We are working hard across government on this coordinated effort to resettle Afghan families. Operation Warm Welcome has made £12 million available in extra education funding, which prioritises additional school places and covers school transport, extra English lessons, specialist teachers and more, so that Afghan children and young people get the best possible start in this country. This funding has been distributed by the department.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to help increase the up-take of the free period product scheme for schools.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department for Education’s period product scheme launched in January 2020 and, by the end of 2020, 76% of secondary schools and 79% of post-16 organisations had ordered at least once. These organisations have older students and therefore are more likely to have a higher proportion of students in scope, compared to primary schools.
Further statistics regarding the first year of the scheme’s operation can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/979265/Period_Products_Scheme_January_2021_v2__.pdf. Take up of the scheme is monitored regularly by the department and our supplier, phs, and we will consider opportunities to publish further management information in the future.
All schools and colleges were provided with information on how to place orders for the scheme when it launched in 2020, and again in January 2021. We continue to work with our delivery partner phs to encourage engagement with the scheme. For example, in March 2021 the department ran a new social media communications campaign to raise the profile of the scheme amongst pupils, parents and schools. No one should be held back from accessing education due to their period, and we are considering what further work we can do, including with local authorities, to ensure that all organisations across England are aware of the scheme.
Organisations do not have to use this scheme to acquire period products if they prefer to use an alternative route to make them available.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to communicate with schools regarding the free period product scheme.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department for Education’s period product scheme launched in January 2020 and, by the end of 2020, 76% of secondary schools and 79% of post-16 organisations had ordered at least once. These organisations have older students and therefore are more likely to have a higher proportion of students in scope, compared to primary schools.
Further statistics regarding the first year of the scheme’s operation can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/979265/Period_Products_Scheme_January_2021_v2__.pdf. Take up of the scheme is monitored regularly by the department and our supplier, phs, and we will consider opportunities to publish further management information in the future.
All schools and colleges were provided with information on how to place orders for the scheme when it launched in 2020, and again in January 2021. We continue to work with our delivery partner phs to encourage engagement with the scheme. For example, in March 2021 the department ran a new social media communications campaign to raise the profile of the scheme amongst pupils, parents and schools. No one should be held back from accessing education due to their period, and we are considering what further work we can do, including with local authorities, to ensure that all organisations across England are aware of the scheme.
Organisations do not have to use this scheme to acquire period products if they prefer to use an alternative route to make them available.