Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what date schools are planned to be able to claim for exceptional costs associated with covid-19, after the first claim window closed on 21 July 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is providing additional funding to schools, on top of existing budgets, to cover unavoidable costs incurred between March and July due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources.
Schools are eligible to claim for: increased premises related costs associated with keeping schools open over the Easter and summer half term holidays; support for free school meals for eligible children who are not in school, where schools are not using the national voucher scheme; and additional cleaning costs required due to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, over and above the cost of existing cleaning arrangements.
The first claims window for the COVID-19 schools fund closed on 21 July. There will be a further opportunity in the autumn for schools to claim for exceptional costs that fell between March and July.
The second claims window will be for available for schools who were unable to claim in the summer and will be for the same eligible cost categories. Details regarding the application process will be published later in the year.
Schools have continued to receive their core funding allocations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Following last year’s Spending Round, school budgets are rising by £2.6 billion in 2020-21, £4.8 billion in 2021-22 and £7.1 billion in 2022-23, compared to 2019-20.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support the continued expansion of the Local Energy Programme.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Local Energy Programme was launched as part of the Clean Growth Strategy in 2017, with £4.7 million funding. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has provided further funding in subsequent years, bringing the total funding for the Local Energy Programme to almost £20 million to date. This funding has been used to support Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), local authorities and communities in England to play a leading role in decarbonisation and clean growth. The programme has funded the development of an energy strategy for every LEP in England and established five Local Energy Hubs across England, which provide LEPs and local authorities with access to expertise to help develop and secure investment in low carbon projects. It also includes the £10 million Rural Community Energy Fund, delivered through the Hubs, which offers grants to community organisations in rural areas to support the initial stages of development for renewable energy projects. BEIS continues to work with the Local Energy Hubs, LEPs and local authorities, to enable a joined-up approach to decarbonisation and clean growth.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to tackle anti-Semitic hate online.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, which is why we’re taking a strong lead in tackling it in all its forms. In the refreshed Hate Crime Action Plan, we have reaffirmed our commitment to combating all forms of hatred and our total support for Jewish communities.
We have recognised that incidents of online hate crime are becoming more prevalent and we have committed to take action to reduce this in the Hate Crime Action Plan. In September the Communities Secretary confirmed £100,000 of funding for the Antisemitism Policy Trust to support the organisation’s ongoing work to tackle the spread of racist tropes online.
We have recently published a White Paper on Online Harms, which contains a range of legislative and non-legislative measures, setting out definitive plans to tackle a wide range of harms online, and opens a consultation on options for regulation.
The Online Harms White Paper sets out the government's plans for world leading legislation to make the UK the safest place to be online. We intend to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users which will be overseen by an independent regulator. This regulator will set clear safety standards, backed up by mandatory reporting requirements and strong enforcement powers to deal with non-compliance.
We are also ensuring that the criminal law is fit for purpose to deal with online harms. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Ministry of Justice have engaged the Law Commission on a second phase of their review of abusive and offensive online communications. The Law Commission will review existing communications offences and make specific recommendations about options for reform, to ensure that criminal law provides consistent and effective protection against such behaviours.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of businesses and industry bodies representing nightclubs.
Answered by Paul Scully
Departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK. Details for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings.
The latest published data covers January to March 2020. Data for April to June 2020 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to support the roll-out of superfast broadband to rural communities in (a) Worcestershire and (b) Bromsgrove District.
Answered by Matt Warman
Good progress has been made in Worcestershire, with over 96% of premises able to access superfast broadband - up from 25% in November 2010. In Bromsgrove District, over 96% of premises have access to superfast broadband, up from 24% in October 2010. Gigabit-capable coverage in the District stands at 49% which is almost double the UK figure of 26%.
For those premises that are still struggling from slow speeds, DCMS runs a voucher scheme that can be used by rural communities across the UK to reduce the cost of installing gigabit-capable connectivity. This provides a voucher worth up to £3,500 for eligible small businesses and vouchers worth up to £1,500 for residents. The department is also in discussion with Worcestershire County Council about a ‘top-up’ scheme which could potentially increase these voucher values.
Furthermore the government has pledged £5 billion to invest in the hardest to reach areas of the UK. Supplier engagement has taken place over the summer, and their feedback will be used to refine and finalise the delivery vehicle of the programme.
Bromsgrove was included in recent Openreach announcements of towns that they have included in the first wave of their national fibre rollout programme which they call “Fibre First”. The full list, including Bromsgrove, is here: https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/images/fibre-broadband/fibre-first/DCMS%20Transparency%20Data%20Capture%2029%20Jul%202020.pdf
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to work with (a) football clubs and (b) the governing bodies of English football beyond Step 5 on a safe return to playing football as covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 18th July the Football Association published their guidance for the safe return of grassroots football, approved by the government. The government will continue to work closely with all the football authorities as guidance for sport, at all levels, is developed -including the return of spectators to stadia.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the proposed timeline is of the roll-out of the electric bus town scheme.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
We have received 19 expressions of interest in becoming Britain’s first All-Electric Bus Town, and each sets out a proposed timeline for roll-out. We expect to announce the phase one winner, who will proceed to develop a business case, over the summer. Further details, including confirmation of timings, will therefore be available in due course.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what date his Department plans to open applications for grants and loans as part of the Government's £1.57 billion support package for arts, cultural and heritage institutions.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
On 5 July, the government announced a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of sectors, including performing arts and theatres, museums and galleries, heritage sites, live music venues and independent cinema.
Further detailed guidance, including eligibility and application processes, will be published as soon as possible in July.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support schools with smaller premises in the phased wider opening of educational settings as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is our intention for all pupils, in all year groups, to return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term. It is the best place for them to learn, and important for their wellbeing to have social interactions with their teachers and friends
On 2 July we published guidance to help schools plan for a full return of all children in September. The measures set out in this guidance provide a framework for school leaders to put in place proportionate protective measures for children and staff, which also ensure that all pupils receive a high quality education that enables them to thrive and progress. All schools must ensure that they adhere to the measures outlined in our guidance, but the way different schools implement some of the requirements will differ based on their individual circumstances.
We do not consider it necessary for schools to make significant adaptations to their site to enable them to welcome all children back to school. We also do not think schools will need to deliver any of their education on other sites such as community centres or village halls because class sizes can return to normal and spaces used by more than one class or group can be cleaned between use.
Following a risk assessment, some schools may determine that small adaptations to their site are required, such as additional wash basins. This will be at the discretion of individual schools, based on their particular circumstances.
Guidance for schools on full opening for the autumn term is available at the link below:
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2020 to Question 53392 on Hospitality Industry: Coronavirus, what discussions he has had with representatives from (a) business and (b) consumer advocacy organisations to assess the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on businesses that provide support for weddings.
Answered by Paul Scully
My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has announced that wedding ceremonies of up to 30 people can resume from 4 July. The Government is continuing to engage with representatives from the industry to explore how wedding celebrations may be resumed in a Covid-secure way, once it is safe to do so.