Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, whether Luton will receive funding for family hubs as one of the 75 areas to receive that support.
Answered by Will Quince
At Budget this October, the government announced £82 million to create a network of family hubs. This is part of a wider £300 million package to transform services for parents and babies, carers, and children in half of local authorities across England.
We will set out more detail in due course on how this funding will be allocated.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will commit to a date by when students will be able to access Takaful-based loans.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
I refer the hon. Members for Luton North and Slough to the answer I gave on 21 September 2021 to Question 49129.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of ending blended learning on the mental health of college-aged students who are accessing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The evidence is clear that being out of education causes significant harm to educational attainment, life chances, mental and physical health. As set out in the '16 to 19 Study Programmes: Guide for Providers', on-site education should be the norm for the majority of the 16-19 curriculum. However, remote or online learning can add value for some students and courses where it is underpinned by a clear educational rationale and forms part of a clear strategy.
In making decisions concerning the use of remote and online delivery, providers should give particular consideration on how best to support vulnerable and disadvantaged students and students with special educational needs and disabilities and mitigate effects on their mental health and wellbeing. Providers should also be considerate of the wider socio-economic and well-being implications of remote and online learning.
In all circumstances, quality should be the key criteria for determining use of remote and online learning.
The department realises that many students and staff members will be feeling uncertain and anxious at this time. Further education providers should identify young people who may need additional support and engage with them and their representatives to understand their needs, and ensure they have appropriate mental health and wellbeing support in place. To provide support, the government remains committed to its joint green paper delivery with the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, which is establishing Mental Health Support Teams, covering an estimated £3 million children and young people by 2023, and providing senior mental health led training to all state schools and colleges by 2025. As part of this commitment, from this autumn, we will offer 7,800 schools and colleges in England grants to train a senior mental health lead in their setting, which is being backed by £9.5 million.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with (a) representatives of universities and (b) Cabinet colleagues on reducing the cost of UK university study for holders of Hong Kong BNO visas.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
To qualify for home fee status in England, a person must have settled status or a recognised connection to the UK. This includes persons who are covered by the EU Withdrawal Agreement, have long residence in this country or who have been granted international protection by the Home Office. There are also requirements associated with ordinary residence in the UK. Subject to meeting the normal eligibility requirements, Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) (BN(O)) status holders will be able to qualify for home fee status once they have acquired settled status in the UK.
Universities are autonomous institutions and are responsible for setting their own fees within the limits of regulations. As such, we would generally expect universities to treat Hong Kong BN(O)s with settled status the same as any other student with settled status.
Officials continue to engage with the Cabinet Office and other government departments on entitlements for Hong Kong BN(O)s and the support that individual departments can offer.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Government plans for its Takaful Alternative Finance product for Muslim university students to be made available.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
I refer the hon. Member for Luton North to the answer I gave on 9 June 2021 to Question 10312.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2021 to Question 20549 on Education: Counter-terrorism, what assessment he has made of the potential risk of discriminatory biases when school staff exercise their discretion on referrals to Prevent.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Prevent strategy is designed to safeguard and support vulnerable people to prevent them from being drawn into terrorism. Prevent does not target specific faiths or ethnic groups, or children - it deals with all forms of extremism.
The Department trusts teachers and other staff to exercise their professional judgment about whether a Prevent referral is appropriate, as they do for all other safeguarding concerns. Teachers are subject to professional requirements to safeguard pupil wellbeing, whilst understanding, and acting within, statutory frameworks such as the Equality Act 2010.
Through teacher referrals, local authorities can ensure that support is obtained for children and young people who may be being exploited by radicalising influences. A referral allows for a multi-agency safeguarding assessment to be conducted, where all referrals are carefully assessed based on the specific details of the case. If a vulnerable individual is found to not be at risk of radicalisation, the case is immediately closed to Prevent. In these instances, they may be referred to other appropriate safeguarding services so that they can receive the support they need, or no further action may be taken.
Through Prevent training, the Department is equipping frontline professionals with the skills and knowledge to safeguard vulnerable individuals from radicalisation. There is specific e-learning available to ensure that when a referral is made, it is robust, informed and with good intention, and that the response to that concern is considered, and proportionate. This e-learning is available at: https://www.elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov.uk/prevent_referrals/01-welcome.html.
The Government is committed to assessing the effectiveness of the Prevent strategy, which is why an independent review of Prevent is being carried out. The reviewer will be able to consider criticisms and complaints of the current approach, as well as how best to improve the UK’s strategy to support people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has carried out an impact assessment of the removal of funding for Applied General Qualifications.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The department has consulted in two stages on proposals for the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3, which includes Applied General Qualifications (AGQs). The review aims to ensure that students and employers have confidence that every qualification on offer is high quality and can lead to skilled employment or further study. The second stage consultation proposed that there should be a range of qualifications alongside A levels and T Levels in areas where those qualifications can demonstrate their necessity and meet new quality criteria.
The impact assessment published alongside the second stage of consultation stated that the changes will generally be positive because students will have access to higher quality qualifications in future, including new T Levels. This will put them in a stronger position to progress to further study or skilled employment. AGQs were included in the impact assessment, but the impact assessment did not separate out the impact of removing these qualifications from wider changes to the qualification offer.
We are considering the feedback to the consultation carefully and will shortly publish a full response, including an updated impact assessment.