Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether universities that have closed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak will require their students to pay their fees in full.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Fee loans are being paid directly to universities as planned at the start of the third term.
We are working with universities to make sure all reasonable efforts are being made to enable students to continue their studies to the best of their abilities. There are some fantastic and innovative examples of high-quality online learning being delivered by institutions across the UK, and the sector is already working hard to prepare learning materials for the summer and autumn terms.
Students ordinarily should not expect any fee refund if they are receiving adequate online learning and support. However, the government has made it clear that if universities are unable to deliver adequate online teaching then it would be unacceptable for students to be charged for any additional terms of study, which would effectively mean that they were being charged twice.
Whether or not an individual student is entitled to a refund of their fees will depend on specific contractual arrangements between the student and their university.
In the first instance, students should speak to their university. We expect student complaints and appeals processes to be operated flexibly, accessibly and sympathetically by institutions to resolve any concerns. Students who are not satisfied with their institution’s final response can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education to consider their complaint if their institution is based in England or Wales.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support the Government is providing to schools that wish to access free school meals vouchers from a retailer not listed on the Government’s National Voucher Scheme.
Answered by Vicky Ford
During this period, we are asking schools to support children who are eligible for and claiming benefits related free school meals, by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children, and we encourage this approach where it is possible. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education. As of 28 April our supplier, Edenred, reported that over 16,500 schools had placed orders for the scheme and as of Monday 4 May, Edenred has reported that over £47 million worth of voucher codes has been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme.
Through the national voucher scheme, schools and families could initially access eGift cards for Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. On Monday 27 April Aldi was added to this list and on Wednesday 29 April McColl’s were also added. We recognise that it may not be convenient or possible for some families to visit one of these supermarkets and we are continuing to work to see if additional supermarkets can be added to this list.
If the national voucher scheme is not suitable for families in their local area, schools can provide alternative vouchers for a local shop or supermarket and can be reimbursed for associated costs.
We are providing additional funding to schools to cover unavoidable additional costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources. This includes free school meal costs which are not covered by the national voucher system in situations where there is no access to appropriate local supermarkets
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the costs to schools that wish to access free school meals vouchers from retailers not listed on the Government’s National Voucher Scheme will be reimbursed in full.
Answered by Vicky Ford
During this period, we are asking schools to support children who are eligible for and claiming benefits related free school meals, by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children, and we encourage this approach where it is possible. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education. As of 28 April our supplier, Edenred, reported that over 16,500 schools had placed orders for the scheme and as of Monday 4 May, Edenred has reported that over £47 million worth of voucher codes has been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme.
Through the national voucher scheme, schools and families could initially access eGift cards for Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. On Monday 27 April Aldi was added to this list and on Wednesday 29 April McColl’s were also added. We recognise that it may not be convenient or possible for some families to visit one of these supermarkets and we are continuing to work to see if additional supermarkets can be added to this list.
If the national voucher scheme is not suitable for families in their local area, schools can provide alternative vouchers for a local shop or supermarket and can be reimbursed for associated costs.
We are providing additional funding to schools to cover unavoidable additional costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources. This includes free school meal costs which are not covered by the national voucher system in situations where there is no access to appropriate local supermarkets
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to support supply teachers who are employed through an agency and are not eligible for furlough via the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As both my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.
Our latest school workforce guidance on COVID-19, including supply teachers, is set out below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures/guidance-for-schools-about-temporarily-closing#supply-teachers-and-other-contingent-workers.
Further guidance on financial support for all education institutions is set out below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care.
These are rapidly developing circumstances. We continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what records his Department holds on sexual offences in schools.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ is the Department’s statutory safeguarding guidance for schools and is kept under review. It sets out that all safeguarding concerns, discussions and decisions made should be recorded in writing by the school, and where appropriate, referred to children’s social care and or the police. The Department does not hold records on sexual offences in schools.
The guidance sets out how to deal with allegations that a pupil has been abused by a teacher, other member of staff or peer. It provides detailed guidance on how to manage reports of peer on peer sexual violence or sexual harassment, including those that result in a criminal conviction.
This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2, where parts 1, 4 and 5 refer to safeguarding, child on child sexual violence and sexual harassment issues.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to issue guidance for schools on managing convicted perpetrators of peer-to-peer sexual offences in schools.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ is the Department’s statutory safeguarding guidance for schools and is kept under review. It sets out that all safeguarding concerns, discussions and decisions made should be recorded in writing by the school, and where appropriate, referred to children’s social care and or the police. The Department does not hold records on sexual offences in schools.
The guidance sets out how to deal with allegations that a pupil has been abused by a teacher, other member of staff or peer. It provides detailed guidance on how to manage reports of peer on peer sexual violence or sexual harassment, including those that result in a criminal conviction.
This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2, where parts 1, 4 and 5 refer to safeguarding, child on child sexual violence and sexual harassment issues.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the number of (a) students training to be citizenship education teachers and (b) schools providing GCSE citizenship education as an option.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The annual Initial Teacher Training (ITT) census provides data on the number of trainee teachers recruited each year in which citizenship trainees are included in the “Other” subject category.
Analysis of the underlying data shows that in the academic year 2018-19, 37 postgraduate trainees began training in citizenship.[1][2] Of the 385 trainees included in the “Other” subject category, 146 trainees do not belong to any of the available subject categories and therefore it is not known if any of these are citizenship trainees.
The Department does not collect data on the subject options provided in schools therefore entries into GCSE citizenship by schools included in Key Stage 4 performance tables has been provided instead. In 2018, 492 schools included in Key Stage 4 performance tables had pupils with entries into GCSE Citizenship. [3][4][5] This accounts for 9.3% of schools included in Key Stage 4 performance tables for that year.
Citizenship is an important part of the national curriculum at Key Stage 3 and 4. We want all children to leave school with the knowledge, skills, and values that will prepare them to be citizens in modern Britain. Schools have freedom to decide how they wish to teach the citizenship curriculum to meet the needs of all their pupils.
[1] Figures for 2018/19 are provisional and subject to change.
[2] Data was extracted on 19 November 2018.
[3] Includes state funded and independent schools, excludes alternative provision and pupil referral units. School performance tables includes schools based on their status as of 12 September the previous year.
[4] Only entries by pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 at schools which were published Key Stage 4 performance tables are included and no discounting has been applied so these totals may differ from those reported in our statistical release.
[5] In 2018, the reformed 9-1 GCSE in Citizenship counted in performance tables for the first time, replacing the unreformed A*-G qualification in the same subject. Once a reformed qualification is included in performance tables, the unreformed qualification no longer counts, regardless of when it was entered.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to make citizenship education a priority subject for teacher training.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is committed to ensuring that teaching remains an attractive profession and that graduates can access high quality teacher training across all subjects. That’s why in January the Department launched the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy. Designed collaboratively with the sector, the centrepiece of the strategy is the Early Career Framework (ECF) which will underpin a fully-funded, two-year support package for new teachers, providing them with the early career support enjoyed by other top professionals.
The Government offers student finance for all tuition fee funded citizenship teacher training courses, including a tuition fee loan which means that trainee teachers do not need to pay fees upfront. Citizenship trainee teachers can also apply for a maintenance loan to support their living costs. Those considering citizenship Initial Teacher Training (ITT) are eligible for one to one support from Teacher Training Advisers, to guide them through their journey into teaching. They can access this support by registering with Get into Teaching.
For some subjects, the Department provide bursaries to incentivise applications. The Department has had to take difficult decisions about where to focus this bursaries budget. As schools enter more pupils for English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects, it is expected that there will be more demand for specialist teachers in these subjects. The Department has therefore focused the bursaries budget on EBacc subjects to secure as many applicants as possible in the subjects where schools are likely to devote the most teaching time.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, to publish what information the Department holds on how long children who are housed out of borough have to wait for a school place at their new address by local authority area for each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
When a family moves house and requests a transfer for their child to a different school near their new address it is classed as an in-year admission. This is managed on a local level by either the local authority, where it coordinates the in-year admissions for schools in their area, or directly by the admission authority of the school. The Department has no involvement in this process and does not hold data on the number of in-year admission applications made and length of time taken to fulfil those requests.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the (a) names, (b) unitary charges and (c) cost of all PFI funded schools the Tendring Public Private Partnership.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There is no central Government-funded schools private finance initiative contract in Tendring. Data in relation to Tendring Public Private Partnership is held by Essex County Council.