Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what level of funding he plans to allocate for higher education courses in music and arts.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Strategic Priorities Grant plays an important role in supporting providers and students to develop the skills and knowledge needed locally, regionally, and nationally to support the economy.
The government has asked the Office for Students (OfS) to reform the Strategic Priorities Grant for 2021-22. These reforms include the reallocation of high-cost subject funding towards the provision of high-cost subjects that support the NHS and wider healthcare policy, high-cost science, technology and engineering subjects, and subjects meeting specific labour market needs, as well as the removal of the London Weighting element of the grant.
One of our proposals is for a 50% reduction in the rate of high-cost subject funding, which is one element of the wider Strategic Priorities Grant, for some subjects in order to enable this reprioritisation.
Under current proposals, outlined in the OfS’ consultation on recurrent funding for 2021-22, the high-cost subject funding rate for arts and music courses will be set at £121.50 in 2021-22, down from £243 in 2020-21. This fall is equivalent to a reduction of around 1% in combined funding (on a per-student basis) from a £9,250 tuition fee and OfS grant funding. The OfS’ methodology for calculating funding allocations, which are done at subject price group-level rather than on an individual subject basis, means that the total amount of high-cost subject funding cannot be calculated for individual subjects such as music.
It is important to note that the Strategic Priorities Grant accounts for a relatively small proportion of the total income of higher education providers today. For the providers losing funding due to this reallocation, the income lost would account for approximately 0.05% of their estimated total income, based on the latest data available.
This important reprioritisation of taxpayers’ money does not mean this government is devaluing the arts or social sciences. High-quality provision in a range of subjects is critical for our workforce, and our public services, and is culturally enriching for our society.
That is why, as part of the same reform programme, we have asked the OfS to invest an additional £10 million in our world-leading specialist providers, many of which specialise in arts provision. We want to ensure that our specialist providers receive additional support, and that grant funding is used to effectively support students.
The OfS has now publicly consulted on these proposals, and responses from universities, students and others will be taken into account before any final decisions on allocations are made.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support he is providing to UK citizens living in Vietnam to secure covid-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We are in close contact with the Government of Vietnam on the provision of Covid-19 vaccinations to British nationals. The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has indicated that foreign nationals resident in Vietnam will be included within their national vaccination programme, in line with their prioritisation strategy. Vietnam is currently prioritising vaccination of frontline medical staff, essential workers, and older or medically vulnerable groups. We will provide information on Vietnam's plans through the FCDO's Vietnam Travel Advice page.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish details of the PE and Sport Premium for the 2021-22 academic year.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is aware of the importance of giving schools as much notice as possible of future funding. We will confirm arrangements for the primary physical education and sport premium for the 2021/22 academic year as soon as possible.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his correspondence of 7 May 2021 on Government polling, reference MC2021/08351, if he will provide the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee with a list of the companies contracted to conduct polling by the Cabinet Office since 1 March 2020.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQs 82315 and 82316 on 9 September 2020, and PQ 156454 on 2 March 2021.
Covid-19 polling for the cross-government public information campaign has been conducted regularly since the start of the pandemic. This work allows the Cabinet Office to optimise campaign messaging and maximise effectiveness, ensuring vital public health information reaches as many people as possible. The insight gathered continues to inform the Government’s ongoing communications strategy and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and so shall not be published at this time.
The Cabinet Office publishes details of all contracts over £10,000 on Contracts Finder and spend over £500, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling basis. This will include expenditure on this campaign and will be broken down by supplier.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his correspondence of 7 May 2021 on Government polling, reference MC2021/08351, if he will provide the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee with copies of all the questions that have been used in the polling related to the covid-19 since 1 March 2020.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQs 82315 and 82316 on 9 September 2020, and PQ 156454 on 2 March 2021.
Covid-19 polling for the cross-government public information campaign has been conducted regularly since the start of the pandemic. This work allows the Cabinet Office to optimise campaign messaging and maximise effectiveness, ensuring vital public health information reaches as many people as possible. The insight gathered continues to inform the Government’s ongoing communications strategy and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and so shall not be published at this time.
The Cabinet Office publishes details of all contracts over £10,000 on Contracts Finder and spend over £500, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling basis. This will include expenditure on this campaign and will be broken down by supplier.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his correspondence of 7 May 2021 on Government polling, reference MC2021/08351, if he will provide the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee with copies of the reports that have been compiled on polling related to the covid-19 since 1 March 2020.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQs 82315 and 82316 on 9 September 2020, and PQ 156454 on 2 March 2021.
Covid-19 polling for the cross-government public information campaign has been conducted regularly since the start of the pandemic. This work allows the Cabinet Office to optimise campaign messaging and maximise effectiveness, ensuring vital public health information reaches as many people as possible. The insight gathered continues to inform the Government’s ongoing communications strategy and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and so shall not be published at this time.
The Cabinet Office publishes details of all contracts over £10,000 on Contracts Finder and spend over £500, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling basis. This will include expenditure on this campaign and will be broken down by supplier.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his correspondence of 7 May 2021 on Government polling, reference MC2021/08351, if he will provide the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee with a list of all the topics on which polling has been commissioned by (a) the Cabinet Office, (b) its associated bodies and (c) the Prime Minister’s Office since 1 March 2020.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQs 82315 and 82316 on 9 September 2020, and PQ 156454 on 2 March 2021.
Covid-19 polling for the cross-government public information campaign has been conducted regularly since the start of the pandemic. This work allows the Cabinet Office to optimise campaign messaging and maximise effectiveness, ensuring vital public health information reaches as many people as possible. The insight gathered continues to inform the Government’s ongoing communications strategy and response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and so shall not be published at this time.
The Cabinet Office publishes details of all contracts over £10,000 on Contracts Finder and spend over £500, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling basis. This will include expenditure on this campaign and will be broken down by supplier.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Department’s guidance for close contact services in England is consistent with the latest evidence on covid-19 transmissibility; and what the evidential basis for advising against the provision of newspapers and magazines for clients is, as referenced in section 5.2 of that guidance.
Answered by Paul Scully
We continue to keep the Safer Working guidance under constant review and will update the guidance in line with new scientific evidence as it arises. Public Health England (PHE) and the Health and Safety Executive have advised that there is currently no scientific evidence to support changing the Safer Working guidance in light of the new variants.
PHE guidance states that Covid-19 spreads from person to person through small droplets, aerosols and through direct contact. Surfaces and belongings can also be contaminated with Covid-19 when people with the infection cough or sneeze or touch them. The risk of spread is greatest when people are close to each other, especially in poorly ventilated indoor spaces and when people spend a lot of time together in the same room.
Given that client waiting areas are high traffic with frequent contact on common surface areas, we recommend not providing shared reading materials to reduce transmission risk via surface contact. Individuals can bring their own reading materials that they have purchased but we advise businesses to not provide sharing copies due to the frequent change of hands.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the bonus payments that GPs have received for administering the covid-19 vaccine to care home patients to the vaccination of other difficult to reach groups.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We have made no such assessment.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will implement financial rewards for (a) GPs, (b) vaccination centres and (c) other local health professionals for each vaccine administered that goes above the average number of vaccines administered.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We have no plans to do so.