Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure the financial stability of early years providers during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
I refer the hon. Member for Bolton South East to the answer I gave on 20 November 2020 to Question 114782 to my right hon. Friend, the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of the change in the level of demand for (a) children’s social care and (b) children and adolescent mental health services since schools returned for the 2020 autumn term.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department has been working closely with local authorities to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on children’s services, including any increases in demand, setting up dedicated regional teams that are in frequent contact.
We are monitoring referrals to children’s services via our regional teams and via the Vulnerable Children and Young People survey, which collects data fortnightly from local authorities in England. The latest release is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vulnerable-children-and-young-people-survey.
The most recent data collection (19-21 October) shows that the total number of children looked after was 7% higher than the same time in 2018 and the total number of children on a child protection plan was 1% higher.
Overall, the total number of referrals to children’s social care services was 6% lower than the 3 year average of the same week across 2016 to 2018.
NHS Digital publish data on referrals to mental health services here: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-tools-and-services/data-services/mental-health-data-hub/mental-health-services-monthly-statistics.
Referrals to mental health services since the beginning of the autumn term will be published in due course.
The government has provided £4.6 billion of additional funding to support local authorities in meeting COVID-19 related pressures, including in children’s services.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that additional pupil premium funding is targeted at long-term disadvantaged pupils in the North of England.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We are committed to levelling up opportunities to make sure everyone has a fair chance to realise their potential and no one is left behind. The pupil premium furthers this objective by helping schools improve the academic attainment and wider outcomes of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Since the pupil premium was introduced in 2011, it has provided more than £18 billion of additional funding for schools and has played an important role in contributing to the narrowing of the disadvantaged attainment gaps at age 11 and 16. Areas with high proportions of students from disadvantaged backgrounds will continue to receive the highest levels of funding, and the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed considerably in both primary and secondary schools since 2011.
Through the national funding formula, we provide further funding targeted at schools with higher numbers of pupils with additional needs, including deprivation, worth £6.3 billion this financial year. On top of that, the pupil premium, worth £2.4 billion this financial year, provides additional support for disadvantaged pupils – those currently or formerly claiming free school meals and currently or formerly looked after – to tackle educational inequality.
Pupil premium allocations for the 2020-21 financial year were published in June, and the first quarterly instalments were paid out in June and July. Announcements on pupil premium funding for the 2021-22 financial year will follow later in the year. Announcements for future years will be made in due course.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Bolton South East of 10 July 2020 and 18 September 2020 on concerns from primary school heads about the Government's covid-19 guidance..
Answered by Nick Gibb
I can confirm that a response to the letters dated 10 July and 18 September 2020 regarding concerns from primary school heads about the Government's COVID-19 guidance has been sent to the hon. Member for Bolton South East.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with school leaders on providing financial support for expenses incurred by schools as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Ministers and officials continue to engage regularly with school leaders and their representatives on a wide range of issues around COVID-19, including discussions in relation to costs faced by schools at this time.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure university students have access to digital and online learning during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government has been working closely with the Office for Students (OfS), the regulator of registered higher education (HE) providers in England, so that HE providers can draw upon existing funding to provide hardship funds and to support disadvantaged students affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
As a result of this flexibility, providers were able to use OfS student premium funding worth around £23 million per month between April to July this year. From August, providers have also been able to use £256 million for the current academic year towards student hardship funds, including for the purchase of IT equipment. We have also invested over £100 million to help provide laptops and devices for disadvantaged children and young people so they can access education and social care services remotely. As part of this, we have provided devices for care leavers, including those who are studying at university.
As I set out in a letter to MPs on 9 October, the government’s expectation is that quality and academic standards must be maintained. The OfS has made it clear that all HE providers must continue to comply with registration conditions relating to quality and standards, which set out requirements to ensure that courses are high-quality, that students are supported and achieve good outcomes, and that standards are protected. They have also set out that HE providers must continue to provide sufficient and appropriate facilities, learning resources and student support services to deliver a high-quality academic experience.
The OfS has published information and guidance for HE providers and students. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education has also published a series of guides to support HE providers to secure academic standards and to support student achievement during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The OfS are taking very seriously the potential impacts on teaching and learning, and ensuring they have a clear picture of what students are receiving. They published a statement on 9 October about how they are monitoring the quality of online provision given by HE providers.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State of Education, has also commissioned Sir Michael Barber, the Chair of the OfS, to lead a review to consider how to enhance the quality of digital teaching and learning and the opportunities that digital education presents for universities in the medium and long term. The review, which is expected to report in spring 2021, will also explore how HE providers can ensure that all students have access to a high-quality digital teaching and learning experience.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made the number of apprentices that have been (a) made redundant and (b) furloughed through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme since the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
We do not publish data on redundant or furloughed apprentices.
We know that almost 600 apprentices since 1 August have either contacted us for advice through our new redundancy support service or have registered for our vacancy sharing service. Over 750 employers have signed up to offer opportunities to redundant apprentices, including Bupa Dental and Taylor Wimpey.
The support service provides advice and guidance to apprentices who have been made redundant, or are at risk of redundancy, on their options and next steps. It also supports apprentices to identify new apprenticeship and employment opportunities with employers looking to recruit. In addition, we are changing the law to enable more apprentices to complete their apprenticeship in the event of redundancy.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of further education college staff who have been made redundant in 2020.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Further education (FE) colleges are independent of the government and responsible for managing their own workforce. The department does not hold data on the number of FE college staff who have been made redundant in 2020.
For information regarding Education and Skills Funding Agency financial management, the latest publication of the college accounts is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/esfa-financial-management-college-accounts.
The government is investing in FE, and we have announced a 16-19 funding increase of £400 million for 2020-21, which is the biggest injection of new money into 16-19 education in a single year since 2010. This includes a 4.7% increase in the 16-19 base rate of funding and a further £24 million for FE workforce development.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support universities that are implementing their own covid-19 testing measures.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on universities, and we welcome the resilience, innovation and dedication from the sector over these months, as well as its wider contribution to support the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak through offering research and resources. Capacity for COVID-19 testing is the highest it has ever been and we are seeing significant demand. The department continues to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), and with sector representatives, to ensure that any students who display COVID-19 symptoms can have quick and easy access to testing.
The government has set a target of 500,000-a-day for UK testing capacity by the end of October. Local testing sites will be most accessible to students and will have the quickest test result turnaround. DHSC plan to increase the total number of sites to 150 by the end of October, and to 400 by the end of January 2021. Many of these new testing sites will be located near universities. In addition, there are 258 mobile testing units. Where there is a mobile testing unit in the vicinity of the university, students and staff will also be able book a test at one of these units.We have drawn on the expertise of the Higher Education Taskforce that we set up, and we have been providing robust public health advice and regular updates to the higher education sector to help providers work through challenges of setting up their own testing measures. Our universities are home to world-leading science and innovation, but for universities producing their own tests, they should work in conjunction with their local Health Protection Teams and directors of public health and NHS Test and Trace so we can utilise it for public safety.
Under the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations (2010), it is a legal requirement to report positive cases of COVID-19 to Public Health England. It is a voluntary decision for providers to run testing programmes for their staff and students and we do not expect this to be a service offered by all higher education providers. Higher education providers should ensure they are fully aware of the implications, both clinical and organisational, of introducing testing programmes and of the potential limitations of any tests or test services that they use. In the event that higher education providers in the Bolton South East constituency want to conduct their own testing, departmental officials can be contacted about this at universities.ps@education.gov.uk.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is he taking to support children with special educational needs and disabilities as they return to school during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We appreciate that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have faced many challenges during the COVID-19 outbreak and some may find returning to school difficult. Therefore, we have put in place a number of measures to support their return to school.
We have published guidance to support schools with welcoming all pupils back and re-engaging pupils with learning. We are clear that schools should work closely with parents and carers to agree the best approach to support children and young people with SEND. The guidance for the full opening of special education settings is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings.
The guidance for the full opening of mainstream settings is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
In addition, the Whole School SEND consortium have run training sessions and developed resources for teachers supporting pupils with SEND to return to school after the long absence.
We are very aware of the negative impact that the COVID-19 outbreak is likely to have had on children and young people’s mental health and are working to provide additional support in this area. We recently announced extra mental health support for pupils and teachers to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. This will include a programme to develop mental health and wellbeing expertise among school staff and a wider Public Health England-led package of support for young people, including online resources designed by health and education experts.
We have also announced a major investment in SEND education, including an additional £730 million into high needs next financial year, coming on top of the additional £780 million in the 2020-21 financial year, which means high needs budgets will have grown by over £1.5 billion, nearly a quarter, to £8 billion in just two years.
Furthermore, we are providing an additional £1 billion catch-up package to schools, which includes a ‘catch-up premium’ worth £650 million to support schools to make up for lost teaching time. This carries additional weighting for specialist settings, recognising the significantly higher per pupil costs they face.