Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of interest-bearing student loans on the number of Muslim students entering Higher Education over the last seven years.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government published research in May 2019 on higher education and how religious beliefs and the current student finance system influence these decisions. This research is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alternative-student-finance-current-and-future-students-perspectives.
The government has also assessed the effect of interest-bearing loans on Muslim students in the impact assessment for the Higher Education and Research Act, which included provisions to enable the introduction of an Alternative Student Finance (ASF) product. The impact assessment was published in December 2017 and is available here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2017/182/pdfs/ukia_20170182_en.pdf.
The government is considering the ASF product carefully alongside its other priorities and will provide a further update with the full and final conclusion of the Post-18 Review of Education and Funding. The interim report of the review was published on 21 January 2021, and the review is scheduled to conclude alongside the next multi-year Spending Review. An update on the ASF product will be provided at that time.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the UKCISA analysis. Who pays home fees for higher education in England, published on 28 May 2021, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing criteria d of the qualifications for home fees for family members of UK nationals.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Paragraph 1 (2A) of Schedule 1 of the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 (as amended) provides that a person is not to be treated as ordinarily resident in a place unless that person lawfully resides in that place. Although not further defined in the Regulations, ‘ordinarily resident’ has been interpreted by the courts as lawful, habitual and normal residence from choice and for a settled purpose throughout the prescribed period, apart from temporary or occasional absences. This means that a person must hold a valid status throughout the period of ordinary residence required when establishing their eligibility to student support.
There are no plans to remove the criteria which requires a person’s residence in the UK and Islands to not have been wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education. Student Finance England will determine on a case-by-case basis whether a person meets this requirement.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the UKCISA analysis, Who pays home fees for higher education in England, published on 28 May 2021, if he will clarify the meaning of ordinarily resident in criteria c of the qualification for home fees as a family member of a UK national.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Paragraph 1 (2A) of Schedule 1 of the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 (as amended) provides that a person is not to be treated as ordinarily resident in a place unless that person lawfully resides in that place. Although not further defined in the Regulations, ‘ordinarily resident’ has been interpreted by the courts as lawful, habitual and normal residence from choice and for a settled purpose throughout the prescribed period, apart from temporary or occasional absences. This means that a person must hold a valid status throughout the period of ordinary residence required when establishing their eligibility to student support.
There are no plans to remove the criteria which requires a person’s residence in the UK and Islands to not have been wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education. Student Finance England will determine on a case-by-case basis whether a person meets this requirement.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the evidence published by More Than A Score, what plans he has to implement the recommendations of that organisation on (a) cancelling the introduction of the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) in English and maths for four-year-olds in September 2021, (b) pausing all other statutory assessments in years one, two, four and six and (c) setting up an independent profession-led review into primary assessment.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Assessment is a crucial part of a child’s schooling and fundamental in a high performing education system. Statutory assessments at primary school are an essential part of ensuring that all pupils master the basics of reading, writing and Mathematics to prepare them for secondary school. Assessment data will also enable parents, schools and the Department to understand the impact of lost time in education and recovery initiatives. As such, the Department has no plans to cancel the statutory implementation of the Reception Baseline Assessment in September 2021, and the Department continues to plan for a return to a full programme of primary assessments in the 2021/22 academic year.
In 2017, the Government carried out a consultation into primary assessment in England. The consultation received over 4,000 responses from a diverse range of backgrounds and specialisms, providing a broad and informed range of views that informed policy on the current primary assessment system. In addition, the Department engages with relevant stakeholders on a regular basis to understand their views on primary assessment.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to (a) implement the recommendations of the Children Society's report entitled The Good Childhood Report 2020 and (b) widen the scope of the education recovery package announced in February 2021 to include children’s wellbeing.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government appreciates the concerns raised from the findings of the Children Society’s Good Childhood Report 2020. We believe that the safety and wellbeing of children and young people is of fundamental importance, and the government is supporting the education sector to identify and respond to children and young people’s individual needs. It is crucial that children and young people are able to access the help and support they require to keep them healthy and safe.
We look at the range of data that is available on children’s wellbeing. On World Mental Health Day 2019, we published the first annual ‘State of the Nation’ report to highlight the trends and issues in young people’s mental wellbeing. The report brought together existing data to improve understanding and help to inform the support we provide to children and young people. We published a second report in 2020, which focused on the experiences of children and young people during the COVID outbreak. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-nation-2020-children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing.
To support this work, we are working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to deliver our joint green paper delivery programme. The government’s 3 core commitments are to incentivise and support all schools and colleges to identify and train a senior mental health lead, to fund new Mental Health Support Teams supervised by NHS mental health staff and to pilot a 4 week waiting time for accessing specialist NHS mental health services.
We are supplementing this with other support, including a randomised control trial of a range of different school approaches to promoting good mental wellbeing which is one of the largest of its kind in the world. This sits alongside guidance on mental health and behaviour and offering effective school-based counselling.
The government has made children’s mental health and wellbeing a central part of our response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The return to school for all pupils on 8 March was prioritised due to the significant and proven impact caused by being out of school, including on wellbeing.
We have been clear that schools can use their existing additional COVID-19 catch-up funding for pastoral support for mental wellbeing where pupils need it, and many schools are doing so. In addition to this, the return to school for all pupils on 8 March has been supported with a new £700 million package, which includes a new one-off Recovery Premium for state primary, secondary and special schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged students. This will help schools to provide their disadvantaged pupils with a one-off boost to the support, both academic and pastoral, that has been proved most effective in helping them recover from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he will include an open consultation as part of the initial teacher training market review.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Market Review is focused on how the sector can provide consistently high-quality training, in line with the Core Content Framework, in a more efficient and effective market. An expert advisory group has been appointed to advise the Government on this matter.
Ian Bauckham, the Review Chair, has held early discussions with ITT network Chairs and others, and he and officials will be undertaking wider sector engagement in late Spring. The Department also plans to conduct an open consultation on final proposals.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of widening the scope of the Turing Scheme to include placements for (a) teaching staff, (b) college staff and (c) youth workers.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Teaching and college staff mobility will not be funded as part of the Turing scheme in academic year 2021/22, as we are prioritising ensuring as many students, learners and pupils as possible have access to life-changing mobilities to support them in developing the skills they need to thrive. We will assess the impact of the scheme during its first year, and this will inform the scheme in future. Funding decisions for future years will be subject to future spending reviews.
International opportunities for the youth sector and young people outside of formal education settings are being considered as part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport-led Youth Review, which was commissioned by HM Treasury at the 2020 Spending Review.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the need for early years teachers to be provided with personal protective equipment during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
COVID-19 related Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) use will be very limited for staff in schools, colleges, and nurseries. Most staff will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work. Additional PPE for COVID-19 is only required in a very limited number of scenarios, for example:
Appropriate PPE for any staff involved in delivering asymptomatic testing for COVID-19 onsite in secondary schools and colleges is also delivered to schools, colleges and nurseries along with onsite testing kits.
Many schools, nurseries and colleges will be able to access PPE for their COVID-19 needs via their local authority or local resilience forum. Further information on local arrangements can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a new network of national centres of excellence in low carbon skills at further education colleges.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The Skills for Jobs white paper sets out several reforms that will support people to get the skills our economy needs throughout their lives, wherever they live in the country. This will include emerging skills needed for future productivity, such as in green jobs and zero carbon skills.
Our reforms include the introduction of employer-led Local Skills Improvement Plans, which will identify local priorities for change. Further education (FE) colleges will have a key part to play in ensuring employers have the skills they need to build jobs and industries of the future. We expect local plans to be informed by national priorities such as a green industrial revolution.
We are also investing up to £290 million to establish a comprehensive network of Institutes of Technology (IOTs), with every area of the country having access to one once the network is complete. IOTs will be the pinnacle of technical training, with unique collaborations between FE colleges, universities and businesses offering higher technical education and training (mainly at levels 4 and 5) and helping to develop low carbon skills in key sectors such as construction and engineering. IOTs, with their funding to invest in state of the art equipment and facilities, and employers in the driving seat, will give businesses the skilled workforce they need to drive growth and get more people into rewarding jobs.
The Green Jobs Taskforce, launched last November, has aims to help the UK build back greener and deliver the skilled workforce needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. This is a joint initiative between the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Education. With help from the taskforce, we will ensure that our existing skills programmes can be directed to support the net zero agenda and help to identify where the evidence tells us we might need to go further or faster.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has convened a Green Apprenticeships Advisory Panel to guide the continued alignment of apprenticeships with net zero and wider sustainability objectives. It aims to help identify which apprenticeships directly support the green agenda and which may need to be refocused. The panel will also crucially identify where there are potential opportunities to create new green apprenticeships and identify employers to help take this work forward.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to allow the adoption of adults.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government currently has no plans to introduce legislation to allow adult adoption.