Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he held with the Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of the publication of the technical note entitled Erasmus+ and EU Solidarity Corps in the UK if there’s no Brexit deal, published in January 2019, on how the funding mechanism for Erasmus+ underwrites will work in practice in the event that the UK leave the EU without a deal.

Leaving the EU with a deal remains the government’s top priority. This has not changed. However a responsible government must plan for every eventuality, including a no deal scenario. We are intensifying and accelerating no deal planning to ensure we are fully prepared.

The Department for Education and Her Majesty's Treasury have regular discussions on preparations for leaving the EU in a no deal scenario, including on this issue.

The updated Technical Notice states the current position on no deal preparations for Erasmus+. In the event of a no deal, the government guarantee will cover the payment of awards to UK applicants for all successful Erasmus+ bids agreed by the National Agency and EU Commission. We have noted the information released by the European Commission on 30 January 2019 with regards to contingency planning for Erasmus+ and we are seeking to hold discussions with the Commission as soon as possible to discuss this.

With regards to 2019 applications, we continue to recommend that applications are submitted, as they are normally, both to the UK National Agency and directly to the European Commission in line with the 2019 Programme Guide. The Government Guarantee will cover the payment of awards to UK applicants for all successful Erasmus+ bids for the duration of the course. Successful bids are those that are approved directly by the European Commission or by the National Agency and ratified by the European Commission.