Baroness Boycott

We are looking to work and partner with organisations committed to taking positive action to tackle climate change. We will be launching a registration process for organisations wanting to be involved in UK Government managed events around COP26 in the new year. The process is currently under development and further detail will be released in due course.

The Government has set strict sponsorship criteria for COP26 and will only partner with companies who have committed to or set net-zero commitments by 2050 or earlier, and have a credible and aligned short-term action plan to achieve this. We conduct due diligence on all potential sponsors, and ensure compliance with our standards. The Government is encouraging companies with strong climate credentials to apply for sponsorship through the COP26 website.

Plans for hospitality for the Event are still under consideration and we will be working closely with all venues to deliver the facilities and requirements needed. The plans will be published in line with Public Sector Procurement guidelines

Achieving our net zero target must be a shared endeavour between governments, businesses and individuals, and we must continue to engage the public on this challenge. In preparation for COP26, the Cabinet Office set up a dedicated engagement team that will facilitate engagement with businesses, wider civil society and youth, and cities and regions on COP26. This will ensure that the UK brings along all of society in the global transition to a net-zero economy and in the delivery of an ambitious and inclusive COP26 summit. Budget for a public engagement campaign is currently going through the government approval process and is yet to be confirmed. We will continue to engage the public as we develop our plans for reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

The UK is committed to agreeing a negotiated outcome at COP26 that accelerates climate action and leaves no issue behind. Our approach is aligned with the UNFCCC process: formal negotiations have been postponed to 2021 but we are engaging broadly and facilitating exchanges of views so that progress can be made.

As part of the UK’s transparent and inclusive approach to the COP26 presidency, Ministers and senior officials across government have directly engaged with over 100 governments; and all countries have been engaged through our FCO network and UN Missions. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been at the heart of that, playing a leading role in a number of multilateral climate change fora and engaging bilaterally with over 40 countries to discuss matters relating to COP26. As an example of the regular engagement with countries, in September, the UK, alongside current Presidency Chile and the Chairs of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies, conducted consultations with all negotiating groups on the way forward to COP26.

We look forward to the UNFCCC Climate Change Dialogues 23 November - 4 December as an opportunity for further exchanges of views and to make progress on key issues ahead of the Ambition Summit that we’re hosting on 12 December and on the pathway to COP26 next year.

It is vital that young people are taught about climate change. For this reason, related topics are included throughout both the science and geography curricula and GCSEs. In primary science and geography, pupils are given a firm foundation for the further study of the environment in secondary school. For example, in primary science pupils are taught about how environments can change as a result of human actions. They will learn about animals’ habitats, including that changes to the environment may pose dangers to living things.

In secondary science, pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect this has on the climate. This is expanded on in GCSE science where pupils will consider the evidence for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change. As part of GCSE geography pupils will look at the causes, consequences of and responses to extreme weather conditions and natural weather hazards. In 2017, we also introduced a new environmental science A level. This will enable students to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled.

School and teachers can go beyond the topics set out in the national curriculum, or do more in-depth teaching of these topic areas, if they so wish.

We are supporting recruitment and retention of teachers in these subjects to ensure that schools have the expertise to teach topics relating to climate change effectively. In science, trainee teachers are offered bursaries of £26,000 and scholarships of £28,000 to attract top science graduates into teaching. New physics and chemistry teachers will soon be offered early-career payments of up to £9,000 during their first four years of teaching. We also fund Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses for geography and the sciences. These are courses designed to help applicants gain the depth of subject knowledge needed to train to teach their chosen subject.

The new Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework, published 1 November 2019, sets out a core minimum entitlement for all trainees of what should be covered during their teacher training, irrespective of subject or phase. The government does not prescribe the curriculum of ITT or SKE courses and it remains for individual providers to design curricula appropriate for the subject, phase and age range that the trainees will be teaching. Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) will continue to be awarded at the end of ITT against the Teachers’ Standards, which includes secure knowledge of relevant subjects and curriculum areas.

We also support energy efficiency in educational facilities through our capital funding and programmes, both to reduce the carbon footprint and save schools money on energy. We have allocated almost £9 billion in condition funding since 2015 to maintain and improve school buildings. Condition funding can be invested in projects which improve energy efficiency. In addition, interest free loans for energy efficiency projects have been made available through the government backed Salix finance scheme.

The department supports sustainability through its capital funding programmes, both to reduce carbon and save schools and the wider education estate money on energy.

We have allocated almost £9 billion in condition funding since 2015 to maintain and improve school buildings. In addition, the Priority School Building Programme is rebuilding or refurbishing school buildings in the worst condition across the country, covering over 500 schools.

Condition funding can be invested in projects which improve energy efficiency. In addition, interest free loans for energy efficiency projects are available through the government backed Salix finance scheme.

More broadly, we are working with colleagues across government on carbon reduction and energy efficiency, and we are developing thinking on how future school capital programmes can contribute further.

Like all departments, we are doing a great deal of preparatory work to understand what resources the education sector needs over the coming years, including as part of the wider response to COVID-19.

The department supports sustainability through its capital funding programmes, both to reduce carbon and save schools and the wider education estate money on energy.

We have allocated almost £9 billion in condition funding since 2015 to maintain and improve school buildings. In addition, the Priority School Building Programme is rebuilding or refurbishing school buildings in the worst condition across the country, covering over 500 schools.

Condition funding can be invested in projects which improve energy efficiency. In addition, interest free loans for energy efficiency projects are available through the government backed Salix finance scheme.

More broadly, we are working with colleagues across government on carbon reduction and energy efficiency, and we are developing thinking on how future school capital programmes can contribute further.

Like all departments, we are doing a great deal of preparatory work to understand what resources the education sector needs over the coming years, including as part of the wider response to COVID-19.

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 guidance on for schools is set out below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings.

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. 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.

Schools are best placed to make decisions about the most appropriate arrangements for eligible pupils and this can include food parcel arrangements, alternative voucher arrangements or provision through the national voucher scheme.

Edenred has reported that over £101.5 million worth of voucher codes have been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the scheme as of Friday 22 May. Edenred has also reported that 17,000 schools had placed orders for the scheme as of Tuesday 12 May. We do not collect data on the scheme at pupil level.

The number and proportion of students who qualify for free school meals is published in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication and its underlying data files. As of the 2019 school census, there are around 1.3 million children eligible for and claiming free school meals. Statistics for the 2020 school census are not yet available. The 2019 publication is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2019.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

As my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by Covid-19.

Our latest guidance for schools is set out below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings.

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.

Where this is not possible, we have introduced a national voucher scheme to provide headteachers with additional flexibility to decide what is best for families at their schools. More information about the national voucher scheme is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools.

As of Friday 22 May, Edenred reported that over £101.5 million has been redeemed into supermarket vouchers by families and schools. As of Tuesday 12 May, Edenred reported that 17,000 schools had placed an order. Schools will continue to receive their core funding allocations as normal.

These are rapidly developing circumstances. We will continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide a reply would require us to produce new analysis to link together several complex datasets, including Child Benefit data which is administered by HMRC, to identify if a household would have a benefit income above the cap levels due to increases in their UC award alone (independent of increases to Local Housing Allowance and CPI uprating of working age benefits). We would also need to identify if the household would otherwise be exempt from the benefit cap. This includes assessing whether or not a household has earnings over the earnings threshold, currently £604 per assessment period, is in receipt of an exempting benefit e.g. Personal Independence Payments, Carer’s Allowance etc. or is eligible for a grace period due to previous earnings. It is estimated that the time this would take to produce and quality assure the results would be in excess of 4 working days and therefore would incur disproportionate costs.