Schools: Online Teaching
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts(3 years, 8 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, we are looking at the catch-up in the short, medium and long term. As I have said, it is for the lifetime of this Parliament. In the short term, looking to this summer, that means summer schools and some form of Covid premium. On digital, DDCMS is allocating funding so that areas of the country where there is no access to broadband can get on to broadband. Yes, we recognise that a digital strategy for education will be needed going forward—it will be one of the inadvertent positive outcomes of the pandemic.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB) [V]
My Lords, could the Minister comment on the challenges facing parents with four children studying from home and maybe only one tablet in the household when schools are unable to match the timetable so that those four children can access their online lessons? Will she consider enabling some students to repeat a year as a result of those challenges?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, all the large structural issues, such as extending the school day, extending the school year and repeating a year, are matters that need to be considered. As I have outlined, if those four children are all eligible for free school meals—as 1.3 million are—a school is able to allocate four devices. It is a matter for schools and FE colleges, and we trust them to be able to identify the right students who need access to devices.
Covid-19: Early Years Sector
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts(3 years, 9 months ago)
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Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB) [V]
My Lords, health visiting has continued during lockdown, using video contacts with parents instead of face-to-face visits. Can the Minister assure the House that this approach will be rigorously evaluated before widespread adoption? This is particularly important given the recent stark findings from the child safeguarding practice review, which showed that the number of children dying or being seriously harmed after suspected abuse or neglect rose by a quarter, to 285 notifications, during April to September in England. Of these, 102 involved babies under the age of one. Does the Minister agree that it is vital that a properly resourced health visiting service is available to parents and young children, particularly the most vulnerable families, post Covid?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, there will be much evaluation of the strategies used by various statutory agencies during the pandemic. The Secretary of State has written to directors of children’s services in local authorities to highlight particularly the group that are most vulnerable: babies. They are a key group that we have asked the See, Hear, Respond initiative to focus on. One of the important differences between this lockdown and the first is that we are enabling birth registrations to take place, which, of course, are a key function to make us aware of a child’s birth and therefore be able to follow up if there are any issues.
Children in Care: Unregulated Accommodation
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts(3 years, 11 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, I am happy to tell my noble friend that the Minister for Children and Families meets regularly with the President of the Family Division. Secure schools, which provide education for those within the criminal justice system, have recently been introduced into the criminal justice estate. We have also just put £40 million of capital investment into secure children’s homes, where, as well as accommodating those in the criminal justice system, children are placed for welfare reasons. Therefore, there is a close working relationship where institutions serve both education and the criminal justice system.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB) [V]
My Lords, I declare my interests. The report highlights that, in 2018-19, 651 vulnerable children were put in unregulated placements before they were aged 16. Most were placed there at 14 or 15 years of age. Can the Minister explain what urgent changes the Government plan to ensure that this situation is discontinued immediately?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, all these placements are for children looked after by local authorities, which, when they commission any placement, also have a duty to look at the safeguarding and at the provision in general. We have been clear that for under-16s this is not appropriate, because they need care and not only support. We will act to ban that practice so that it will no longer be able to take place. However, we need to recognise that we have more older children coming into the care system with complex needs. For certain children and young people over the age of 16, that is the appropriate placement to meet their needs, which should be paramount in any decision to place them.
Free School Meals
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts(4 years ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, we are indeed living through a time when special measures have been needed. However, for the reasons I outlined, it would not be right to expect schools at the moment to be open outside term time to provide meals. Although we offered a voucher system, it was important that schools could have their own local voucher system that could be redeemed in local shops. The system we had to stand up in special measures was only for national supermarkets, whereas the costs of local schemes could be reclaimed and local shops could be included.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB) [V]
My Lords, it appears that there is a policy vacuum in England regarding the provision of nutritious food for children. Can the Minister explain whether Her Majesty’s Government accept that there is a clear correlation between children’s cognitive development and proper nutrition, and, if so, how can they stand by and let children in Scotland and Wales receive free food school vouchers equivalent to school meals and deprive our children in England? How does this help level up society in the UK, which was surely a key manifesto commitment? No child, whether in a city, town or rural community, should be hungry during the school holidays.
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, in relation to children in England, I have outlined the local government welfare assistance scheme. When schools came back properly, the box of fruit and vegetables scheme was also back running. The Government have extended free school meals; about 17% of children in England qualify for them. During the pandemic we extended eligibility to the children of parents who had no recourse to public funds, and in 2014 we introduced universal infant free school meals and free school meals for those in FE. The Government have not stood by but have supported, through other taxpayers’ taxes, vulnerable children during the pandemic.
Schools: Spending per Pupil
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, the national funding formula obviously takes deprivation into account, and 18% of that formula—£6.2 billion—is aimed at disadvantaged students. That is in addition to any supplementary funding such as that for music hubs, which is also directed funding to free school meal areas. There is also, in the catch-up fund, the £350 million national tutoring programme, aimed at disadvantaged students. Some of the figures that the noble Lord outlines, in relation to schools in the most deprived areas, relate to the fact that the most deprived students are now spread across more areas of the country. That is why there has been a decrease in funding in some of the most deprived areas, because the most deprived students—for whom the funding is there—are spread more evenly across the country. Therefore, the funding formula has taken that into account.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)
My Lords, I welcome the IFS report, which clearly outlines that the recent and future strategy for education spending in England was on track to deliver the Government’s commitment to level up poorer regions of the country and to narrow the achievement gap between children from rich and poor families. However, the closure of schools during lockdown, and the need to restructure both teaching timetables and physical resources, is creating immense challenges for schools, which I particularly understand as a previous chair of a large academy in a deprived area in Plymouth.
I welcome the extra provision that the Government have already committed in recognition of the difficulties ahead for pupils and staff this year—but is it enough? Could the Minister inform the House whether additional funds will be announced, in the forthcoming spending review, for sixth-form pupils to accelerate their learning where cuts had been significant in previous years? Will there be a capital investment programme to return school buildings to at least a satisfactory or good condition, which the National Audit Office estimated in 2017 would cost in the region of £6.7 billion?
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, in relation to the particular challenges—I mentioned those attendance statistics, and one cannot underestimate the effort made in our schools to get attendance at that level. In relation to 16 to 19 year-olds, £96 million of the national tutoring programme fund is aimed at disadvantaged students in that year group, and an extra £400 million is going into 16 to 19 funding. Indeed, we should in the autumn get the list of the first 50 schools that will be rebuilt under the repair programme. Over the last five years, £23 billion has gone into the school estate. The noble Baroness is correct that we need to accelerate the building programme, not only to give our children the buildings they need to learn in but to motivate the economy and the recovery that we need.
Schools: Free Holiday Meals and Activities
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, it is indeed to the Government’s great credit that £380 million was paid out to support people during the pandemic with food vouchers for free school meals. One of the recommendations of the task force that will be considered is that holiday activity clubs be extended nationally in part of the summer holidays, so we are taking those recommendations seriously.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)
My Lords, given the challenges faced by children of school age relating to Covid-19, funding for free school meals and activity opportunities during school holidays would significantly promote healthier living for the poorest children in our society and could form a key platform in the Prime Minister’s obesity reduction strategy for young people. What plans are there to fund food vouchers and holiday clubs for at least the remainder of this Parliament, and for measures to be taken to help children who have to stay off school because of Covid-19 isolation? If there are not any, why not? This would level up opportunity for young people through good nutrition and chances for exercise.
Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, with the return of schools over the last couple of weeks, in most environments the school kitchens will now be up and running and providing food. For those limited numbers of children who might not be in school, we have encouraged those services to make weekly food parcel deliveries and have encouraged local innovations in certain circumstances where vouchers have been used. I am sure that the noble Baroness will be aware that, through the NHS, there is also funding for the Healthy Start scheme for pregnant women and parents with a child under four to get certain vouchers for healthy food for those entitled to certain benefits. We are looking to ensure that children have access to healthy food, not just food.
Covid-19 Summer Food Fund
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts(4 years, 4 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, we recognise that during the pandemic there have been particular crises in relation to food support. Defra has given £3.5 million to a food charities grant fund, enabling charities to apply for up to £100,000 to provide food. Also, in conjunction with MHCLG, it has distributed over 1 million food parcels; that is in addition to the £63 million that I outlined. There has been considerable support during the crisis for those who have needed food support.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)
My Lords, I welcome the development as a result of Marcus Rashford’s intervention; any mother would be proud to have him as a son. He has made life different for young people this holiday. When will the Government look at long-term food support for children who are vulnerable during holidays and answer the questions raised in the recent social mobility report?
Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, 1.3 million children will indeed benefit from the support given over the summer holiday. This is in addition to increases of over £1,000 per household for those who claim working tax credits or universal credit. So support is there and, as I outlined, there will also be holiday activity clubs to provide activity and food for children during the summer.
Free School Meal Vouchers Scheme
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts(4 years, 4 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, budgeting is indeed a skill needed by many households, particularly those on limited income. Before the Covid crisis hit, there was an almost 16% increase in the Budget to the Money and Pensions Service, which gives essential advice and support, particularly to those dealing with debt.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB) [V]
My Lords, 15.4% of children were eligible for free school meals in 2019, with 42% in pupil referral units and 37% in special schools. Many of these children’s health and well-being would at least in part be protected if their entitlement to the equivalent of free school meals were to continue through the summer holidays to the autumn term. A high proportion of recipients are from BME backgrounds and many are child carers. Does the Minister consider it appropriate to go back to Her Majesty’s Government and re-emphasise noble Lords’ support for the continuing provision of the equivalent of £15 per child per week to promote a level of equality of access to food for children in the poorest households this summer?
Baroness Berridge [V]
My Lords, I always take back representations made by noble Lords and will take that one back. As I have outlined, there has been an increase in support through the universal credit system and working tax credits. For those who are furloughed, the national living wage is more than £3,000 higher than in 2016, which affects the wages of those put on that scheme. We are concerned to ensure that households are able to make provision at the moment.
Covid-19: Schools
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts(4 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge
My Lords, I join the noble Lord in paying tribute to all the teachers and support staff who have, during this period, kept most of our schools open for vulnerable children and the children of critical care workers. The department has indeed, at both ministerial and official levels, been consulting and engaging with the unions, mostly on a daily basis, to ensure that their views are put forward in the difficult decisions that we have to make about reopening schools.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)
My Lords, government statistics show that 75,000 vulnerable children were at school on 21 May, yet 80% of schools were open, so we know that not all places that have been on offer have been taken up. We also know about the distribution of tablets, but what plans do the Government have to ensure digital interconnections for pupils over the summer, particularly those who live in poverty or are in rural areas, where there is real difficulty with some broadband connections?
Baroness Berridge
My Lords, the noble Baroness is correct that about 15% of vulnerable children were in school at the end of that half-term and the numbers had been rising. On the provision of laptops, for those who do not have connectivity they will come with 4G wireless to try to get over some of those issues. All schools have been offered free expert technical help to enable them to access Google Classroom or Microsoft 365 Education, but of course we have also worked closely with the BBC for those children whose only access might be through the television. BBC Bitesize has been hugely successful, with more than 2 million households visiting that service in the first two weeks. In discussions with leaders of academy trusts, it is clear that many teachers and support staff have been delivering printed worksheets to students to ensure that they can access education.
Educational Settings
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts(4 years, 7 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge
The noble Baroness is correct: the reassurance that we need to give will be given in the guidance regarding exams tomorrow. All the qualifications, including, for instance, the independent training providers and the apprenticeship training that goes on, are up for consideration and we recognise that they are all affected in the same way.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)
My Lords, I declare an interest as the mother of a teacher at Graveney School, a secondary school in south London. She is working hard with her A-level students to see that they get the best support possible. However, she and other teachers I know well have expressed concern that the IT equipment they have to provide distance learning if they have to work from home is not necessarily of the order that you would expect, for example, a university lecturer to have been given. Will the Government consider emergency help for schools to purchase up-to-date IT equipment for teachers to work effectively, certainly over the next six months?
Baroness Berridge
I thank the noble Baroness for her question. I will take that specific request back, but I know that we intend to do everything we can to support remote learning and teaching.