Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to set a target for the reduction or elimination of child poverty.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and earlier this month announced an expansion of free school meals eligibility to all pupils in England with a parent receiving Universal Credit. This will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the Parliament, in decisive action as a downpayment ahead of publication of the Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn.
The government will use the leading, internationally recognised measure of poverty, Relative Poverty After Housing Costs. This is the proportion of families with below 60% of the median income, after deducting housing costs.
The government will also measure the experience of children in the most severe and acute forms of poverty, which we are considering how best to measure as we develop the Strategy.
These headline metrics will be supported by a range of other metrics as part of a monitoring framework to ensure the Strategy is on track to meet its aims, which will be set out alongside the publication.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had in 2025 with the higher education sector on visa restrictions placed on international students.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department regularly engages with the higher education (HE) sector to discuss range of topics including the recruitment of international students. This has recently included discussions with various HE institutions and their representative bodies on the measures set out in the Immigration White Paper, published on 12 May, and plans for their implementation.
This government will always welcome international students where they meet the requirements to study in this country. Our world class HE sector can offer a fulfilling and enjoyable experience to international students from around the world.
The Immigration White Paper sets out a series of measures that will achieve a reduction in net migration, while maintaining the UK HE sector’s globally competitive position and making a significant contribution to growth by boosting the UK’s skills base.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to reduce mobile phone usage by pupils in schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance 2024. The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.
New research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the benefits of school uniform.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department strongly encourages schools to have a uniform as it can play a key role in promoting the ethos of a school, provide a sense of belonging and identity and setting an appropriate tone for education.
By creating a common identity amongst all pupils, regardless of background, a school uniform can act as a social leveller. If, however, the uniform is too expensive it can place a financial burden on families. This is why the department has introduced legislation to limit the number of branded items of uniform and PE kit that schools can require. The measure will help to bring down costs for parents and remove barriers from children accessing sport and other school activities.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial state of universities; and what steps they are taking to address issues in this regard.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of Higher Education (HE) in England, publishes an annual report on the financial health of the HE sector.
The OfS’ most recent report, published in May 2024, showed that the financial position of the HE sector has become increasingly challenging. The report can be found at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/ly1buqlj/financial-sustainability-report2024.pdf, as attached.
The government recognises the immediate financial strain that some providers are under, and the department is working closely with the OfS to monitor any risks to ensure there are robust plans in place to mitigate them. Sir David Behan has been appointed as interim Chair of the OfS to oversee the important work of refocusing their role to concentrate on key priorities, including prioritising the financial stability of the HE sector.
This government is committed to creating a secure future for our world-leading universities so they can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy. This government has already started reviewing options to deliver a more robust HE sector, but we recognise it will take time to get it right.
Ultimately, HE providers are independent from government and therefore it is their responsibility to ensure they have a sustainable business model.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the economy of the fall in applications by international students to study in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the uptake of the learning of foreign languages in schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The government remains committed to increasing the proportion of pupils who choose to study a language up to GCSE and beyond, as well as to improving the quality of language teaching at both primary and secondary schools.
In March 2023, the department announced a new £14.9 million Language Hubs programme, including a distinct German Promotion Project. The programme will be comprised of up to 25 lead hub schools, all of which will work with partner schools to improve standards of language teaching across the country, in line with recommendations of the Teaching Schools Council’s 2016 modern foreign languages pedagogy review.
Since 2016, the department has funded the £20 million Mandarin Excellence Programme, which supports schools and teachers to deliver intensive Mandarin study to increase the quality of Mandarin lessons and to increase uptake in the subject. The programme provides professional development and teaching resources for teachers in participating schools across England.
From September 2024, teaching of the revised subject content for French, German, and Spanish GCSEs will begin. The new content is intended to encourage more students to take up these important subjects, making them more accessible to all pupils.
To ensure high standards of modern foreign language teaching, language curriculum materials and associated resources will be developed by Oak National Academy, as part of its second tranche of procurement. The first materials will be available from autumn 2024, and full curriculum packages by autumn 2025. This will ensure that high quality, optional lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the UK as a destination for international students.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
To ensure that the UK remains a top destination for international students, the department has launched Study UK. The Study UK campaign, delivered by the British Council, promotes UK universities to the world and encourages international students to study in the UK.
Attracting the brightest students from around the world is good for our universities, delivers growth at home, as well as supporting the creation of more places for UK students.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide additional Family Hubs over and above the funding already announced.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The government has announced 75 local authorities that are eligible to receive funding for family hubs. These were selected based on levels of disadvantage, targeting the areas with the highest levels of deprivation and disproportionately poor health and educational outcomes. Although we would like to see family hubs across the country, it is crucial that we now focus on delivering well in the local authorities already selected.
The investment in family hubs is significant and will have a wide reach across the country to improve outcomes for thousands of babies, children, and families, helping to deliver this government’s levelling up ambitions. We are not starting from zero, many local authorities already provide excellent early years and family support services. The evidence and learning from this investment will help to improve services across England, where they are most needed.
The department has set up the National Centre for Family Hubs (NCFH), to provide expert advice and guidance to all local authorities, local commissioners, academies, schools and third sector bodies with regards to transforming to family hubs. The NCFH hosts a comprehensive resource library and implementation toolkit to support family hubs providers. This work is supported by disseminating a regular newsletter, a series of learning events, and a community of practice. More information on the NCFH can be found here: https://www.nationalcentreforfamilyhubs.org.uk/.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of Family Hubs and their efficacy.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The government announced a £301.75 million package to transform services for parents, carers, babies and children in half of the local authorities across England in the autumn 2021 Budget. This package will create a network of family hubs in those areas and builds on the £39.5 million already committed, which includes funding to support a further 12 local authorities to transform services to a family hub model.
Family hubs are a place-based way of joining up locally in the planning and delivery of family services. They are a local innovation, developed to meet local needs and better support families.
Through the family hubs programmes, the department will continue to learn and gather insights on family hub provision and their effectiveness. We will be building the evidence base through the evaluation of family hubs, both existing and new models, which will support local authorities with good practice on evaluation, implementation and outcomes of their family hubs services. Additionally, the department will be running behavioural insight projects to ensure take-up of family hub services by underrepresented families and we will also collect data, such as family hubs maturity and outcomes. This will help with developing effective family hubs.
Further information on the evaluation of family hubs can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-family-hubs.