Education Recovery

Lord Triesman Excerpts

Tuesday 8th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

On technological advance, I will be in front of noble Lords next week talking about schools and post-16 education, which is part of the Government’s skills policy. As I previously outlined, I am nervous about international comparisons. It is appropriate in relation to some of the money distributed, such as the £650 million, which, from memory, is £80 per pupil, and £240 for SEND or AP pupils, because it relates to general schools money. However, one cannot look at the £200 million on a per-pupil basis because it is for summer schools and available only to year 7.

The £1 billion for tutoring is targeted at disadvantaged students and we do not know whether the figures that the noble Baroness outlined include the £400 million that has gone into technology and remote learning for the 1.3 million laptops. Per-pupil funding is not always comparing apples with apples. That is a key part of our strategy. I agree that the pandemic has affected all children and there is a case for amounts such as the £650 million to go to all schools but the evidence that we are getting from different areas of the country on disadvantaged students is why a huge proportion of the money is targeted at them through the tutoring programme.

[Lord Triesman (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Garden, said that the Government could do better. Speaking candidly, I think that they could hardly do worse. I was horrified by the derisory per-capita recovery funding that is to be spent on all children, as the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, has just said, if they are to recover from the body blows to their education and future prospects. I have little doubt that that provoked the principled resignation of Sir Kevan. I imagine that that is also painful for the Minister, who is an honourable person. It is still worse in the aftermath of Marcus Rashford’s great campaign against childhood hunger, where the Government’s response was so poor.

It is true that the international comparisons stand up; it is fair to compare such things in these circumstances, and the facts cannot be obscured. The United States is going to spend 32 times as much on its recovery for kids as we are, while the Government here spend vast amounts on their friends and donors in this pandemic, rather than on the United Kingdom’s kids. The figures are well documented. What urgent plans does the Minister have in place to review and repair this miserly approach? She has mentioned a contingency plan that the Prime Minister may inaugurate. Is she committing to the money that that contingency plan may demand in the circumstances? Can she say more about the money for further education, where so many 16 to 18 year-olds are now educated?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

We will have to beg to differ on international comparisons; I believe I have comprehensively explained our view of those comparisons. As I said, there will be a review of the extension to the school day. In the forthcoming spending review, we will look at the ongoing need for recovery during this Parliament. We have been clear that recovery is for the length of this Parliament, and this will not be the last word on recovery, I am sure.

I turn to provision for 16 to 19 year-olds. Some 75% of colleges are reporting that their students are between one and five months behind. The tuition fund has been bolstered by a further £222 million, in addition to increased revenue funding, bringing the total over those three years to £324 million to enable these students to catch up. We have also made clear that, where appropriate, students in year 13 or the equivalent can repeat the school year, but that is up to school leaders to fund. Importantly, there has been an additional £8 million for vulnerable students who are transitioning to 16 to 19 from alternative provision, to make sure that they get to the right post-16 destination. We had very strong feedback from stakeholders that the first tranche of transition money was useful in being able to secure the correct 16 to 19 provision for those vulnerable young people.