Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) laptops and (b) other remote learning devices his Department has provided to West Sussex schools during covid-19 closures since March 2020; and what estimate his Department has made of the value of those devices.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. As of Monday 8 February 2021, this includes over 980,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, academy trusts and local authorities.
All schools, academy trusts and local authorities have now been given the opportunity to order devices. Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, academy trusts or local authorities to lend to children and young people who need them most during the current COVID-19 restrictions.
Figures on the number of devices delivered, broken down by local authority and academy trust are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data.
Where schools need additional devices above their allocations they should contact the Department’s service team at covid.technology@education.gov.uk. They should include the number of disadvantaged pupils in Years 3 to 11 who require support and an explanation of how they have gathered this evidence.
The Department is also able to supply routers and mobile data through this scheme. We have partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online as well as delivering 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home. We are grateful to EE, O2, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone, BT Mobile and Lycamobile for their collaboration. We are currently engaged with additional mobile network operators and continue to invite a range of mobile network providers to support the offer.
The Department has delivered 54,000 4G wireless routers for pupils and care leavers without connection at home, have secured an additional 19,000 routers which we are distributing now and will be procuring more in the next few weeks.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support he plans to provide for undergraduate students whose university education has been disrupted by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We understand that this is a difficult and uncertain time for students, and we are working with the sector to make sure that all reasonable efforts are being made to enable all students to continue their studies and provide the support required for them to do so. Importantly, and following the national lockdown announcement, we have prioritised the return to face-to-face teaching for courses which are most important to be delivered in-person in order to support the pipeline of future key workers. All other courses should be delivered online until at least mid-February. We are working to ensure that all students are able to return to university as soon as it is safe to do so and we will provide further advice on this as soon as we can.
Our expectation, during these challenging times is that universities should maintain the quality and quantity of tuition and the Office for Students (OfS) will continue to actively monitor universities to ensure that quality of provision is maintained and accessible for all. That said, I know the sector has put in significant resources and worked hard to provide and prepare learning materials for this academic year and there are some fantastic and innovative approaches to delivering high-quality online learning.
We are also working with universities and the Professional, Statutory, and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) to explore what extra measures they have, or will need, to put in place to ensure that students continue to graduate with PSRB accredited degrees.
Students undertaking courses that would normally require attendance on-site will qualify for loans for living costs in the 2020/21 academic year, even if universities are providing course lectures and/or tutorials online due to the COVID-19 outbreak, provided students continue to engage with their higher education provider.
Students who suspend their studies for a variety of reasons, including shielding, can apply to Student Finance England for their living costs support to be continued while they are absent from their course. Students who suspend their studies due to illness automatically receive living costs support for the first 60 days of their illness.
Students who have applied for a loan for living costs for the 2020/21 academic year and have been awarded a lower amount than the maximum and believe their household income for the current tax year (2020/21) will drop by at least 15% compared to the household income they provided when they were initially assessed, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.
In these exceptional circumstances, we recognise that some students may face financial hardship or experience mental health issues. We have asked universities to prioritise mental health support, and ensure that students required to self-isolate receive the support they need. To support with this, we have worked closely with the OfS to help clarify that providers can draw upon existing funding to increase hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Providers are able to use OfS Student Premium funding worth around £256 million for this academic year towards student hardship funds. We are also currently making available up to £20 million of additional hardship funding to support those that need it most, particularly disadvantaged students. In addition, the £3 million OfS funded mental health and well-being platform, Student Space, has been extended for the whole of the 2020/21 academic year to provide extra support during these unprecedented times. The platform is designed to work alongside existing services. I also continually engage with Vice Chancellors and sector representatives, reinforcing at every opportunity that student welfare should remain a priority.
We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust sector guidance and support where necessary.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to promote social and economic mobility throughout the UK.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government is committed to promoting opportunity throughout the UK.
The Social Mobility Commission – an arm’s length body sponsored by the Department for Education – has a statutory responsibility to monitor social mobility in the United Kingdom and to promote social mobility in England. It carries out this responsibility by appraising action on social mobility via their annual monitoring report laid in Parliament, making recommendations to the government and conducting other evidence-based research reports they publish throughout the year. The Social Mobility Commission’s reports are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/social-mobility-commission.
A child’s earliest years are crucial to boosting economic and social mobility, which is why the government has invested in childcare places for the most disadvantaged 2 year olds, who are eligible for 15 hours of free childcare a week to give them a great start in life. Over one million disadvantaged 2 year olds have benefited from 15 hours of free childcare since the programme began in September 2013. Early years settings will continue to benefit from a planned £3.6 billion funding in the 2020-21 financial year to create free early education and childcare places for children.
Likewise, a world-class education system that works for everyone is the best way to give everyone the chance to make the most of their talents and give them the foundations to live happy and independent lives. That is why the government is investing over £7 billion more in schools by the 2022-23 financial year, compared to the 2019-20 financial year, plus additional funding to cover pension costs.
To support young people’s employment prospects, the government is investing £500 million in a package of support to ensure young people have the skills and training to go on to high-quality, secure and fulfilling employment. Adult skills are key in supporting the economy and tackling disadvantage. Starting next year, the government is providing £3 billion (£2.5 billion for England) for the National Skills Fund to help people learn valuable skills and prepare for the economy of the future.
To address economic mobility, this government is committed to levelling up opportunities across the UK, supporting people into employment and those on low pay. In its Plan for Jobs, the government has announced unprecedented support to help unemployed people in Great Britain find a job, and the 2020 Spending Review provides additional funding to build on this commitment. A link to the Plan for Jobs scheme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/a-plan-for-jobs-2020.
For those on low pay, the government is making progress towards its long-term ambition for the National Living Wage (NLW) to reach two-thirds of median earnings by 2024. In April 2021, workers on the NLW will see a pay increase to £8.91 an hour, a rise of 2.2%.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that West Sussex schools receive equitable levels of funding under the National Funding Formula.
Answered by Nick Gibb
West Sussex are receiving an extra £29.7 million in the financial year 2020-21 through the schools National Funding Formula (NFF). This is equivalent to an increase of 5.6% in per pupil funding, compared to last year – above the national average of 4.2%.
West Sussex also attract an extra £23.9 million in the provisional schools NFF allocations for the financial year 2021-22. This is equivalent to an increase of 3.8% in per pupil funding, compared to last year– above the national average of 3.1%.
The NFF continues to distribute funding fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts. The formula is levelling up school funding and delivering resources where they are needed most, while ensuring that every school is attracting at least 2% more pupil-led funding per pupil.
Next year, every primary school will also receive at least £4,000 per pupil, and every secondary school at least £5,150 per pupil, delivering on the government’s pledge to level up the lowest funded schools. On top of that, all schools will receive additional funds to cover additional teachers’ pay and pension costs. This adds a further £180 and £265 respectively to the minimum per pupil amounts.
In the financial year 2021-22 we are also increasing the extra support the NFF provides for small and remote schools, primarily serving rural communities. Primary schools attracting this funding will be allocated up to £45,000 through the NFF’s sparsity factor– a significant increase from £26,000 this year. This will be the first step towards further expanding the support the NFF offers small and remote schools, with further changes planned from the financial year 2022-23.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans for a post-covid-19 review of the performance of the Office for Students.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The performance of the OfS is closely monitored at all times by the department and its board, as set out in the framework document between the OfS and the department and in line with the ‘Partnerships with arm's length bodies: code of good practice’.
The framework document between the OfS and the department is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/189e6e2a-65eb-4cc5-9ad3-bfb149185b69/ofs-framework-document-review-2019.pdf. The ‘Partnerships with arm's length bodies: code of good practice’ is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/partnerships-with-arms-length-bodies-code-of-good-practice.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many boarding pupils at maintained secondary schools are from EU member states.
Answered by Nick Gibb
?In January 2018, there were 738 boarding pupils in state-funded secondary schools who were born in EU member states. Information on pupil nationality and country of birth has not been collected by the Department since the 2017-18 academic year and, as such, this is the latest available data.