Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training is being made available to university students to help them to access their online tuition at university.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
English higher education (HE) providers are autonomous institutions, which means that they have the freedom to determine the way their courses are taught, supervised, and assessed. However, providers that are registered with the Office for Students (OfS) must ensure that all students, from admission through to completion, have the support that they need to succeed in and benefit from HE. The OfS has the powers to act if there are concerns.
As I set out in a letter to MPs on 9 October, the government’s expectation is that quality and academic standards must be maintained. The OfS has made it clear that all HE providers must continue to comply with registration conditions relating to quality and standards, which set out requirements to ensure that courses are high quality, that students are supported and achieve good outcomes and that standards are protected. The OfS have also set out that providers must continue to provide sufficient and appropriate facilities, learning resources and student support services to deliver a high-quality academic experience. Providers must continue to comply with their legal obligations under the Equality Act (2010), ensuring that education and learning is accessible to all students. When making changes to the delivery of their courses, providers need to consider how they support all students, particularly the most vulnerable, to achieve successful academic and professional outcomes. We recognise that the move to increased online provision may result in the support needs of some students with disabilities changing, in which case suitable alternative arrangements should be made for them.
The OfS has published information and guidance for providers and students. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education has also published a series of guides to support providers to secure academic standards and to support student achievement during the COVID-19 outbreak. The guidance is available here: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/news-events/support-and-guidance-covid-19.
The OfS are taking very seriously the potential impacts on teaching and learning, ensuring they have a clear picture of what students are receiving. They published a statement on 9 October about how they are monitoring the quality of online provision.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has also commissioned Sir Michael Barber, the Chair of the OfS, to lead a review to consider how to enhance the quality of digital teaching and learning and the opportunities that digital education presents for universities in the medium and long term. The review is expected to report in spring 2021 and will also explore how HE providers can ensure that all students have access to a high-quality digital teaching and learning experience.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
What plans he has to provide additional fiscal support to families during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This Government is committed to doing whatever it takes to support families through the Covid-19 pandemic. That is why we have put in place an unprecedented package of support – including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, and the Job Support Scheme. In addition to these measures, the Government has introduced over £9bn of temporary welfare support – all helping to protect incomes, jobs, and support those most in need.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many non-disclosure agreements have been entered into by HS2 Ltd; and if he will list the parties to those agreements.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are used to protect both HS2 Ltd’s information and the information of the other signatory party and are in accordance with typical business practice. These agreements help to avoid placing homes and businesses in unnecessary blight, protect commercially sensitive information of both parties and the personal information of those potentially affected by any proposed changes to the scheme. HS2 Ltd’s Register shows 339 such agreements have been put in place. As this number changes on a frequent basis as the project develops and new agreements are added to the Register we do not intend to publish a list of the parties at the present time.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what parents' organisations are providing his Department with advice and opinions on the effect of Covid-19 restrictions on the health and welfare of school children.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department works with and uses information provided from a wide range of stakeholder organisations, including those that represent the views of parents, to inform its COVID-19 response. These include organisations such as Parentkind, National Network of Parent Carer Forums, Mumsnet, Barnardos, NSPCC, and the Disabled Children’s Partnership (which includes Autistica, National Autistic Society and Ambitious about Autism).
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the changes in the way education is delivered in schools on children's (a) ability to learn, (b) mental health and (c) satisfaction with their schooling; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on attainment and progress is a key research priority for the government.
We have commissioned an independent research and assessment agency to provide a baseline assessment of catch-up needs for pupils in schools in England, and monitor progress over the course of the year, to help us target support across the system.
This research will make use of assessments that schools are already choosing to use over the course of the next academic year. This will add no additional burden on schools, and pupils will not have to sit any additional assessments for this research, at this crucial time for the education sector.
This research will be based on a large sample of pupils from years 1 to 11, and will allow the department to understand how best to support the sector and which particular groups of pupils have been affected by time out of school.
There is growing evidence that the COVID-19 outbreak and associated interventions, such as social distancing and stay at home guidance, including school closures, have likely had an adverse effect on the mental health and well-being of children and young people. For some, the COVID-19 outbreak will have disrupted or removed protective factors for their mental health, such as social support, physical activity and routine, and this may be compounded by additional risk factors. There is also increasing evidence that many children and young people are coping well overall and some have reported benefits for their mental health.
While many children and young people have retained some access to mental health support during this period, we know that some children and young people will have struggled to access mental health support in the same way as before the COVID-19 outbreak, which has been associated with worse mental health and wellbeing for some children and young people with existing needs.
Supporting schools and colleges to stay open and provide catch-up support to their pupils, including time devoted to supporting wellbeing, will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. To support the return to a full high-quality education programme, we have put in place a range of measures, including guidance for settings and a new £8 million training initiative for educational staff and local authority services, to support children and young people’s wellbeing.
Health education was introduced into the curriculum in September, including a range of specific teaching requirements on mental health and wellbeing. Training materials and support are available to schools.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that (a) HS2 and (b) HS2 contractor vehicles display HS2 identification on their windscreens to enable checks that they are using the correct routes to HS2 sites.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All vehicles over 3.5t employed on deliveries of construction equipment or materials, or moving quantities of spoil on public roads are required to display an A4 size identifier, stating ‘HS2’ inside the cab windscreen in a position that does not obscure the driver’s visibility. The requirement applies when the vehicle is on HS2 business.
The requirement to display identification is monitored by the contractors and by HS2 Ltd’s dedicated compliance team, and all reasonable steps are therefore taken to ensure compliance with the requirement.
In exceptional circumstances, HS2 Ltd can apply a derogation to this requirement, for example, when lorries and drivers are being specifically targeted by non-peaceful protesters.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if (a) amateur and (b) professional (i) choirs, (ii) orchestras and (iii) music groups that can demonstrate they are covid-secure are exempt from the covid-19 restrictions on the number of people allowed to meet in a group from 14 September 2020.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Amateur choirs, orchestras or drama groups should not rehearse or perform together in groups of more than six. They could split into sub-groups to do so, provided these groups do not interact.
Further guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many British workers were engaged on the manufacture of the tunnelling machines for HS2.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
HS2 Ltd did not procure the tunnelling boring machines as responsibility for this is passed to the Main Works Civil Contractors. That’s because each TBM has to be designed to cope with ‘worst case’ ground conditions in a particular location and these can vary significantly from site to site. However, the TBMs will be operated in the UK by a combination of UK and European specialist operatives. Government has set HS2 Ltd a target for procuring 95% of works from UK based companies. More than 2000 UK businesses have already secured work on the programme.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans HS2 Ltd and its contractors have to recruit workers from overseas.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
HS2 Ltd has offices based in Birmingham and London and over 95% of the HS2 supply chain is UK based.
HS2 Ltd and their main contractors plan their strategic workforce based on the requirements of the project. HS2 Ltd and its supply chain are required to think through the implications of skills shortages and the talent marketplace. Whilst the market remains competitive, thanks to the growing pipeline of major projects HS2 is benefitting from the growing skills base in the UK from the Olympics, Crossrail, and Tideway, and a host of Highways England and Network Rail projects.
HS2 Ltd and its supply chain have to comply with all immigration laws and assure that the workforce has the relevant right to work in the UK.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of Greengauge21’s report entitled HS2’s Eastern Arm, published July 2020.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has made clear its commitment to delivering HS2 Phase 2b and transformational rail improvements. The Integrated Rail Plan to be published at end of year will consider how best to do that, with a focus on integration with proposed major rail investments in the North and Midlands and ensuring that benefits are delivered from investments more quickly.