Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of Chinese influence through Confucius Institutes at UK universities since the Integrated Review Refresh in March 2023.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department recognises concerns about overseas interference in the higher education (HE) sector, including through Confucius Institutes. We regularly assess the risks facing academia. The department is taking action to remove any government funding from Confucius Institutes in the UK, but currently judges that it would be disproportionate to ban them.
Like any international body operating in the UK, Confucius Institutes need to operate transparently and within the law, with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities also have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and that the right due diligence is in place.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will ensure that universities in England have the tools they need to deal with interference with, and threats to, freedom of speech and academic freedom wherever they originate. Section 9 of the Act will require the Office for Students to monitor the overseas funding of registered HE providers and their constituent institutions, in order to assess the extent to which such funding arrangements present a risk to freedom of speech and academic freedom in HE. This includes the reporting of educational or commercial partnerships and would therefore cover arrangements with, for example, Confucius Institutes.
The department is now going further in the Integrated Review Refresh, launching a new and comprehensive review of legislative and other provisions designed to protect the academic sector, to identify what more we could or should be doing.
The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the work of Confucius Institutes on freedom of speech at universities.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department recognises concerns about overseas interference in the higher education (HE) sector, including through Confucius Institutes. We regularly assess the risks facing academia. The department is taking action to remove any government funding from Confucius Institutes in the UK, but currently judges that it would be disproportionate to ban them.
Like any international body operating in the UK, Confucius Institutes need to operate transparently and within the law, with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities also have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and that the right due diligence is in place.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will ensure that universities in England have the tools they need to deal with interference with, and threats to, freedom of speech and academic freedom wherever they originate. Section 9 of the Act will require the Office for Students to monitor the overseas funding of registered HE providers and their constituent institutions, in order to assess the extent to which such funding arrangements present a risk to freedom of speech and academic freedom in HE. This includes the reporting of educational or commercial partnerships and would therefore cover arrangements with, for example, Confucius Institutes.
The department is now going further in the Integrated Review Refresh, launching a new and comprehensive review of legislative and other provisions designed to protect the academic sector, to identify what more we could or should be doing.
The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to tackle potential national security risks posed by Confucius Institutes at UK universities.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department recognises concerns about overseas interference in the higher education (HE) sector, including through Confucius Institutes. We regularly assess the risks facing academia. The department is taking action to remove any government funding from Confucius Institutes in the UK, but currently judges that it would be disproportionate to ban them.
Like any international body operating in the UK, Confucius Institutes need to operate transparently and within the law, with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities also have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and that the right due diligence is in place.
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will ensure that universities in England have the tools they need to deal with interference with, and threats to, freedom of speech and academic freedom wherever they originate. Section 9 of the Act will require the Office for Students to monitor the overseas funding of registered HE providers and their constituent institutions, in order to assess the extent to which such funding arrangements present a risk to freedom of speech and academic freedom in HE. This includes the reporting of educational or commercial partnerships and would therefore cover arrangements with, for example, Confucius Institutes.
The department is now going further in the Integrated Review Refresh, launching a new and comprehensive review of legislative and other provisions designed to protect the academic sector, to identify what more we could or should be doing.
The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding the number of schools enrolled in the National School Breakfast Programme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In November 2022, the Department extended the National School Breakfast Programme for an additional year, until the end of the summer term in 2024. £30 million has been set aside to fund this programme. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing, and readiness to learn. Schools are eligible for the programme if they have 40% or more pupils from disadvantaged households, as measured by the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to extend the duration of the scheme for providing computers at home for disadvantaged children; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has delivered over 220,000 laptops and tablets, and over 50,000 4G wireless routers, to children who would not have otherwise had online access, as part of over £100 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care.
The laptops and tablets were an injection of support to help local authorities and academy trusts to provide access to education and social care during the COVID-19 restriction period. Laptops and tablets are owned by the local authority, academy trust or school, who can choose to lend unused laptops and tablets to children and young people who need them most, and who may face disruption to face-to-face education in the event of future local COVID-19 restrictions.
The Department is now supplementing this support by making available 250,000 additional laptops and tablets in the event that face-to-face schooling is disrupted as a result of local COVID-19 restrictions and children become reliant on remote education. This scheme is intended to enable schools to support disadvantaged children in years 3 to 11 who cannot afford their own laptops and tablets. Schools will also be able to order laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children across all year groups who are shielding as a result of official or medical advice, all year groups who attend hospital schools, and those completing their Key Stage 4 at a further education college.
In the event that face-to-face education is disrupted, we know that it is critical to get schools the support that they need in the shortest timeframe. The majority of laptops and tablets ordered through this scheme will be delivered within two working days, subject to availability.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has in place for increasing secondary school places in Ashford after 2022; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There are 21,211 more school places in Kent than there were in 2010 - as part of our drive to create a million more school places this decade, the largest expansion for at least two generations.
Local authorities are under a statutory duty to ensure that there is a school place available for every child, and the Department provides basic need funding for every place that local authorities tell us they need. Kent has received £246 million to provide new school places from 2011-2018, and has been allocated a further £52 million from 2018-2021. Capital funding for education beyond the current period will be agreed as part of the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance on funding his Department has issued to local education authorities (LEAs) on the passing of funding issued under the national funding formula from LEAs through to schools; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As we introduce the national funding formula, local authorities will continue to set local formulae to determine how their Schools Block is divided between individual schools in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Guidance to local authorities, setting out compulsory and optional elements of local formulae, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pre-16-schools-funding-guidance-for-2018-to-2019.
Asked by: Damian Green (Conservative - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of money allocated to each local education authority was passed directly to schools under the National Funding Formula in each local education authority area.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The national funding formula for schools is used to determine Schools Block allocations for local authorities. Local authorities will continue to set local formulae to determine individual schools’ budgets in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
In July, the Department will publish details of the local schools funding formulae in 2018-19. This will include total funding distributed by each local authority through their local funding formula.
This information can be compared with the Schools Block allocations that the Department has published:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2018-to-2019.