Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to update the Countryside Code after covid-19 restrictions have been lifted and The Countryside Code - short Covid-19 online version, last updated on 2 July 2020, has been stood down.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England (NE) has a statutory duty to produce and promote the Countryside Code which provides three levels of information: short and long versions for the public plus additional information for land managers and owners for areas of open country. NE is currently undertaking a review and refresh of the Code.
The launch of the refreshed version of the Countryside Code at Easter will be the first step in a much longer campaign both to promote the Code and begin an associated campaign running throughout 2021. This will include a broader conversation with stakeholders about what a ‘post-Covid’ Code for the 21st century would look like and how we can, as a sector, promote more positive behaviours and awareness. The aim is that it can be used flexibly across multiple platforms to reach a much greater diversity of audiences and NE will be setting out more about this work in due course.
Alongside this development work an updated video has been produced to promote the Code and respecting the countryside. This has been posted across Defra’s and Natural England’s social media channels as well as being available to stakeholders to use on their social channels with a complementary package of additional content. We also plan to publicise the video on the Government’s ‘Nextdoor’ channel and on our Instagram accounts this week.
We are continuing to work on a wider communications plan and will be developing additional social media content to respond to potential upcoming issues over the coming months.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to promote the Countryside Code: short covid-19 version more widely.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England (NE) has a statutory duty to produce and promote the Countryside Code which provides three levels of information: short and long versions for the public plus additional information for land managers and owners for areas of open country. NE is currently undertaking a review and refresh of the Code.
The launch of the refreshed version of the Countryside Code at Easter will be the first step in a much longer campaign both to promote the Code and begin an associated campaign running throughout 2021. This will include a broader conversation with stakeholders about what a ‘post-Covid’ Code for the 21st century would look like and how we can, as a sector, promote more positive behaviours and awareness. The aim is that it can be used flexibly across multiple platforms to reach a much greater diversity of audiences and NE will be setting out more about this work in due course.
Alongside this development work an updated video has been produced to promote the Code and respecting the countryside. This has been posted across Defra’s and Natural England’s social media channels as well as being available to stakeholders to use on their social channels with a complementary package of additional content. We also plan to publicise the video on the Government’s ‘Nextdoor’ channel and on our Instagram accounts this week.
We are continuing to work on a wider communications plan and will be developing additional social media content to respond to potential upcoming issues over the coming months.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect sheep from attacks and harassment by dogs.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
My department takes the issue of livestock worrying very seriously, recognising the distress this can cause farmers and animals, as well as the financial implications.
All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.
The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 provides a specific offence of allowing a dog to worry livestock with a maximum fine of £1,000. In addition, the police can and do take action under the Dogs Act 1871 where there are dogs that are out of control and dangerous to other animals. Section 2 of the 1871 Act allows a complaint to be made to a Magistrate’s court by any individual, the police or local authorities, where a dog is “dangerous and not kept under proper control”. The court may make any Order it considers appropriate to require the owner to keep the dog under proper control, or if necessary, that it be destroyed. The court may specify measures to be taken for keeping the dog under proper control, such as muzzling and remaining on a lead when in public.
Guidance is available to educate owners about handling their dogs responsibly in the vicinity of livestock, in order to prevent the occurrence of attacks or chasing.
The statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs provides owners with information on how to provide for their dog’s natural needs as required by the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The Code of Practice clearly sets out that all dogs need to be trained to behave well, ideally from a very young age and should be introduced gradually and positively to different environments, people and animals. If owners become aware of changes in behaviour, or their dog is fearful of, or aggressive, towards other dogs and people, they should avoid the situations which lead to this and seek veterinary advice. The Code asks owners to ensure that they prevent their dogs from chasing or attacking any other animals, including livestock and horses; for example, through use of a lead or avoidance of such situations.
Recent reports on livestock worrying, including by the National Chiefs’ Police Council, have recommended reforming the 1953 Act to address current enforcement challenges and ensure it remains fit for purpose. We are currently engaging closely with key stakeholders to improve our understanding of the scale of the issue and the views of both livestock keepers and dog owners.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the availability of printers in pupils’ homes by (a) phase of education, (b) free school meals eligibility, and (c) any other division of data available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not have data or estimates of the availability of printers in pupils’ homes.
Schools can provide printed resources, such as textbooks and workbooks, to structure learning. We expect schools to work to overcome any barriers experienced by pupils in accessing remote education. This could include distributing school owned laptops or supplementing digital provision with different forms of remote education such as printed resources or textbooks. This should be supplemented with other forms of communication to keep pupils and students on track or answer questions about work.
The Government is supporting access to remote education and online social care services, through an investment of over £400 million that includes securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people who do not have access to their own device. Over 800,000 laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts and local authorities by 17 January.
We have also 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.
Support is available for schools to get set up on Google or Microsoft platforms. These platforms bring together the school community, pool resources and give pupils the opportunity to work with their peers remotely. As of 5 January 2021, 6,900 schools have applied for a digital education platform.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish data on relative usage levels for Oak National Academy in the current covid-19 lockdown compared to previous periods.
Answered by Nick Gibb
To support the hard work of schools in delivering remote education, Oak National Academy was very quickly brought together by over 40 teachers, their schools and other education organisations. The Department has made £4.84 million available for Oak both for the summer term of the academic year 2019-20, and then for the 2020-21 academic year, to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11. Specialist content for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is also available.
The number of users to have visited the Oak National Academy platform (correct as of 12 January 2021) can be found in the following table:
| Average users/ day | Total users |
April- July 2020 | 200K-250K | 4.7M |
September- December 2020 | 50-100K | 2.3M |
4 – 12 January 2021 | 950K-1M | 3.5M |
Oak will remain a free optional resource for 2020-21.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what data and information his Department holds on trends in the level of (a) original programming hours and (b) broadcast hours produced as (i) Programmes for schools and colleges and (ii) other educational content for school-age children by (A) the BBC, (B) ITV and (C) other broadcasters.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The department does not hold this information.
Ofcom data indicates that in 2018, public service broadcasters (PSBs, in this context the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) collectively broadcast 125 hours of content in 2018 meeting the description of “formal education”. Of this, 65 hours were considered original content.
This output was supplemented by content available on-demand, online, on podcasts and radio, as well as less formal educational content such as documentaries and broader children’s content.
Between 2010 and 2018, the total amount of educational content broadcast by PSBs fell considerably (2010: 725 hours). Over the same period, the amount of original educational content broadcast by PSBs remained relatively constant (2010: 70 hours), albeit with considerable year-to-year fluctuation. Data covering 2019 and 2020 is not yet available.
Ofcom data suggests that commercial multi channels broadcast 40 hours of original content classified as ‘other’ in 2018 (2014: 0 hours). This classification includes formal education.
Further information can be found on Ofcom’s website.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what data his Department holds on the (a) number of hours of school-age educational programmed content on the BBC and (b) amount of online content on BBC bitesize in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The department does not hold this information. The BBC may hold more information on this topic.
Page 115 of the BBC’s Annual Report for 2019-20 sets out some information on how the BBC has performed on its public purpose to support learning for people of all ages. The report also states that the BBC offered 14 weeks of educational programmes and lessons during the summer term and that, by the end of the term, the BBC had published nearly 2,000 curriculum-led ‘Bitesize Daily Lessons’ online.
Further, on 5 January 2021, the BBC also announced its education offering for the UK’s third national lockdown. The announcement included three hours of primary school programming each week day on CBBC, and at least two hours of secondary school content each day on BBC 2. It also included an expansion of BBC bitesize online content for primary and secondary school pupils. The full announcement can be found on the BBC website here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2020/bbc-launches-biggest-education-offer-ever
I also refer the Hon Member to my answer to PQs 136489 and 136491 where I set out Ofcom’s figures for the education provision by Public Service Broadcasters collectively.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information his Department holds on trends in the level of (a) original programming hours and (b) broadcast hours of (i) programmes for schools and colleges and (ii) other educational content for school-age children on (A) the BBC, (B) ITV and (C) other broadcasters.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The department does not hold this information.
Ofcom data indicates that in 2018, public service broadcasters (PSBs, in this context the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) collectively broadcast 125 hours of content in 2018 meeting the description of “formal education”. Of this, 65 hours were considered original content.
This output was supplemented by content available on-demand, online, on podcasts and radio, as well as less formal educational content such as documentaries and broader children’s content.
Between 2010 and 2018, the total amount of educational content broadcast by PSBs fell considerably (2010: 725 hours). Over the same period, the amount of original educational content broadcast by PSBs remained relatively constant (2010: 70 hours), albeit with considerable year-to-year fluctuation. Data covering 2019 and 2020 is not yet available.
Ofcom data suggests that commercial multi channels broadcast 40 hours of original content classified as ‘other’ in 2018 (2014: 0 hours). This classification includes formal education.
Further information can be found on Ofcom’s website.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made from previous periods of remote learning of the level of use by (a) schools, (b) pupils and (c) families of (i) Oak National Academy learning, (ii) third party online virtual learning environments, (iii) schools’ own materials, (iv) broadcast TV, (v) BBC Bitesize and (vi) others.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Given the critical importance of ensuring that all children and young people continue to learn during the national lockdown, we have updated the remote education guidance for schools and colleges to clarify and strengthen expectations while on-site attendance is restricted, drawing on our evolving understanding of best practice in remote education.
Schools are expected to provide a set number of hours of remote education for pupils – increased from the government’s previous minimum expectations – that includes time for independent study and also either recorded or live direct teaching. Pupils will be set between three and five hours per day of remote education depending on their age, with daily check-ins on their engagement, and involving the effective use of digital education platforms.
To help schools and colleges meet the remote education expectations set out in guidance, the Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services. A comprehensive package of support is available to help schools meet these expectations which can be accessed through the Get Help with Remote Education page on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-remote-education.
The Department has made £4.84 million available for Oak both for the summer term of the academic year 2019-20, and then for the 2020-21 academic year, to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11. Since the start of the autumn term, 2,280,706 users have visited the Oak National Academy platform and 12,998,483 lessons have been viewed (as of 4 January 2021). For schools that do not already have a full remote education curriculum or resources in place or where staffing capacity is challenging, we strongly recommend that they consider using Oak National Academy or other high-quality resource providers. We have also published guidance on accessing and buying remote education resources, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/help-with-accessing-and-buying-resources-for-remote-education.
Support is also available for schools to get set up on Google or Microsoft platforms. These platforms bring together the school community, pool resources and give pupils the opportunity to work with their peers remotely. As of 5 January 2021, 6900 schools have applied to the DfE Digital Platforms programme that forms part of the Get Help With Technology programme.
In addition, the BBC has adapted their education support for the spring term 2021 and will be making educational content available on the television. Bitesize Daily primary and secondary will also air every day on BBC Red Button as well as episodes being available on demand on BBC iPlayer. This TV offer is in addition to the BBC’s online offer, which parents, children, and teachers can access when and where they need it.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support the transition to electric vehicles in rural areas.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
This Government is going further and faster to decarbonise transport by phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, and, from 2035, all new cars and vans must be zero emissions at the tailpipe. We want people across the country to have the opportunity to make the move to electric vehicles. The Government had already committed £1.5 billion to support the early market and remove barriers to electric vehicle ownership. Alongside the new phase out dates we have pledged a further £2.8 billion package of measures to support industry and consumers to make the switch to cleaner vehicles. This support is available in both urban and rural areas across the UK
Today, a driver is never more than 25 miles away from a rapid?chargepoint?anywhere along England’s motorways and major A roads. Local authorities in rural areas are able to take advantage of the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), which assists them with the cost of installing chargepoints on residential streets. The Government will continue to monitor market developments to determine whether any significant gaps in charging infrastructure provision emerge where there may be a case for further measures.