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.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment he has made of trends in the number of people (a) expressing an interest in foster parenting and (b) completing the foster parent application process in the last five years.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Department for Education does not collect this data. This data is currently captured by Ofsted.
Ofsted have seen an increase in enquires to independent fostering agencies (IFA) between the financial year 2015-2019, but in the same period enquiries have decreased for local authorities. At the end of March 2020, we have seen an increase in applications compared to 2015. However, application rates have remained fairly static over the past 2 years.
Ofsted estimate that there were around 137,200 initial enquiries from prospective fostering households in the year ending 31 March 2020. This was an increase of around 7% compared to the financial year 2018 to 2019. The reported figure of 135,075, from the data provided by 94% of all eligible agencies, was itself an increase on the previous year (127,850).
Ofsted estimate that around 76% enquiries received were within the IFA sector, up from 72% in 2018 to 2019. This results from a 14% increase in enquiries to the IFA sector, and a 10% decrease for local authorities, compared with last year.
A breakdown of enquiries received over the past 5 years are as follows:
Year | Total number of enquiries received |
2015/16 | 101,795 |
2016/17 | 114,425 |
2017/18 | 117,335 |
2018/19 | 127,850 |
2019/20 | 135,080 |
In relation to applications approved, across the sectors, the conversion rate of applications received to applications approved was very similar. Around 1 in 4 applications were approved in both sectors. However, IFAs accounted for both more applications and approvals than local authorities.
A breakdown of applications received and approved by local authorities are as follows:
Year | Total number of applications received | Total number of applications approved |
2015/16 | 4,525 | 1,150 |
2016/17 | 4,940 | 1,140 |
2017/18 | 4,710 | 985 |
2018/19 | 4,390 | 1,020 |
2019/20 | 3,570 | 905 |
A breakdown of applications received and approved by IFAs are as follows:
Year | Total number of applications received | Total number of applications approved |
2015/16 | 4,060 | 1,140 |
2016/17 | 4,405 | 1,260 |
2017/18 | 5,830 | 1,455 |
2018/19 | 5,350 | 1,395 |
2019/20 | 5,235 | 1,230 |
Among local authorities, 43% of completed applications were approved, while 35% were approved among IFAs. The difference is mostly accounted for by a higher proportion of withdrawals by applicants among IFAs (49% compared to 36% for local authorities).
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to amend the Air Navigation Directions 2017 to require the Civil Aviation Authority when considering airspace change proposals to undertake an assessment of the available safety data regarding all airspace users and publish a statement on how proposals satisfy the requirements of the operators and owners of all aircraft; and whether the post-implementation review of the airspace change proposal that came into force at Farnborough Airport in February 2020 will include an analysis of safety data.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Air Navigation Directions 2017 are kept under review but there are no immediate plans to amend them.
When undertaking the post-implementation review of the Farnborough Airport airspace change, the Civil Aviation Authority will consider the safety and operational characteristics of this proposal, including available flight data, and then determine whether the proposal has met its regulatory requirements.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2020 to Question 113060, if he will disaggregate the take-up rate of the period products programme by (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) colleges.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As previously answered in question 113060, on 20 January 2020, the department launched a new scheme which makes free period products available for state-funded primary schools, secondary schools and colleges, in England.
Our delivery partner, phs Group, reported in August, that since the scheme launched, almost 40% of eligible organisations have placed orders for period products and we are continuing to monitor the scheme closely.
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 assessment he has made of the extent of (a) misinformation and (b) disinformation on social media on the covid-19 outbreak to date; who the originators of the most widespread messages are; and what assessment he has made of the motivations behind such messages.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it continues to be vitally important that the public has accurate information about the virus, and DCMS is leading work across Government to tackle disinformation.
That is why we stood up the Counter Disinformation Unit up on 5 March to bring together cross-Government monitoring and analysis capabilities. The Unit’s primary function is to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and impact of disinformation and misinformation regarding Covid-19 and to work with partners to ensure appropriate action is taken.
Misinformation and disinformation can come from a range of sources, however it would not be appropriate for us to provide a running commentary on the amount of misinformation or disinformation seen to date. Throughout the pandemic, we have been working closely with social media platforms to quickly identify and help them respond to potentially harmful content on their platforms, including removing harmful content in line with their terms and conditions, and promoting authoritative sources of information.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of long term trends in the level of zero-hours contracts, casual labour, piece work, commission-only sales and other types of non-guaranteed-hours employment as (a) people's sole or primary and (b) additional employment.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of take-up among schools and colleges of the period products programme; and what steps his Department is taking to publicise that programme.
Answered by Vicky Ford
On 20 January 2020, the department launched a new scheme which makes free period products available for state-funded primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in England.
Our delivery partner, phs Group, reported in August that since the scheme launched, almost 40% of eligible organisations have placed orders for period products and we are continuing to monitor the scheme closely.
The scheme remained in operation during partial school and college closures, and we continue to work with phs Group to encourage engagement with the scheme.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made, for each region of England, of the proportion of households with children attending schools in more than one local authority area.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information requested is not held centrally.
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 assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing the recommendation in the Duty of Care in Sport independent report to Government by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, published in April 2017, that the Government should create a sports ombudsman or sports duty of care quality commission, with powers to hold national governing bodies to account for the duty of care they provide to all athletes, coaching staff and support staff.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
It is important that the systems elite sports have for dealing with concerns about athlete welfare are as effective as possible, regardless of whether any new service - be that an ombudsman or a different model - is developed. All sports and clubs should have appropriate procedures in place, and when formal channels have been exhausted and a matter remains unresolved, investigations should be conducted independently through an appropriate organisation such as Sport Resolutions UK.
The Code for Sports Governance came into force around the same time as the Duty of Care report was published in April 2017. This imposes clear requirements on all funded sports organisations to have appropriate whistleblowing and safeguarding policies and procedures in place. In addition, UK Sport have proactively worked to strengthen the existing systems, structures and responsibilities for dispute resolution within the high performance system, and introduced numerous measures in the 12 months following the report’s publication. These actions included mandating an independent element in discipline and grievance procedures, establishing a dedicated integrity unit, and introducing an annual Culture Health Check survey that monitors athlete welfare and enables issues to be picked up and addressed.
My department will continue to work closely with UK Sport and keep this issue under review, looking to strengthen provision wherever necessary.