Dan Jarvis

Nabarro Claims Solutions (NCS) administer the Coal Industry Pneumoconiosis Compensation Scheme (CIPCS) on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The Scheme remains open to those who meet the criteria, and the Department has no plans to make any changes to the CIPCS

Suppliers must take all reasonable steps to ensure that customers’ direct debit payments are based on the best available information. A supplier should explain the reasons for changes made, with at least 10 days advance notice before the next payment is taken. The customer may challenge a proposed increase and renegotiate the payment level. Ofgem are undertaking a series of market compliance reviews to assess whether recent direct debit increases are justified.

The Government has announced a package of additional measures to provide immediate support, totalling over £37 billion this year, including a £400 grant to households to help with their energy bills.

Participants in the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (DRHI) have always been able to change their Metering and Monitoring Service Package (MMSP) to a new installer should their existing installer become insolvent. The recent legislation that closed the DRHI to new applicants streamlined this process.

The DRHI closed to new applications on 31 March 2022. However, the Department will continue to keep the scheme (including MMSP) under review to determine whether further changes to scheme operation are required, until the final DRHI payments are made in 2029. This will take into account market conditions such as installer availability.

There is dedicated support available for anyone whose home is damaged through historic coal mining. Utilising the powerful remedies of the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991, the Coal Authority, one of BEIS Partner Organisations, will assess and carry out repairs to any properties damaged by coal mining subsidence.

We are growing R&D clusters around the country and I recently had the pleasure of visiting the BioYorkshire cluster. The Levelling Up White Paper set a new mission to increase domestic public investment in R&D outside the Greater South East by at least one third over the Spending Review period and at least 40 percent by 2030.

Nabarro Claims Solutions (NCS) took over administration of the Coal Industry Pneumoconiosis Compensation Scheme in May 2011. Since then, 1,826 claims have been received and assessed.

A verifiable breakdown of claims prior to May 2011 is not available.

Nabarro Claims Solutions (NCS) took over administration of the Coal Industry Pneumoconiosis Compensation Scheme (CIPCS) in May 2011. Since then, 124 claims, which met the employment criteria of employment with British Coal, have been settled on reliance of the content of a Death Certificate instead of certification in respect of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for PD D1 (Pneumoconiosis) or another disease that is compensable under the CIPCS.

A verifiable breakdown of claims prior to May 2011 is not available.

The Coal Industry Pneumoconiosis Compensation Scheme (CIPCS) provides compensation to former mineworkers or their estates.

There are three categories of compensation:

• Lump Sum Payments: Tariffs are determined by the age at the date of onset of the disease and the year of certification. In instances in which there is no Industrial Injuries Disablement (IIDB) and a Death Certificate is relied on, the tariff is based on a 10% disability. Each year the relevant tariffs are increased in line with RPI, with those new figures being applicable from 3 May in respect of certifications within that year (e.g. for a former mineworker certified in October 2012 the correct table would run from 3 May 2012. Whereas for a former mineworker certified in October 2021, the correct table would run from 3 May 2021).

• Progression Payments: These are paid to those who have an increase in disability of more than 20% which is evidenced by an IIDB re-assessment.

• Loss of Earning Allowance Payments: These relatively uncommon payments are made to former mineworkers until they turn, or would have turned, 62. In living claims, payment is subject to being in receipt of one of a number of specific benefits and verification that the qualifying disease caused an inability to work for 28 successive weeks or more.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State regularly meets with Ministerial colleagues in HM Treasury and discusses a range of issues.

The Government recognises the vital role that steel plays in our economy across all areas of the UK, and will continue to work with the sector to support its decarbonisation.

On 28 July, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced its intention to acquire Sheffield Forgemasters International Limited to secure its unique capability to supply large scale high integrity steel components into existing and future defence programmes. This acquisition was completed on 19 August. The MOD also intends to spend up to £400 million for defence critical plant, equipment and infrastructure in SFIL over the next 10 years to support defence outputs.

The Government recognises that the death of a child is a tragic event. In April 2020 we introduced a new statutory entitlement to Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay for parents who lose a child under the age of 18.

By making this change in the law, the Government is sending an important signal to employers that the issue of bereavement in the workplace should be acknowledged, and that we expect them to respond to such circumstances in a sensitive and compassionate manner. The policy establishes a statutory baseline for employers when managing parental bereavement in the workplace.

Business travel is permitted in accordance with rules about access and quarantine that have been agreed across Government. The rules relating to red and amber list countries can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england. From the 19^th of July, individuals arriving in England from amber list countries who are fully vaccinated with an NHS administered vaccine (plus 14 days) will be exempt from self-isolation and day 8 testing.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government has acted with unprecedented speed to support UK manufacturing companies, including businesses in the glass sector.

To safeguard jobs we introduced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which continues until 30 September 2021.

We also introduced the government backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme (CBILS), Bounce Back Loan, Recovery Loan schemes.

We have also provided Local Authorities with additional funds to support businesses through the Local Restrictions Support Grant, Restart Grant and the Additional Restrictions Grant.

The Government is committed to supporting jobs and growth as we begin the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through our Plan for Growth and our Lifetime Skills Guarantee, we will back business and people to unleash their full potential. Our Plan for Jobs will also support new opportunities in every part of the country.

Last year, the government also launched the Kickstart Scheme which provides full government funding to business to create new jobs for 16-24 year olds currently on Universal Credit.

I am answering the question under the assumption that it refers to the designation of businesses for the purpose of eligibility for Restart Grants.

The primary principle of the Restart Grant scheme is to support businesses that offer in-person services, where the main service and activity takes place in a fixed rate-paying premises, in the relevant sectors.

Coach Tour Operators are not eligible for the Restart Grant Scheme but maybe able to access discretionary support through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). Local Authorities are free to provide ARG support that suits their local area and guidance for ARG makes clear that Local Authorities are able to issue ARG grants to tour operator businesses. My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at the Budget that an additional £425m will be made available via ARG meaning that more than £2bn has been allocated to Local Authorities since November 2020.

I meet regularly with the industry-led Weddings Taskforce, established to represent all parts of the UK Weddings sector, to understand the impact on jobs and businesses, including those with protected characteristics who work in the sector.

Over the course of the pandemic the Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support to businesses, including those in the wedding industry, which we keep under regular review.

I meet regularly with the industry-led Weddings Taskforce, established to represent a wide range of interests in the weddings sector in England, to understand the impact of the pandemic on jobs and businesses.

Over the course of the pandemic the Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support to business, including those in the wedding industry, which we keep under regular review.

We are closely monitoring developments around Liberty Steel, and my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has spoken with representatives from the company and unions many times in recent weeks. The Government is considering options, however it would be premature to act when the company is looking to find its own commercial solutions.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has produced guidance on rights and responsibilities when contracts such as gym memberships have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-to-investigate-concerns-about-cancellation-policies-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-consumer-contracts-cancellation-and-refunds.

The CMA has also created a COVID-19 taskforce and set up an online form to enable consumers to report any business they believe is behaving unfairly during the pandemic. Consumers who believe they have been treated unfairly by a business should complete the online form at: https://www.coronavirus-business-complaint.service.gov.uk/.

Consumers can also seek advice on their rights from the Citizen’s Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133, www.citizensadvice.org.uk which offers a free service advising consumers on their rights and how to take complaints forward.

As set out in the Government’s “COVID-19 Response – Spring 2021”, attendee limits for wedding ceremonies are set out for each step of the roadmap.

The list of qualifying benefits selected for the low income element of the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme mirrors the eligibility requirements for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme. Under ECO, energy suppliers are required to provide low income and vulnerable households with energy efficiency and heating upgrades. We will keep the Green Homes Grant Voucher scheme eligibility, including qualifying benefits, under review.

Auction houses must comply with relevant consumer protection law when their activities fall within its scope, and whether these involve in-person or virtual auctions is a matter for the auction house. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute and Citizens Advice provide free advice and information on consumer rights.

Over the course of the pandemic the government has worked closely with the hospitality sector to understand the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses and has responded with a substantial package of business support. We keep all restrictions under constant review.

Companies House is responsible for registering companies. Companies House’s data does not extend to unregistered businesses and is therefore unable to identify start-up businesses. It is also unable to identify if a company is in the first year of trading.

Under the current restrictions, hospitality businesses are not permitted to sell takeaway alcohol. This is to reduce instances of social interactions that could undermine the Government’s primary objective of reducing the spread of COVID-19. The Government recognises the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the sector, which is why it has put in place a £284bn package of business support measures including grants of £3000 per month for businesses forced to close. The Government announced on 5 January an extra £4.6 billion to protect jobs and support affected businesses and includes a one off additional grant of up to £9000. Local Authorities in England will be given an additional £500 million discretionary funding to support their local business and builds on the £1.1 billion discretionary funding which Local Authorities have already received.

Officials in DHSC and BEIS have had discussions on these matters. We recognise the link between ill health and fuel poverty and we are aware of the benefits of insulating properties for all, including pensioner households.

Improving the energy efficiency of homes remains the most sustainable long-term solution to tackling fuel poverty, and therefore in reducing the impact of ill health exacerbated by cold homes.

The Energy Company Obligation is a GB wide energy efficiency scheme worth £640m per year until March 2022 and is focused on low-income and vulnerable households. Households with a resident in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit are eligible.

The Green Homes Grant, launched in September 2020, is a £2 billion programme which will help improve the energy efficiency of homes in England. Of this, around half is specifically for low income, vulnerable and fuel poor households, including those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit. The Green Homes Grant consists of a voucher scheme and a Local Authority Delivery Scheme (LAD). The primary purpose of the LAD scheme is to raise the energy efficiency rating of low income and low EPC rated homes (those with D, E, F or G). Funding is available through LAD to support the retrofit of existing domestic dwellings for all tenure types.

Officials in DHSC and BEIS have had discussions on these matters. We recognise the link between ill health and fuel poverty and we are aware of the benefits of insulating properties for all, including pensioner households.

Improving the energy efficiency of homes remains the most sustainable long-term solution to tackling fuel poverty, and therefore in reducing the impact of ill health exacerbated by cold homes.

The Energy Company Obligation is a GB wide energy efficiency scheme worth £640m per year until March 2022 and is focused on low-income and vulnerable households. Households with a resident in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit are eligible.

The Green Homes Grant, launched in September 2020, is a £2 billion programme which will help improve the energy efficiency of homes in England. Of this, around half is specifically for low income, vulnerable and fuel poor households, including those in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit. The Green Homes Grant consists of a voucher scheme and a Local Authority Delivery Scheme (LAD). The primary purpose of the LAD scheme is to raise the energy efficiency rating of low income and low EPC rated homes (those with D, E, F or G). Funding is available through LAD to support the retrofit of existing domestic dwellings for all tenure types.

Allocations of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) for each UK programme and region by year are published in the latest revision (31 January 2020) of the EU Structural and Investment Funds UK Partnership Agreement at Table 1.6*.

Information on ESIF match funding at national level is difficult to collate. We will place any available information in the Libraries of the House. Information on match funding for ESIF programmes in the Sheffield City Region is available and will be placed in the Libraries of the Houses shortly. Equivalent information for Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council cannot be provided as information is not available at this level.

*see attached

The Government has put forward a package of support for businesses in the hospitality sector in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. In England, this included the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF). The Government published clear guidance on the grant scheme, and local authorities were responsible for delivering grants to businesses that were in scope. As stated in the guidance, RHLGF grants could be paid to eligible businesses under the Covid-19 Temporary Framework for UK Authorities up to a limit of £800,000 and subject to the recipient confirming they were not an undertaking in difficulty (within the definition of Article 2(18) of the General Block Exemption Regulation) on 31 December 2019.

As at 30 September, over £11.12 billion had been paid out to 906,620 business premises across the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund (RHLGF) and the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) schemes. We do not hold grant payment data from local authorities broken down by sector or type of business, however a full breakdown of final grant payment figures by local authority is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-local-authority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses Both schemes have now closed.

Further grant support?totalling?£2.2 billion has been made?available via local authorities to support businesses?that had to close during the 5 November and 2 December nationalrestrictions, as well as businesses impacted by?localised restrictions. State aid limits apply. On 13 October 2020 the European Commission (CION) announced further amendments to its State Aid Temporary Framework. The U.K. Government has notified the CION of its intention to use the new provision and must await approval from the CION to do so. The Covid-19 Temporary Framework for UK Public Authorities will need to be amended before aid under this new measure may be provided. All Local Restrictions Support Grants guidance documents will be updated to reflect the new provisions if and when they are applied to the LRSG schemes once the UK Government has approval.

There is already a comprehensive regulatory framework in place for fireworks that aims to reduce the risks to people and disturbance to animals. Existing legislation controls the sale, availability and use of fireworks, as well as setting a curfew and noise limit.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published its Fireworks Evidence Base on 29 October 2020. This included reviewing existing data around fireworks including producing a research paper on fireworks noise levels and impacts on health and the environment.

We remain committed to promoting the safe and considerate use of fireworks through the effective legislative framework and through non-legislative measures.

The Bounce Back Loan Scheme, launched in May 2020, has been introduced to help smaller businesses impacted by coronavirus (COVID-19). It is available through a range of British Business Bank accredited lenders and partners listed on the British Business Bank website: www.british-business-bank.co.uk/ourpartners/coronavirus-business-interruption-loan-schemes/bounce-back-loans/current-accredited-lenders-and-partners/

In the first instance and where possible, businesses should approach a Bounce Back Loan Scheme accredited provider with whom they have an existing relationship. They may also consider approaching other Scheme accredited providers if they are unable to access the finance they need or if their existing provider is not accredited to provide loans under the Scheme.

The Bounce Back Loan Scheme does not mandate that the applicant must have a business relationship with the lender in order to receive a loan. However, certain lenders may require that you enter into a business relationship with them before you can apply and, within their standard policies and terms and conditions of business, some lenders may not permit an existing customer to operate their business via a personal account.

All lending decisions remain solely at the discretion of the lender.

The decision to close non-essential retail is part of a wider package of measures to make clear that people should stay at home except for a limited set of exemptions – allowing non-essential retail to remain open would run contrary to that aim. These restrictions?have been?brought in because we?have to?limit social contact.

All shops can continue to offer home delivery and click and collect services to customers.

The Department is not responsible for all supply chains of all perishable goods.

The Department of Health and Social Care, in consultation with the Devolved Administrations and Crown Dependencies, is working with trade bodies, product suppliers, and the health and care system to make detailed plans to help ensure continued supply of medicines and medical products to the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, at the end of the transition period.

The Government has no plans to amend the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to apply to non-consumer sales.

From January to the end of June 2020 1,119,775 smart electricity and gas meters were installed in homes in Great Britain. The latest data on the number of smart electricity and gas meters installed is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/smart-meters-in-great-britain-quarterly-update-june-2020

Data is collected at Great Britain level on a quarterly basis from large energy suppliers. Therefore a breakdown of installations for England by month is not available.

The next quarterly publication covering the period from July to end of September is due for release on 26 November.

We are continuing to engage with representatives from the industry to explore how larger weddings and celebrations may be resumed in a COVID-19 secure way, once it is safe to do so. The limit of 30 people who can attend a wedding ceremony is consistent with broader policy on public gatherings – it is unlawful for private parties of over 30 to take place and we are advising that gatherings and events in COVID-19 secure venues should not exceed 30 people.

We appreciate that the outbreak presents a significant challenge to the owners of nightclubs, which are still required to remain closed. The Government put in place an unprecedented programme of support to help businesses across the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, loan guarantees, grants, VAT deferral and the forfeiture moratorium. We are engaging regularly with the nightclub sector to understand their immediate and longer-term needs.

In my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s announcement on 17 July, close contact services including treatments to the face are allowed to resume as of 1 August, as long as they operate in a COVID-secure way.

The Government is committed to providing parents with an entitlement to take extended leave for neonatal care, to support those new mothers and fathers who need it during the most stressful days of their lives.

This is why we committed at Budget to create an entitlement to Neonatal Leave and Pay for employees whose babies spend an extended period of time in neonatal care, providing up to 12 weeks paid leave so that parents do not have to choose between returning to work and taking care of their vulnerable newborn.

The new entitlement will be brought forward in due course through the necessary legislation as part of the Employment Bill.

The aerospace industry is benefiting from the Government’s £330 billion of Covid-19 support, which includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The aerospace and aviation sectors are also benefiting from support through UK Export Finance, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, and grants for research and development. We remain in active discussion with aerospace businesses, including at sector level through the Aerospace Growth Partnership, to do all we can to help industry through the Covid-19 pandemic and back to growth.

The Government has announced an unprecedented package of support for businesses to help with their ongoing business costs in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. This package of support includes?the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF). As of 5 July, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council have paid out over £41.8 million in grants to 3,788 business premises under the SBGF and RHLGF.

On 1 May,?the Government announced that up to £617 million has been made available to Local Authorities?in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants.?Under the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund (LADGF), Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council have an additional £2.1 million to deliver to further small businesses.

We appreciate that there?is substantial demand for the LADGF,?and the scheme will not be able to support every business. Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council will need to manage?their?scheme to stay within?their?funding?allocation?and?will have?to make choices about which businesses?to?prioritise.

Officials are keeping in close contact with Local Authorities?to understand how the schemes are rolling out and advising ministers on any additional support?which could be offered to help businesses and support local economies. No decisions have yet been taken, but the level of demand will continue to be monitored.

Hairdressers and barbers in England were able to reopen from 4 July to offer hairdressing services. Other close contact services, like beauty salons and beauticians’ services, remain closed until further notice. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister, in his speech on 3rd July, stated that a timetable for the reopening of these closed sectors would be set out this week.

We appreciate that this is difficult for some businesses. Our approach is guided by the scientific and medical advice, and every step is weighed against the evidence, remembering that the more we open up the more vigilant we will need to be.

The Government recognises that scaffolding is a safety-critical sector, and that scaffolding that is adequately erected and maintained can help to prevent accidents in the construction industry.

The necessary levels of practical skills for scaffolders can be achieved through approved training and assessment programmes, in combination with experience in the workplace. The Government has no current plans to introduce a code of practice relating to teaching requirements for companies delivering scaffolding training.

The Government has published safer working guidance on 23 June for close contact services, including sports massage therapist services. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement, hairdressers and barbers in England will be able to reopen from 4 July, once they are following the COVID-secure guidelines. Other close contact services, like sports massage therapists, remain closed until further notice.

We are taking a phased, cautious approach to reopening our economy, working with businesses, trade associations and medical experts on the safest way to reopen close contact services like sports massage therapists where there is often greater risk of transmission due to prolonged periods of face-to-face contact and close proximity between staff and customers.

We intend to allow close contact services to re-open as soon as it is safe to do so.

The Government is supporting the construction sector to increase investment in skills development, and to equip workers with the skills that they will need for the future.

This is a cross-industry drive, which includes companies delivering independent training to scaffolders who are not part of the Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme. This will be achieved through a joint commitment to implement reforms to the Construction Industry Training Board to make it more strategic and industry-led, and to enable the sector to make best use of funding from the Apprenticeship Levy.

It is critical that employers offer safe workplaces. The Government has published guidance to help ensure workplaces are as safe as possible during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These guides cover a range of working environments and are available at www.gov.uk/workingsafely.

Nothing in this guidance affects employers’ existing responsibilities under employment and equalities legislation. Employers therefore need to bear in mind the particular needs of different groups or individuals, and make sure that the steps they take to address the risk of COVID-19 do not unjustifiably impact on some groups compared with others.

The safer workplaces guidance provides information to employers on how best to meet these responsibilities in the context of COVID-19.

The Government recognises the crucial role unpaid carers play, especially during this difficult period.

On 8th April we published guidance for unpaid carers on GOV.UK, which includes general advice on infection control, advice on caring where someone has symptoms, how to create care plans, make alternative care arrangements at short notice and access links to various NHS resources.

We have provided additional funding to Carers UK’s helpline, information and support services, to help more carers access trusted information and advice. We also continue to signpost carers to the charity’s website for additional information and support during this pandemic.

We are committed to supporting carers in Barnsley Central and across the country to remain in work, recognising the challenges of balancing work and care also in the longer term.

This is why the Government is now consulting on proposals to introduce Carer’s Leave, to support working people who are also carers to balance employment with their caring responsibilities.

This Government is also clear about the benefits of flexible working for employers and for their employees, including those with caring responsibilities. In our manifesto we said that, subject to consultation, we would introduce measures to make flexible working the default.

The guidance is non-statutory but does not change existing obligations relating to health and safety, employment, or equalities. Employers have a duty under UK law to protect the health and safety of their workers and other people who might be affected by their business. This includes considering the risks that COVID-19 represents.

Employers should carry out a risk assessment in consultation with their workers to inform what actions to take, to give the best combination of protection from their usual risks as well as the risks of COVID-19. Employers should consider whether workers who are classed as either clinically extremely vulnerable or clinically vulnerable are exposed to any specific risks. If so, they should take the steps needed to protect those individuals.

Health and safety legislation is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive, the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland and by local authorities. If the enforcing authority finds that an employer is not taking action to properly manage workplace risk, a range of actions is open to them including specific advice or issuing notices.

The Universal Service Obligation is set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.

Ministers have no role in temporary changes to the service level. The regulatory conditions that require Royal Mail to deliver letters 6 days a week as part of the universal postal service also provide that Royal Mail is not required to sustain these services without interruption, suspension or restriction in the event of an emergency. Ofcom has acknowledged in this context that the COVID-19 pandemic is an emergency.

There is a clear and transparent process for how longer-term changes to service standards would be considered and any changes would need to be made through secondary legislation and agreed by Parliament. Ministers and officials have regular discussions with Ofcom and Royal Mail on matters relating to postal services.

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks annual leave, which should be paid as if workers were still at work and working. Annual leave continues to accrue as long as the worker maintains their employment relationship with their employer, which is the case whilst an employee is on a period of furlough through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Regarding length of service, a furlough period is a variation to a worker’s contract of employment. The contract of employment would continue and count towards continuous employment.

The Government has been clear that employment rights remain unchanged under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Therefore, as holiday rights are unaffected by the scheme, and as being placed on furlough does not break the contract of employment, no assessment has been made.

The Government recognises the extremely difficult circumstances consumers and many businesses are currently facing. BEIS officials have held regular discussions with travel and tourism sector representatives, travel businesses and consumer advocacy bodies to assess the impact of cancellations made in light of the covid-19 outbreak.

Maternity Leave and Pay are provided to enable employed women to take time off work in the later stages of their pregnancy and after they have given birth.

The UK’s Maternity Leave offer is already amongst the most generous in the World – up to 52 weeks of leave are available, 39 weeks of which are paid – and we currently have no plans to extend it.

As of 21 April, over £2.8 billion worth of loans have been issued under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme across the UK, to over 16,600 businesses. Lenders have received 36,000 completed applications.

The British Business Bank has streamlined the system by which the biggest accredited CBILS lenders provide information to the Bank, in order to expedite the process. The Bank’s system therefore gathers data from these lenders when loans are offered and drawn. The system does not capture any information on rejected applications.

At this time we cannot provide a breakdown of funding by region, as we have given lenders a temporary dispensation from uploading their data to the British Business Bank’s system in order to let them focus on issuing new loans. This is a pragmatic step that reflects the urgency of getting loans issued. We are working with the British Business Bank, HM Treasury and lenders on regular and transparent data publication going forward.

Under the British Business Bank’s scheme rules, Personal Guarantees of any form cannot be requested to support a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) facility below £250,000. This has been made clear in the guidance provided to all the CBILS accredited lenders.

The Government is clear that we will support people in work during the COVID-19 outbreak. We are regularly engaging with industry stakeholders, including the British Retail Consortium, to ensure they are well prepared and that their operations remain in line with the latest health guidance.

The Government is working with the manufacturing sector to ensure additional personal protective equipment (PPE) can be provided to frontline workers as quickly as possible to ensure their safety. While PPE supplies are currently being prioritised for health and social care workers, we are working to ensure additional requirements for PPE and consumables can continue to be sourced through normal distributors.

The Government is supporting the self-employed through an unprecedented package of measures during this period of disruption. Measures include a temporary relaxation of the earnings rules (known as the Minimum Income Floor) for self-employed claimants who are sick or self-isolating according to Government guidance. The Government has extended this to all self-employed claimants, not just those directly impacted by the virus, ensuring those affected by the economic impact of the outbreak are supported.

On 26 March, the Chancellor announced a world-leading scheme to support the UK’s self-employed affected by Covid-19. The Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will support self-employed individuals, including members of partnerships, whose income has been negatively impacted. The scheme will provide a grant to self-employed individuals or partnerships, worth 80% of their profits up to a cap of £2,500 per month.

Details of Government support for business during the Coronavirus outbreak can be found at: www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/.

Sports clubs and social enterprises form an integral part of this country and it is important they are given as much support as possible. The government has announced a comprehensive package of direct support for business through tax relief and cash grants to help business manage cash flow during the Coronavirus outbreak. For example, businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England will not have to pay business rates for the 2020-21 tax year.

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), delivered by the British Business Bank, is now open for applications from eligible smaller businesses, including unincorporated businesses such as partnerships and sole traders. Businesses can access the first 6 months of that finance interest free. Decision-making on whether a business is eligible to access CBILS will be fully delegated to the 40+ accredited lenders.

Details on all Government business support is on: www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/.

To qualify for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal recipients must be in an eligible role in the public sector on 6 February 2022 and have completed five years’ service.

Individual Departments, the Devolved Administrations and Crown Dependencies are responsible for applying the criteria and making eligibility decisions regarding the award of the Medal to their staff and other organisations that fall under their sponsorship.

The Government has endorsed in principle the primary recommendation of the review, that football requires a strong, independent regulator to secure the future of our national game.

The Government will now work at pace to review the report in full, including determining the most effective way to deliver an independent regulator, including any powers it may need.

The Government will continue to engage with stakeholders as we work towards issuing a full response to the report in Spring 2022.

The Government recognises the important contribution that live events make to the UK’s culture and economy. It's important that as we welcome the return of large events such as music festivals, and fans back to our stadiums, we do so as carefully as possible. That’s why we have been working with event organisers to ensure that the lessons learned from the Events Research Programme are being put into practice.

The Government is committed to ensuring the safety of the public through minimising the risks of transmission of Covid-19 and by encouraging vaccination. The evidence from the Events Research Programme pilots was used to inform and shape Government policy and bring about the return of audiences to venues and events across England. The ERP showed that transmission is most likely when large crowds gather, and covid-status certification has been shown to be one method of mitigating this risk. Certification will help to improve confidence in those wishing to attend live events and encourage attendance.

From 19 July, the Government made the NHS COVID Pass available so that individuals can prove their vaccination status. The NHS Covid Pass has been designed to be quick and simple to use, so as not to place any significant burden on settings utilising the resource. Use of the NHS COVID Pass is voluntary for individual organisations. However, we encourage the use of the NHS COVID Pass in facilities or events where people are likely to be in close proximity to a large number of people from other households for a sustained period of time.

The government has recently consulted on whether an alternative ownership model for Channel 4 (but one where it retains a public service remit) may be better for the broadcaster, and better for the country.

Consulting on the broadcaster’s future is about ensuring that Channel 4 can continue to contribute to the UK’s success in public service broadcasting for years to come, and how we ensure its ownership model best supports this aim.

Channel 4’s economic contributions to the nations and regions of the UK is an issue we have consulted on. We value Channel 4’s contribution to levelling up, and we consider a continued and renewed commitment to it may be appropriate to any change of ownership.

The consultation opened on 6 July, running for 10 weeks, before closing on 14 September. We are currently analysing responses to our consultation, and evidence received through it, to inform our policy-making decisions. Once we have answered the questions set out in the consultation, we will know what specific impacts to assess and will therefore be in a position to carry out an impact assessment.

The Events Research Programme (ERP) pilot events ran across a range of settings, venues, and activities, with findings informing the return of events in a structured, scientifically and ethically robust manner.

The pilot events gathered evidence associated with different settings, including approaches to managing and mitigating transmission risk. They explored how different approaches to social distancing, ventilation, and test-on-entry protocols could ease opening, and maximise participation.

The ERP has provided important evidence on the variety of settings and differences within venues such as ventilation systems, the organisation of events, venue design, and attendee behaviour.

This has provided an understanding of how different settings and mitigations impact specific risk factors. It also provided significant evidence of the operational, logistical and commercial implications for events of differing types and the heterogeneity found in events settings.

The findings from the Events Research Programme continue to inform government policy-making.

This government recognises the importance of the UK’s creative and cultural industries, not only to the economy and international reputation of the United Kingdom, but also to the wellbeing and enrichment of its people. We want musicians and performers to be able to tour abroad easily.

We recognise that challenges remain around touring, and we are continuing to work closely with the industry. In order to support this we have published guidance on GOV.UK, including updated travel advice for travelling to the EU, and business traveller summaries for individual Member States, and developed sector specific ‘landing pages’ for GOV.UK, aimed at the creative sectors, which will allow cultural and creative professionals to easily locate and access guidance that is relevant to them.

Member States are principally responsible for deciding the rules governing what work UK visitors can undertake in each Member State. This is why we have spoken to every EU Member State about the importance of touring. From these discussions, 19 out of 27 Member States have confirmed that UK musicians and performers do not need visas or work permits for some short-term tours.

We are now actively engaging with Member States, and in particular those that do not allow any visa or permit free touring, to encourage them to more closely align requirements with the UK’s generous rules, which allow creative professionals to tour easily here. DCMS ministers are speaking with their counterparts as part of these discussions, and we are working with the sector to amplify each other’s lobbying efforts.

We are looking at options to support individuals and businesses to resume touring with ease. This includes looking carefully at proposals for a new Creative Export Office that could provide further practical help.

The government recognises the world-leading position of the UK music sector and the rich breadth of musical talent across the UK. We also appreciate venues and music organisations’ desire to book international artists to further contribute to the diversity and richness of the UK’s cultural offering.

Creative and cultural professionals from non-visa national countries, such as EU Member States and the US, can come to the UK for up to one month without requiring a visa if they are paid by a UK source, or for up to three months without requiring a visa if they are sponsored by a registered tour sponsor. They will not require a visa if they are performing at a “Permit Free Festival”, which includes a range of events from Glastonbury to the London Jazz Festival. If they are not receiving payment from a UK source, EU artists can come to the UK and undertake a range of activities related to their profession, including performances, for up to 6 months visa-free. The UK does not have work permits.

We are looking at further options to help support touring, including proposals for a Cultural Export Office that could provide practical help for those looking to tour and export worldwide.

The government recognises the crucial role that cultural investment can play in Levelling Up. We are committed to ensuring that areas across England benefit fully from our funding programmes and experience the potential of culture to boost local growth, increase visitor numbers, bolster talent and attract investment. DCMS is engaging closely with other parts of government in the preparation for the Levelling Up White Paper.

DCMS has already provided a significant amount of funding for the North. In particular, the Culture Recovery Fund has provided £287,931,077 across the North of England, including £104,944,697 for the Yorkshire and Humber region. In addition, there are 223 ACE National Portfolio Organisations in the North West, Yorkshire and the Northeast regions combined.

Looking beyond the pandemic, culture is prioritized as a target for investment in the government’s £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, and I am confident that the North will benefit significantly from the cultural projects supported by this Fund.

The Secretary of State has not met with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss its new measures on offering existing customers the same prices as new customers. It should be noted however that Ofcom, the independent telecoms regulator, has a statutory duty to further and protect the interests of telecoms consumers and end-users, and as Minister for Digital Infrastructure I have regular engagement with Ofcom on these matters.

In December 2020, the Government strengthened Ofcom’s telecoms consumer protection powers. As a result, Ofcom introduced new rules, in February 2021, so that a customer near the end of their contract will receive a notice from their current provider informing of the date their contract will end; the notice period to leave; the service they receive and price they pay as well as any changes to the service and price should they take no action to renew or move their service. These notices must also include information on the prices available to other customers, including new customers. We consider this approach encourages operators to offer competitive pricing to their loyal customers and equally empowers consumers to switch to better deals if those offers do not meet their needs.

Recipients of the Platinum Jubilee Medal will include members of the Armed Forces, frontline members of the Prison Service that are publicly employed,frontline emergency services and members of the Royal Household. Recipients must also have completed the relevant period of qualifying service.

It is for the relevant Government Department, Devolved Administration or Crown Dependency to apply these broad criteria, and any additional sub-criteria they deem relevant. The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that recipients must be serving members of the armed forces on 6th February 2022 to be eligible to receive the Platinum Jubilee Medal.

We are absolutely committed to supporting diversity in sport at every opportunity including through employment.

We support the Football Association’s work in encouraging more women and girls into football. On 19 October 2020, the Football Association published its new women’s and girls’ football strategy ‘Inspiring Positive Change: FA Women’s Football Strategy 2020-24’. The strategy includes a commitment to developing a diverse, well supported and highly skilled workforce including coaches, referees, sports development officers and administrators at every level of the game. An example of how they plan to achieve this by 2024 is by encouraging more coaches in the women and girls’ game, with a greater proportion being female and from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

In addition to this, in October 2020 the FA launched their Football Leadership Diversity Code to increase diversity and inclusion across English football. This included the target of 30% of new hires being female in senior leadership and team operation roles.

UK Sport and Sport England’s Code for Sports Governance (published in 2016) seeks to improve the diversity of governance structures in sport and applies to any organisation seeking public funding for sport. Latest figures show that women now account for 40% of board members across bodies funded by either Sport England or UK Sport.

I know that the restrictions on singing are frustrating to large numbers of amateur choirs and performance groups across the country and that many people have made sacrifices in order to drive down infections and protect the NHS over the last year. I can assure you that everyone across the Government wants to ease these restrictions as soon as possible.

However, it is important that we take a cautious approach in easing restrictions. We have followed the views of public health experts on singing. We are aware, through the NERVTAG and PERFORM studies that singing can increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission through the spread of aerosol droplets. This was backed up by a consensus statement from SAGE, resulting in the suggested principles of safer singing being published.

We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.

I know that the restrictions on singing are frustrating to large numbers of amateur choirs and performance groups across the country and that many people have made sacrifices in order to drive down infections and protect the NHS over the last year. I can assure you that everyone across the Government wants to ease these restrictions as soon as possible.

However, it is important that we take a cautious approach in easing restrictions. We have followed the views of public health experts on singing. We are aware, through the NERVTAG and PERFORM studies that singing can increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission through the spread of aerosol droplets. This was backed up by a consensus statement from SAGE, resulting in the suggested principles of safer singing being published.

We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.

The £300 million Sport Winter Survival Package announced in November 2020 has provided a lifeline to organisations that would otherwise not survive the winter as a result of the restriction on spectators announced from 1 October. To date we have publicly announced more than c.£212 million of support.

This includes £11.5 million for 39 clubs at steps 1 and 2 of the men’s National League System. A further £2.9 million has been provided for women’s football (Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship, including awards to 6 clubs).

Approximately 5.4% of the total Sports Winter Survival Package funding announced to date has therefore been allocated to men’s National League football steps 1 and 2, and 1.4% for women’s football. It should be noted that funding for men’s football has been distributed across a greater number of individual clubs.

This support has been provided alongside the multi-billion pound package of Government support that has been made available to the sector during the coronavirus emergency.

On 19 February 2021 we announced that the Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship would receive a combined £2.25m of support from the Sport Winter Survival Package. This was grant support for essential costs across these two leagues, and included no other government support.

On 19 March 2021 we announced a further £680,000 in grant funding from the Sport Winter Survival Package for six women’s football clubs in these two leagues. This brought the total support provided to women’s football from the Package to £2.9 million.

Details about the methodology used to assess funding applications is provided in Sport England’s Programme Guide, available on their website at https://www.sportengland.org/news/more-details-given-sport-winter-survival-package

On 19 February 2021 we announced that the Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship would receive a combined £2.25m of support from the Sport Winter Survival Package. This was grant support for essential costs across these two leagues, and included no other government support.

On 19 March 2021 we announced a further £680,000 in grant funding from the Sport Winter Survival Package for six women’s football clubs in these two leagues. This brought the total support provided to women’s football from the Package to £2.9 million.

Details about the methodology used to assess funding applications is provided in Sport England’s Programme Guide, available on their website at https://www.sportengland.org/news/more-details-given-sport-winter-survival-package

Sports and physical activity are crucial for our mental and physical health. The Chief Medical Officer is clear that being physically active is important to long-term health and crucial for keeping people healthy. That’s why we have continued to make sure that people can exercise throughout the national restrictions, and why we have ensured that grassroots and children’s sport was at the front of the queue when easing those restrictions.

My department works closely with the Department for Education on school sport provision. Schools are free to organise and deliver a flexible, diverse and challenging Physical Education curriculum that suits the needs of all their pupils, which can include football for girls.

The Secretary of State for Education and the Culture Secretary jointly hosted a school sport roundtable in March where the English FA were represented. This roundtable launched our ongoing work to bring together a sports sector offer to support schools through an active summer recovery term, and on into the summer holidays, in order to get children and young people active again.

Minister Gibb and I also recently met with Baroness Sue Campbell, Director of Women's Football at the FA, to discuss PE and school sport including the work that Baroness Campbell is doing to increase the numbers of girls playing football in schools.

I have had a number of conversations with Sport England, The FA, and numerous other stakeholders about the rescheduling of the UEFA EURO 2020 Championships, and associated events such as the FA FIVES, since their postponement due to the covid pandemic last year. The scheduling of the FA FIVES is a matter for The FA with the support of Sport England, however, we are confident of staging a successful men’s EURO 2020 Championships this year, and a successful women’s EURO 2022 Championships next year.

The Government remains committed to encouraging more women and girls to get active and helping women’s sport emerge from the current crisis stronger than ever. This is an important opportunity to create a long-lasting legacy for women’s and girl’s sport and the Government is determined that women’s sport is protected as we emerge from the pandemic.

Sport England’s new strategy, Uniting the Movement, has already committed an extra £50m to boost grassroots sports clubs and organisations - including women’s and girl’s football. Sport England expects to build on this investment as the implementation of the strategy progresses.

Sport England is also investing £24.6m in The Football Association over the course of 2016-21 for its work on grassroots participation, the football talent pathway, and coaching programmes. Within this, £2.6m is specifically reserved for women and girls talent programmes.

The Community Emergency Fund - part of Sport England’s COVID-19 support package - has delivered more than £5.38m of National Lottery funding for Association Football supporting both men’s and women’s football, and across Sport England’s COVID Support Package, £10,488,255 has been provide for 1,558 Association Football projects, benefitting all ages and genders.

In round one of the Culture Recovery Fund, 6 awards in total were made in the constituencies of Barnsley Central, totalling £609k.

In round two of the Culture Recovery Fund, 6 awards in total were made totalling £419k.

Last year the government announced the unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the culture sector. Over £1 billion worth of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund has been allocated across all four nations of the UK. This includes over £800 million to almost 3800 arts, culture and heritage organisations in England, helping to support at least 75,000 jobs. A further £300 million of support was announced by HM Treasury at Spring Budget.

Rigorous criteria have rightly been applied, to ensure we are supporting organisations that have national and local importance. Our ALBs - Arts Council England, Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, and the British Film Institute - have the delegated authority to take decisions on grant applications due to their long established grant delivery role, their expertise and understanding of the sectors in which they operate.

In reviewing applications, our ALBs considered a number of factors, and organisations were only supported if they were both culturally significant and could robustly demonstrate that they are at risk of failure this Financial Year, and took all reasonable steps to support themselves financially.

They are overseen by the independent Culture Recovery Board, chaired by Sir Damon Buffini, which was created to increase assurance over the delivery of the Culture Recovery Fund programme, to leverage a range of external expertise to support decision making on grant applications and to take final decisions on loan applications.

DCMS works closely with the sector, Arm’s Length Bodies, the Culture Recovery Board, HM Treasury and the National Audit Office to keep the progress of fund allocations and the level of need in the sector under close review.

Over £1 billion worth of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund has been allocated across all four nations of the UK. This includes over £800 million to almost 3800 arts, culture and heritage organisations in England, helping to support at least 75,000 jobs. Organisations were supported if they were culturally significant, could demonstrate that they are at risk of failure and that they had taken all reasonable steps to support themselves financially.

DCMS has worked closely with its Arm’s Length Bodies, who are delivering the fund to so we can best support the valuable cultural fabric of our towns and regions. Criteria have been applied to allocate funding to ensure we are supporting organisations that have national and local importance. Grants have been awarded to organisations as diverse as the Birmingham Hippodrome, Shakespeare’s Globe, Blackpool Tower Ballroom, Opera North and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, as well as thousands more ranging from internationally recognised cultural institutions to locally cherished organisations.

In the first round, 67% of grants awards worth over £1 million were awarded to organisations outside London. Regions particularly hard hit by the pandemic have felt the tangible impact of the fund. For example, funding is supporting organisations which employ 69% of arts sector employees in the West Midlands and 43% in the North West.

The second round is in progress, and a further £300 million of support was announced by HM Treasury at Spring budget to continue to support key cultural organisations, bridge the sector as audiences begin to return, and ensure a vibrant future for the culture sector, including theatres, as the nation recovers from the pandemic.

We are absolutely committed to women’s sport. I recently met with the Football Association about to discuss a range of issues, and we continue to liaise closely with them on women’s football.

It is up to the respective governing bodies to determine what constitutes the boundary between elite and non-elite within their sports and the classification of such competitions.

I am committed to encouraging more women and girls to get active and helping women’s sport come out of the current crisis stronger than ever. Over the last year I have met with a range of sports organisations to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on women’s sport and how together we can address these challenges going forward. I have made clear in these discussions that I expect women’s sport to be protected through the pandemic and prioritised as we emerge on the other side.

Through our national sports council, Sport England, the government is investing £24.6m in The Football Association over the course of 2016-21 for its work on grassroots participation, the football talent pathway, and coaching programmes. Within this, there is no specific ring-fencing of funding between men's and women's programmes, apart from £2.6m which is specifically reserved for women and girls talent programmes.

Sport England has also awarded The FA £1m to date to deliver The FA FIVES national promotion programme, a mass participation five a side football competition linked to EURO 2021 & EURO 2022. Its aim is to provide opportunities throughout England for men and women to take part in a fun, friendly football event. In addition, they have awarded £987,000 towards the Women’s Euro 2022 Host City Legacy Impact intended to increase activity levels in football amongst women aged 16+.

Sport England has also provided £220m directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic, via a range of funds including their £35m Community Emergency Fund. £2.25m of this funding has been awarded to the FA to support a safe restart of football. This funding will prioritise groups most impacted by Covid-19, including Women’s National League. This sector support was recently boosted by an extra £50m to help grassroots sports clubs and organisations as part of Sport England’s new strategy Uniting the Movement.

On 19 February, it was announced that women’s sport would also receive multi-million pound support through the Sport Winter Survival Package including £2.25m for the Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship.

The Prime Minister outlined the roadmap for reopening in England on 22 February 2021.

Step 3 of the roadmap will take place no earlier than 17 May, and at least 5 weeks after Step 2. Sectors which can reopen in Step 3 include indoor entertainment such as bowling alleys. COVID-Secure guidance will remain in place and premises must not cater for groups larger than the legal limits.

DCMS officials continue to engage with representatives of the Ten-Pin Bowling Proprietor’s Association, along with several other visitor economy stakeholders through the Tourism Industry Council, to assess how we can most effectively support the sector’s reopening.

Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. That’s why we have made sure that people can exercise throughout the national and local tiered restrictions. We will continue to promote exercise throughout the pandemic and encourage the usage of sports facilities including gyms when they are able to open again.

Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, which many sport clubs have benefited from. On top of wider economic support, the Government has announced a £100m support fund for local authority leisure centres to ensure these important facilities remain available once public health restrictions are lifted.

As the Prime Minister said on 23 November national restrictions ended on Wednesday 2 December, and gyms and sport facilities including golf courses are able to reopen across all tiers. One to one golf tuition indoors can take place across all tiers as long as strict social distancing is observed.

In the recently announced Spending Review £30m of the Youth Investment Fund was committed as capital investment for 2021-22. This will provide a transformational investment in new and refurbished safe spaces for young people, so they can access support youth workers, and positive activities out of school, including sport and culture. Further details on the plans for distribution will be announced in due course.

Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. That’s why we made sure that people could exercise at least once a day even during the height of the first period of enhanced national restrictions and why we opened up grassroots sport and leisure facilities as soon as it was safe to do so.

Organised outdoor sport is exempt from legal gathering limits across all levels. This means that organised outdoor team sport and outdoor exercise classes, as well as outdoor licensed physical activity, can happen with any number of participants, as long as undertaken in line with published COVID-secure guidance. This includes fishing clubs located on private land.

Racism or any form of discrimination has no place in cricket or wider society.Organisations such as Kick It Out play an important role in helping to tackle discrimination in local, national and international sport. It is ultimately for individual sports to decide on the appropriate initiatives for their circumstances.

The Government welcomes the steps taken by the English Cricket Board (ECB) in recent years to increase diversity in cricket, including the announcement in July this year around strengthening its Inclusion and Diversity Strategy.

There is still more to do, however, and we will continue to liaise with the ECB to ensure this issue is tackled effectively.

Sport England and UK Sport began their joint review of the Code for Sports Governance in July 2020. Their aim is to publish the initial findings of the review in early 2021.

Racism or any form of discrimination has no place in cricket or wider society.Organisations such as Kick It Out play an important role in helping to tackle discrimination in local, national and international sport. It is ultimately for individual sports to decide on the appropriate initiatives for their circumstances.

The Government welcomes the steps taken by the English Cricket Board (ECB) in recent years to increase diversity in cricket, including the announcement in July this year around strengthening its Inclusion and Diversity Strategy.

There is still more to do, however, and we will continue to liaise with the ECB to ensure this issue is tackled effectively.

In line with Government guidance at the time, The National Archives was closed to the Public during the early stages of the COVID outbreak. I receive regular updates from The National Archives on the implementation of its reopening strategy, and current work to make its services safe for the public.

In order to be Covid-secure in line with scientific evidence, The National Archives has been forced to reduce the number of visitors to around 15% of usual capacity to allow for social distancing, and is implementing a 72-hour quarantine of accessed records. This inevitably impacts upon The National Archives’ ability to deliver its services as it ordinarily would. As well as this in-person service, The National Archives has continued free access to digital records through its Digital Downloads service, which has supported the download of over 1 million records by around 80,000 users since April 2020.

The measures which are currently in place are subject to weekly review and The National Archives are also undertaking surveys of users to take feedback on its provision, the results of which are shared with myself.

I appreciate that this reduced provision will have a particular impact on intensive users such as historians as well as the general public, but I and the Archives are cognizant of the need to balance the desire for greater access to public records with the need to ensure the continuing safety of The National Archives’ audiences. With this consideration in mind, I will continue to monitor the situation in collaboration with The National Archives.

We are aware that the events and exhibition industry, as well as other sectors, have been severely impacted by Government measures to control the spread of Covid-19.

Businesses can continue to access the Government’s UK wide support package. This includes the Bounce Back Loans scheme, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

As the Chancellor announced on 24 September, we are also offering affected businesses generous terms for the repayment of deferred taxes and government-backed loans, as well as extending the application window of the government-backed loan schemes.

We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to monitor the situation facing companies across the UK.

Ministers have spoken to all of the major spectator sports, including football, to see what they need, and have asked for detailed financial returns so the Government can understand what support they might need.

We have worked closely with football throughout the pandemic including getting the Premier League and English Football League back behind closed doors but we have been clear that we expect the game - where it can at the top tiers - to support itself. The Government will then focus our support on those in the sector most in need as a result of the October 1 decision.

Ministers have spoken to all of the major spectator sports, including football, to see what they need, and have asked for detailed financial returns so the Government can understand what support they might need.

We have worked closely with football throughout the pandemic including getting the Premier League and English Football League back behind closed doors but we have been clear that we expect the game - where it can at the top tiers - to support itself. The Government will then focus our support on those in the sector most in need as a result of the October 1 decision.

Bowling alleys have been permitted to reopen in line with Covid-19 Secure guidelines since 15th August, except in specific areas where local restrictions are in place.

Bowling alleys are able to benefit from the reduced rate of VAT which the Government has applied to attractions, accommodation and hospitality from 15 July 2020-12 January 2021. To support businesses - including bowling alleys - through Covid-19, the Government has also introduced a comprehensive support package, including business rates relief for eligible leisure businesses and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

We have supported bowling alleys by working closely with stakeholders to develop further Covid-19 Secure reopening guidance for venues. Specific guidance on bowling alleys has been published within UKHospitality’s ‘COVID-19 Secure Guidelines for Hospitality Businesses.’ We continue to meet regularly with the wider sector through the Cultural Renewal Taskforce’s Sport and Visitor Economy working groups.

My officials are working closely with the British Film Institute (BFI) to ensure that appropriate support is in place for those independent cinema owners applying to the Culture Recovery Fund. We recognise that some independent cinema owners will not have had much experience applying for Government funding and as a result we have agreed with the BFI a range of measures to support their applications.

This includes detailed guidance notes, a robust supporting Q&A document, dedicated contact points to answer questions, and proactive engagement from the BFI’s Film Audience Network and its regional English Film Hubs to actively promote the Fund and support applicants through the required process. DCMS and the BFI have also been promoting the Fund through press and comms channels and encouraging potential applicants to apply. It is also positive that the industry has provided further support, with the UK Cinema Association setting up a series of meetings for their members to better understand the application process.

The Culture Recovery Fund is intended to support the nation’s most important national, regional, and local organisations and funding will not be available for every organisation. As such it is critical that we scrutinise applications against rigorous criteria and continue to act to support applications from all eligible cinemas.

The Destination Management Organisation (DMO) Resilience Fund awarded a total of £1.33m to eligible DMOs in England.

The fund has supported 56 DMOs. A further 23 applications were made which were unsuccessful as they did not meet the criteria.

The Government recognises that these remain extremely challenging conditions for tourism organisations across the country. We will continue to monitor the situation in the tourism sector as restrictions are eased, and I encourage DMOs to keep sharing information with VisitEngland and my Department.

DMOs have provided vital business support to local tourism organisations during this crisis, and will play a key role in helping our tourism industry recover.

List of DMOs who successfully applied to the fund and the amount awarded to them can be found on the attached table.

The Destination Management Organisation (DMO) Resilience Fund awarded a total of £1.33m to eligible DMOs in England.

The fund has supported 56 DMOs. A further 23 applications were made which were unsuccessful as they did not meet the criteria.

The Government recognises that these remain extremely challenging conditions for tourism organisations across the country. We will continue to monitor the situation in the tourism sector as restrictions are eased, and I encourage DMOs to keep sharing information with VisitEngland and my Department.

DMOs have provided vital business support to local tourism organisations during this crisis, and will play a key role in helping our tourism industry recover.

List of DMOs who successfully applied to the fund and the amount awarded to them can be found on the attached table.

The Destination Management Organisation (DMO) Resilience Fund awarded a total of £1.33m to eligible DMOs in England.

The fund has supported 56 DMOs. A further 23 applications were made which were unsuccessful as they did not meet the criteria.

The Government recognises that these remain extremely challenging conditions for tourism organisations across the country. We will continue to monitor the situation in the tourism sector as restrictions are eased, and I encourage DMOs to keep sharing information with VisitEngland and my Department.

DMOs have provided vital business support to local tourism organisations during this crisis, and will play a key role in helping our tourism industry recover.

List of DMOs who successfully applied to the fund and the amount awarded to them can be found on the attached table.

Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active.The Government has made it clear that it will adopt a phased approach based on scientific and medical advice, and that the primary goal is to protect public health. The Government is in discussions with representatives from the physical activity sector, and is working towards the re-opening of indoor sports venues and facilities, including gyms, as soon as it is safe to do so.

The government recognises the importance of re-opening our indoor and outdoor pools and we agree that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The consideration of different venues and the activities involved are underpinned by an understanding of the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 associated with particular activities. There are concerns about transmission around points of contact within such facilities, like changing rooms due to the high volume of contacts. As such, we need to provide reassurance that these facilities will be safe, and are working hard to achieve this in the coming weeks.

The government is actively working towards a safe way to re-open these facilities, with supporting guidance.

In order to support the sustainability of the Arts sector, including classical orchestras, DCMS has worked closely with Arts Council England (ACE) to provide a tailored package of financial support. In March, ACE announced a £160m emergency response package to complement the financial measures already announced by the Government and to ensure immediate resilience of this vital sector.

This package includes £140 million of support for artistic organisations including orchestras; and £20 million of financial support for individuals, including self-employed classical musicians, so they can better sustain themselves, and their work, in the coming months. More than 9000 individuals and organisations have been successful in applying for this emergency funding.

Furthermore, self-employed classical musicians are among the millions of people (including freelancers) who can now benefit from the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, which will provide those eligible with cash grants worth up to £2,500 per month. We expect that the Self-Employed Income Support scheme will cover 95% of people who receive the majority of their income from self-employment.

The Secretary of State, myself and officials continue to consult the Art sector extensively to ensure we fully understand the financial impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the sector.

On the basis of that engagement, DCMS and ACE are continuing to work closely to consider the additional measures that are needed to ensure the long-term recovery and growth of the cultural sector, including orchestras and classical musicians.

The Government published the initial response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation on 12 February 2020. This confirmed that the Government is developing legislation on online harms to establish a new duty of care on online companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. The duty of care will require companies to put appropriate systems and processes in place to deal with harmful content on their services to keep their users safe. We are aiming to publish a full government response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation later this year, and this will include more detailed proposals on online harms regulation.

It is vital that people continue to be active during the Covid-19 outbreak to support their physical and mental health

Government advice on how people can remain active is clear. People are able to leave home for basic exercise once a day, for example for a walk, a cycle or a run, provided it is done in a way that meets the latest guidance on social distancing and advice on unnecessary social contact. This means it can be done by people on their own or with their households, not in groups. It is important that people do not go outside unless they have to, and that when they do, they are spending as little time outside as possible, and avoiding unnecessary travel.

Government is carefully reviewing the lockdown guidance over the coming days and weeks.

The Government is strongly supportive of the community radio sector and recognises the great value that it offers to communities across the United Kingdom, in terms of providing quality local news, information and entertainment.

The Government has today announced that the £400,000 Community Radio Fund administered by Ofcom will be used to provide a lifeline for radio stations hit hardest by the coronavirus. Relevant stations will be invited to bid for emergency grants through Ofcom to help meet their core costs.

The Government is strongly supportive of the community radio sector and recognises the great value that it offers to communities across the United Kingdom, in terms of providing quality local news, information and entertainment.

The Government has today announced that the £400,000 Community Radio Fund administered by Ofcom will be used to provide a lifeline for radio stations hit hardest by the coronavirus. Relevant stations will be invited to bid for emergency grants through Ofcom to help meet their core costs.

The Government recognises that news publishers, including local newspaper outlets, have a vital role to play in ensuring the provision of reliable, high-quality information to citizens during the current COVID-19 crisis. The need for independent, verifiable news and information is more essential than ever. The design and implementation of a public health awareness campaign is for the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health and Social Care to decide. However, the Government is clear that getting reliable information out to the public on this issue is a priority and that newspapers provide one of the vehicles for doing so.

Last week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced additional measures to support businesses and organisations that have been impacted by the pandemic. Details of which can be found below.

Government has been working round the clock to do whatever it takes to protect our people and businesses. That means that we are not only taking unprecedented action, but doing so at unprecedented speed, because we know that businesses and their employees need help now.

During the response to this outbreak, the Secretary of State and Minister for Digital and Culture have led a number of calls with representatives of the creative and cultural sectors, amongst other DCMS sectors, to understand the challenges that they are facing. There are plans for ongoing, regular contact with members and representatives of the cultural sector.

Officials are also continuing to engage with organisations regularly in order to best understand how Government can support the cultural and creative sectors and to discuss the practicalities and implications of policy measures. The Government has announced a number of measures to support the cultural sector as they handle the significant implications of the Covid-19 virus. In particular:

• The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has already announced a host of measures to help businesses in this period with £330bn worth of government backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses across the UK, including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

• £20bn of direct fiscal support for businesses in England through tax relief and cash grants to help business manage cash flow.

• A Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme where small and large employers will be eligible to apply for a government grant of 80% of workers’ salaries up to £2,500 a month. The scheme will be backdated to March 1 and available for at least three months, with first grants to be paid within weeks.

• Deferral of the next quarter of VAT payments for firms, until the end of June - representing a £30bn injection for employers.

• A package of temporary welfare measures, which when taken together with those announced at Budget provide over £6.5bn of additional support through the welfare system for people affected by COVID-19.

• This comes on top of compensation for statutory sick pay that the Chancellor announced in the Budget.

• Arts Council England have announced a £160m emergency response package, supported by Government funding, to complement the financial measures already announced by Government. It will help individuals and organisations focus on two things: sustaining their livelihoods and businesses, and where possible, developing creative responses to the Covid-19 crisis (e.g. participatory digital content for people self-isolating) to help buoy the public for its duration.

• Alongside this injection of additional cash, at least until 30 June this year National Portfolio Organisations, Music Education Hubs and Creative People and Places programmes will continue to receive funding, with funding conditions relaxed as needed. Where possible, ACE will also advance grant payments to assist with cashflow, to relieve immediate financial pressure for those in need.

BT Group, the parent company of Openreach, are signatories to the Cabinet and Pole Siting Code of Best Practice, along with The Planning Officers’ Society, Historic England, the UK Competitive Telecoms Association, Virgin Media and National Parks England. The Cabinet and Pole Siting Code of Best Practice was agreed in 2013 and revised in November 2016.

Ofcom is an independent regulator. Its Openreach Monitoring Unit oversees the legal separation of Openreach from BT and produces regular monitoring reports on progress. The Government considers these reports, as part of its ongoing assessment of whether legal separation is delivering better connectivity for consumers and contributing positively to the Government’s ambition to deliver national gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible.

On 5 February, the Government announced an 8 week consultation on whether to proceed with the decriminalisation of TV licence evasion by replacing the criminal sanction with an alternative civil enforcement scheme.

The Government believes that it is right to look again at whether the criminal sanction remains appropriate for TV licence fee evasion, given ongoing concerns about whether the criminal sanction is unfair and disproportionate.

Following careful consideration of the responses, the Government expects to publish a response by summer 2020.

We believe everyone should have equal access to music, arts and culture and that opportunities should be available to all. We work with venues and organisations representing disabled people to identify barriers to access and; to consider what more cultural venues need to do to be accessible to people with disabilities.

We are supportive of the work being undertaken by Attitude is Everything which aims to improve deaf and disabled people’s access to live events, working in partnership with audiences, artists, and the music industry.

Strong transport connections are important to all businesses but particularly so for creative industries, which rely on bringing together creative talent. Growth of creative industries in particular locations benefits neighbouring areas and therefore support for creative hubs can boost the local economies around them. Furthermore, creative industries are overwhelmingly micro businesses and SMEs with a network of suppliers and collaborators including freelancers. For these networks to function effectively, communication links are critical.

South Yorkshire benefits from a number of fast-growing creative industries such as Sheffield’s strengths in digital, publishing and design alongside that of Sheffield’s universities widely recognised . South Yorkshire also neighbours other counties with fast-growing creative industries clusters including fashion in Leeds and film, TV, games and media in York, both of which have benefited from recent investment via the Arts & Humanities Research Council’s £100m Creative Industries Cluster Programme.

The music industry is a vital part of the UK’s creative economy, contributing £5.2bn in 2018. We have taken a number of steps to support the industry UK-wide including reforming licensing; bolstering copyright protections; funding music education initiatives and addressing issues in secondary ticketing.

Arts Council England (ACE) are investing in a number of music focused programmes across South Yorkshire, including Higher Rhythm in Doncaster and Sheffield’s Abbeydale Picture House which is benefitting from the Supporting Grassroots Live Music funding. ACE also supports four music hubs across the region providing opportunities for children and young people to access music education.

I have no immediate plans to visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park but I would be very happy to consider such a visit in the future. I’d like to congratulate Yorkshire Sculpture Park and its partners on last year’s successful Yorkshire Sculpture International, which was supported by Arts Council England. I have previously visited in a personal capacity, and hope to visit again in the future to hear more about their impressive education and outreach programmes, support for contemporary sculpture, and plans for the future.

The government will fully support the Football Associations in their plan to bid for the men's 2030 FIFA World Cup, including through investing an extra £550 million in grassroots football over the next 10 years. The government is committed to seeing the benefits of hosting the tournament spread across the country. The Prime Minister regularly engages with his ministers on all manifesto commitments.

The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare. We continue to look at ways to make childcare more affordable and to encourage families to use the government-funded support they are entitled to.

The department collects data on the main characteristics of childcare and early years provision in England, and fees data can be broken down to local authority level. Barnsley Central, which falls under Barnsley local authority, shows latest data on the average hourly fee band for childcare to be £4.75 for two-year-old children and £4.75 for three and four-year-old children.

Regular attendance at school is vital for children’s education, wellbeing, and long-term development. The department’s priority is to reduce overall school absence and maximise the number of children who regularly attend school.

The department’s home to school transport policy aims to ensure no child is unable to access education because of a lack of transport. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide free home to school transport for all children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and cannot walk there due to distance, route safety, or as a result of special educational needs, disability or mobility problems. There are additional rights to free transport for low-income families aimed at helping them exercise school choice.

Most central government funding for home to school transport is provided through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) administered by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities. The LGFS is making available £54.1 billion in the 2022/23 financial year, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. This is the largest cash-terms increase in grant funding provided through the settlement in the past 10 years. The funding is largely un-ringfenced, in recognition that councils are best placed to allocate funding based on their local communities’ needs, priorities and statutory duties.

The department also provides grant funding to local authorities as a contribution towards the cost of extended rights transport, £43.3 million in 2022/23, with the latest inflation rates at the time used to calculate funding.

The department recognises that inflation forecasts are higher than they were when the Autumn Budget Spending Review 2021 settlement was announced.  How that interacts with the finances of local government is not straightforward. However, as not all areas of expenditure will be sensitive to inflation and local authorities may have multi-year contracts, cushioning them from this year’s inflationary increases. The department recognises that local authorities are delivering children’s services in a challenging environment and are grateful for all they are doing to support children and families.

Officials regularly meet colleagues from other departments to discuss cost of living pressures, and the department continues to work with the sector to understand the impact of inflationary increases on delivery of services.

The department continues to monitor the rising cost of living whilst working with other government departments, including the Department for Work and Pensions, on support surrounding this issue. The department will continue to keep free school meal (FSM) eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them. In setting a threshold, the government believes that the current level, which enables children to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the right one.

The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming FSM. This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, the greatest ever proportion of school children, 37.5%, are now provided with FSM.

The department has no current plans to conduct our own assessment of the effects of FSM on educational attainment, but we are aware of independent research in this area, such as that from the University of Essex, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, and will note its findings.

The department publishes the number of pupils eligible for free school meals in the ‘Schools, Pupils and their characteristics’ national statistics publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

The following link provides the number of pupils eligible for free school meals, and the number of pupils who were eligible and took a free school meal at census day, 20 January 2022, for Barnsley and England: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8c29da0a-7a98-4107-9302-0328ee25a40e.

The department wants to ensure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility.

We continue to explore the options and delivery feasibility of introducing auto-enrolment functionality.  However, there are complex data, systems, and legal implications to such a change.

The total core schools budget is increasing to £56.8 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. This represents a £7 billion cash increase, compared with the 2021/22 financial year, and will benefit those pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream schools.

Within this, for those pupils with more complex needs, the department has increased high needs funding in the 2022-23 financial year by £1 billion to a total of £9.1 billion.

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council will attract an increase of 16% per head of their 2-18 population this year, compared to the previous financial year’s allocation, bringing their total high needs funding allocation in 2022/23 to £36.3 million.

Richmondshire District Council falls within North Yorkshire County Council, which will attract an increase of 15% per head of their 2-18 population this year, compared to the previous financial year’s allocation, bringing their total high needs funding allocation in the 2022/23 financial year to £71.3 million.

The total core schools budget is increasing to £56.8 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. This represents a £7 billion cash increase, compared with the 2021/22 financial year, and will benefit those pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream schools.

Within this, for those pupils with more complex needs, the department has increased high needs funding in the 2022-23 financial year by £1 billion to a total of £9.1 billion.

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council will attract an increase of 16% per head of their 2-18 population this year, compared to the previous financial year’s allocation, bringing their total high needs funding allocation in 2022/23 to £36.3 million.

Richmondshire District Council falls within North Yorkshire County Council, which will attract an increase of 15% per head of their 2-18 population this year, compared to the previous financial year’s allocation, bringing their total high needs funding allocation in the 2022/23 financial year to £71.3 million.

In March 2022, the department announced the High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA), amounting to over £1.4 billion of new investment. This funding is to support local authorities to deliver new places for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years. It is also to improve existing provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision (AP).

This funding forms part of the £2.6 billion the department is investing between 2022 and 2025 and represents a significant, transformational investment in new high needs provision. It will support local authorities to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and will also be used to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.

Barnsley received a total of just over £7.1 million through these allocations announced in March 2022 and just under £1.5 million through previous HNPCA allocations announced in April 2021 to deliver new places for the 2022/23 academic year. It is ultimately up to each local authority to determine how to best utilise their HNPCA funding to address local priorities.

Local authorities within the broader Yorkshire and the Humber region collectively received a total of just over £132 million through the HNPCA announced in April 2022. Prior to that, the region received a total of just over £21 million through the HNPCA funding announced in April 2021.

Alongside HNPCA grants, the department is also supporting local authorities to achieve our shared endeavour to secure a financially sustainable high needs system. This is through our investment of £9.1 billion high needs revenue funding in the 2022/23 financial year (a £1 billion increase from the 2021/22 financial year), our continuing work with local authorities as part of the safety valve programme, the introduction of the Delivering Better Value programme, our ongoing delivery of new special and AP free schools, and the recommendations outlined in the SEND and AP Green Paper.

The department has recently reviewed and updated guidance for childminders with the UK Health Security Agency. From Thursday 17 March 2022, childminders can continue to childmind in their homes if someone who lives with them has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms.

Childminders are advised to follow the steps below to reduce the risk of onward transmission:

• The person who has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms should avoid contact with the children being cared for in the setting.
• Where possible, use separate toilet and handwashing facilities. If this is not possible, maintain extra cleaning and hygiene routines, particularly after the person has used the facilities.
• Notify parents, carers, and any assistants that someone has tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms, as soon as reasonably possible and maintain open communication with them throughout.
• Consider the need to reduce the spread of COVID-19 with mitigations, such as ventilation and extra cleaning and hygiene routines, which should be applied where practical and safe to do so.
• Comply with health and safety law by reviewing your risk assessment, demonstrating that the provision of childcare in your setting is safe, and how you will put into place any additional but proportionate measures.

Additional information on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 can be found in guidance published by the Cabinet Office, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-coronavirus-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do?priority-taxon=774cee22-d896-44c1-a611-e3109cce8eae?utm_source=17%20March%202022%20C19&utm_medium=Daily%20Email%20C19&utm_campaign=DfE%20C19.

Childminders can also consider using alternative places to operate such as other childminders’ houses, where possible.

The department is determined that all children and young people, including those who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, receive the support they need to succeed in their education. Those teaching classes of children with sensory impairment must hold an appropriate qualification approved by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. Teachers working in an advisory role to support such pupils should also hold the appropriate qualification.

Wider decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rest with schools, headteachers, and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge their own requirements, which may include further training and development relating to British Sign Language.

All teachers in local authority maintained schools or non-maintained special schools in England are required to hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), which is awarded upon successful completion of an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course.

All ITT courses must be designed to allow trainees to reach the Teachers Standards, including standard 5, which states that teachers should “adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils”. Standard 5 is clear that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. The Teachers’ Standards are available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards.

From 1 August 2022, people who have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), will qualify for student support and home fee status in relation to new higher education (HE) courses, if they have been resident in the UK and Islands since the grant of such leave. They will also qualify for advanced learner loans for further education courses. Students who qualify for leave on this basis will not need to demonstrate three years ordinary residence in the UK and Islands before the start of their course.

Guidance for Afghan nationals applying for HE courses can be found at the following links:

• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/welcome-a-guide-for-arrivals-to-the-uk-from-afghanistan-on-the-locally-employed-staff-relocation-scheme
• https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifies

This guidance is being updated to reflect the recent changes to HE student support for persons with leave under ARAP and ACRS.

From 1 August 2022, people who have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), will qualify for student support and home fee status in relation to new higher education (HE) courses, if they have been resident in the UK and Islands since the grant of such leave. They will also qualify for advanced learner loans for further education courses. Students who qualify for leave on this basis will not need to demonstrate three years ordinary residence in the UK and Islands before the start of their course.

Guidance for Afghan nationals applying for HE courses can be found at the following links:

• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/welcome-a-guide-for-arrivals-to-the-uk-from-afghanistan-on-the-locally-employed-staff-relocation-scheme
• https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifies

This guidance is being updated to reflect the recent changes to HE student support for persons with leave under ARAP and ACRS.

From 1 August 2022, people who have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), will qualify for student support and home fee status in relation to new higher education (HE) courses, if they have been resident in the UK and Islands since the grant of such leave. They will also qualify for advanced learner loans for further education courses. Students who qualify for leave on this basis will not need to demonstrate three years ordinary residence in the UK and Islands before the start of their course.

Guidance for Afghan nationals applying for HE courses can be found at the following links:

• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/welcome-a-guide-for-arrivals-to-the-uk-from-afghanistan-on-the-locally-employed-staff-relocation-scheme
• https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifies

This guidance is being updated to reflect the recent changes to HE student support for persons with leave under ARAP and ACRS.

Additional funding has been made available to the core schools budget for allocation in the 2022-23 financial year as a result of the 2021 Spending Review. The way that this funding is being allocated reflects differences in how pupil referral units (PRU), special schools and mainstream schools are funded.

Mainstream schools are funded through local funding formulae, and the extra funding allocated to the department following the 2021 Spending Review is being allocated in the 2022-23 financial year as a supplementary grant. This is because it was not possible for the department to decide on allocations, and for local authorities to include those within their local formulae, in time.

PRUs, special schools and the equivalent academies, on the other hand, are funded from the high needs block of the dedicated schools’ grant (DSG). In December 2021, the department announced additional allocations to local authorities of high needs DSG funding for the 2022-23 financial year, totalling £325 million. The differences in costs and funding for PRUs mean that centrally setting supplementary per-pupil funding rates, as we have done for the supplementary funding for mainstream schools, was not appropriate. Therefore, the department decided that it was better that local authorities decide how to allocate the additional funding to those types of schools, with the same flexibilities as they must deploy the rest of the DSG allocations of high needs funding.

PRUs should, therefore, discuss with their local authority any increases as part of the top-up funding paid from authorities’ high needs budgets. Each local authority now knows how much of the additional £325 million high needs funding it will be allocated in the 2022-23 financial year. Nationally, this is an increase of 4% to the high needs allocations announced in July 2021. Authorities should be able to afford some increase to their top-up funding for PRUs and other schools, where that is required to meet the cost increases they are facing.

Funding for PRUs comes from mainstream schools’ budgets, for those pupils placed by those schools, as well as from local authorities. There is no distinction in the national funding system between those pupils in PRUs who have special needs, and those who are there for other reasons.

Additional funding has been made available to the core schools budget for allocation in the 2022-23 financial year as a result of the 2021 Spending Review. The way that this funding is being allocated reflects differences in how pupil referral units (PRU), special schools and mainstream schools are funded.

Mainstream schools are funded through local funding formulae, and the extra funding allocated to the department following the 2021 Spending Review is being allocated in the 2022-23 financial year as a supplementary grant. This is because it was not possible for the department to decide on allocations, and for local authorities to include those within their local formulae, in time.

PRUs, special schools and the equivalent academies, on the other hand, are funded from the high needs block of the dedicated schools’ grant (DSG). In December 2021, the department announced additional allocations to local authorities of high needs DSG funding for the 2022-23 financial year, totalling £325 million. The differences in costs and funding for PRUs mean that centrally setting supplementary per-pupil funding rates, as we have done for the supplementary funding for mainstream schools, was not appropriate. Therefore, the department decided that it was better that local authorities decide how to allocate the additional funding to those types of schools, with the same flexibilities as they must deploy the rest of the DSG allocations of high needs funding.

PRUs should, therefore, discuss with their local authority any increases as part of the top-up funding paid from authorities’ high needs budgets. Each local authority now knows how much of the additional £325 million high needs funding it will be allocated in the 2022-23 financial year. Nationally, this is an increase of 4% to the high needs allocations announced in July 2021. Authorities should be able to afford some increase to their top-up funding for PRUs and other schools, where that is required to meet the cost increases they are facing.

Funding for PRUs comes from mainstream schools’ budgets, for those pupils placed by those schools, as well as from local authorities. There is no distinction in the national funding system between those pupils in PRUs who have special needs, and those who are there for other reasons.

The government knows that vaccines save lives which is why, earlier this year, plans were set out to make COVID-19 vaccines a condition of deployment for adults in care homes to protect those who are more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Vaccinated people are less likely to experience severe symptoms of COVID-19, be admitted to hospital or die from it and there is evidence that they are less likely to pass the virus on to others.

The current exemption from the requirement to be fully vaccinated to work in a care home is expected to continue. This applies to those with specific medical conditions, pregnant women and those aged under 18 as set out in operational guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaccination-of-people-working-or-deployed-in-care-homes-operational-guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-of-people-working-or-deployed-in-care-homes-operational-guidance.

16 -17-year-olds who work in the health and social care sector, including students undertaking work placements, have been eligible for 2 vaccinations since the beginning of phase 1 of the vaccination programme roll out. Following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's announcement, all 16–17-year-olds are now eligible for 2 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The department encourages further education providers to work with employers to understand the vaccination requirements for students undertaking work placements in their health or care setting.

Further information can be found on the ACAS website and the guide for employers on gov.uk:

https://www.acas.org.uk/working-safely-coronavirus/getting-the-coronavirus-vaccine-for-work.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-guide-for-employers/covid-19-vaccination-guide-for-employers.

The government knows that vaccines save lives which is why, earlier this year, plans were set out to make COVID-19 vaccines a condition of deployment for adults in care homes to protect those who are more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Vaccinated people are less likely to experience severe symptoms of COVID-19, be admitted to hospital or die from it and there is evidence that they are less likely to pass the virus on to others.

The current exemption from the requirement to be fully vaccinated to work in a care home is expected to continue. This applies to those with specific medical conditions, pregnant women and those aged under 18 as set out in operational guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaccination-of-people-working-or-deployed-in-care-homes-operational-guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-of-people-working-or-deployed-in-care-homes-operational-guidance.

16 -17-year-olds who work in the health and social care sector, including students undertaking work placements, have been eligible for 2 vaccinations since the beginning of phase 1 of the vaccination programme roll out. Following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's announcement, all 16–17-year-olds are now eligible for 2 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The department encourages further education providers to work with employers to understand the vaccination requirements for students undertaking work placements in their health or care setting.

Further information can be found on the ACAS website and the guide for employers on gov.uk:

https://www.acas.org.uk/working-safely-coronavirus/getting-the-coronavirus-vaccine-for-work.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-guide-for-employers/covid-19-vaccination-guide-for-employers.

The department is committed to playing its part in supporting the labour market transition to net zero. This includes supporting key sectors including automotive and boosting green skills in regions such as South Yorkshire. Building on the Skills for Jobs White Paper and the recent publication of the net zero strategy, the department’s skills reforms will strengthen links between employers and providers, support workers in high carbon sectors with the transition, and help to build a pipeline of future talent. We have a range of existing programmes which support green skills for young people and adults in key sectors such as automotive. These include:

• Skills Bootcamps across England, including in electric vehicle maintenance. Skills Bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer.
• The Emerging Skills Project in Electrification, which aims to encourage the adoption of cutting-edge skills in electrification technologies, such as battery-powered motors and drives, electric vehicle systems and software, battery maintenance, and recycling. The project is funding the development of short courses, teacher training support and free to access ‘up-skilling’ days in the latest electrification technologies.
• South Yorkshire’s local skills improvement plan Trailblazer and development fund pilot, which aim to make the local skills system more responsive to employers’ key skills needs.

The Green Apprenticeship Advisory Panel (GAAP) has also endorsed the following apprenticeship standards that are available and relevant to electric vehicle service and repair:

• Motor Vehicle Service and Maintenance Technician (light vehicle), L3, ST0033.
• Autocare Technician, L2, ST0499

Working with employers, the GAAP will continue to review existing apprenticeships standards to ensure they can further accommodate skills needs linked to key green sectors including automotive.

To support young people and adults to progress towards a green career, the department will ensure a strengthened system of employer-led standards are in place, underpinning apprenticeships, T-Levels, and new higher technical qualifications. We need employers in low-carbon sectors to play a central role in designing and developing qualifications and training; and demonstrate where there is demand for green skills, so that we can pivot our key skills programmes accordingly.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and I regularly engage with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.

30 hours free childcare aims to help working parents with three and four year olds with the costs of childcare, helping them to take up paid work or take on additional hours. To be eligible, parents must earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum wage and less than £100,000 per year. The government currently has no plans to extend this scheme to those children in receipt of Early Years Pupil Premium, who would not already qualify for 30 hours free childcare.

The Early Years Pupil Premium gives providers additional funding to disadvantaged three and four year olds pupils, if the child receives the universal 15 hours entitlement and they meet the eligibility criteria. Further information on eligibility for the Early Years Pupil Premium can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/get-extra-early-years-funding.

Whilst most children in receipt of Early Years Pupil Premium are unlikely to be eligible for 30 hours free childcare, the government provides a range of childcare support for parents on a low income across the country.

In England, all three and four year olds, and some disadvantaged two year olds, are eligible for 15 hours of free education for 38 weeks per year, regardless of parental income or employment status. This entitlement helps children to develop social skills and prepares them for school and is distributed at a local level through local authorities.

Further help is available to working parents on a low income through Universal Credit, where up to 85% of childcare costs can be reimbursed, up to a maximum of £646 for one child or £1108 per month for two or more children and is available across the UK. Parents in England who receive help with their childcare costs through Universal Credit can claim this in addition to the free early education entitlements offered by the Department for Education.

30 hours free childcare aims to help working parents with three and four year olds with the costs of childcare, helping them to take up paid work or take on additional hours. To be eligible, parents must earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum wage and less than £100,000 per year. The government currently has no plans to extend this scheme to those children in receipt of Early Years Pupil Premium, who would not already qualify for 30 hours free childcare.

The Early Years Pupil Premium gives providers additional funding to disadvantaged three and four year olds pupils, if the child receives the universal 15 hours entitlement and they meet the eligibility criteria. Further information on eligibility for the Early Years Pupil Premium can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/get-extra-early-years-funding.

Whilst most children in receipt of Early Years Pupil Premium are unlikely to be eligible for 30 hours free childcare, the government provides a range of childcare support for parents on a low income across the country.

In England, all three and four year olds, and some disadvantaged two year olds, are eligible for 15 hours of free education for 38 weeks per year, regardless of parental income or employment status. This entitlement helps children to develop social skills and prepares them for school and is distributed at a local level through local authorities.

Further help is available to working parents on a low income through Universal Credit, where up to 85% of childcare costs can be reimbursed, up to a maximum of £646 for one child or £1108 per month for two or more children and is available across the UK. Parents in England who receive help with their childcare costs through Universal Credit can claim this in addition to the free early education entitlements offered by the Department for Education.

A significant cross-government effort is underway, called ‘Operation Warm Welcome’, to ensure Afghans arriving in the UK receive the vital support they need to rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education, and integrate into their local communities.

As part of Operation Warm Welcome, it was announced there would be further funding for up to 300 undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships for Afghans at UK universities. The department will update with further details of this programme in due course.

All teachers are teachers of special education needs and disabilities (SEND), and the high quality teaching is central to ensuring that pupils with SEND are given the best possible opportunity to achieve at school.

From September 2020, all new teachers will benefit from at least three years of evidence based professional development and support, starting with Initial Teacher Training (ITT) based on the new ITT Core Content Framework (CCF), and followed by a new two-year induction underpinned by the Early Career Framework (ECF).

The CCF sets out a minimum entitlement of knowledge, skills and experiences that trainees need to enter the profession in the best position possible to teach and support all pupils to succeed, including those pupils identified within the four areas of need set out in the SEND code of practice.

ITT providers must design their courses to incorporate the knowledge, skills and experiences detailed in the CCF into a coherent sequence to support trainees to develop their expertise. Courses must be designed so that trainee teachers can demonstrate that they meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. This includes the requirement in Standard 5, that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs.

The Department’s vision is that ITT based on the CCF will be the foundation on which early career training and support is built. The ECF underpins what all Early Career Teachers should learn, and learn how to do, based on expert guidance and the best available research evidence. It was designed in consultation with the education sector, including SEND specialists, and covers five core areas: behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and professional behaviours. It is designed to work for all Early Career Teachers regardless of subject, phase or school.

Alongside this, through our contract with the National Association for Special Educational Needs, the department has funded the Whole School SEND consortium to equip the workforce to deliver high quality teaching for all children and young people with SEND. This includes providing training and resources for teaching and support staff. The funding in the 2021-22 financial year will bring the total funding for this contract to over £8 million since 2018.

High-quality professional development is important for teachers at all stages of their careers, to ensure they receive appropriate support and to enable them to consistently improve their practices. Decisions relating to teachers’ professional development rightly rest with schools, headteachers, and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge their own requirements, which may include further training and development relating to pupils and young people with SEND.

The special educational needs and disability (SEND) Review was set up to improve the outcomes for children and young people with SEND, with a focus on targeting and distributing resources in a way that best ensures children’s needs are met quickly and effectively.

The Department for Education is working with a range of partners including children and young people with SEND, the Children’s Commissioner, parents and carers, system leaders, SEND sector organisations, representatives from educational establishments and many others.

Proposals are being developed and we will consult publicly on them. We are not yet in a position to provide a firm date for the publication of proposals but are looking to do so as soon as possible.

In January 2021, the former Secretary of State for Education (Gavin Williamson), my right hon. Friend for South Staffordshire, asked the Office for Students (OfS) to reform the Strategic Priorities Grant for the 2021-22 academic year[1].

The OfS consulted on the proposals and has recently published its conclusions. Following careful consideration of the issues raised in consultation responses, the former Secretary of State for Education issued Terms and Conditions of funding to the OfS (in relation to London Weighting and high-cost subject funding) to ensure the government’s priorities for the grant were implemented this year.

For the 2021-22 academic year, the high-cost subject funding rate for arts and music courses has been set at £121.50 – this is equivalent to a reduction of around 1% in combined funding (on a per-student basis) from a £9,250 tuition fee and OfS grant funding compared to 2020-21. Total funding for high-cost subjects, such as medicine and engineering, is 12% higher than last year, an increase of £81 million[2].

The government continues to value performing arts and creative subjects. High quality provision in a range of subjects is critical for our workforce and our public services, as well as being intellectually rewarding and culturally enriching for those studying them and wider society.

As part of the same reform programme, we asked the OfS to invest an additional £10 million in our world-leading specialist providers, many of which specialise in arts provision. We want to ensure that such providers receive additional support, and that grant funding is used effectively to support students, including those with an interest in the cultural and creative sectors.

The government supports the arts throughout the education system. For example, the government has invested nearly £620 million during 2016-21 in a diverse portfolio of music and cultural education programmes to ensure all school children, whatever their background, have access to a high-quality education in music and arts[3].

[1] https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/a3814453-4c28-404a-bf76-490183867d9a/rt-hon-gavin-williamson-cbe-mp-t-grant-ofs-chair-smb.pdf.

[2] https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/b2eaeeb4-7fed-4eda-9868-a4671f170129/recurrent-funding-2021-22.pdf Table 2: Recurrent grant budgets for academic year 2021-22 (£ millions).

[3] https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-09-06/43435.

Earlier this year, we released an invitation to tender worth up to £24 million to continue our support for school breakfast clubs. This will enable our investment in school breakfast clubs to continue until 2023, making sure that thousands of children in disadvantaged areas have a healthy start to the day. The outcome from this procurement process will be available shortly. This builds on the investment of up to £38 million in school breakfast clubs which the government has delivered since 2018. The current contract is due to complete in July 2021, and the new procurement will enable our provision to continue seamlessly.

We recognise that foundation years can play an important role in enabling students with lower prior attainment, potentially from disadvantaged backgrounds, to access high tariff provision. We also recognise their role in allowing students to switch subjects. Some universities are already using high-quality foundation years in ways which provide good value for these students, and we are pleased to support such universities.

We are committed to ensuring that all foundation years continue to provide good value for money and provide a distinct benefit to students.

We plan to consult on further reforms to the higher education system, including the treatment of foundation years, in summer 2021, before setting out a full response to the report and final conclusion to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding alongside the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

We recognise that foundation years can play an important role in enabling students with lower prior attainment, potentially from disadvantaged backgrounds, to access high tariff provision. We also recognise their role in allowing students to switch subjects. Some universities are already using high-quality foundation years in ways which provide good value for these students, and we are pleased to support such universities.

We are committed to ensuring that all foundation years continue to provide good value for money and provide a distinct benefit to students.

We plan to consult on further reforms to the higher education system, including the treatment of foundation years, in summer 2021, before setting out a full response to the report and final conclusion to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding alongside the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), sits with local authorities. We are supporting local authorities to fulfil this duty by investing £300 million in the 2021-22 financial year to support local authorities to deliver new places and improve existing provision for children with SEND or who require alternative provision.

On 9 April 2021 we announced that Barnsley has been allocated almost £1.5 million of this funding via its High Needs Provision Capital Allocation. It will be for Barnsley to determine how best to use this funding to address their local priorities and local authorities are free to work with any schools in their area.

This funding is on top of the £365 million we invested nationally through the Special Provision Capital Fund between the 2018-19 and 2020-21 financial years, and our continued investment in the free schools programme. We are also providing an increase in revenue funding for those children and young people with more complex needs, of nearly a quarter (24%) over 2 years, bringing the total high needs budget to more than £8 billion in the 2021-22 financial year.

Further funding for new high needs places will be subject to the outcomes of the next government spending review, where we will have a chance to consider how we can best support the sector in the round.

It is a top priority of the Government to ensure that we continue to attract, retain, and support the high-quality teachers we need to inspire the next generation. We continue to progress the delivery of the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy that the Government published in January 2019. Our strategy includes commitments to ensuring all teachers receive world-class training and development and are supported to stay and succeed in the profession.

Central to these reforms is the Early Career Framework (ECF) which is the biggest teaching reform in a generation. It will provide newly qualified teachers with a funded, two-year support package, and will be fully rolled out in autumn 2021. Early roll-out began in autumn 2020 and is taking place in selected areas: the North East, Greater Manchester, Bradford, and Doncaster.

The content of the ECF builds on and complements Initial Teacher Training and underpins what all early career teachers should be entitled to learn about and learn how to do, based on expert guidance and the best available research evidence. The ECF has been designed to support early career teacher development in five core areas, including behaviour management, to ensure that new teachers receive high-quality support and development during the first two years of their careers.

The offer for early career teachers includes:

• 5% off timetable in their second year of teaching to undertake induction activities, including training and mentoring
• Freely available high quality development materials based on the Early Career Framework
• A dedicated mentor and training for these mentors
• Funding for mentors to spend with early career teachers in the second year of induction

This is designed to ensure teachers feel more confident and in control at the start of their new career, and have the knowledge, skills and support they need for a strong start in the profession.

We are also taking a range of actions to address teacher workload and wellbeing, including improving access to resources, building wellbeing into teacher training and policy making, and the creation of the first ever Education Staff Wellbeing Charter which will be published at the earliest opportunity this year. We continue to assess the impact of policy changes and requests to schools on workload, working to reduce that impact wherever possible, for example, by reviewing data collections, services and requests.

As part of the Government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are 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. To date, over 1.29 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities and further education colleges.

The Department has 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.

We are building on the foundations of the Department’s significant investment in technology and exploring future options, which we will set out in due course.

The information held by the department covers children aged 10 years or over, who were looked after for at least 12 months, who were convicted or subject to youth cautions, or youth conditional cautions during each year. The figures are shown in the table below:

Number of children aged 10 years or over who were looked after for at least 12 months who were convicted or subject to youth cautions, or youth conditional cautions during the year in England[1]

Source: SSDA903

The latest information on children looked after in England is contained in the ‘Children looked after in England’ statistics release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

[1] Figures include children aged 10 to 17 years who have been continuously looked after for at least 12 months as at 31 March. Figures exclude children who were looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements.

[2] Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.

It is a top priority of the Government to ensure that we continue to attract, retain and support the great teachers we need to educate the next generation. The Government is moving forward with delivery of the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy that was published in January 2019. This includes commitments to reduce teacher workload, improve continuing professional development, and create greater opportunities for flexible working.

We have started to roll out the Early Career Framework (ECF) – the biggest teaching reform in a generation – providing the foundations for a successful career in teaching, backed by up to £130 million a year in funding when fully rolled out. Early roll-out began in autumn 2020 and is taking place in selected areas: the North East, Greater Manchester, Bradford, and Doncaster.

The new initial teacher training (ITT) Core Content Framework, which was implemented from September 2020, is a mandatory core minimum entitlement for all trainees and will work coherently with the ECF to ensure all new teachers benefit from at least 3 years of evidence-based training, across ITT and into induction.

We are also launching new National Professional Qualifications from September 2021, offering high-quality professional development for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in specialist areas of teaching practice, to those leading multiple schools across trusts.

The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including making 1.3 million laptops and tablets available for disadvantaged children and young people.

To date, over 1.29 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities and further education colleges.

The Department has partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help over 30,000 disadvantaged children get online as well as delivering over 75,000 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.

Data on the number of laptops, tablets and 4G routers distributed by the Get Help with Technology Programme to local authorities has been published periodically over the duration of the programme and can be found through this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/laptops-and-tablets-progress-data-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

The information is not held centrally in the form requested. The department does not collect information on the educational activity of all looked after children. Information is held on the number of care leavers aged 17 to 21 years old who are in higher education or other types of education on or around their birthday.

The number of care leavers (full-time and part-time) aged 17 to 21, who were in higher education in Barnsley local authority and England in the year ending 31 March 2020 or in ‘education other than higher education’ are shown in the table.

Number of care leavers aged 17 to 21 in education¹²

Care leavers in Barnsley and England

Year ending 31 March 2020

1. Education ‘other than higher education’ refers to all studies excluding degrees, diplomas in higher education, teaching and nursing qualifications, HNDs, ONDs, and BTEC levels 4-5, all of which fall under the category of higher education.
2. The definition of a care leaver is a young person who has been ‘looked after’ at some point since they were 14 years old, and were in care on or after their 16th birthday. Care leavers are entitled to some ongoing help and support from Children’s Services after they leave care. The leaving care age in England is 18 years old, however some young people do leave care aged 16 or 17.
3. c = suppressed to protect confidentiality

The latest information on children looked after in England, including the number of care leavers in education on 31 March 2020, is contained in the Children looked after in England statistics release, which is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.

Figures on children looked after outside England is a matter for the devolved administrations.

Improving the academic attainment of looked after children in school is vital to increasing their subsequent participation in further and higher education. Every local authority in England must appoint a Virtual School Head, who has a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care up to the age of 18. Virtual School Heads have made a significant impact since they were introduced by statute in 2014, bringing expert leadership to the system that has seen a very significant reduction in permanent expulsions and absenteeism and improved educational progress. All looked after children, up to age 18, must also have a personal education plan. This should include careers advice and financial information about further and higher education, training, and employment.

Children in care and care leavers are a priority group for receipt of the 16 to 19 bursary, which provides up to £1,200 a year to help meet the financial costs of participating in further education.

If care leavers attend university, local authorities are required to provide a minimum £2,000 bursary and provide, or meet the costs of, accommodation during non-term times. As with other students, care leavers can request a maintenance loan to cover their living costs and a student loan to cover their course fees. In addition, many universities provide additional support for care leavers. In 2019, the department published the care leaver higher education principles for higher education institutions, which identify the areas where care leavers need extra support to access and succeed in higher education, with examples of best practice from across the sector. Further information on these is available here: https://mycovenant.org.uk/offers/educational/.

We have also launched the Care Leaver Covenant, which provides a way for organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors to show their commitment to care leavers through providing concrete offers of support. In total, 67 further education colleges and higher education institutions have signed the Care Leaver Covenant and published their offer to care leavers.

At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Universities, wrote to universities and other providers of higher education to highlight the vulnerability of care leavers and estranged students and asked them to prioritise these groups for additional support. We have also prioritised care leavers for the receipt of laptops and data packages, distributed to local authorities in summer 2020 to allocate to vulnerable children and young people in their local areas, to help them to access education online and keep in touch with their support networks.

The COVID-19 outbreak has been extremely challenging for many families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and schools who support them. Mainstream and special schools, special post 16-providers and alternative provision remained open to vulnerable children and young people throughout the third national lockdown, including those with education, health and care plans. Due to this, many specialist settings continued to offer face-to-face provision for the vast majority of, if not all of, their pupils and students.

To support those settings, we published guidance, which we regularly update, to provide additional information and support for delivering education in these settings.

In June last year, we introduced a COVID-19 catch-up premium worth £650 million to support schools to make up for lost teaching time. Head teachers decide how this premium is spent (for example, on educational psychologists, speech and language therapy and access to technology). Schools can prioritise funding support for SEND.

On 24 February, the government announced a new £700 million package for a range of additional measures to give early years settings, schools, providers of 16-19 education – including specialist settings – the tools they need to target support for all students.

Specific targeted support for children and young people with SEND includes a new one-off Recovery Premium for state primary and secondary schools, building on the Pupil Premium, which will be provided to schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged students. This funding can be used to lay on additional clubs or activities or for other evidence-based approaches for supporting the most disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND, from September.

To support schools with delivering remote education, the department made £4.84 million available for the Oak National Academy, both for the summer term of the academic year 2019-20 and the 2020-21 academic year, to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects. Specialist content for pupils with SEND is available. Additionally, the Oak National Academy offers therapy-based lessons and resources across occupational, physical, sensory and speech and language therapy, which can be accessed at this link: https://classroom.thenational.academy/specialist.

We have also funded the National Star College to launch their SEND Hub, providing advice and guidance on ways to ensure the curriculum is accessible and inclusive for all.

Finally, through our funding of the Whole School SEND consortium in the financial year 2021-22, we have provided resources for families and schools and training for teachers to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak in the last contract year. The funding in the financial year 2021-22 will bring the total funding for this contract to over £8 million.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) sits with local authorities. We provide funding for all the places that are needed, based on local authorities’ own data. We have announced nearly £500 million to provide places needed for 2023. This funding is on top of over £8.1 billion to provide places needed from 2015 to 2022 and our investment in the Free Schools programme. School capacity published data estimates that, as at May 2019, local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber still needed to provide a further 8,644 places by September 2021. Funding is allocated at local authority level. The local authorities within Yorkshire and Humber have been allocated £1 billion to provide new school places between 2011 and 2023.

In addition to this funding, we are investing £300 million in 2021-22 for new places for children with SEND or who require alternative provision. This funding is on top of £365 million allocated to local authorities through the Special Provision Capital Fund across 2018-19 to 2020-21, with local authorities across Yorkshire and the Humber receiving nearly £22 million through this fund. Funding for future years will be determined as part of the next Spending Review.

The majority of children with special educational needs[1] (SEN) are educated in mainstream settings[2]. Of those identified in state-funded education[3] as either requiring SEN Support (983,559) or who have an education, health and care plan (269,022), 1,125,476 are currently educated in mainstream settings in England. This trend is replicated in the Yorkshire and Humber region, where 116,079 of 126,703 children requiring SEN support or have an education, health and care plan are in mainstream settings.

Under the SEND Code of Practice 2015, all mainstream schools are under a duty to use their best endeavours to support children with SEN (whether or not the child has an education, health and care plan). The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review (including its sufficiency), working with parents, young people, and providers.

[1] We collect data on pupils with a special educational need (SEN). This does not cover all disabilities and pupils may have a disability without a special educational need.

[2] Mainstream refers to state-funded primary and secondary schools only.

[3] State-funded refers to state-funded primary, secondary and special schools only.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places, including for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) sits with local authorities. We provide funding for all the places that are needed, based on local authorities’ own data. We have announced nearly £500 million to provide places needed for 2023. This funding is on top of over £8.1 billion to provide places needed from 2015 to 2022 and our investment in the Free Schools programme. School capacity published data estimates that, as at May 2019, local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber still needed to provide a further 8,644 places by September 2021. Funding is allocated at local authority level. The local authorities within Yorkshire and Humber have been allocated £1 billion to provide new school places between 2011 and 2023.

In addition to this funding, we are investing £300 million in 2021-22 for new places for children with SEND or who require alternative provision. This funding is on top of £365 million allocated to local authorities through the Special Provision Capital Fund across 2018-19 to 2020-21, with local authorities across Yorkshire and the Humber receiving nearly £22 million through this fund. Funding for future years will be determined as part of the next Spending Review.

The majority of children with special educational needs[1] (SEN) are educated in mainstream settings[2]. Of those identified in state-funded education[3] as either requiring SEN Support (983,559) or who have an education, health and care plan (269,022), 1,125,476 are currently educated in mainstream settings in England. This trend is replicated in the Yorkshire and Humber region, where 116,079 of 126,703 children requiring SEN support or have an education, health and care plan are in mainstream settings.

Under the SEND Code of Practice 2015, all mainstream schools are under a duty to use their best endeavours to support children with SEN (whether or not the child has an education, health and care plan). The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to keep the provision for children and young people with SEND under review (including its sufficiency), working with parents, young people, and providers.

[1] We collect data on pupils with a special educational need (SEN). This does not cover all disabilities and pupils may have a disability without a special educational need.

[2] Mainstream refers to state-funded primary and secondary schools only.

[3] State-funded refers to state-funded primary, secondary and special schools only.

This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central directly and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Community learning, funded through the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and Adult Education Budget (AEB), provides a way of progressing to further learning, training or employment, particularly for disadvantaged learners.

The ESFA community learning objectives require providers to prioritise disadvantaged learners. It is an important stepping stone, particularly for these learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, learners with low basic skills, learners with mental health issues, and learners facing financial hardship.

Community learning is funded through the AEB which aims to engage adults and provide the skills and learning they need to equip them for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. Colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their community learning, to determine how best to meet their learners' needs.

Currently, approximately half of the AEB has been devolved to seven Combined Mayoral Authorities (CMAs) and the Mayor of London, acting where appropriate through the Greater London Authority (GLA). Devolution of the AEB gives CMAs and the GLA direct control over adult education provision for their residents and provides local areas the opportunity to better meet local needs. The ESFA is responsible for funding AEB learners resident in non-devolved areas including South Yorkshire currently.

Sheffield City Region is due to take on adult education functions from the 2021/22 academic year. We will continue to work with Sheffield City Region to support their preparations for devolution.

Any form of harassment, violence or sexual assault is abhorrent and unacceptable anywhere in society, including in our schools, colleges and universities, which should be safe and inclusive environments.

There is already a strong and clear framework in place for schools and colleges, which sets out what they should be doing in terms of recording and reporting (to the police and children's social care, as required) in sexual abuse cases.

This is set out in ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE), which is the statutory guidance to which all schools and colleges must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2. It sets out a framework for information recording, collection and sharing. This includes, amongst other things, that all concerns, discussions and decisions made, and the reasons for those decisions, should be recorded in writing and that staff should speak to their Designated Safeguarding Lead if they have any doubts about this requirement.

To further support schools and colleges, we have published departmental advice on what sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges looks like, how to prevent it, how to respond to reports of it, and on how to support victims. This information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sexual-violence-and-sexual-harassment-between-children-in-schools-and-colleges.

We regularly consult on KCSIE to see where we might be able to strengthen it. Our latest consultation was launched on 10 December 2020 and closed on 4 March 2021. At the same time, we also sought views on revisions to the stand-alone advice on sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges. We are now analysing those responses and revised guidance is expected to come into force in September 2021.

Higher Education (HE) providers are autonomous, and have clear responsibilities, including under the Equality Act 2010, and should have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law, and to investigate and swiftly address reports of sexual misconduct.

The government already urges university leaders to ensure a zero-tolerance approach to all harassment and sexual misconduct and improve the systems for reporting incidents. The government also urges HE providers to collect comprehensive accurate data on harassment incidents, and continue to break down barriers to reporting, in spite of the potential for this to lead to initial spikes in reported instances.

The Universities UK ‘Changing the Culture' framework 2016 report made a number of recommendations on tackling harassment and hate crime on campus, including on improving reporting rates and mechanisms for disclosure in HE providers. These included that relevant internal and external support should be signposted, and that reporting procedures should be centralised, accessible, and allow for anonymity if preferred, as well as enabling accurate data to be captured to determine the scale of a problem and track year on-year trends. The report can be found here: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2016/changing-the-culture.pdf.

The Office for Students has recently made a statement on next steps for tackling harassment and hate crime in higher education, including plans for publication of its statement of expectations on harassment and hate crime. This is available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/student-wellbeing-and-protection/prevent-and-address-harassment-and-sexual-misconduct/statement-of-expectations/.

The Department is supporting all young people to be happy, healthy, safe, equipped for adult life, able to understand the world they are growing up in, and able to make a positive contribution to society.

Relationship Education is now compulsory for all primary school pupils, Relationships and Sex Education compulsory for all secondary school pupils, and Health Education compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools. The new subjects are being taught from the start of this academic year, and the latest statutory guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

High quality teaching of these subjects will ensure that children understand what positive, healthy, and respectful relationships look like and help to prevent abuse and gender- based violence. The starting principle when teaching these subjects must be the applicable law. The Department wants pupils to develop a clear understanding of their rights, including how to recognise unhealthy or abusive relationships. We also want schools to support pupils who have experienced unsafe or abusive relationships and approach these subjects with sensitivity.

To support teachers to deliver these topics safely and with confidence we have produced Relationship, Sex and Health Education teacher training modules. Each module covers safeguarding to make sure teachers, pastoral staff and the designated safeguarding leads are equipped to deal with sensitive discussions and potential disclosures. Additionally, to help schools implement a whole school approach to promoting healthy relationships and tackling gender-based violence, the Department has developed a ‘Respectful Schools Tool’. The tool is designed to help schools deliver on a range of existing equalities, behaviour, bullying and safeguarding duties.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, meets regularly with Cabinet colleagues to discuss the Department's agenda.

Tackling gender-based violence is a top priority for the Government and we are determined to step up our response to prevent these crimes and improve support and outcomes for victims.

The Department welcomes the re-opening of the Home Office’s consultation on Violence Against Women and Girls and would encourage everyone to take part, if they have not already done so. We will continue to work closely with the Home Office on the development of the Government’s forthcoming Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, which will be informed by the responses received to the call for evidence. The new VAWG Strategy will focus on prevention, drive forward improvements in the effort to target perpetrators, respond to the changing nature of crimes against women and girls and, most importantly, will continue to put victims at the heart of our approach.

The Department is supporting teachers to deliver the new Relationship, Sex and Health Education with confidence, including covering issues such as rape, harassment and abuse in the newly published Being Safe module.

I refer the hon. Member for Barnsley Central to the answer I gave on 4 March 2021 to Question 160672, which is available here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-03-01/160672.

Due to concerns with Northern College’s future financial position, the Further Education Commissioner undertook a diagnostic assessment at the College on 15 and 16 February 2021.

The Commissioner and the Education and Skills Funding Agency are now working with the leadership at Northern College as they consider options to improve their financial situation. They will also work with Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority and West Yorkshire Combined Authority, who will provide most of the College’s funding from August 2021 through the devolved Adult Education Budget, to ensure they are closely sighted on steps taken to try and secure a sustainable financial future for the College.

It will be for the two Combined Authorities to agree the value of the Adult Education Budget that Northern College will receive in future academic years. This income will be key to the financial sustainability of the College moving forward.

Due to concerns with Northern College’s future financial situation, the Further Education Commissioner undertook a diagnostic assessment of the college on 15 and 16 February.

Recommendations in the Commissioner’s report will include actions the college needs to take to explore structural change in order to secure a sustainable delivery model. The Commissioner and the Education and Skills Funding Agency will work with the leadership at Northern College as they consider these options and their plans for improving the financial stability of the college. They will also work with both combined authorities to ensure they are closely sighted on steps taken to try and secure a sustainable financial future for the college.

Northern College receives the majority of its funding through the Adult Education Budget (AEB). This budget will be devolved to Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority and West Yorkshire Combined Authority from August 2021 and it will be for the two combined authorities to agree the value of the AEB that Northern College will receive. This income will be key to the financial sustainability of the college.

The specific steps the department will take will emerge over the next few weeks and officials will ensure that both combined authorities are kept informed.

The Department for Education has worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Public Health England to develop our guidance, which can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/964351/Schools_coronavirus_operational_guidance.pdf.

DHSC are the lead department on shielding and clinical vulnerability policy. We work closely with them on the policy for clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) staff and students. DHSC and PHE guidance for CEV people sets out which additional measures people in this group need to take: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19.

The advice for pupils who have been confirmed as CEV is to shield and stay at home as much as possible until 31 March. They are advised not to attend school while shielding advice applies. The guidance for CEV individuals is advisory, although they are strongly advised to follow the advice in order to keep themselves safe.

Schools are required to provide remote education to pupils who are unable to attend school because they are complying with government guidance, as provided for in the Remote Education Temporary Continuity Direction. This can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/remote-education-temporary-continuity-direction-explanatory-note.

As outlined in our guidance, where CEV individuals are shielding, it is important that schools put systems in place to keep in contact with them, offer pastoral support and check they are able to access education support.

CEV advice applies to individuals and not households. Those living with someone who is CEV, but who are not CEV themselves, can attend education, but they should ensure that they maintain good prevention practice in the workplace and home settings.

The Department has published information for parents and carers on remote education and on how they can best support their child while learning from home. This includes resources and advice to help parents and carers on how to establish a routine with their child, and how best to support mental health and wellbeing during this period: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supporting-your-childrens-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19?priority-taxon=b350e61d-1db9-4cc2-bb44-fab02882ac25.

Additionally, we published information for parents and carers about attending schools, nurseries and colleges in the spring term 2021. This can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

The government recognises the enormous value that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute to the UK economy. We will make sure that training for apprentices in smaller employers is properly funded, to drive up the number of apprenticeship opportunities available in SMEs across the country. In 2021-22 financial year funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is £2.5 billion – double what was spent in 2010-11. This includes funding for employers that do not pay the levy, who will continue to be able to access funding for 95% of apprenticeship training and assessment costs.

To help employers of all sizes offer new apprenticeships, they are now able to claim £2,000 for every new apprentice they hire under the age of 25, and £1,500 for new apprentices aged 25 and over between 1 August 2020 and 31 March 2021 as part of the government’s Plan for Jobs.

We are improving the system so that levy paying employers can more easily transfer their funds to support apprenticeships in other employers, particularly in SMEs where there is significant potential for job creation. From August 2021, employers who pay the levy will be able to transfer levy funds in bulk to other employers, including SMEs, with a new pledge function, supported by a new online service to match levy payers with SMEs. This will enable levy paying employers to support apprenticeship starts in their supply chains and help meet local or sectorial skills needs.

From 1 April 2021 all SMEs arranging new apprenticeship starts will do so through the apprenticeship service, giving them more control over their apprenticeship choices and the ability to reserve funds before choosing the provider that best meets their needs.

We continue to work with smaller employers to give them the confidence and support to take on new apprentices.

Apprenticeships provide people with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start an exciting career in a wide range of industries, everything from artificial intelligence, archaeology, data science, business management, and banking. We want more people to benefit from high-quality apprenticeships.

On 21 January 2021 we published the Skills for Jobs White Paper focused on giving people the skills they need, in a way that suits them, so they can get great jobs in sectors the economy needs and boost this country’s productivity. Our reforms will build on our successful apprenticeship reforms, where a focus on employer needs and standards transformed apprenticeships into a prestigious choice. A key aim of the White Paper is to continue to improve and grow apprenticeships, so more employers and individuals can benefit from them.

To encourage more students to consider apprenticeships, we are promoting apprenticeships in schools through our Apprenticeship Support & Knowledge programme. This free service provides schools and teachers with resources and interventions to help better educate young people about apprenticeships. In addition, a provider access law, introduced in January 2018 and commonly known as the ‘Baker Clause’, requires all maintained schools and academies to publish a policy statement setting out opportunities for providers of technical education and apprenticeships to visit schools to talk to all year 8-13 pupils, and to make sure the statement is followed. In the Skills for Jobs white paper, the department announced the introduction of a 3-point-plan to enforce the Baker Clause. This includes creating clear minimum legal requirements, specifying who is to be given access to which pupils and when. This is an important step towards real choice for every pupil.

We are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to enable Kickstart placements to turn into apprenticeships where that is the right thing for the employer and the young person. We have made a special provision to allow employers taking on Kickstarters as apprentices to be eligible for the incentive payment, supporting a pathway between the schemes.

We are supporting the largest ever expansion of traineeships, providing an additional 30,000 places in the 2020-21 academic year, to ensure that more young people have access to high-quality training to develop skills, experience, and confidence to obtain an apprenticeship. We are developing traineeships in construction and rail to support young people to transition into apprenticeships in these sectors. We have introduced £1,000 incentive payments for employers who offer traineeship work placement opportunities between 1 September 2020 and 31 July 2021.

Officials in the department have met regularly with other departments before and after the publication of the Skills for Jobs White Paper, including officials at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Further engagement is also planned in order to oversee implementation and ensure the proposals in the white paper deliver productivity growth and improved future employment outcomes.

The Skills for Jobs White Paper sets out a number of reforms that will support people to get the skills our economy needs throughout their lives, wherever they live in the country. This is an aim shared by Mayoral Combined Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships for their communities.

Our reforms, including the introduction of new Local Skills Improvement Plans, will build on the work that Mayoral Combined Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships have done through their establishment of Skills Advisory Panels. We will work closely with all local areas when developing and trailblazing our reforms. In the case of Mayoral Combined Authorities, their responsibilities for delivering adult education functions will continue without change.

We know that the COVID-19 outbreak and the associated measures and restrictions, such as social distancing and school closures, will be impacting on the mental wellbeing of many people, including children and young people. The government has made student wellbeing and mental health a central part of our response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and the support we have already put in place for schools, colleges and universities will be critical during this time.

The return to school for all pupils is being prioritised due to the significant and proven impact caused by being out of school, including on wellbeing. The support schools provide to their pupils as they return to face-to-face education should include time devoted to supporting wellbeing, which will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing recovery. The expectations for schools in this regard are set out clearly in the main Department for Education guidance to schools which also signposts further support, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.

We are also providing support and training to schools through the £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return programme, a Department for Education-led initiative alongside Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Higher Education England, Public Health England and key voluntary sector organisations. It is funding local experts to provide training, advice and resources for schools and further education providers to help support pupil and student, parent and carer, and staff wellbeing, resilience, and recovery in light of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown. Over 90% of local authority areas in England have reported they are delivering additional training and support into local schools and further education providers because of the Wellbeing for Education Return funding and have been continuing to do so remotely.

We have also put in place a £1 billion COVID-19 catch-up package with £650 million shared across early years, schools and 16-19 providers over the 2020/21 academic year to support education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place. The Education Endowment Foundation have published a COVID-19 support guide to support schools to direct this funding, which includes further information about interventions to support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.

In addition to this, the return to school for all pupils from 8 March 2021 will be supported with a new £700 million package, which includes a new one-off Recovery Premium for state primary, secondary and special schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged students. This will help schools to provide their disadvantaged pupils with a one-off boost to the support, both academic and pastoral, that has been proved most effective in helping them recover from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Department for Education and DHSC have convened a Mental Health in Education Action Group. The purpose of the action group is to look across the age ranges at the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on children, young people and staff in nurseries, schools, colleges and universities.

Furthermore, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, appointed Dr Alex George (an A&E Doctor) as Youth Mental Health Ambassador to advise government and raise the profile of mental health education and wellbeing in schools, colleges and universities. As Youth Mental Health Ambassador, he will use his clinical expertise and personal experience to champion the government’s work on children’s and young people’s mental health and shape policy on improving support for young people in schools, colleges and universities.

In the long term, we remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with DHSC and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.

On 23 June 2020, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, commissioned Sir Michael Barber in his capacity as Chair of the Office for Students (OfS) to lead a review of digital teaching and learning in higher education (HE).

The review is considering opportunities for innovation in the delivery of HE in the medium and long term and will explore how HE providers can ensure that all students have access to a high-quality digital teaching and learning experience.

The review is in the final stages and will be published shortly.

The government is aware of the disproportionate impact this crisis will have on some students. Officials are working with the sector to continue to monitor the situation.

We have worked closely with the Office for Students (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 the funding, worth around £256 million for academic year 2020/21, towards student hardship funds, including the purchase of IT equipment for remote learning, and mental health support. We are also making available an additional £50 million of hardship funding this financial year. In total we have made £70 million of funding available for student hardship given the £20 million made available to higher education (HE) providers in December 2020.

Providers will have flexibility in how they distribute the funding to students, in a way that will best prioritise those in greatest need. We will continue to monitor the situation to look at what impact this funding is having.

We have worked with the OfS to provide Student Space, which has been funded with up to £3 million by the OfS. Student Space is a mental health and wellbeing platform that aims to bridge any gaps in support for students arising from this unprecedented situation and is designed to work alongside existing services. I have been clear that ensuring students have access to quality mental health support is my top priority, which is why I asked the OfS to look at extending the platform. I am delighted they have been able to extend the platform to support students for the whole 2020/21 academic year because no student should be left behind at this challenging time. This resource provides dedicated one-to-one phone, text and web chat facilities as well as a collaborative online platform providing vital mental health and wellbeing resources.

Furthermore, we have asked the OfS to allocate £15 million towards student mental health in 2021/22 through proposed reforms to Strategic Priorities Grant funding.

On 13 January 2021, I wrote to the OfS, the regulator for HE providers in England. I outlined government expectations of the HE sector: universities should maintain the quality and quantity of tuition and seek to ensure that all students, regardless of their background, have the resources to study remotely.

The OfS does not get involved in individual student complaints. Students can, however, notify the OfS of issues that may be of regulatory interest to it. These are called ‘notifications’. The OfS uses this information as part of its regulatory monitoring activity and keep HE providers under review to ensure that they comply with the ongoing conditions of registration.

OfS has produced a guide for students to support them in this process: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/office-for-students-notifications/.

Attendance at school is a protective factor and is beneficial for children’s education, welfare, and long-term development, which is why vulnerable children are strongly encouraged to attend so that they can receive support during this period.

If parents of vulnerable children do not want their child to attend school, we have made clear that schools should grant a leave of absence given the exceptional circumstances, so no pupil is unfairly penalised for their absence. Moreover, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has issued a temporary disapplication notice to suspend the offences related to absence from school so parents cannot be sanctioned for their child’s absence at this time.

Additionally, last year, the Department amended regulations to remove the requirement on schools to report on pupils’ attendance for academic year 2019/20 in pupils’ reports and advised schools to take a proportionate approach in deciding what information to include. Where a pupil is no longer of compulsory school age, and is leaving school, headteachers must provide a school leaver’s report containing brief particulars of the pupil’s progress and achievements in subjects and activities forming part of the school curriculum.

In light of the disruption to school attendance again this year, we will review and provide further advice to schools about what should be included in pupils’ attendance records in end of year and school leavers' reports to ensure no pupil is unfairly penalised for their attendance during the current restrictions.

The department has regular engagement with my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and HM Treasury in respect of technical and vocational education.

The government has made major investments in technical education and announced on 31 August 2019 that it would invest an extra £400 million in 16-19 education in 2020-21. This is the largest injection of money in a single year since 2010. As part of this, the base rate of 16-19 funding increased by 4.7% in academic year 2020/21, from £4,000 to £4,188. Extra funding was been made available for more expensive and high value subjects, boosting funding for vocational areas such as construction, engineering, manufacturing and ICT.

A further £291 million was made available in the 2020 Spending Review, enabling these higher rates and additional funding elements to be maintained in 2021/22 allocations.

New T Levels will transform technical education in this country, and we announced in 2017 that these new programme would be backed by an additional £500 million of investment every year when fully rolled out, supporting the extra hours of delivery and high quality industry placements that these programmes incorporate.

We are continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) (£1.34 billion in 2020/21).

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced £375 million for the National Skills Fund at the Spending Review in November 2020. This includes £95 million funding for a new level 3 adult offer and £43 million for Skills Bootcamps. Investment in skills through the National Skills Fund is vital, ensuring adults have the opportunity to progress into higher wage employment and to support those who need to, the opportunity to retrain at different points throughout their lives.

From April 2021, we will be supporting any adult aged 24 and over who wants to achieve their first full level 3 qualification – equivalent to two A levels, or a technical certificate or diploma – to access nearly 400 fully funded courses. Complementing the Level 3 adult offer, the Skills Bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. Skills Bootcamps have the potential to transform the skills landscape for adults and employers.

We have considered the implications for the 36 Skills Advisory Panels across the country and will not make any changes at this time.

Our reforms will build on the work the Panels have been doing to date to understand local skills needs, including the Local Skills Reports due to be published at the end of March. We plan to continue funding all Panels, including Sheffield City Region’s Skills Advisory Network, as we trailblaze Local Skills Improvement Plans in a small number of areas.

For students in further education across England, we have extended the Get Help with Technology service to provide support with devices and connectivity. We have allocated over 82,000 laptops and tablets to further education providers. Secondary schools with sixth forms have also received devices for their 16-19 pupils.

Colleges and other further education institutions are eligible to receive devices where they have students aged 16-19 who are in receipt of free school meals, and where they have students aged 19 and over with an education, health and care plan who are also in receipt of free school meals. Further education providers will own the laptops and tablets provided under this scheme and can lend these to the young people who need them the most. All further education providers with eligible students have already been invited to order devices and orders are currently being fulfilled within 5 working days.

Once providers have joined the service and placed an order for devices, they will also be eligible to request 4G wireless routers for financially disadvantaged students who do not have a broadband connection at home.

Prior to extending the Get Help with Technology service to further education, we encouraged providers to use their 16-19 bursary funding to purchase devices and connectivity for disadvantaged students aged 16-19 where this is a barrier to learning. During the summer term last year, additional bursary funding was made available to providers via a business case process to provide further support with the additional costs arising from students participating online.

We are also in regular discussions with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the coverage of high-speed internet connectivity and affordability to tackle data poverty, as well as working with Department for Work and Pensions to test approaches to help low-income families to get online and stay online.

The Department is in constant communication with colleagues at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on tackling the digital divide. The Department also plays an active role in the DCMS led “Digital Skills Partnership Computing in Schools” group. The Co-Chairs of this group have recently had a letter of support from my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, for their work on improving the value of digital skills and digital careers awareness.

In the immediate term, as part of the Government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are 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.

The Department has 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.

The Department does not hold data on the number of supply teachers that have, or conversely have not, accessed support via the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has released estimates of the number, and value, of claims made to the CJRS. This outlines the number of companies, and employees who have been supported by the CJRS by employment sector, including education. However, the statistical release does not provide data on specific job roles within a sector.

CJRS statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-december-2020.

The Department does not hold data on the total number of supply teachers. Officials continue to engage with suppliers on the Department and Crown Commercial Service’s supply teacher framework to monitor demand and capacity.

All local authority duties to care leavers will continue to be provided, including ensuring that a Personal Adviser is appointed to support them to make the transition from care to independence. Local authorities are also required to provide support to help care leavers to engage in education, employment, or training and to secure suitable accommodation, as set out in the Children Act and other legislation. In 2018, we extended support from a Personal Adviser to all care leavers, to age 25.

In addition to the support that local authorities provide, central Government has funded a range of measures, including in 2020/21, to improve care leavers’ outcomes, including:

• extra funding for 47 local authorities to provide intensive support to care leavers who are most at risk of homelessness and rough sleeping;
• commissioning three care leaver Social Impact Bonds, which support care leavers to secure sustainable education, employment and training;
• established the Civil Service care leaver internship scheme, which this year offered over 250 paid internships for care leavers across Government;
• established a Cross-Government Ministerial Board to drive better outcomes for care leavers; and have
• launched the Care Leaver Covenant, which provides a way for organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors to show their commitment to care leavers through providing concrete offers of support.

In addition, we recognised that the lockdown period would be particularly challenging for care leavers as many of them live alone without families to support them emotionally or financially. In response we have:

• asked local authorities not to move young people out of care during that time and provided discretionary finding to care leavers at risk of hardship;
• prioritised care leavers to receive laptops and routers that we have distributed to local authorities;
• provided extra funding to 3 care leaver charities – through the DCMS charities funding pot to enable them to keep in more regular contact with care leavers; and
• introduced a number of wider measures across Government which will be of particular benefit to care leavers, including the £20 increase in Universal Credit.

The government recognises the importance of the role of the early years sector during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Local authorities are responsible for monitoring demand and capacity for childcare and should work with early years settings to ensure there are sufficient places to cater for those in priority groups as well as meeting local need.

While we recognise childcare attendance has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, we saw attendance rise over the autumn term from 482,000 on 10 September to 792,000 on 10 December. On 17 December, the government announced a return to funding early years settings on the basis on attendance. Under these arrangements local authorities should ensure that providers are not penalised for short-term absences of children, for example sickness, arriving late or leaving early, or a family emergency through withdrawing funding, but use their discretion where absence is recurring or for extended periods taking into account the reason for the absence and the impact on the provider.

Early years settings have been open to all children since 1 June and current evidence suggests that pre-school children (0 to 5 years) are less susceptible to infection and are unlikely to be playing a driving role in transmission.

Where nurseries do see a drop in income from either parent-paid fees or income from the Department for Education, they are able to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) to furlough staff who were on payroll on or before 30 October. Working parents on COVID-19 support schemes will still remain eligible for childcare support even if their income levels fall below the minimum requirement.

We continue to ensure early years providers can access all the support available. Providers should consult the full guidance on the CJRS scheme before submitting a claim: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care. Childminders may use the Self Employment Income Support Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme. The sector has also benefitted from business rates holidays and business loans.

We stay in regular contact with the early years sector and are closely monitoring both parental take-up of places and the capacity. We will keep this under constant review to understand how they can best be supported.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, we have provided unprecedented support to the early years sector by continuing to fund the free childcare entitlements, making grants and loans available and ensuring early years providers can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for their non-government funded income, and childminders the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

While we recognise childcare attendance has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, we saw attendance rise over the autumn term from 482,000 on 10 September 2020 to 792,000 on 10 December 2020. On 17 December 2020, the government therefore announced a return to funding early years settings on the basis on attendance.

Under these arrangements, local authorities should ensure that providers are not penalised for short-term absences of children (for example sickness, arriving late or leaving early, or a family emergency) through withdrawing funding but use their discretion where absence is recurring or for extended periods, taking into account the reason for the absence and the impact on the provider.

The national lockdown announced by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on 4 January 2021 means the number of children attending childcare will drop although early years settings remain open for all.

We stay in regular contact with the early years sector and have heard from them already on this subject. We publish regular official statistics on attendance in early years settings, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. The next release is due on Tuesday 19 January 2021. We will be closely monitoring both parental take-up of places and the capacity and responses of providers and will keep under constant review whether further action is needed.

Access to post-16 education for asylum seekers is governed by funding rules in further and higher education.

In further education, asylum seekers aged 19 and over who have lived in the UK for 6 months or longer while awaiting the outcome of their application, and no decision on their claim has been made, are eligible to receive funding through the Adult Education Budget. For asylum seekers aged 16-19, we will fund those who have applied for asylum as well as those who have been granted asylum status by the Home Office.

In higher education (HE), eligibility requirements for student support usually means that a student resident in England should have ‘settled’ status or a recognised connection with the UK and have been a resident of the UK and Islands for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of the course. However, an exception to the 3 year ordinary residence requirement is made for students with refugee status and humanitarian protection. This means that immediate access to HE student support is available once a person has been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection by the Home Office.

A considerable subsidy has been built into the student loan scheme, which is targeted to those who are likely to remain in England (or at least the UK) indefinitely, so that the general public benefits of their HE will be to the country’s advantage. There are no plans to extend eligibility to HE student finance to asylum seekers awaiting a Home Office decision on their claim as there is no guarantee that they will go on to be granted a relevant status.

The asymptomatic testing programme has been successfully stood-up for secondary schools and colleges and will continue to support testing in schools and colleges. Secondary schools and colleges should continue to roll out the rapid mass testing, alongside serial testing, for staff, children of critical workers and vulnerable children on site, with the full rollout of the testing programme across secondary schools and colleges when they reopen. Secondary schools and colleges should also carry out initial testing of vulnerable children and children of critical workers who are on school or college sites (two tests, three to five days apart). The Department will roll out the testing programme in primary schools when home testing is available for pupils in these settings. Weekly testing for staff will roll out later this month, although currently there is no confirmed date.

This programme will help to break the virus's chains of transmission by identifying asymptomatic cases, therefore minimising disruption to schools and colleges.

The asymptomatic testing programme has been successfully stood-up for secondary schools and colleges and will continue to support testing in schools and colleges. Secondary schools and colleges should continue to roll out the rapid mass testing, alongside serial testing, for staff, children of critical workers and vulnerable children on site, with the full rollout of the testing programme across secondary schools and colleges when they reopen. Secondary schools and colleges should also carry out initial testing of vulnerable children and children of critical workers who are on school or college sites (two tests, three to five days apart). The Department will roll out the testing programme in primary schools when home testing is available for pupils in these settings. Weekly testing for staff will roll out later this month, although currently there is no confirmed date.

This programme will help to break the virus's chains of transmission by identifying asymptomatic cases, therefore minimising disruption to schools and colleges.

The Government has extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) until 31 Match 2021 to support individuals and businesses who are impacted by disruption caused by COVID-19 this winter: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#when-furlough.

The CJRS is open to all employers that meet the eligibility criteria, with no differences in the scheme from sector to sector: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which-employees-you-can-put-on-furlough-to-use-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.

If supply teachers employed via employment agencies are unable to find work due to COVID-19, unable to work as they are clinically extremely vulnerable, or unable to work due to caring responsibilities resulting from COVID-19, their employment agency can claim for 80% of their wages, including during school holiday periods, provided that the usual eligibility criteria are met.

Whether or not an employer wishes to furlough their employees via the CJRS is entirely at the employer's discretion.

Schools in England reopened in full to all pupils in September 2020, with the demand for supply teachers returning to normal levels. The Department has also announced a new COVID-19 workforce fund to support schools that are eligible for the fund with some of the costs of covering staff absences in schools, this can include employing supply staff to cover these absences: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-funding-to-support-schools-and-colleges-during-covid-pandemic.

The main impact COVID-19 has had on the economy and workforce has been a rise in unemployment. We need to help these people reskill where necessary and re-enter into employment. The Union Learning Fund operates mostly through larger employers within unionised parts of the economy and is not designed to help those out of work – only 2% of people supported via the Union Learning Fund are unemployed.

The decision to no longer support the Union Learning Fund after 31 March 2021 was taken as part of the wider Spending Review discussions and in light of our expanded commitment to skills development through the £2.5 million National Skills Fund, and Lifetime Skills Guarantee. This national fund will support individuals to get the training and qualifications they need wherever they are located and regardless of whether they are able to access the Unionlearn network.

As part of this expanded commitment, I can confirm all the money will be invested in skills and retraining that will be accessible to all.

The Department for Education wants to equip young people for adult life and help them make a positive contribution to society. The new subjects of relationships, sex and health education will support all young people in managing risk and making informed decisions, including in key areas such as mental wellbeing and online behaviour. For example, under the topic of internet safety and harms, the guidance sets out that young people should be taught about the risks related to online gambling, including the accumulation of debt, how advertising and information is targeted at them, and how to be a discerning consumer of information online. The statutory guidance for the new subjects is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

Other National Curriculum subjects, such as citizenship and computing, can also address online gambling and its dangers. This could be through developing the financial literacy of young people, and by highlighting the dangers of online gambling whilst using digital platforms (such as gambling opportunities introduced within computer games, and in-app games/purchases, for example “loot boxes”) in their e-safety teaching.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, meets regularly with cabinet colleagues to discuss the Department's agenda. This includes relevant topics covered by the new subjects. The Department has worked with other government departments, including the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in developing the content for the new curriculum subjects which are being taught in schools from this academic year.

The Department for Education wants to equip young people for adult life and help them make a positive contribution to society. The new subjects of relationships, sex and health education will support all young people in managing risk and making informed decisions, including in key areas such as mental wellbeing and online behaviour. For example, under the topic of internet safety and harms, the guidance sets out that young people should be taught about the risks related to online gambling, including the accumulation of debt, how advertising and information is targeted at them, and how to be a discerning consumer of information online. The statutory guidance for the new subjects is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

Other National Curriculum subjects, such as citizenship and computing, can also address online gambling and its dangers. This could be through developing the financial literacy of young people, and by highlighting the dangers of online gambling whilst using digital platforms (such as gambling opportunities introduced within computer games, and in-app games/purchases, for example “loot boxes”) in their e-safety teaching.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, meets regularly with cabinet colleagues to discuss the Department's agenda. This includes relevant topics covered by the new subjects. The Department has worked with other government departments, including the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in developing the content for the new curriculum subjects which are being taught in schools from this academic year.

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its interim Chief Regulator, Dame Glenys Stacey, to write to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its interim Chief Regulator, Dame Glenys Stacey, to write to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

We have worked across government and with the higher education (HE) sector to understand the impact of COVID-19.

In response, between April to September we have announced a suite of measures to mitigate the impact of the virus upon the HE sector and HE students and staff. This includes the HE stabilisation package, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's research stabilisation package, access to business support schemes, the capital fund and the HE restructuring regime.

We have prioritised the mental health and well-being of students, emphasising our strong support for the University Mental Health Charter and continued to work closely with Universities UK on embedding the Step Change: Mentally Healthy Universities framework. We confirmed universities and HE providers were able to use Office for Students (OfS) Student Premium funding towards student hardship funds and announced the OfS funded, Student Minds Led, Student Space which has been designed to work alongside existing mental health services.

Importantly, to support universities to reopen this autumn, to enable them to provide high quality education to students in a COVID-secure environment, we have provided advice and guidance on reopening and have worked to ensure universities have robust outbreak plans in place. We will shortly also be providing additional guidance on winter planning and end of term preparation.

The COVID-19 outbreak has brought unprecedented challenges to some foster families. Foster parents play an invaluable role, especially now, in the stability and care of some of our most vulnerable children and in our response to the outbreak. The department remains committed to taking the necessary action to ensure that foster parents receive the respect and support that they need and deserve. That is why, in June, we launched the new FosterlinePlus service, providing free access to a range of specialist one-to-one support and advice services for foster families who need additional guidance during these uncertain times.

This year, the government has issued over £3.7 billion of additional funding to support local authorities in meeting COVID-19 related pressures, including within children’s social care. Fostering services have been using this funding to provide additional resources to families, including an increase in allowances and direct support, and to maximise foster carer capacity.

As both my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Our latest guidance for fostering services can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-childrens-social-care.

It is for the governing body of a school (or in the case of academies, the academy trust) to decide whether there should be a school uniform, what it will be and how it should be sourced. To support them to do this the department issues best practice guidance which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform.

This makes clear that high priority must be given to cost considerations. The Department’s guidance clearly states that uniform items should be easily available for parents to purchase and schools should keep compulsory branded items to a minimum. It also states that schools should avoid single supplier contracts, but where schools do choose to enter into such contracts, they should be subject to a regular competitive tendering process.

No school uniform should be so expensive as to leave pupils or their families feeling unable to apply to a school. The Government is pleased to support the Private Members' Bill to ‘Make provision for guidance regarding the cost aspects of school uniform policies’ which was recently introduced to Parliament on 5 February. This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to ensuring that school uniform costs are reasonable.

We currently have no plans to extend the expiry period for employers’ levy funds. From the point at which funds enter an employer’s account, they already have 24 months in which to spend the funds, and these funds only begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis 24 months after they enter an employer’s account. Levy-paying employers can transfer up to 25% of their annual funds to help support apprenticeship starts in their supply chain or to meet local skills needs. We remain committed to improving the operation of the apprenticeship levy, and while we recognise the current challenges facing employers, we currently consider that this period is sufficient to give employers time to develop their apprenticeship programmes and encourage them to create new apprenticeship opportunities

To help employers offer new apprenticeships, they will be able to claim £1,500 for every apprentice they hire as a new employee from 1 August 2020 until 31 January 2021- rising to £2,000 if they hire a new apprentice under the age of 25. In addition, we have increased the number of reservations that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can now make through the apprenticeship service, from 3 to 10, enabling them to recruit more apprentices. Details can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/a-plan-for-jobs-2020.

The new payment means it is a great time for employers to offer new apprenticeship opportunities and take advantage of existing flexibilities to train their apprentices in a way that suits their needs.

As announced on the 9 July, indoor gyms, tennis courts and fitness and dance studios will be able to reopen from 25 July. This includes facilities shared with schools.

Out-of-school settings which run community activities, holiday clubs, after-school clubs, tuition and other out-of-school provision for children can operate over the summer holiday, with safety measures in place. Providers of these settings have been able to open from 4 July, provided that they follow the protective measures set out by Government.

Out-of-school settings should check the latest government guidelines (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close-guidance) on which businesses and venues can open and for which purposes as some premises may only be able to open for certain limited purposes. Out-of-school provision cannot use indoor gyms, tennis courts and fitness and dance studios until they reopen on 25 July.

Protective measures guidance for out-of-school settings, to enable them to operate as safely as possible, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

Providers who offer indoor sports activities for children should also refer to the guidance on Keeping workers / volunteers and customers safe during COVID-19 for providers of grassroots sports and gym / leisure facilities.

Guidance to support schools to deliver safe physical education lessons, sport and physical activity is included within the guidance for full opening (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools). Schools have the flexibility to decide how physical education, sport and physical activity will be provided whilst following the measures in their system of controls. The Association for Physical Education has published guidance (https://www.afpe.org.uk/physical-education/wp-content/uploads/COVID-19-Interpreting-the-Government-Guidance-in-a-PESSPA-Context-FINAL.pdf) for the education-based workforce and Youth Sport Trust has published resources (https://www.youthsporttrust.org/coronavirus-support-schools) on the principles of teaching PE in response to COVID-19.

An Edenred phone number (0333 400 5932) has been set up specifically for the national voucher scheme for free school meals. Calling this number costs no more than the national rate and therefore is included within mobile phone contract ‘inclusive minutes’ and charged at the national rate thereafter.

We are working with mobile phone operators to ensure that the Edenred website is exempt from data charges.

The government will continue to provide schools with their expected funding, including funding to cover benefits-related free school meals and universal infant free school meals, throughout this period. We are asking schools to support children who are eligible for and claiming benefits-related free school meals, by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. We know that many schools are successfully delivering food parcels or arranging food collections for eligible children, and we encourage this approach. As schools open more widely, they should speak to their school catering team or provider about the best arrangements for school meals. Schools should ensure that catering teams and food suppliers are supported to return to school to provide meals both for those children attending school and for those remaining at home who are eligible for free school meals. If a school catering service cannot provide meals or food parcels for children who are at home, the school can continue to offer vouchers to families of eligible pupils if needed.

There were initial technical problems with the Edenred system, and government officials have been working tirelessly with Edenred to ensure these issues were resolved at pace. Substantial improvements have been made including a significant reduction in the waiting times for schools ordering and parents redeeming their codes.

Thousands of orders are being processed every week. Voucher codes are being distributed and families are redeeming them. Edenred has reported that over £205 million worth of voucher codes has been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families as of 1 July and that over 18,000 schools had placed orders as of 23 June. We have been working closely with Edenred to further improve the scheme, and we thank schools using the system for their patience while it has been upgraded to meet the ongoing demand.

Indoor dance lessons for children are considered to be an out-of-school setting. Out-of-school settings are currently not able to reopen. However, as my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, confirmed on 23 June, holiday clubs and out-of-school clubs for children will be able to restart over the summer, subject to the science and with safety measures in place. Adjustments to current measures for these clubs will be part of Step 3 of the recovery strategy (from 4 July). We will be providing guidance for the sector on how to implement the protective measures necessary to open safely as soon as possible, this will cover group sizes and social distancing measures.

I would like to extend my thanks to the childcare sector for everything they have done to enable critical workers to do their essential jobs, and to continue to care for children who are vulnerable during the COVID-19 outbreak. Since 1 June, early years providers have been able to open to children of all ages.

The government wants to support nurseries, pre-schools and childminders during what must continue to be a worrying and uncertain time.

We will continue to pay local authorities their regular instalments of Dedicated Schools Grant, including the early years block, as usual. We expect local authorities to follow the Department for Education's position and, in general, continue paying all childminders, schools and nurseries, for the early years entitlements.

A package of support is available for individuals and businesses and will benefit many childcare providers, including a business rates holiday, business interruption loans, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and help for the self-employed. Details of support for childcare providers is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures#funding.

We are continuing to work with the early years sector to understand how the sector can best be supported to ensure that sufficient safe, appropriate and affordable childcare is available for children now, and in the longer term.

The Mathematics and Physics Teacher Retention Payments Pilot and Teachers’ Student Loan Reimbursement Pilot are designed to reward early career secondary school teachers who are teaching in certain areas of the country. We know there are particular challenges in retaining early career teachers in these areas, especially those teaching mathematics and the sciences. These pilots are testing whether offering these payments incentivises these teachers to remain in the profession.

Universal Credit awards are calculated in a way that ensure fairness of treatment for all claimants. This means that as earnings increase Universal Credit is gradually reduced, which is a long-standing principle of means-tested benefits. The payments made under the two pilot schemes are treated in the same way as any other earnings. All earnings are subject to the Universal Credit taper rate and a work allowance where appropriate.

We expect universities to be open for the autumn term and for them to offer a blend of online teaching and in-person tuition as they consider appropriate, while taking account of the need to minimise the risk to staff and students.

We have now published guidance for higher education providers on reopening campuses and buildings. This will support them in deciding when and how they can make facilities accessible again to students and staff, as long as they follow the relevant public health advice, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses.

The government previously announced on 31 August 2019 that it will invest an extra £400 million in 16 to 19 education in 2020-21. This is the largest injection of money in a single year since 2010 and represents an increase of 7% in overall 16 to 19 funding. As part of this, the base rate of 16 to 19 funding will increase by 4.7% in the academic year 2020/21, from £4,000 to £4,188.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency allocations for 2020-21 have been confirmed, and payments will be made in line with the national profile, which will be confirmed in the relevant 2020-21 funding rules. This should provide the funding certainty required to address the impact of responding to COVID-19.

There are no plans to extend eligibility to the fund to foster families during the COVID-19 outbreak because this fund is focused on adoptive families.

However, the government has provided over £3.2 billion of additional funding to support local authorities in meeting COVID-19 related pressures, including within children’s social care. We will keep this under very close review over the coming weeks and months.

The government is providing free IT devices and equipment for children who do not currently have access to these, including children living with foster carers, to access services and support they need.

We are continuing to work with fostering services and sector organisations to better understand the specific challenges that foster carers are facing in order to ensure the right level of support is put in place. This includes working closely with Fosterline, an independent advice and support line funded by the department, to consider what additional support can be offered to foster families struggling at this time.

I am very grateful for how colleges are responding to the unique challenge of COVID-19. We recognise the financial impact this is having on the FE sector and are working to make changes where we can.

We have confirmed that the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will continue to pay grant funded providers their scheduled monthly profiled payments for the remainder of the 2019/20 funding year. Allocations for 2020/21 have also now been confirmed and payments will be made as scheduled. Up to date details are contained in operational guidance available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision.

In addition, training providers, including colleges, were able to apply to the ESFA Provider Relief Scheme for support if they have contracts for services that were procured as a service under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The purpose of the Relief Scheme is to ensure training providers can continue to deliver high quality education and training to make sure we have the skills needed to rebuild our economy post COVID-19. This also includes supporting new learners where possible to get the skills they need to progress. Details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-post-16-provider-relief-scheme.

On 20 May 2020, we also launched a provider relief scheme for European Social Fund contractors. Details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-esf-provider-relief-scheme.

For colleges in significant financial difficulties the existing support arrangements remain in place, including short-term emergency funding.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has also announced a series of wider measures to support employers and employees, recognising the significant impacts caused by COVID-19. We have confirmed that FE providers can apply to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for non grant-funded employees. The CJRS has been extended until August 2020. Up to date details of this support are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses.

As announced last summer, we will next year be increasing investment in education and training of 16-19 year olds by £400 million, including an increased base rate, and more funding for high cost and high value subjects, which should help the sector to deliver in the difficult circumstances we are facing. In March, we also announced an investment of £1.5 billion over five years in capital spending for further education colleges.

These are rapidly developing circumstances and we will continue to keep the situation under review and to keep Parliament updated accordingly.

I am very grateful for how colleges are responding to the unique challenge of COVID-19. We recognise the financial impact this is having on the FE sector and are working to make changes where we can.

We have confirmed that the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will continue to pay grant funded providers their scheduled monthly profiled payments for the remainder of the 2019/20 funding year. Allocations for 2020/21 have also now been confirmed and payments will be made as scheduled. Up to date details are contained in operational guidance available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision.

In addition, training providers, including colleges, were able to apply to the ESFA Provider Relief Scheme for support if they have contracts for services that were procured as a service under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The purpose of the Relief Scheme is to ensure training providers can continue to deliver high quality education and training to make sure we have the skills needed to rebuild our economy post COVID-19. This also includes supporting new learners where possible to get the skills they need to progress. Details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-post-16-provider-relief-scheme.

On 20 May 2020, we also launched a provider relief scheme for European Social Fund contractors. Details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-esf-provider-relief-scheme.

For colleges in significant financial difficulties the existing support arrangements remain in place, including short-term emergency funding.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has also announced a series of wider measures to support employers and employees, recognising the significant impacts caused by COVID-19. We have confirmed that FE providers can apply to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for non grant-funded employees. The CJRS has been extended until August 2020. Up to date details of this support are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses.

As announced last summer, we will next year be increasing investment in education and training of 16-19 year olds by £400 million, including an increased base rate, and more funding for high cost and high value subjects, which should help the sector to deliver in the difficult circumstances we are facing. In March, we also announced an investment of £1.5 billion over five years in capital spending for further education colleges.

These are rapidly developing circumstances and we will continue to keep the situation under review and to keep Parliament updated accordingly.

The government announced on 31 August 2019 that it will invest an extra £400 million in 16 to 19 education in 2020-21. This is the largest injection of money in a single year since 2010 and represents an increase of 7% in overall 16 to 19 funding. As part of this, the base rate of 16 to 19 funding will increase by 4.7% in the academic year 2020/21, from £4,000 to £4,188.

The government appreciates the importance of adult education to improving people’s life chances and is looking carefully at all elements of further education funding, in preparation for the forthcoming Spending Review.

We announced plans in the Budget to invest £1.5 billion in England from 2021-22 to upgrade the college estate. Our ambition is to level up the skills of the entire nation and ensure that post-16 education providers are in a great shape to deliver this. We are considering how best to achieve this ambition, in light of the impact of COVID-19 on further education colleges’ priorities and requirements, and will announce details on future capital funding in due course.

The department is continuing to assess the impact of the potential effect of school closure on children and young people’s mental health. We are working closely with educational institutions, sector organisations, the Department for Health and Social Care, NHS England and Public Health England to understand the risks to mental health and wellbeing and identify the children and young people that need help.

We have published an initial list of online educational resources, including resources to support mental wellbeing, physical activity, and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-online-education-resources-for-home-education. This information includes links to guidance that Public Health England has produced for parents and carers on looking after the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people during COVID-19: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing.

NHS services remain open and leading mental health charities are being supported to deliver additional services through the £5 million Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund. The Department for Education is working across government to consider what further support might be appropriate for educational institutions.

To help manage the pressures of COVID-19, we can confirm that the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will continue to pay grant funded providers, including residential adult colleges, their scheduled monthly profiled payments for the remainder of the 2019/20 funding year. And for 2019/20 only, the ESFA will not carry out the final reconciliation for grant funded providers in receipt of ESFA funded adult education budget (AEB) and the advanced learner loans bursary (ALLB) fund, subject to them meeting certain conditions set out in the further education (FE) Operational Guidance on maintaining education and skills training provision, published on 23 March 2020.

The ESFA also confirmed in March 2020 the AEB provider allocations for 2020/21 for providers, including residential adult colleges. Advanced learner loans facilities and the associated bursary fund for the 2020/21 academic year will be issued later this month.

The government appreciates the importance of adult education to improving people’s life chances. We are currently reviewing funding for Residential Specialist Designated Institutions, focussing on the residential support for learners funded via the AEB and the ALLB. We will complete this review in autumn 2020.

We are also looking carefully at all elements of FE funding in preparation for the forthcoming Spending Review.

To help manage the pressures of COVID-19, we can confirm that the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will continue to pay grant funded providers, including residential adult colleges, their scheduled monthly profiled payments for the remainder of the 2019/20 funding year. And for 2019/20 only, the ESFA will not carry out the final reconciliation for grant funded providers in receipt of ESFA funded adult education budget (AEB) and the advanced learner loans bursary (ALLB) fund, subject to them meeting certain conditions set out in the further education (FE) Operational Guidance on maintaining education and skills training provision, published on 23 March 2020.

The ESFA also confirmed in March 2020 the AEB provider allocations for 2020/21 for providers, including residential adult colleges. Advanced learner loans facilities and the associated bursary fund for the 2020/21 academic year will be issued later this month.

The government appreciates the importance of adult education to improving people’s life chances. We are currently reviewing funding for Residential Specialist Designated Institutions, focussing on the residential support for learners funded via the AEB and the ALLB. We will complete this review in autumn 2020.

We are also looking carefully at all elements of FE funding in preparation for the forthcoming Spending Review.

The department will do whatever it can to make sure no child, whatever their background, falls behind as a result of COVID-19. We know that young carers may be particularly vulnerable during this time and are committed to ensuring that vulnerable children and young people remain protected and supported.

The government has published guidance for both schools and local authorities on how best to support families and protect vulnerable children during COVID-19. This is available on GOV.UK.

Educational settings remain open and safe for vulnerable children and young people. Our definition of vulnerable children and young people includes those who have been assessed as otherwise vulnerable by educational providers or local authorities (including children’s social care services), and who are therefore in need of continued education provision - this can include children on the edge of receiving support from children’s social care services, adopted children, or those who are young carers, and others at the provider and local authority discretion.

Local authority duties to assess the needs of young carers, under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, remain unchanged.

The government has committed over £100 million to boost remote education, including by providing devices and internet access to vulnerable children who need it most, including young carers who have social workers. Schools continue to receive additional funding through the pupil premium - worth around £2.4 billion annually - to help them support their disadvantaged pupils. We have also given local authorities over £3.2 billion of extra funding to help address the pressures faced in responding to the pandemic, including within children’s social care.

We have also taken wide-ranging action to help schools and parents to support all young people during the school closures. This includes:

• publishing a list of online education resources and guidance for parents
• supporting the launch of a new online academy offering pupils 180 online lessons a week

Additionally, the BBC has created a package of TV and online materials to support learning at home.

The department is also considering, with a range of partner organisations, how best to support all pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged, to make up for time spent out of school.

The government will be publishing advice for young people with caring responsibilities, which will include information and guidance on how and where they can get help and support during this period.

Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, during the Easter holidays the department met the costs of offering free school meals to eligible pupils not attending school during term time weeks. This was in recognition of the unprecedented levels of disruption and uncertainty for schools during this time. We currently have no plans to extend the scheme into future holiday periods.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

To make remote education accessible to pupils while schools are closed, the Department is providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examination in Year 10, receiving support from a social worker, including pre-school children, or are a care leaver.

Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in Year 10 do not have internet connections, we will also be providing 4G internet hotspots so that they can learn at home.

To support householders who face challenges accessing an internet connection, the Government has brokered an agreement with all the major telecoms companies aimed at protecting the most vulnerable, as well as those who may become vulnerable due to COVID-19.

The Government is also working with telecoms companies to exempt educational resources from data charges, supporting families who rely on mobile data.

We will ensure that the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children have the support they need at this time.

An Edenred phone number (0333 400 5932) has been set up specifically for the department’s national voucher scheme. Phone calls to this number should cost no more than the national rate and therefore are included within mobile phone and landline contract ‘minutes’ or times and charged at the national rate thereafter.

These are rapidly developing circumstances and we will continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

To make remote education accessible to pupils while schools are closed, the Department is providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examination in Year 10, receiving support from a social worker, including pre-school children, or are a care leaver.

Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in Year 10 do not have internet connections, we will also be providing 4G internet hotspots so that they can learn at home.

To support householders who face challenges accessing an internet connection, the Government has brokered an agreement with all the major telecoms companies aimed at protecting the most vulnerable, as well as those who may become vulnerable due to COVID-19.

The Government is also working with telecoms companies to exempt educational resources from data charges, supporting families who rely on mobile data.

We will ensure that the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children have the support they need at this time.