Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Answer of 15 November 2022 to Question 82174 on Gambling: Children, who authorised (a) the disclosure to Trustopia and (b) the contract terms of that disclosure; who was responsible for monitoring the management of that data; and whether disciplinary action has been taken following that incident.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The disclosure to Trust Systems Software UK Limited (trading name Trustopia) resulted from access given to a predecessor organisation that was a legitimate provider. The Department received a change of name request form and the amendment form which required Trustopia to sign a new learning provider agreement which set out terms of use for the Learning Records Service.
There is a dedicated team who manage the Learning Records Service. A signed copy of the agreement will be placed in the House of Commons Library in January 2023. The Department has worked closely with the ICO following this incident. Procedures for monitoring unusual activity have been strengthened, as have wider practices around Data Protection in the Department.
The Department’s legal advice at the time was not to pursue breach of contract pending the ICO investigation. The company has since ceased trading.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has undertaken an investigation into the adequacy of the safeguarding of Kadiza Sultana.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Following reports of pupils from Bethnal Green Academy travelling to Syria, the department provided support to the school through the Regional Director (previously Regional Schools Commissioners), in addition to the support being provided by the local authority and police.
The department is clear in its statutory guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2018), that it is for local authorities to assess and consider safeguarding concerns of individual cases working with their statutory partners (police and health) where necessary. This includes considering risks outside the home such as exploitation by organised crime groups, including county lines, trafficking and influences of extremism leading to radicalisation.
Through their regulatory powers, Ofsted inspects local authority children’s social care services to check that the department's minimum standards are being met and takes proportionate enforcement action to ensure children are safe and well looked after.
When a serious incident becomes known to safeguarding partners, they must consider whether the case meets the criteria for a local review. Meeting the criteria does not mean that safeguarding partners must automatically carry out a local child safeguarding practice review. It is for them to determine whether a review is appropriate, taking into account that the overall purpose of a review is to identify improvements to practice. This was also the case in 2015 when previous local children’s safeguarding boards were in operation.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has undertaken an investigation into the adequacy of the safeguarding of Amira Abase.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Following reports of pupils from Bethnal Green Academy travelling to Syria, the department provided support to the school through the Regional Director (previously Regional Schools Commissioners), in addition to the support being provided by the local authority and police.
The department is clear in its statutory guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2018), that it is for local authorities to assess and consider safeguarding concerns of individual cases working with their statutory partners (police and health) where necessary. This includes considering risks outside the home such as exploitation by organised crime groups, including county lines, trafficking and influences of extremism leading to radicalisation.
Through their regulatory powers, Ofsted inspects local authority children’s social care services to check that the department's minimum standards are being met and takes proportionate enforcement action to ensure children are safe and well looked after.
When a serious incident becomes known to safeguarding partners, they must consider whether the case meets the criteria for a local review. Meeting the criteria does not mean that safeguarding partners must automatically carry out a local child safeguarding practice review. It is for them to determine whether a review is appropriate, taking into account that the overall purpose of a review is to identify improvements to practice. This was also the case in 2015 when previous local children’s safeguarding boards were in operation.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what legal basis the personal information and exam results of up to 28 million children were made available to gambling firms; who made the decision to make this information available; and what the legal limitations are on the provision of such information.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Examination result information was not made available to gambling firms. A third party made the decision to use their lawful access to the Learning Records Service without discussion with, or the agreement of, the Department. This was outside their conditions of use. The third party used the system to verify the age that individuals had given to gambling firms. When their actions became known, the Department immediately removed their access to the system. The Department reported itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office and has continued to work with them since to improve Departmental processes.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for Education:
What progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the Augar review of post-18 education and funding.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Augar report recommended 53 changes to address some of the challenges and tensions in our higher education and further education systems. It is imperative that we get any such decisions rights. I can reassure my right hon. Friend that this government will conclude the review alongside the next Spending Review.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to promote apprenticeships in (a) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) the UK.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We have introduced a wide range of reforms to apprenticeships to improve their quality and to encourage employers across England to increase the number of apprenticeships they offer.
Since May 2010, there have been 4,392,000 starts in England. Of these, 6,930 apprenticeships starts have been in Haltemprice and Howden and 535,420 in Yorkshire and the Humber.
We are raising the profile of our apprenticeship programme through wider communications and marketing activity. The third phase of the Fire it Up campaign was launched in January, targeting important audience groups that are central to widening participation in apprenticeships.
Our thirteenth annual National Apprenticeship Week took place this month (3 to 9 February). Nearly 900 events were held across the country to celebrate and promote the diversity and value that apprenticeships bring to employers, apprentices and communities across England today.
In addition, in January 2018, we introduced a legal requirement for schools to give colleges or other organisations providing further education or training, the opportunity to make pupils aware about technical qualifications and apprenticeships.
We also offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) project to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. In the last academic year, the ASK Programme reached over 300,000 students.
We are investing £2.5 billion in apprenticeships this year (2019-20) so that employers of all sizes across England can provide apprenticeship opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. We are moving smaller employers onto our award-winning apprenticeship service to give them a greater choice of where their apprentices are trained, and so that they can also benefit from transferred funds from levy payers. Levy transfers can help to support new starts in supply chains and address local skills needs.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to implement the Augar recommendations to deliver a fairer higher education system.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The government will consider the panel’s recommendations carefully and will conclude the review at the Spending Review. The government has not yet taken decisions with regards to the recommendations put forward.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the National Literacy Trust report, Children, young people and digital reading, published on 30 April 2019, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report's conclusions on the literacy benefits of children reading both digital and print formats.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department welcomes the National Literacy Trust’s research on reading in both print and digital forms. The Department wants children to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, whatever the format. Research suggests that reading for pleasure is more important for children’s educational development than their parents’ level of education.
There is sound evidence that systematic synthetic phonics is a highly effective method of teaching reading to children. Phonics performance is improving. In 2018, there were 163,000 more 6-year-olds on track to become fluent readers compared to 2012. This represented 82% of pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check, compared to just 58% when the check was introduced in 2012.
In 2018 the Department launched a £26.3 million English Hubs Programme, building on the success of the Department’s phonics partnerships and phonics roadshows programmes. Hub schools are taking a leading role in improving the teaching of early reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development, and reading for pleasure. The Department has appointed 34 primary schools across England as English Hubs.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefit of Artificial Intelligence in the classroom.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a complex, emerging area. The Department has seen some outstanding examples of AI and machine learning being used within schools and colleges in England to support teachers to deliver curriculum content as well as to automate burdensome non-teaching tasks such as marking.
However, the impact of these technologies in the classroom still remains largely unevidenced. We have set up a new AI Horizon Scanning group, so that policy, digital and delivery teams within the Department can explore how AI may impact our policies, as well as the benefits it can bring to the education system.
The Department also regularly engages with those at the cutting edge of these technologies. For example, the Department is a member of the new Institute for Ethical AI & Machine Learning.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the (a) quality and (b) choice of higher education provision in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Office for Students (OfS) holds providers to account for delivering well-designed courses that offer successful outcomes for all of their students, and has a statutory duty to promote quality, and greater choice and opportunities for students.
Universities and other higher education (HE) providers are planning a range of changes to the degree classification system to ensure public confidence in the results students receive and the value of a degree. The consultation process for these changes is nearing its response phase.
The new OfS regulatory framework removes unnecessary barriers to entry for high quality new providers with the aim of increasing diversity, competition and innovation in the sector.
The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) is a national exercise that recognises excellent teaching and student outcomes. Four HE institutions in Yorkshire and the Humber hold the gold TEF award and seven the silver.
Students’ ability to make informed choices is at the heart of the HE reform agenda with prospective students free to make choices to apply to providers in any part of the country. The TEF is supporting student choice.
We are also improving the online offering for students, working alongside OfS to redesign the HE course comparison website, Unistats, by September 2019.
In addition, we launched the Higher Education Open Data competition last year for technology companies and coders to design an innovative digital tool to make it easier for prospective students to access valuable data on salaries and employability. Two winning technology companies have now developed two digital tools to level the playing field for all students, by giving them access to graduate outcomes data at their fingertips.