Coronavirus: Education Setting Attendance and Support for Pupils Debate

Full Debate: Read Full Debate
Department: Department for Education

Coronavirus: Education Setting Attendance and Support for Pupils

Diana Johnson Excerpts
Thursday 23rd September 2021

(3 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts

Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.

Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.

This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record

Alex Burghart Portrait Alex Burghart
- View Speech - Hansard - - - Excerpts

My right hon. Friend is extremely learned in these matters. We have a testing programme in place to ensure that we limit the number of pupils in schools who have coronavirus. That was obviously the case as schools went back. I am sure that the relevant Minister will have heard his remarks.

Diana Johnson Portrait Dame Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)
- View Speech - Hansard - -

Hull is one of the most disadvantaged parts of the country, and there will be no levelling up without catching up. Will the Minister commit to the necessary catching-up budget proposed by his adviser, Sir Kevan Collins?

Alex Burghart Portrait Alex Burghart
- View Speech - Hansard - - - Excerpts

As I have said a number of times, we have put in £3 billion, with £1.5 billion on tutoring for 6 million tutoring programmes—100 million hours of tutoring—and an additional 2 million tutoring programmes in 16 to 19 education.[Official Report, 19 October 2021, Vol. 701, c. 6MC.] That is evidence-based, and we have a high degree of confidence that it will help children recover and get over the worst of the pandemic. The right hon. Lady will have also heard me say that a spending review is coming up.