Education: Return in January

Debate between Gavin Williamson and Yvette Cooper

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

I can absolutely confirm to my hon. Friend that testing will be available both to students and to staff members in secondary school settings. Importantly, that means that we will be in a position to reduce the number of children and teachers who are having to self-isolate, and that it will be easier for education settings to work fully and as normally as possible. Most importantly, however, students will be in a position to maximise the amount of time they spend studying.

[Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab) [V]]

New College Pontefract is currently having to organise twice-weekly mass testing for 2,500 sixth-formers, but it has had no allocation of funding and no contact from the military. The college is having to find additional staff, and it has no space in which to do the tests.

Why have the Government not given schools and colleges a clear allocation of funding that will cover additional staff, Disclosure and Barring Service checks, and the other practicalities of delivering mass testing? They all want to do it, but the support from Ministers and the Department for Education is always too late or too chaotic. Frankly, they are not getting the support they need to keep children safely in education.

[Gavin Williamson]

I will certainly ensure that where schools can get that information is passed on to the right hon. Lady. It was published and made available to colleges and schools before Christmas, but I will ensure that my private office forwards it on. Information is readily available, and should hopefully be of assistance to her in her duties as a constituency Member of Parliament.

Students’ Return to Universities

Debate between Gavin Williamson and Yvette Cooper

Tuesday 29th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There should be the same set of rules across the board. There is a real cost to not opening up our universities, as there is a cost to not opening up our schools. The cost is not in money: it is in the missed opportunities for those youngsters who want to study to be a doctor, a dentist, a nurse or a teacher, or to train to become an engineer. Denying them the opportunity to be able to return, to learn and to have the opportunities that so many in this House have had would do them an injustice. That is why it has been right to make sure that young people are able to go back to university and benefit from what so many Members in this House have also benefited from.

[Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)]

First-year students have already had to endure the Government’s chaotic handling of A-level results and now the predictable campus outbreaks, but without sufficient testing or support in place, and the very distressing threat to them and their worried parents that they might not be able to return for Christmas. Will the Secretary of State clarify the point in his statement where he talks about ending learning early? Is he proposing now that all students should have to self-isolate at the end of term, so that they can return safely for Christmas? If so, why not, instead, pursue mass testing with universities so that those students can safely go about their lives and return safely home?

[Gavin Williamson]

The right hon. Lady obviously listened to only a part of the statement. I said that all youngsters who want to be able to return home will be able to do so. We will look at where there are specific cases. She will be fully aware that many universities end at different times for Christmas, but, where there are specific cases and specific local circumstances, we will be working with the university sector to look at shifting to online learning solely to be able to ensure that all students have the benefit of being able to return home to be with their families for Christmas. We envisage that that will cover only a very small number of universities.

Education Settings: Wider Opening

Debate between Gavin Williamson and Yvette Cooper

Tuesday 9th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

My absolute ambition is to see all children back in September but over the coming weeks it is to maximise the number of children who are able to benefit by going into schools. My hon. Friend raises an important point: this is about not just the R rate, but what we are doing on track and trace, and everything we can do to minimise transmission within schools to make them a safe environment for people to work in and learn in.

[Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)]

The problem, listening to the Education Secretary, is that he just does not convey any sense that the Government have a grip or a proper plan for the future. Let me ask him specifically: what support is he going to guarantee for the 16 to 18-year-olds, who feel particularly let down? They have lost their final term, when they might have been getting additional support to get an apprenticeship, a course or a place for the future. Currently, they are getting nothing. When will the guarantee for them be in place?

Educational Settings

Debate between Gavin Williamson and Yvette Cooper

Wednesday 18th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

I am sure that the schools to which my hon. Friend refers will have children who will have an education, health and care plan, which is the reason why they attend that school, so they would be included in the category of vulnerable.

[Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)]

Many parents will think that this is the right thing to do for their kids and for us to stop the virus spreading, but they will also be really worried that they just cannot afford to stop work to look after them and cannot get the grandparents to step in. Given that the Secretary of State said this situation could last for some time, will he look at urgent financial support for parents—not just of those on free school meals, but all parents in these circumstances—or at working with local councils on free childcare options in much smaller or one-to-one settings, which could help?

[Gavin Williamson]

That is certainly something we have been discussing with the Treasury and something that we will be highlighting as part of a wider range of economic issues that the Chancellor recognises he needs to address.