Holly Mumby-Croft

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade and I have discussed this on several occasions. Trade remedies are an important mechanism to protect UK industry from unfair international competition and I support her plans to review whether the UK's trade remedies framework should be strengthened.

The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses to ensure our economy remains strong and competitive. The ability for our industries to be able to compete across Europe and globally is a priority for this Government.

The Government has put moving to a cleaner, greener economy at the heart of its Industrial Strategy, especially with our commitment to Net Zero. Our aim is to work with the steel sector and help them to reduce carbon emissions. We will continue to support the steel sector in achieving these aims through the various funds available such as the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund and Clean Steel Fund.

We estimate that reduction in the various renewable costs for eligible energy intensive industries, including steel, will save them around £400m a year in electricity costs. We have also extended the schemes to compensate certain energy intensive industries for indirect emission cost to the end of the next financial year in order to minimise disruption to existing recipients whilst we conduct a review. Between 2013 and 2019, total compensation paid to the steel sector was over £480m.

We welcome the recent report by UK Steel - “Closing the Gap” - regarding electricity prices and will give its recommendations careful consideration.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with Cabinet colleagues on a variety of issues.

The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses to ensure our economy remains strong and competitive. The ability for our industries to be able to compete across Europe and globally is a priority for this Government.

Our aim is to work with the steel sector and help them to reduce carbon emissions. We will continue to support the steel sector in achieving these aims through the various funds available such as the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund and Clean Steel Fund.

We estimate that reduction in the various renewable costs for eligible energy intensive industries, including steel, will save them around £400m a year in electricity costs. We have also extended the schemes to compensate certain energy intensive industries for indirect emission costs to the end of the next financial year in order to minimise disruption to existing recipients whilst we conduct a review. Between 2013 and 2019, total compensation paid to the steel sector was over £480m.

We are providing the hospitality sector with a wide package of support. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants and additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses.

On 5 January when the new National Lockdown began, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a one-off top up grant for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the spring. A £594 million discretionary fund has also been made available to support other impacted businesses.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published its Fireworks Evidence Base on 29 October 2020.This included reviewing existing data and producing a research paper on fireworks noise levels and impacts on health and the environment. This is intended to provide a baseline of current scientific knowledge.

The Fireworks Evidence Base, including noise data, can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fireworks-evidence-base.

The Government’s approach to business closures and lockdowns has always been guided by the scientific and medical advice.

We will continue to monitor the data on transmission of the virus at regional and local authority level and will take action to reopen all closed businesses once we believe it safe to do so.

Almost all viable UK-based businesses are eligible to apply for a loan under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS). You can apply for a loan if your business

- is based in the UK;

- was established before 1 March 2020;

- has been adversely affected by coronavirus.

There are no current plans to change the eligibility data, further details of which can be found on the British Business Bank website.

Decision-making on whether a business is eligible to access the BBLS is fully delegated to the accredited lenders for the scheme, and individual lending decisions remain at the discretion of these accredited lenders.

The Government is committed to introducing a new entitlement to Neonatal Leave and Pay for parents of babies who are admitted to neonatal care. In March this year we set out how we will take this forward in our response to a public consultation on the issue. We will legislate to implement this entitlement as part of the Employment Bill, which we will bring it forward in due course.

A full suite of guidance currently available to the sport sector is published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-phased-return-of-sport-and-recreation.

We have published guidance specifically on the return of outdoor sport and recreation and organised sport and physical activity; we have published guidance to support the return of elite and professional sport to training and competition behind closed doors; and we are now working to facilitate the return of spectators to elite and professional sport. A multidisciplinary working group, including medical directors from a number of sports, has produced draft guidance around the return of spectators to stadia, under which a number of pilots will operate from the end of July, aiming for a full return of spectators to stadia with social distancing from Oct 1st.

The Government has delivered a comprehensive and sizable package of direct fiscal support for business through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support.

The government is continuing to work closely with the sector to understand the issues they face and discuss how we can support them further.

There continues to be a shift in the distribution of ACE's National Portfolio funding, with the amount of funding spent outside London increasing from 53.8% in 2012-15 to 60.3% in 2018-22.

As part of this, ACE expects the organisations they fund to ensure that their cultural offer is accessible to as many people as possible

A great example of ACE’s funded national portfolio organisations doing this is the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich, which hosts relaxed viewings of it’s performances in order to make them more accessible to those with dementia.

The department is firmly committed to ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with visual impairments, receive the support they need to achieve in their early years, at school and college.

We recognise that children with visual impairments have specific needs and, therefore, it is a legal requirement for qualified teachers of classes of pupils who have sensory impairments, to hold the relevant mandatory qualification (MQSI). Providers must be approved by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, to offer these qualifications.

The department intends to develop a new approval process to determine providers of MQSIs from the start of academic year 2023/24. Our aim is to ensure a steady supply of teachers of children with visual, hearing, and multi-sensory impairment, in both specialist and mainstream settings.

Our priority is to maintain high quality face-to-face education for all children and young people, including those in specialist settings. We recognise that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has caused challenges for all schools. Whilst Plan B was in place, we took steps to make sure that children and young people in special schools continued to receive the support they needed to engage in education. Our operational guidance for special schools and other specialist providers made clear that specialists, therapists and other health professionals who support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) should provide interventions as usual.

All schools, including special schools, benefit from the full range of measures the government has put in place to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission, minimise disruption to education and limit absences. These include regular testing and continuing the booster rollout for adults and vaccinations for secondary age pupils. Special schools were also able to apply for our funded air cleaning units earlier than other settings, with the first 1,000 units reserved for SEND and alternative provision (AP) settings, enabling them to reduce airborne contaminants in poorly ventilated spaces where quick fixes to improve ventilation are not possible.

We know that special schools and AP settings are often more impacted by staff absences, and less able to manage these absences using their existing staff and resource. The department has set a lower threshold for these settings to access the COVID-19 workforce fund, which provides financial support to eligible schools and colleges where needed. This fund has been extended until spring half term to cover the cost of term-time staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 18 February 2022. The fund can be used by schools to employ supply staff to manage absences, increase the hours of part-time teaching or education support staff, or make amendments to support staff terms and conditions so they can take on additional responsibilities. Any changes should be discussed with the employee first, and schools should consider workload and wellbeing.

Finally, the department has a developed a comprehensive attendance strategy that has been implemented since the beginning of this academic year. The department has also recently appointed a team of expert attendance advisers who will work closely with local authorities and multi-academy trusts to improve their attendance levels and reduce persistent absence.

We want to create quality interactions between schools, colleges, and businesses. The Careers and Enterprise Company supports schools and colleges to make links with local employers. Over 3,500 volunteer business professionals are now working with schools and colleges through the Enterprise Adviser Network to help open young people’s eyes to a range of different career possibilities, challenge stereotypes and help prepare them for the workplace. We also have over 300 major employers, known as cornerstone employers, driving the delivery of encounters for young people in opportunity areas and careers hubs across England.

As part of the Skills for Jobs white paper, a £65 million Strategic Development Fund is being piloted in several areas across the country to test a new collaborative approach to skills planning and delivery. Some of the pilots are establishing college business centres to work with local employers to develop a joint understanding of the skills and technology needed to drive innovation and productivity, and to develop a more targeted response.

The ministerial team and officials from the Department for Education regularly engage with their counterparts across government to ensure that there is a joined-up approach in championing support for young people with special educational needs and disabilities. This includes working with businesses to encourage them to see the positive impact of employing and developing the skills of disabled people through programmes such as supported internships, traineeships and apprenticeships.

In July the government published the National Disability Strategy which confirmed our vision to transform the everyday lives of disabled people. As the Department for Education, we have committed to do more to support children and young people to receive an education that pushes and supports them to reach their full potential, including preparation for employment.

We will continue to work with other government departments to deliver the commitments in the strategy.

There are no plans for introducing any new accreditations for the practical work undertaken by Business and Enterprise Colleges. However, many schools, including University Technical Colleges (UTCs) and some mainstream schools, already specialise in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and vocational subjects, with a focus on practice and skills-based education. Schools with a strong specialism, especially where backed with strong employer support, can provide effective pathways for the skills needed in the labour market. The Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire in Scunthorpe is an excellent example of how strong UTCs can equip young people with important knowledge and skills. This school is rated Good by Ofsted and the latest destinations data from the 2019/20 academic year indicates that 86% of pupils from this school moved into sustained education, employment, or an apprenticeship after Key Stage 4.

Ofsted’s inspection framework recognises the unique curriculum approach of different schools, whether knowledge or skills-based, and provides a fair judgment of their effectiveness.

We realise that this is an incredibly difficult time for students and are aware of the disproportionate impact that the COVID-19 outbreak will have on some students.

It is for higher education (HE) providers as autonomous bodies to identify and address the needs of their student body and many providers have boosted their existing welfare services to ensure students are able to access the support they need.

I have written to Vice Chancellors at every opportunity, outlining that student welfare should remain a priority and convened a working group of representatives from the higher education and health sectors to specifically address the current and pressing issues that students are facing during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Going forward, HE providers should continue to be innovative in how they identify issues and support their students

The department has also 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 OfS Student Premium funding worth around £256 million for this academic year towards student hardship funds.

As announced last month, we are also making available up to £20 million of additional hardship funding to support those that need it most, particularly disadvantaged students.

Guidance from the National Association of Student Money Advisers includes students with children as a priority group for hardship support.

Students will normally qualify for Child Benefit if they are responsible for a child under 16 (or under 20 if they stay in approved education or training). Full-time students with children can also apply for Childcare Grant and Parents' Learning Allowance. Full-time students who are single parents or student couples, one or both of whom are responsible for a child, and part-time students responsible for a child can apply for Universal Credit.

Examinations and assessments are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance. Next year’s GCSE, AS level and A level examination series will go ahead with a number of measures in place to ensure that all students have a fair chance to show what they know and can do.

The Department’s priority is that there is a consistent approach to what is taught and will be assessed across schools. Schools will be making every effort, including in areas where there is high prevalence of COVID-19, to deliver high quality teaching, including through remote education. In recognition of the disruption which many students are experiencing because of COVID-19, Ofqual will work with exam boards to provide students with advance notice of some exam topic areas and exam support materials. These will be published by the end of January and will reduce the pressure for students, helping them to focus revision.

Combined with our £1 billion catch-up package, including a catch-up premium worth a total of £650 million, these changes give young people the best chance of being ready for their exams without undermining the value of the qualifications they receive.

The Department published expectations of the quality of remote education for schools on 2 July 2020 as part of the schools guidance for full opening, and for Further Education (FE) providers in August 2020 as part of the autumn term guidance. Additional information on these publications can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/what-fe-colleges-and-providers-will-need-to-do-from-the-start-of-the-2020-autumn-term.

Where a pupil is unable to attend school because they are complying with clinical or public health advice, we expect schools to be able to immediately offer them access to remote education. This should be done in line with previous guidance and the Temporary Continuity Direction, which has been in effect since 22 October 2020.

On 1st October 2020, the Department announced a further remote education support package to help schools and FE colleges meet the remote education expectations set out in guidance and Direction. Many elements of the support package are already in place and more will be available over the coming months to schools and FE colleges. These can be accessed through the remote education service, available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.

The support package includes access to the right technology to deliver remote education, peer to peer training on how to use this effectively, and practical tools, good practice guidance and school-led webinars. This adds to existing support including the resources available from Oak National Academy, which provides video lessons across a broad range of subjects for every year group from Reception to Year 11. Oak National Academy will remain a free optional resource for the 2020-21 academic year, with further information available at: https://www.thenational.academy/.

As part of over £195 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care, the Department is making over 340,000 laptops and tablets available during the 2020 Autumn term to support disadvantaged children whose face-to-face education may be disrupted. Schools can order devices for critically extremely vulnerable children while they are not attending school by contacting covid.technology@education.gov.uk.

Protecting the mental health of students continues to be a priority for this government. These are difficult times and it is important that students can still access the mental health support that they need. We recognise that many students are facing additional mental health challenges due to the disruption and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has overall policy responsibility for young people’s mental health. We continue to work closely with them to take steps to develop mental health and wellbeing support. I work closely with my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Patient Safety, on student mental health, and officials at the department continue to work with DHSC officials in this vital area.

In October, I convened a working group of representatives from the higher education and health sectors, including DHSC officials, to specifically address the current and pressing issues that students are facing during the COVID-19 outbreak. I also wrote to Vice Chancellors, outlining that student welfare should remain a priority, including for students self-isolating in university accommodation.

Since August, Student Space has been available to provide support for students in England and Wales, providing students with a trusted place to access direct one-to-one support, access psychoeducation resources, and a directory to explore what support is available to them locally at their place of study. Funded with up to £3 million by the Office for Students (OfS) and led by Student Minds, it is designed to work alongside existing mental health services. Student Space has now been extended to cover the 2020-21 academic year. 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.

The Department knows that exams and assessments are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance, and it is expected that next year’s exams will go ahead. The Government is committed to working closely with Ofqual to ensure that students taking exams next summer receive the qualifications they deserve.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has set out that a further announcement on 2021 exams will be made in October.

The Department knows that exams and assessments are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance, and it is expected that next year’s exams will go ahead. The Government is committed to working closely with Ofqual to ensure that students taking exams next summer receive the qualifications they deserve.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has set out that a further announcement on 2021 exams will be made in October.