Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to encourage secondary schools and their pupils to take part in student exchange programmes with schools in other countries.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In January, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced a new £2.5 million programme to provide more opportunities for young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to take part in an international school exchange.
State schools in England can apply for grants to take pupils aged 11 and above to visit partner schools around the world, giving them the chance to experience different cultures, improve language skills and build independence, character and resilience.
Some of the first exchanges have already taken place, to destinations including Toulon in France, and Heinsberg in Germany. More information about the programme is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/25-million-to-boost-international-exchanges-for-schools.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to reduce the cost of university accommodation for students.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Higher education providers are autonomous bodies, independent from the government; the government plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation.
This government increased living costs support by 10.3% for eligible students on the lowest incomes in 2016/17. Further inflationary increases in living costs support have been made in each academic year since. We have announced a further 2.8% increase in loans for living costs for the 2019/20 academic year – to a record amount. Students from the lowest-income households starting their courses in the academic year 2018/19 had access to the largest ever amounts of cash-in-hand support for their living costs.
The independent panel supporting the Post-18 Review of Education and Funding published their report on 30 May where they recommended the Office for Students examines the costs of student accommodation and works with students and providers to improve the quality and consistency of data about costs, rents, profits and quality. The government has not yet taken decisions on these recommendations but will consider the panel’s proposals and conclude the review at the Spending Review.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2019 to Question 260548 on Sure Start Programme, what recent assessment he has made of the implementation of local authorities' duty under the Childcare Act (2006) to ensure sufficient children's centres to meet the need of local families.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government has not made any such assessment. It is the responsibility of local authorities to comply with their statutory duties, having regard to statutory guidance published by the Department for Education. The relevant statutory guidance can be found at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/678913/childrens_centre_stat_guidance_april-2013.pdf.
The government’s focus is on outcomes for children. In July 2018 the government set an ambitious goal to halve, by 2028, the percentage of children leaving reception year without the communication, language and literacy skills they need to thrive. This is a clear direction for all those who have a part to play, including children’s centres. The department is working with local authorities, including through our £8.5 million early years local government programme, to achieve this ambition.
To help local areas monitor and improve these outcomes, the department published on 6 June 2019 the Early Years Outcomes Dashboard, which can be found here: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/smapey-dashboard/. This dashboard makes the most important early years social mobility metrics easily available and will allow local authorities to benchmark their outcomes against their statistical neighbours. This is in addition to the extensive range of data made available to local authorities by Public Health England through its Child and Maternal Health profiles, which can be found here: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/child-health-profiles.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve student wellbeing.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Mental health is a priority for this government, which is why we continue to work closely with Universities UK on embedding the Step Change programme within the sector. Step Change calls on higher education leaders to adopt mental health as a strategic priority and adopt a whole-institution approach to mental health, embedding it across all policies, cultures, curricula and practice.
In addition, the government actively backs the introduction of a sector-led University Mental Health Charter, launched in June 2018. This will drive up standards in promoting student and staff mental health and wellbeing and it will invite universities to meet high standards of practice, including in areas such as leadership, early intervention and data collection.
On 5 June 2019, the Office for Students announced the award of almost £6 million of funding for 10 large-scale projects through a challenge competition, encouraging higher education providers to find new ways of combating student mental health issues. The projects involve over 60 different universities, colleges and other organisations including NHS services, the police and charities, together contributing matched-funding taking the investment up to £14.5 million.
Higher education providers have legal responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) to support students, including those with mental health conditions. Whilst it is for providers to determine what welfare and counselling services they need to provide to their students to offer that support, the government is proactive in promoting good practice in this area.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of children caught with a knife at school in each of the last 10 years in (a) the UK and (b) Coventry.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information requested is not held centrally. The department does not collect data on the number of children caught in possession of knives. The day-to-day running of schools, including all matters relating to pupils’ health and safety, is a matter for head teachers and their management teams. They are best placed to make decisions on how to ensure all pupils and staff are kept safe in schools.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the effect of the National School Breakfast Programme on educational attainment.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The department is investing up to £26 million in a breakfast club programme, using funds from Soft Drinks Industry Levy revenues. This money will kick-start or improve breakfast clubs in over 1,700 schools. The focus of these clubs has been to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country – including the Department for Education’s Opportunity Areas – to help make sure every child gets the best start in life.
The programme will also deliver innovation projects with the aim of testing solutions to delivery and access barriers, and enhancing the health and education benefits. Innovation projects will seek to test out new approaches to enhancing the health, education or wider socioeconomic benefits and to overcoming delivery and access barriers.
We monitor management information from the programme on an ongoing basis and will also review the effectiveness of the programme fully once the programme concludes.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of Sure Start centres on health outcomes for young people in deprived areas.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We welcome the recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the health effects of Sure Start. Across the key health outcomes for children and young people, children living in households in the lowest socio-economic groups have worse outcomes than other children. There are clear benefits to early investment and support through pregnancy and the early years. Children’s centres can play an important role in supporting families, but it is right local councils decide how to organise and provide services for families in their areas to meet local needs – whether this is through children’s centre buildings or delivering services in different ways.
Local authorities have a duty under the Childcare Act (2006) to ensure sufficient children’s centres to meet the needs of local families. Funding for children’s services (including children’s centres) is made available through the local government finance settlement. In addition, other government funding, including that for public health, adult skills training and troubled families may also be used locally to support services delivered wholly, or in part, through children’s centres. Children services funding for 2020-2021 and beyond will be determined in the Spending Review.