(3 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberI can absolutely assure my hon. Friend that under-16s should not be using that app. I would like to thank schools and the leadership of schools, which have done so much in working with Test and Trace to ensure that the number of youngsters who need to self-isolate as a result of a case has been reduced significantly over the past few weeks, making sure that as many as possible children are attending school. I will take up the point my hon. Friend has made and look at guidance on how best we can give people the right and proper steer.
(4 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberThis is why it was vital that we immediately made it clear to those organisations that we will continue to support them with grant funding for those children who access those settings. Those organisations receive money from Government. On top of that, there is the furlough scheme and we have been able to offer rates relief to many of those organisations. We continue to work with the sector to find long-term solutions to some of the challenges they face.
More than 80,000 children and young people across the north-east receive free school meal vouchers. Bearing in mind that the children who are entitled to those vouchers are most likely to be in poverty and that we are currently living through a pandemic, what are the Secretary of State’s plans to ensure that no child goes hungry during the summer holidays and that no parent or carer will have to rely on food banks?
We continue to work with the Department for Work and Pensions, MHCLG and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on this. I talked about the unprecedented £6.5 billion extra that the DWP was distributing. We also have the holiday activities and food fund, which we are looking to continue to run this summer.
(4 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberThis week, I announced a new set of behaviour hubs that are being introduced right across the country to make sure that there are the very highest standards of behaviour in every single one of our schools.
As with all Government Departments right across the country, we are making sure that there are regular communications about the coronavirus. We are communicating to all educational settings to make sure that they have a clear understanding of some of the challenges in dealing with the virus. We are advising that schools should stay open unless advised otherwise by Public Health England, and we are planning for a reasonable worst-case scenario, working closely with other Departments and, of course, Public Health England.
In my constituency of Jarrow, headteachers have told me that they are struggling to make ends meet. Cuts to funding for their schools have resulted in overcrowded classrooms, and teaching and non-teaching staff being cut. Buildings are crumbling. Does the Minister believe, like me, that our teachers and children deserve better?
What we are seeing in the hon. Lady’s constituency is a 6.1% cash increase in what is going to be going to schools and a 4.8% per-pupil increase. That is a positive step forward in making sure that every school benefits from the increases in funding that we announced last year.