Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to support parents to manage children's levels of screen time.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Parents and carers play a vital role in online safety.

The UK Chief Medical Officer’s 2019 commentary on screen-based activities included advice for parents and carers on agreeing boundaries with children and young people on time spent using screens outside school and in education.

Ofcom has also released guidance for parents on how the Act’s measures will protect children online, including links to trusted resources.

Finally, many services have their own parental controls, which are useful for managing children’s screentime. To help families further navigate children’s online use, DSIT and DfE are developing a website to bring information about online safety into one place.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints has OIA received from disabled students in each of the last 5 years, what proportion were upheld, and how many reasonable adjustments were made during complaint processes.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Office of the Independent Adjudicator is independent from government, and the department does not hold the requested information.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many OIA settlements have been reported as breached to Office for Students in each of the last 5 years, and what enforcement action was taken in each case.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Office for Students (OfS) and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) are independent from government, and we do not hold details on information shared between the two bodies.

The OfS’ registration condition C2 states that registered providers ‘must cooperate with the requirements of the student complaints scheme run by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, including the subscription requirements’, but it does not have the power to enforce compliance with the OIA’s recommendations.

Where a provider does not comply with the OIA’s recommendations, and the OIA believes this may indicate systemic issues with the provider, the OIA may share this information with the OfS or other relevant bodies.