Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of schools that have asbestos present; and what steps she is taking to reduce levels of asbestos in schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department takes the safety of children, and those who work with them, incredibly seriously which is why we expect all local authorities, governing bodies and academy trusts as responsible bodies to have robust plans in place to manage asbestos in school buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties, drawing on appropriate professional advice.
As the regulator for asbestos, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) undertook inspections of a number of schools across the UK between September 2022 and April 2023 to look at compliance under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. The inspections showed that most schools were complying with the legal duties, and effective management systems are in place to manage and monitor the condition of asbestos-contained materials onsite.
The department is collecting data on the condition of school buildings in England as part of the Condition Data Collection 2 (CDC2) programme. To date, we have visited 18,029 schools and 13,592 (75.4%) have reported they have asbestos. The department follows the advice of the HSE as regulator that, as long as asbestos-containing materials are undamaged, and not in locations where they are vulnerable to damage, they should be left undisturbed, and their condition monitored.
The department has been clear, however, that when asbestos does pose a risk to safety and cannot be effectively managed in place, it should be removed. The decision to remove asbestos should be considered on a case-by-case basis and, annual condition funding provided by the department can be used for this purpose.
As part of the 2025/26 budget, we have increased capital allocations to improve the condition of school buildings to £2.1 billion, which represents £300 million more than this financial year. This is on top of the School Rebuilding Programme and targeted support for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a timeframe for implementing the findings of the research by Ofsted entitled Best start in life part 3: the 4 specific areas of learning, published on 8 October 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Ofsted is an independent non-ministerial government department and, as such, we are unable to comment on its processes or on specific issues. The department has responsibility for policy on inspection and registration, but how it is implemented is for Ofsted to decide and to be held to account by Parliament. The department will therefore not be publishing a timeline for implementation of findings in ‘Best Start in Life part 3: the 4 specific areas of learning’, nor were there any particular recommendations made by Ofsted for it to implement. The reviews published by Ofsted are publicly available on GOV.UK and are primarily intended to help early years practitioners to raise the quality of early years education.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 25 July 2024 on Technical Qualifications Reform update, HCWS22, what steps her Department is taking to help support education providers to plan for the provision of post-16 vocational education beyond the 2024-25 academic year.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is determined to ensure all young people have high quality education and training pathways post-16. To help secure this, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the department would pause and review the defunding of qualifications in July 2024. The department will conclude and communicate the outcomes of this internal review of post-16 qualifications, before Christmas 2024.
The focused review announced in July is already underway and the department is working as quickly as possible to provide certainty to the sector. The review will look at the defunding lists that have been published and communicate any changes. Colleges will be able to reflect the outcomes of the review in their planning and marketing materials in the new year so that students can make the best decisions about their futures.
There are many qualifications not subject to defunding and which provide certainty and continuity to the sector. These include A levels, T Levels, and alternative qualifications in subjects and routes not affected by defunding.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of when the review of post-16 education funding will be completed; and what her planned timescale is for responding to that review.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is determined to ensure all young people have high quality education and training pathways post-16. To help secure this, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the department would pause and review the defunding of qualifications in July 2024. The department will conclude and communicate the outcomes of this internal review of post-16 qualifications, before Christmas 2024.
The focused review announced in July is already underway and the department is working as quickly as possible to provide certainty to the sector. The review will look at the defunding lists that have been published and communicate any changes. Colleges will be able to reflect the outcomes of the review in their planning and marketing materials in the new year so that students can make the best decisions about their futures.
There are many qualifications not subject to defunding and which provide certainty and continuity to the sector. These include A levels, T Levels, and alternative qualifications in subjects and routes not affected by defunding.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce funding arrangements for post-16 vocational education for after 2025.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is determined to ensure all young people have high quality education and training pathways post-16. To help secure this, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the department would pause and review the defunding of qualifications in July 2024. The department will conclude and communicate the outcomes of this internal review of post-16 qualifications, before Christmas 2024.
The focused review announced in July is already underway and the department is working as quickly as possible to provide certainty to the sector. The review will look at the defunding lists that have been published and communicate any changes. Colleges will be able to reflect the outcomes of the review in their planning and marketing materials in the new year so that students can make the best decisions about their futures.
There are many qualifications not subject to defunding and which provide certainty and continuity to the sector. These include A levels, T Levels, and alternative qualifications in subjects and routes not affected by defunding.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is her policy to retain Oak National Academy as an arms length body to her Department.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Teachers using the service have found Oak National Academy to be a helpful tool in their lesson and curriculum planning.
Decisions on the future funding of Oak, along with all other government spending, will be made as part of the Spending Review process.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is her Department's policy that universities should have a statutory duty of care to students.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has asked the higher education (HE) Student Support Champion, Professor Edward Peck, to continue to work with students, parents, mental health experts and the HE sector to drive meaningful change in mental health practice through the HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce.
The Office for Students (OfS) is providing £400,000 of funding to the student mental health charity, Student Minds, to rapidly expand the scale and membership of the University Mental Health Charter Programme. The Programme supports universities to adopt a whole-institution approach to mental health, and also follow a process of continuous improvement to work towards the Charter Award. The University Mental Health Charter is already raising standards within the sector.
The department has appointed academic experts from the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health to undertake a National Review of HE Suicides. It will report findings by spring 2025, ensuring lessons from tragic cases are shared widely across the sector.
In 2024, to support HE providers to engage with the National Review of HE Suicides and develop mental health and suicide prevention strategies, the OfS is allocating £15 million of funding. This funding is in addition to the £10 million provided early this year to support student mental health and hardship.
The government is determined that children and young people receive the mental health care they need which is why it has committed to recruit 8500 additional staff across children and adult mental health services.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to help improve mental health practice in universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has asked the higher education (HE) Student Support Champion, Professor Edward Peck, to continue to work with students, parents, mental health experts and the HE sector to drive meaningful change in mental health practice through the HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce.
The Office for Students (OfS) is providing £400,000 of funding to the student mental health charity, Student Minds, to rapidly expand the scale and membership of the University Mental Health Charter Programme. The Programme supports universities to adopt a whole-institution approach to mental health, and also follow a process of continuous improvement to work towards the Charter Award. The University Mental Health Charter is already raising standards within the sector.
The department has appointed academic experts from the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health to undertake a National Review of HE Suicides. It will report findings by spring 2025, ensuring lessons from tragic cases are shared widely across the sector.
In 2024, to support HE providers to engage with the National Review of HE Suicides and develop mental health and suicide prevention strategies, the OfS is allocating £15 million of funding. This funding is in addition to the £10 million provided early this year to support student mental health and hardship.
The government is determined that children and young people receive the mental health care they need which is why it has committed to recruit 8500 additional staff across children and adult mental health services.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average number of days is for her Department to process and return a school's RAAC survey.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day-to-day basis, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert us if there is a concern with a building.
The Department has acted decisively and proactively to tackle this issue. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK. The Department issued comprehensive guidance in 2018, and subsequent years, to all responsible bodies highlighting the potential risks associated with RAAC and supporting them to identify this within their buildings, as well as to take appropriate steps in meeting their obligations to keep buildings safe. The most recent guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-estates-guidance.
There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England, and the vast majority are unaffected. A significant proportion of the estate was built outside the period where RAAC was used, with around one third of the estate built since 2001, therefore, the Department has focused efforts on buildings built in the post-war decades.
The Department issued a questionnaire in March 2022, asking responsible bodies to inform the Department of any suspected RAAC identified in their estates. Responsible bodies have submitted questionnaires for over 98% of schools with blocks built in the target era, of which there are 14,900. We are pressing all remaining schools to get checks completed, to determine which schools require surveys.
The Department is contacting responsible bodies to help them respond to this request and to advise on what needs to be done, so that they can establish whether they believe they have RAAC. This work will continue until we have a response for all target era schools.
Schools and colleges where RAAC is suspected are being fast tracked for surveying, which is used to confirm whether RAAC is actually present. All schools and colleges that have already told us they suspect they might have RAAC will be surveyed within a matter of weeks, in many cases in a matter of days.
All schools where RAAC is confirmed are provided with a dedicated caseworker to support them and help implement a mitigation plan and minimise the disruption to children’s learning.
Across Government, Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out. The Department for Education published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September, and committed to providing further updates.
Schools will contact parents where RAAC is identified and inform them of any impacts on their child. The vast majority of schools are unaffected. Any parents that are unsure if their child’s school is affected should contact their school directly.
While some short term disruption is inevitable, all available measures will be taken to minimise disruption to pupil learning and ensure that pupils continue to receive face-to-face teaching. Where there is any disturbance to face-to-face education, schools will prioritise attendance for vulnerable children and young people and children of key workers. The guidance published by the Department in August also includes guidance on provision for pupils with SEND and sets out expectations that schools continue to provide free school meals to eligible pupils.
The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. The Department will also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.
All previously confirmed Schol Rebuilding Programme projects announced in 2021 and 2022 will continue to go ahead. A full list of confirmed projects can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
Further information on RAAC in education settings is available on the Education Hub: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/06/new-guidance-on-raac-in-education-settings/.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools are currently waiting for the results of their reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete survey to be returned as of 7 September 2023.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day-to-day basis, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert us if there is a concern with a building.
The Department has acted decisively and proactively to tackle this issue. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK. The Department issued comprehensive guidance in 2018, and subsequent years, to all responsible bodies highlighting the potential risks associated with RAAC and supporting them to identify this within their buildings, as well as to take appropriate steps in meeting their obligations to keep buildings safe. The most recent guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-estates-guidance.
There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England, and the vast majority are unaffected. A significant proportion of the estate was built outside the period where RAAC was used, with around one third of the estate built since 2001, therefore, the Department has focused efforts on buildings built in the post-war decades.
The Department issued a questionnaire in March 2022, asking responsible bodies to inform the Department of any suspected RAAC identified in their estates. Responsible bodies have submitted questionnaires for over 98% of schools with blocks built in the target era, of which there are 14,900. We are pressing all remaining schools to get checks completed, to determine which schools require surveys.
The Department is contacting responsible bodies to help them respond to this request and to advise on what needs to be done, so that they can establish whether they believe they have RAAC. This work will continue until we have a response for all target era schools.
Schools and colleges where RAAC is suspected are being fast tracked for surveying, which is used to confirm whether RAAC is actually present. All schools and colleges that have already told us they suspect they might have RAAC will be surveyed within a matter of weeks, in many cases in a matter of days.
All schools where RAAC is confirmed are provided with a dedicated caseworker to support them and help implement a mitigation plan and minimise the disruption to children’s learning.
Across Government, Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out. The Department for Education published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September, and committed to providing further updates.
Schools will contact parents where RAAC is identified and inform them of any impacts on their child. The vast majority of schools are unaffected. Any parents that are unsure if their child’s school is affected should contact their school directly.
While some short term disruption is inevitable, all available measures will be taken to minimise disruption to pupil learning and ensure that pupils continue to receive face-to-face teaching. Where there is any disturbance to face-to-face education, schools will prioritise attendance for vulnerable children and young people and children of key workers. The guidance published by the Department in August also includes guidance on provision for pupils with SEND and sets out expectations that schools continue to provide free school meals to eligible pupils.
The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. The Department will also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.
All previously confirmed Schol Rebuilding Programme projects announced in 2021 and 2022 will continue to go ahead. A full list of confirmed projects can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
Further information on RAAC in education settings is available on the Education Hub: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/06/new-guidance-on-raac-in-education-settings/.