Margaret Greenwood

The Government does not hold constituency-level data on eligibility for Warm Home Discount rebates in previous years or this scheme year. More precise figures on eligibility for 2022/23 will only be available after the scheme year has ended after March.

The European Social Fund (ESF) is designed to reduce social disparities across the EU. In 2019, the total allocation for ESF is as follows:

In a No Deal Brexit, the government has guaranteed ESF funding, enabling existing projects to continue, and new projects to be funded until programme closure. Under the terms of the current Withdrawal Agreement, the UK will continue to take part in the current round of ESF funding until programme closure.

ESF is allocated according to thematic objectives set out by the EU, and to specific projects which include a range of areas of intervention such as disability, support for young people, and long term unemployment alongside other areas of intervention. ESF Managing Authorities across the UK are not required under EU regulations to maintain a separate breakdown of the precise categories requested.

Local action by communities, by local businesses and by local authorities has a significant role to play in raising awareness of renewable energy and energy efficiency. We have and continue to support local organisations and groups not only to provide advice but also to lead action on these issues locally.

This Government is committed to empowering communities and these projects, which put local people in the driving seat, are an important part of a clean, secure and affordable energy system. BEIS provides the Energy Saving Advice Service covering England and Wales. In 2016, over 15,000 callers were referred to local authority energy efficiency schemes or initiatives.

Since 2013, the UK Government has committed over £16m to support community energy, including the Rural Community Energy Fund which continues to offer support and feasibility and development finance for community-scale renewable energy projects in England. The generation of renewable energy by small businesses, schools, charities and households also remains eligible for payments through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme.

This Government sees local energy, of which community energy is a key part, as an important part of a wider local energy ecosystem; with cities, municipalities and local partners driving this agenda. As such we have already committed funding to identify and overcome local barriers to delivery in the short term while we understand the contribution and importance of this sector to the delivery of both the Industrial Strategy and the Clean Growth Strategy.

Funding and prioritisation for trading standards are decisions for local authorities – accountable to local communities and the people they serve.

Government recognises that consumer protection goes beyond local authority boundaries, and therefore provides £15m per year for coordinated Trading Standards activity in the UK.

The table below shows the level of funding Higher Education Institutions in (a) the UK and (b) the North West, received from EU government bodies for research grants and contracts, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund between 2010/11 and 2014/15.

Source: BEIS analysis of the HESA Finance Record and the HE-BCI Survey

The Department commissioned a report from Atkins into the greenhouse gas implications of underground coal gasification to inform Government policy about its development in the UK; this report was peer reviewed by academics and industry representatives.

The report finds that emissions from underground coal gasification would be too high to be consistent with our commitment to a low-carbon future, and would not accord with our recent ratification of the Paris Agreement. For these reasons, we are not minded to support the development of this technology in the UK.

The Atkins report can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/underground-coal-gasification-evidence-statement-of-global-warming-potential

The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. Ofsted data currently shows that the number of places offered by providers on the Early Years Register has remained broadly stable at 1.3 million places since August 2015. This data can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-providers-and-inspections-as-at-31-march-2022/main-findings-childcare-providers-and-inspections-as-at-31-march-2022.

Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The parliamentary constituency of Wirral West is in the local authority of Wirral. At present, all local authorities, including Wirral, report that they are fulfilling their duty to ensure sufficient childcare.

The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare. We continue to look at ways to make childcare more affordable and to encourage families to use the government-funded support they are entitled to.

The department collects data on the main characteristics of childcare and early years provision in England and fees data can be broken down to local authority level. The latest data shows the average hourly fee band for childcare in Wirral to be £5.00 for two-year-old children and £4.75 for three and four-year-old children.

The Further Education (FE) Capital Transformation Programme is delivering the £1.5 billion manifesto commitment to upgrade FE college estates.

In the first phase of the Programme, we allocated £200 million to all FE colleges and designated institutions in August 2020, to enable colleges to undertake immediate remedial work and upgrade the condition of their estates.

The department announced in April 2021 that we are working with 16 colleges, that are some of the most in need of support to upgrade and revitalise their estates.

In April 2022, the department announced that up to £405 million of funding is being provided to a further 62 colleges who were successful in bidding for funding through the FE Capital Transformation Fund. We will aim to provide an update on plans for delivering the remainder of the £1.5 billion of funding later this year.

The government does not plan to make any legislative changes that will affect the status of designated institutions, including specialist providers, as part of the statutory further education sector.

Designated institutions, as defined by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, remain eligible for grant funding.

During this period of national lockdown, schools should allow only vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers to attend. All other pupils and students should not attend and should learn remotely until February half term.

Every school will have a different number of children of critical workers who need to attend. It is important that on site provision is provided for these pupils, and there is no limit to the numbers of these pupils who may attend. Schools should not limit attendance of these groups.

Limiting attendance does not suggest that schools and colleges have become less safe for young people. Instead, limiting attendance is about supporting the reduction of the overall number of social contacts in our communities. Overall social contact across areas and the country is being reduced, rather than individually by each institution.

The new variant appears to affect all ages, but we have not seen any changes in the severity of the disease among any age groups, including children and young people. Most children and young people have no symptoms or very mild illness only. As cases in the community rise, there will be an increase in the number of children with COVID-19, but only very rarely will they require admission to hospital.

Under the national lockdown, the expectation is that everyone should work from home where possible. School leaders are best placed to determine the workforce that is required in school, taking into account the updated guidance for those staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable. The expectation is that those staff not attending school will work from home where possible.

For vulnerable children and young people, the children of critical workers, and their teachers who should still attend school or college, as they did in March to July, the system of protective measures means that any risks are well managed and controlled.

The Department publishes national level data on pupil attendance weekly: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Data relating to the current school term will be published on 19 January.

During this period of national lockdown, schools should allow only vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers to attend. All other pupils and students should not attend and should learn remotely until February half term.

Every school will have a different number of children of critical workers who need to attend. It is important that on site provision is provided for these pupils, and there is no limit to the numbers of these pupils who may attend. Schools should not limit attendance of these groups.

Limiting attendance does not suggest that schools and colleges have become less safe for young people. Instead, limiting attendance is about supporting the reduction of the overall number of social contacts in our communities. Overall social contact across areas and the country is being reduced, rather than individually by each institution.

The new variant appears to affect all ages, but we have not seen any changes in the severity of the disease among any age groups, including children and young people. Most children and young people have no symptoms or very mild illness only. As cases in the community rise, there will be an increase in the number of children with COVID-19, but only very rarely will they require admission to hospital.

Under the national lockdown, the expectation is that everyone should work from home where possible. School leaders are best placed to determine the workforce that is required in school, taking into account the updated guidance for those staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable. The expectation is that those staff not attending school will work from home where possible.

For vulnerable children and young people, the children of critical workers, and their teachers who should still attend school or college, as they did in March to July, the system of protective measures means that any risks are well managed and controlled.

The Department publishes national level data on pupil attendance weekly: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Data relating to the current school term will be published on 19 January.

During this period of national lockdown, schools should allow only vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers to attend. All other pupils and students should not attend and should learn remotely until February half term.

Every school will have a different number of children of critical workers who need to attend. It is important that on site provision is provided for these pupils, and there is no limit to the numbers of these pupils who may attend. Schools should not limit attendance of these groups.

Limiting attendance does not suggest that schools and colleges have become less safe for young people. Instead, limiting attendance is about supporting the reduction of the overall number of social contacts in our communities. Overall social contact across areas and the country is being reduced, rather than individually by each institution.

The new variant appears to affect all ages, but we have not seen any changes in the severity of the disease among any age groups, including children and young people. Most children and young people have no symptoms or very mild illness only. As cases in the community rise, there will be an increase in the number of children with COVID-19, but only very rarely will they require admission to hospital.

Under the national lockdown, the expectation is that everyone should work from home where possible. School leaders are best placed to determine the workforce that is required in school, taking into account the updated guidance for those staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable. The expectation is that those staff not attending school will work from home where possible.

For vulnerable children and young people, the children of critical workers, and their teachers who should still attend school or college, as they did in March to July, the system of protective measures means that any risks are well managed and controlled.

The Department publishes national level data on pupil attendance weekly: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. Data relating to the current school term will be published on 19 January.

Following my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s announcement of a new national lockdown, the Department published updated guidance on 8 January for children of critical workers and vulnerable children who can access schools or educational settings, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision. The Department also published updated guidance on remote education: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/950510/School_national_restrictions_guidance.pdf.

In the remote education guidance, the Department set out that some children who have difficulty engaging in remote education may be considered to be vulnerable children and, therefore, eligible to attend school. It is up to the child’s school or local authority to make this decision. The decision would be based on the needs of the child and their family, and a range of other factors, as set out in the guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision#vulnerable-children-and-young-people.

The updated remote education guidance also sets outs that, where pupils continue to experience barriers to digital remote education, we expect schools to work to overcome these barriers. This could include distributing school-owned laptops or supplementing digital provision with different forms of remote education such as printed resources or textbooks. This should be supplemented with other forms of communication to keep pupils and students on track, or answer questions about work.

The Department has also published a good practice guide, which provides advice to teachers and school leaders to support effective delivery of the curriculum remotely: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/remote-education-good-practice/remote-education-good-practice. This is part of our broader package of support for schools, which are able to be accessed through the Get Help with Remote Education page: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/good-teaching-practice.html.

The Department has published new data on the delivery of devices as of 12 January 2021. This information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data.

The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people.

This includes over 750,000 laptops and tablets that have been delivered to schools, trusts and local authorities by the end of last week.

The Department has also partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online as well as delivering 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.

The Department is grateful to EE, O2, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, and Vodafone. We continue to invite a range of mobile network providers to support the offer.

Fires in school buildings are very rare and in the vast majority of cases are confined to the room or object of origin or cause no damage, resulting in minimal or no disruption to education.

Department officials met Zurich Municipal on 14 December 2020. We expect that dialogue to continue early this year, and in due course to be able to gain a better understanding of the impact of fire on schools and pupils, based on the data that underpins the Zurich report, Home Office fire and rescue incident statistics, as well as on the data the Department will continue to collect from its Risk Protection Arrangement.

At present, sprinklers must be fitted in new schools where they are deemed necessary to keep pupils and staff safe. All new school building projects must also comply with building regulations, including on fire safety. The Department is due to launch a full public consultation on Building Bulletin 100 in early 2021, which will consider the implementation of various fire safety measures, including sprinkler systems.

Fires in school buildings are very rare and in the vast majority of cases are confined to the room or object of origin or cause no damage, resulting in minimal or no disruption to education.

Department officials met Zurich Municipal on 14 December 2020. We expect that dialogue to continue early this year, and in due course to be able to gain a better understanding of the impact of fire on schools and pupils, based on the data that underpins the Zurich report, Home Office fire and rescue incident statistics, as well as on the data the Department will continue to collect from its Risk Protection Arrangement.

At present, sprinklers must be fitted in new schools where they are deemed necessary to keep pupils and staff safe. All new school building projects must also comply with building regulations, including on fire safety. The Department is due to launch a full public consultation on Building Bulletin 100 in early 2021, which will consider the implementation of various fire safety measures, including sprinkler systems.

We do not have data on the number of apprentices employed by companies in which the director has been ineligible for financial support following the COVID-19 outbreak.

The government has introduced a wide range of support to help businesses of all sizes to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and to allow employers to furlough employees who have been unable to continue working, including apprentices, through the Job Retention Scheme.

Ministers and officials continue to engage regularly with school leaders and their representatives on a wide range of issues around COVID-19, including discussions in relation to costs faced by schools at this time.

Getting all children and young people back into school for the new academic year has been a national priority. To support schools with this, they have continued to receive their core funding allocations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Following last year’s Spending Round, school budgets are rising by £2.6 billion in the 2020-21 financial year, £4.8 billion in 2021-22 and £7.1 billion in 2022-23, compared to 2019-20. As stated in our guidance, schools should use these existing resources when making arrangements for this term. The full guidance on the reopening of schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine(s) the UK should use and provide advice on who should be offered them.

The JCVI’s current advice is that, once available, the vaccine for COVID-19 should be given to care home residents and staff, followed by people over 80, and health and social workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and risk.

The JCVI have not, as of yet, made any further recommendations on what professions should be prioritised in vaccine roll out.

The Department has published specific guidance on the use of face coverings in education which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-in-education.

Under national restrictions from 5 November, face coverings should be worn by all adults and pupils in secondary schools in indoor communal areas and outside of classrooms, where social distancing is difficult to maintain. Primary school head teachers have the discretion to require adults to wear face coverings in indoor situations where social distancing is difficult to maintain. Children in primary schools do not need to wear a face covering. Some individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings.

Face coverings are distinct from surgical face masks which are a type of personal protective equipment (PPE). Further guidance on the use of PPE in education and childcare can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings-including-the-use-of-personal-protective-equipment-ppe.

Testing capacity is the highest it has ever been. The UK’s daily COVID-19 testing capacity passed the 500,000 mark on 31 October and continues to expand. To support schools further, the Department is also supplying COVID-19 test kits directly to schools for both staff and students who develop symptoms of COVID-19 and face significant barriers to accessing a test through existing routes.

Schools are playing a vital role in supporting the test and trace system. Where someone who has attended tests positive, schools are taking swift action to send home close contacts of the positive case, advising them to self-isolate for 14 days since they were last in close contact with that person when they were infectious. There is a dedicated advice line to help schools, colleges or early years settings to implement the most appropriate public health measures once a case is confirmed. If, following triage, further expert advice is required the adviser will escalate the school’s call to the Public Health England local health protection team.

The Government is committed to introducing mass asymptomatic testing using new technologies to minimise the risk of infection spread within communities and pilots are already underway for using them in schools and colleges. Establishing this testing capability will enable students to continue their studies safely and assure staff to be able to continue to deliver education and support.

The Department is working hard to ensure that children and young people can continue to attend school and college safely, as this is the best place for them to be for their education, development and wellbeing. We recognise that for some pupils and students, remote education will need to be an essential component in the delivery of the school curriculum, alongside on-site teaching. We recognise that schools may need to alter the way in which they deploy their staff and use existing staff more flexibly. It is important that planning builds in the need to avoid increases in unnecessary and unmanageable workload burdens. The Department has not published information on the effect on teacher workload in relation to educating pupils both in class and remotely as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Department has published a range of resources to support schools to reduce workload. The workload reduction toolkit, for example, can help schools to identify and address their particular workload challenges: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit.

The Department has also provided a remote education support package to help schools and colleges meet the remote education expectations set out in the schools guidance for full opening published in July, and the further education providers autumn term guidance published in August: 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.

The support package includes access to the right technology to deliver remote education, peer to peer training and guidance on how to use this effectively in the short and long term, and practical tools, good practice guidance and school-led webinars to support effective delivery of the curriculum. All of this support can be accessed via the Remote Education Service on GOV.UK. We will continue to work closely with school leaders, teachers, and their representatives to address workload and provide support for schools.