Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to tackle rising levels of anti-Semitic abuse on university campuses.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government is clear that antisemitism is abhorrent, and we expect higher education (HE) providers to be at the forefront of tackling the challenge of it.
The department has pushed for several years for greater action from HE providers in addressing antisemitism. This has included encouraging institutions to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, in order to have clarity of what constitutes antisemitic behavior. This in turn enables providers to better understand and recognise incidences of antisemitism and take action to address them.
As part of this work, the former Secretary of State for Education wrote out to all HE providers urging adoption of the IHRA definition, stating that we would consider further action if institutions did not adopt. A follow-up letter was sent in May 2021, reinforcing the government's expectation that providers adopt the IHRA definition, stressing the even greater importance of doing so in light of an increased number of antisemitic incidents recorded as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.
In response to this, on 10 November 2021, the Office for Students published a list of providers who have adopted the definition. I am pleased to report good progress in the last year, an increase from around 30 to over 200 providers having adopted. This includes the vast majority of universities. I will continue to urge all providers to adopt.
Adoption of the IHRA definition is only a first step towards ridding HE of antisemitism. I want to be very clear that, while the government considers that adoption of the definition is crucial, it is not enough on its own. I will continue to work with the sector to ensure it better understands antisemitism and does more to end it. I intend to bring together key stakeholders from the sector to examine what more can be done to make Jewish students and staff feel safe on campus.
I will continue to work tirelessly to ensure it is eradicated from our world-leading providers.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help local authorities (a) identify, (b) assess and (c) support young carers.
Answered by Will Quince
The Children and Families Act 2014, amended the Children Act 1989 to place a duty on local authorities to assess the needs of young carers. The duties have remained in place throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Local authorities must ensure young carers are identified and referred to appropriate support if needed, and that the young carers are not taking on excessive or inappropriate care and support responsibilities. This provision works alongside those for assessing adults in the Care Act 2014, to enable whole family approaches to assessment and support.
On 7 September 2021, we announced investment of an additional £5.4 billion over three years in social care, which includes a commitment to take steps so that unpaid carers have support, advice and respite fulfilling the goals of the Care Act 2014. We will work with the sector, including unpaid carers to develop more detail on our plans and publish further detail in a White Paper for reform later this year. We have also provided councils with access to over £1 billion of additional funding for social care in the 2021/22 financial year. This will support councils to maintain care services while keeping up with rising demand and recovering from the impact of COVID-19.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in Stockton South constituency will be supported by the new National School Breakfast Programme tender during the academic year 2021-2022.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government is committed to continuing support for school breakfast clubs and we are investing up to £24 million to continue our national programme for the next two years. This funding will support around 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn.
The focus of the programme is to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country, including the Department for Education’s Opportunity Areas. Schools’ eligibility for the programme is based on the Income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI) – a nationally recognised indicator of need – to ensure provision is directed where it is most needed. Schools will be eligible for the programme if they have 50% or more pupils within bands A-F of the IDACI scale.
The enrolment process for schools joining the programme is currently ongoing, and we have seen a strong interest so far from eligible schools since we invited the expressions of interest. Schools are currently still able to apply to join the programme. As we are still registering schools for the programme, it is too early to publish a list of participating schools. However, we will consider the best opportunities to share information on the programme as it progresses.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to monitor and publish data on the average (a) food orders by schools supported through the National School Breakfast Programme and (b) proportion of students on roll that take up the offer of breakfast provision in the 2021-22 academic year.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government is committed to continuing support for school breakfast clubs and we are investing up to £24 million to continue our national programme for the next two years. This funding will support around 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn.
The focus of the programme is to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country, including the Department for Education’s Opportunity Areas. Throughout the contract we will be working with our provider, Family Action, to monitor different aspects of the programme including the ordering patterns from schools, participation rates among children, and the benefits the programme is having on pupils who are attending. We will consider the best opportunities to share information on the programme as it progresses.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help schools improve (a) canteens, (b) playgrounds and (c) other facilities.
Answered by Gavin Williamson
The Department allocates condition funding each year to schools and those responsible for school buildings to maintain and improve the condition of their estates, including canteens, playgrounds and other facilities. We have allocated £11.3 billion in condition funding since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed in this financial year. As part of that, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has been allocated over £1.3 million this financial year to invest in improving the condition of its schools. Allocations are informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate.
My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced a new, ten-year School Rebuilding Programme in June 2020, which will replace poor condition school buildings with modern, energy efficient designs. We have announced the first 50 schools to benefit, as part of a commitment to 500 rebuilding projects over the next decade. We expect to confirm a further 50 projects this year and plan to consult on the approach to prioritising future projects later in 2021.
In addition, the existing Priority Schools Building Programme has been rebuilding or refurbishing buildings in poor condition at over 500 schools across England.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure the financial stability of early years providers during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government understands the importance of childcare, which is why we are planning to spend over £3.6 billion on our free early education entitlements in 2020-21.
The COVID-19 outbreak is a testing and disruptive time for all parts of society and the economy, including for the early years sector. We recognise the risk to providers’ financial viability that is caused by changing levels of parental demand.
We are providing extra stability and reassurance to nurseries and childminders that are open by ‘block-buying’ childcare places for the rest of this year at the level that we would have funded before the COVID-19 outbreak, regardless of how many children are attending.
On top of that, nurseries, childminders and pre-schools can claim for various other forms of business support, including for the Coronavirus Job Retention and Self Employment Income Support Schemes.
To provide additional support to firms to keep employees as demand returns, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the Job Retention Bonus. This is a one-off payment of £1,000 to employers for each employee who was ever furloughed, has been continuously employed until 31 January 2021 and is still employed by the same employer as of 31 January 2021.
Around £60 million per year of supplementary funding is also being provided to local authorities to enable them to protect maintained nursery schools’ funding. We announced on 24 August that we will continue to provide this for the whole of the 2020-21 academic year.
We will continue to work closely with both local authorities and the early years sector organisations to monitor the impact of the outbreak on the sector.
Future funding for the sector will be considered in the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that university students receive value for money from student fees during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government recognises the challenges facing students and supports them in their desire to continue receiving the best possible learning experience from our higher education providers. This is a difficult and uncertain time for students, but we are working with the sector to make sure all reasonable efforts are being made to enable students to continue their studies.
The Office for Students (OfS), the regulator in England, has committed to protecting students throughout the present crisis and has produced guidance on practical ways in which students can complete their studies whilst ensuring quality and standards are upheld. This guidance is clear that standards must be maintained - further details are available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/guidance-for-providers-about-quality-and-standards-during-coronavirus-pandemic/. The government is also working closely with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education to ensure students continue to leave university with qualifications that have real value, reflect their hard work and allow people to progress.
We have seen some fantastic and innovative examples of high-quality online learning being delivered by higher education providers across the country and the sector is working hard to provide learning materials for the summer and autumn terms. Our priority now is to maintain the integrity of higher education qualifications and the achievement of students’ learning aims. The government expects universities to continue delivering a high quality academic experience and help students to achieve qualifications that they and employers will value.
Universities are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees. In deciding to keep charging full fees, universities will of course want to ensure that they can continue to deliver courses which are fit for purpose and which help students progress their qualifications. If providers are unable to facilitate good online tuition, then they should seek to avoid charging students for any additional terms they may need to undergo as a consequence – avoiding effectively charging them twice. Whether or not an individual student is entitled to a refund of fees will depend on the specific contractual arrangements between the provider and student.
If students have concerns, there is a process in place. They should first raise their concerns with their university. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at providers based in England or Wales can contact the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education to ask them to consider their complaint.