Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Minister for Universities plans to respond to the letter from the hon Member for Sheffield Central dated 27 March 2020 on support for students.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The department received the letter from the hon Member for Sheffield Central on 2 April 2020.
The department takes the concerns raised by the hon Member seriously and is in the process of drafting a response which will address the concerns raised. This will be sent out to the hon Member in due course.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect on school pupils’ performance and wellbeing of financial stress in their families.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government recognises that, for many complex reasons, economic disadvantage can have an adverse effect on pupil attainment and wellbeing.
Through the pupil premium, the Department has spent more than £18 billion since 2011, including £2.4 billion in 2019-20, to tackle educational inequality. We established the Education Endowment Fund with £137 million to research and promote the most effective ways of using pupil premium funding so that all schools can make a difference to the futures of their disadvantaged pupils. Since 2011, the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has decreased at both ages 11 and 16.
The Department has taken a range of actions to help schools support the mental wellbeing of their pupils. This includes teaching pupils about mental wellbeing through the introduction of health education and improving collaboration with external agencies to ensure those pupils that need specialist support and treatment get it quickly. New Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) will be established in 20% to 25% of the country by 2023, supporting children and young people with mild to moderate mental health issues, and helping those with more severe needs to access the right specialist services locally. MHSTs should be delivered in a way to take account of disadvantage and seek to reduce health inequalities. We will also fund training for senior mental health leads in every state funded school and college in England, providing the skills and knowledge required to put in place effective whole school and college approaches to promote and support good mental health. We also have several initiatives in place to further support schools to develop and implement whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on demand for UK university places from EU students of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Nick Gibb
EU and non-EU students make an invaluable contribution to the UK’s higher education sector, socially, culturally and financially. This is why the UK Government will continue to welcome international students, working towards the ambition set out in our International Education Strategy, to host 600,000 international students per year by 2030.
The Prime Minister has also been clear that he wants to help the UK attract talent from around the world. On May 28 2019, we announced guarantees on student finance for EU nationals. EU nationals (and their family members) who start a course in England in the 2020/21 academic year or before will continue to be eligible for ‘home fee’ status and undergraduate and postgraduate student financial support from Student Finance England for the duration of their course, provided they meet the residency requirement.
To further ensure the UK higher education sector remains internationally attractive, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced the new Graduate Route in September 2019. This will offer an opportunity for international students who have passed their degree to stay and work in the UK for two years post-study.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the consultation on the recommendations of the Timpson Review will include (a) socio-economic and (b) ethnic trends in school exclusions.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is taking forward an ambitious programme of action which will respect head teachers’ powers to use exclusion, while also equipping schools to support children at risk of exclusion, and ensuring excluded children continue to receive a good education. As part of this, the Department will make schools responsible for pupils who are permanently excluded and will launch a consultation on how to deliver this in practice.
In designing this consultation, the Department is working with leaders from across the education sector and will consider the findings of the Timpson Review on disparities in exclusion rates between different groups of children. In response to the review, the Government called on the Directors of Children’s Services, governing bodies, academy trusts, and local forums of schools to review information on children who leave schools, by exclusion or otherwise, and to establish a shared understanding of how the data on the characteristics of such children feeds local trends.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the allocation of revenues from the Immigration Skills Charge in the last 12 months.
Answered by Anne Milton
In 2017-18, income from the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) contributed £75 million to the department’s skills budget.
While the income raised is not additional funding for skills, the ISC is helping to maintain the department’s existing skills budget and existing level of investment in skills in England. As such, it is not possible to provide a breakdown of how the department’s ISC allocation is spent.
The ISC ensures that we can continue to invest in developing the skills that the country needs and also addresses skills gaps in the workforce. Similarly, it helps to maintain funding levels for each of the devolved administrations.
My letter of 17 January 2019 to the chairs of the Education and Home Affairs committees about the ISC, has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and is available to view at the following link: www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/.
An internal review of the ISC, based on Home Office data, was undertaken in the second quarter of 2018. We continue to keep this policy under review.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Immigration Skills Charge in increasing skills provision in England.
Answered by Anne Milton
In 2017-18, income from the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) contributed £75 million to the department’s skills budget.
While the income raised is not additional funding for skills, the ISC is helping to maintain the department’s existing skills budget and existing level of investment in skills in England. As such, it is not possible to provide a breakdown of how the department’s ISC allocation is spent.
The ISC ensures that we can continue to invest in developing the skills that the country needs and also addresses skills gaps in the workforce. Similarly, it helps to maintain funding levels for each of the devolved administrations.
My letter of 17 January 2019 to the chairs of the Education and Home Affairs committees about the ISC, has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and is available to view at the following link: www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/.
An internal review of the ISC, based on Home Office data, was undertaken in the second quarter of 2018. We continue to keep this policy under review.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Annex to the post-18 education and funding review entitled, Estimating the lifetime contributions of example borrowers, what estimate he has made of (a) the increased contributions of middle earners and (b) the decreased contributions of higher earners under the proposed system.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
This is an independent report to the government. We will consider the report carefully and will conclude the post-18 education and funding review alongside the Spending Review.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on the introduction of sharia-compliant student loans.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The government remains committed to introducing an Alternative Student Finance product. Details on implementation will follow the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding which will conclude this year.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether EU nationals will be eligible for (a) home fee status and (b) financial support when enrolled for UK higher education courses in the academic year 2020-21.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
We recognise how important it is that students and institutions have information on eligibility for student support before applications for courses open.
Applications for courses starting in academic year 2020/21 do not open until September 2019. We will ensure students and institutions have the information they need well in advance of that date.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the Government's timescale is for deciding the (a) fee status and (b) loan eligibility of EU undergraduate students enrolled on UK higher education courses in the academic year 2020-21.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
We recognise how important it is that students and institutions have information on eligibility for student support before applications for courses open.
Applications for courses starting in academic year 2020/21 do not open until September 2019. We will ensure students and institutions have the information they need well in advance of that date.