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Written Question
Students: Ukraine
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2022 to Question 304 on Refugees: Ukraine, how many people who were granted leave under the (a) Ukraine Sponsorship scheme, (b) Ukraine Family scheme and (c) Ukraine Extension scheme have received (i) a student loan and (ii) home fee status; and what the cost has been to the public purse.

Answered by Robert Halfon

Student Finance England have paid 617 persons granted leave under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme student support for the 2022/23 academic year up to 18 June 2023. It is not possible to separately identify those on the Ukraine Extension Scheme in the data. The net amount paid out as of 18 June 2023 was £9,155,573, accounting for interest and any repayments received.

The granting of home fee status is a matter for universities. It is therefore not possible to provide full information on how many people who have been issued Ukraine scheme leave have received home fee status, although all those who have been granted student finance will be eligible for home fee status. There were no Ukraine Family Scheme applicants identified who have received payments.

The department has not made a separate assessment of the likelihood of people who were granted leave under (a) the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, (b) the Ukraine Family Scheme and (c) the Ukraine Extension Scheme repaying their student loans. Borrowers in receipt of student funding under the Ukraine schemes are subject to the same repayment terms and conditions as all other borrowers.


Written Question
Students: Ukraine
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2022 to Question 304 on Refugees: Ukraine, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of whether people who were granted leave under the (a) Ukraine Sponsorship scheme, (b) Ukraine Family scheme and (c) Ukraine Extension scheme are likely to repay their student loans.

Answered by Robert Halfon

Student Finance England have paid 617 persons granted leave under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme student support for the 2022/23 academic year up to 18 June 2023. It is not possible to separately identify those on the Ukraine Extension Scheme in the data. The net amount paid out as of 18 June 2023 was £9,155,573, accounting for interest and any repayments received.

The granting of home fee status is a matter for universities. It is therefore not possible to provide full information on how many people who have been issued Ukraine scheme leave have received home fee status, although all those who have been granted student finance will be eligible for home fee status. There were no Ukraine Family Scheme applicants identified who have received payments.

The department has not made a separate assessment of the likelihood of people who were granted leave under (a) the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, (b) the Ukraine Family Scheme and (c) the Ukraine Extension Scheme repaying their student loans. Borrowers in receipt of student funding under the Ukraine schemes are subject to the same repayment terms and conditions as all other borrowers.


Written Question
Education
Tuesday 9th May 2023

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to reduce the potential disruption to children’s learning progress caused by possible future disease pandemics.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Most infectious diseases, including COVID-19, can be managed in schools by following the advice set out in the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) ‘Health protection in children and young people settings, including education’ guidance. This guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-protection-in-schools-and-other-childcare-facilities. The Department maintains close links to UKHSA.

The Department has appointed a dedicated Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Russell Viner, who ensures that the Department is fully linked up with the science network across Government.

In addition, schools can consult the Department’s ‘Emergency planning and response for education, childcare, and children’s social care settings’ guidance to ensure their emergency plans cover the possibility of any future significant public health incidents. This guidance is due to be updated in May 2023. The current guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings.

The Department is committed to learning lessons and continuous improvement from COVID-19. Almost £5 billion for education recovery was made available in response to COVID-19. The Department will continue to maintain focus on the implementation and impact of these recovery interventions, evaluating and learning from delivery, alongside the Department’s wider efforts to drive up attainment outcomes, specifically those of disadvantaged pupils.


Written Question
Private Education: Scholarships
Tuesday 22nd December 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure more children from disadvantaged and care backgrounds have access to private school scholarships to support their charitable status.

Answered by Nick Gibb

In May 2018, the Department for Education and the Independent Schools Council (ISC) agreed a joint understanding designed to expand the participation of independent schools in various initiatives across the system. In particular, it encourages independent schools to offer a greater number of full bursary places, targeted at children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We continue to work constructively with the ISC on this.

The Department is working to increase the involvement of independent schools alongside boarding schools to open up more educational opportunities for children in need. We recently appointed the Royal National Children’s Springboard Foundation to deliver a project that will establish hubs in which independent schools, local authorities, social workers and Virtual School Heads, will work in partnership to promote school placements for children in need.

The Department continues to encourage and support new partnerships between independent and state funded schools. This programme aims to harness the resources and expertise found across sectors through the development of partnership activities, many of which are specifically tailored for pupils from vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds. In line with the Department’s joint understanding with the ISC, we want to see more schools forming impactful and mutually beneficial collaborations across the areas of curriculum development, teaching quality, governance and leadership, and other targeted forms of school improvement to maximise the social benefits that can be generated for their communities.


Written Question
Remote Education
Thursday 3rd December 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of mandating online school teaching for one week before Christmas holidays to minimise the need for school students and teaching staff to self-isolate over Christmas.

Answered by Nick Gibb

It continues to be the Department’s aim that all pupils, in all year groups, remain in school full-time. Returning to school full time has been vital for children’s education and for their wellbeing. Time out of school is detrimental for children’s cognitive and academic development, particularly for disadvantaged children. This impact can affect both current levels of education and children’s future ability to learn.

As set out in the Government’s COVID-19 Winter Plan, nurseries, schools and colleges should not change their Christmas holidays or close early this term: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-winter-plan. Parents should continue to send their children to school during term time. The leaders and staff of education settings have been doing an extraordinary job to remain open, keep settings safe, and provide education.

Schools have implemented a range of protective measures to minimise risk of COVID-19 transmission. The risk to children themselves of becoming severely ill from COVID-19 is low and there are negative health impacts of being out of school. Senior clinicians, including the Chief Medical Officers of all four nations, still advise that school is the very best place for children to be.

If parents have concerns about their child attending school because they consider they or members of their household may have particular risk factors, they should discuss these with their school.


Written Question
After School Clubs: Social Distancing
Wednesday 8th July 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of effect on the feasibility of social distancing due to the covid-19 outbreak at after-school clubs operating at schools from September of the (a) number of children attending and (b) the number of children from different school bubbles attending those clubs.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department has published guidance on the full opening of schools from September. It advises that schools should consider resuming any breakfast and after-school provision, where possible, from the start of the autumn term. Such provision will help ensure pupils have opportunities to re-engage with their peers and with the school, ensure vulnerable children have a healthy breakfast and are ready to focus on their lessons, provide enrichment activities, and also support working parents. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

We recognise that this will be logistically challenging for schools. Schools should carefully consider how they can make such provision work alongside the wider protective measures the guidance supports them to put in place, including keeping children within the year groups or smaller bubbles they are in during the school day, where possible. If it is not possible to maintain bubbles being used during the school day then schools should use small, consistent groups in their breakfast and after-school activities.

Schools can consult the guidance produced for summer holiday childcare, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak, as much of this will be useful in planning extra-curricular provision. This includes schools advising parents to limit the number of different wraparound providers they access, as far as possible.


Written Question
After School Clubs: Coronavirus
Wednesday 8th July 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued to schools running after-school clubs on the reopening of schools during the covid-19 outbreak in September.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department has published guidance on the full opening of schools from September. It advises that schools should consider resuming any breakfast and after-school provision, where possible, from the start of the autumn term. Such provision will help ensure pupils have opportunities to re-engage with their peers and with the school, ensure vulnerable children have a healthy breakfast and are ready to focus on their lessons, provide enrichment activities, and also support working parents. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

We recognise that this will be logistically challenging for schools. Schools should carefully consider how they can make such provision work alongside the wider protective measures the guidance supports them to put in place, including keeping children within the year groups or smaller bubbles they are in during the school day, where possible. If it is not possible to maintain bubbles being used during the school day then schools should use small, consistent groups in their breakfast and after-school activities.

Schools can consult the guidance produced for summer holiday childcare, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak, as much of this will be useful in planning extra-curricular provision. This includes schools advising parents to limit the number of different wraparound providers they access, as far as possible.


Written Question
Pupils: Coronavirus
Wednesday 15th April 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he has published for schools on ensuring that disadvantaged pupils receive additional tuition after the school closures resulting from covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Vicky Ford

We recognise that many schools have already shared resources for children who are at home and are grateful for this.

We want to support parents and schools to ensure young people’s education can continue. Support available includes:

We are committed to doing everything we can to reduce the impact of school closures on pupils.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Schools
Tuesday 7th April 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to provide mental health support to (a) students and (b) teachers that are suffering from stress as a result of exams and the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Vicky Ford

On Wednesday 18 March, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education announced that schools, colleges and early years settings will be closed to everyone except children of key workers and vulnerable children, in order to contain the spread of coronavirus.

They also confirmed that assessments and exams will no longer go ahead this academic year. We are working urgently with Ofqual and the awarding organisations to ensure that students still get the qualifications that they have been working towards.

The department is working with NHS England and Public Health England who are providing guidance on seeking mental health support, including guidance for parents and carers of children and young people on addressing mental health and wellbeing concerns during the COVID-19 outbreak. Where in place, Mental Health Support Teams are also actively considering how they continue to deliver a service to support children and young people.

We are continually engaging with education unions to ensure the school workforce get the support they need in these challenging times.


Written Question
Education: Coronavirus
Tuesday 7th April 2020

Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made on the effect of noise distraction at home on the effectiveness of online classes for (a) primary and (b) secondary school students during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department has not conducted any assessment of the effect of noise disruption on the effectiveness of online classes.