Oral Answers to Questions

Vicky Ford Excerpts

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Stuart Anderson (Wolverhampton South West) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support parents with childcare provision.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Vicky Ford)]

We have made an unprecedented investment in childcare of £3.6 billion this year. Childcare settings have been prioritised for reopening, childcare bubbles have reduced pressure on working parents, and from next Easter, disadvantaged children will be able to take part in our holiday activities and food programmes all across the country.[Official Report, 24 November 2020, Vol. 684, c. 5MC.]

[Stuart Anderson]

The Minister will know of my enthusiasm for campaigning for another outstanding secondary school in Wolverhampton. Will she work with me to see that that comes to fruition and that we get another outstanding secondary school in Wolverhampton?

[Vicky Ford]

My hon. Friend shares our passion for making sure that we improve education in Wolverhampton and all across the country. He has been championing that non-stop, lobbying my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. The free schools programme has created thousands of high-quality school places. Three secondary applications have been received from my hon. Friend’s constituency, and we hope to make a decision later this year.

[Mrs Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that children self-isolating during the covid-19 outbreak receive high-quality online education.

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[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Vicky Ford)]

Rolling out the excellent holiday activity and food programme for children across the country will mean that even more children will benefit from free healthy meals and enriching holiday activities. We have already written to all the local authorities with guidance. We will work closely with them, including sharing best practice from our pilot programmes, and we are appointing a national organisation from spring next year to support the local delivery.

[Tom Hunt]

Ipswich was lucky enough to be one of those pilots and, this summer, it actually had the holiday activity and food programme in operation. It was great to go there to meet not only the children who benefited from it, but the different organisations and the young adults from Ipswich who were able to play a part in delivering that service. Can the Minister outline what plans are in place, looking ahead to the Easter and summer holidays, to make sure that this continues to happen and that the community is completely aware of how it can get involved in this fantastic project?

[Vicky Ford]

It was a huge pleasure to visit the Government’s holiday activity and food programme with my hon. Friend in Ipswich this summer. We saw at first hand how local partnerships helped to deliver these excellent schemes, so we want to encourage schools, childcare providers, food suppliers, voluntary organisations, sports experts, and arts experts all to come together in partnership. Interested parties should contact their local authorities and together we will all make sure that next year’s holidays are full of food and fun.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

What recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reforming the funding of healthcare higher education in England.

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[Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (Lab)]

What progress the Government have made on reviewing the extension of free school meals provision to children of families with no recourse to public funds.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Vicky Ford)]

This Government are completely committed to free school meals, and no Government have ever been more generous with entitlements, extending eligibility to all infants and disadvantaged children in further education. But throughout the pandemic we also extended eligibility to groups with no recourse to public funds, and we continue to work across Government on longer-term eligibility for these families. Meanwhile, the extension of eligibility for free school meals remains.

[Neil Coyle [V]]

It is Government policy that has forced overstretched schools, charities and councils like Southwark to pick up the pieces and pay the price of the hostile environment that has left over 100,000 with no recourse to support, according to the Children’s Society. The Minister says that there are cross-Government talks. What representations has she made to the Home Office to end this scandal and save schools from this huge, inappropriate burden when they are already struggling with covid?

[Vicky Ford]

I remind the hon. Member that our new £170 million covid winter grant scheme will directly target the hardest-to-help families and individuals, and also provide food for children in need of it over the holidays. Some families with no recourse to public funds do receive support from the Home Office as is provided for under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and section 17 of the Children Act 1989 requires local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area if they are in need, regardless of their immigration status.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.