Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons schools continue to be required to complete the daily Educational Setting Status form; and for what purpose these data collected are used..
Answered by Robin Walker
Information gathered through the educational setting status form is used by the department to monitor attendance in schools, and across government to model the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. This allows the department to provide support in developing policies to help schools manage, and ensure our ability to target educational recovery support.
The department is grateful to schools for providing this information. Following the removal of the advice to teach pupils in bubbles, the department has announced that from the beginning of October 2021 schools will only be asked to complete the educational setting status form once a week. This will be kept under review and, should the national situation require, daily reporting may be reinstated.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the potential long-term financial costs of providing early intervention funding for support for disabled children and their families.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We believe it is right for local authorities, who know their areas’ needs best, to determine what services, including early help, are required locally.
Respite care services for disabled children are provided on the basis of an individual assessment of each child and family’s needs, and it is right that this individual focus continues. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we ensured that respite care services for disabled children and their families were allowed to continue to operate. This applied to services which care for children in and away from home. Where parents have a disabled child under the age of 5, they were also able to establish a support bubble with another household to provide respite care.
To support local areas, the government has given over £6 billion in unringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including children’s services. We will continue to work with other government departments, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to ensure the upcoming Spending Review reflects the needs of children’s services.
In addition to statutory services, we are providing £27.3 million to the Family Fund in financial year 2021-22 to support over 60,000 families on low incomes raising children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses. Grants can be used for a range of purposes, including family breaks.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing a disabled children’s innovation fund to help evaluate and provide early-help services to improve outcomes for disabled children and families in the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We believe it is right for local authorities, who know their areas’ needs best, to determine what services, including early help, are required locally.
Respite care services for disabled children are provided on the basis of an individual assessment of each child and family’s needs, and it is right that this individual focus continues. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we ensured that respite care services for disabled children and their families were allowed to continue to operate. This applied to services which care for children in and away from home. Where parents have a disabled child under the age of 5, they were also able to establish a support bubble with another household to provide respite care.
To support local areas, the government has given over £6 billion in unringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including children’s services. We will continue to work with other government departments, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to ensure the upcoming Spending Review reflects the needs of children’s services.
In addition to statutory services, we are providing £27.3 million to the Family Fund in financial year 2021-22 to support over 60,000 families on low incomes raising children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses. Grants can be used for a range of purposes, including family breaks.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the finding of the Disabled Children’s Partnerships Left Behind report that six in 10 parents remain socially isolated, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing funding for ring-fenced additional respite care for families with disabled children.
Answered by Vicky Ford
I refer the hon. Members for the City of Durham, Bath, and Stockton North to the answer I gave on 2 June 2021 to Question 7328.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his timetable is for publishing his Department's (a) response to the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and (b) updated impact assessments for that review.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The department has consulted in two stages on proposals for the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3. The second stage of consultation ran from 23 October 2020 to 31 January 2021. It set out proposals for ensuring that all qualifications that are approved for funding alongside A levels and T Levels are high quality, necessary, and allow progression to good outcomes. We will publish our response and updated impact assessment shortly.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 April 2021 to Question 179332, whether any of the £700 million catch-up funding will be allocated specifically to tackle social isolation in disabled children as part of wider covid-19 recovery plans.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are disproportionately affected by being out of education, including missing out on important social interaction with their peers. The Department has kept schools open for vulnerable children, including those with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), during periods of national lockdown.
As part of the £1.7 billion funding announced so far for education recovery, the £302 million Recovery Premium will help schools to deliver evidence-based approaches for supporting the most disadvantaged pupils. We have applied additional weighting to special schools, alternative provision and hospital schools to recognise the significantly higher per pupil costs they face. Eligible pupils attending special units within mainstream schools will also attract the higher funding rate.
All schools should use the Recovery Premium funding available to them as a single total from which to prioritise support for particular pupils, including children with SEND or education, health and care plans, according to their need.
In addition, the National Tutoring Programme is a key part of the Government’s COVID-19 catch-up response and provides additional, targeted tuition to disadvantaged children who have been hardest hit from disruption to their education as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. People with SEND aged 19 to 24 who have an EHCP will be eligible for support via the 16 to 19 tuition fund, where they meet the fund criteria. Schools are asked to have regard to the needs of students with SEND when prioritising students that would benefit most for small group tuition.
The Department is also making £200 million available to all secondary schools, including specialist schools, to deliver face to face summer schools, providing opportunities for social interaction. Summer schools funding includes an uplift for pupils in special schools, maintained units in mainstream schools and alternative provision. Guidance for schools includes advice on helping to make a summer school accessible to vulnerable children and those with additional needs.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions officials in his Department have had with officials in the Department for Health and Social Care on the guidance on false positive lateral flow tests that have been administered by students in a controlled environment; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the receipt of those false positive tests on the education of those students.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Department for Education has been working with the Department of Health and Social Care to support higher education (HE) providers to deliver twice-weekly asymptomatic testing of students and staff using lateral flow device (LFD) tests.
LFD tests are a vital tool in helping to identify cases of COVID-19 and to stop the spread of the virus. With up to a third of individuals who have COVID-19 showing no symptoms and potentially spreading it without knowing, rapid LFD tests enable us to find these cases and prevent the spread of infection.
LFD tests used by the UK government have gone through a rigorous evaluation by the country’s leading scientists. Published analysis shows that LFD tests have a very high specificity, possibly as high as 99.97%. This means fewer than one false positive in every 1,000 lateral flow tests carried out.
No test is perfect, and to minimise the chance of false positives, confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing was introduced for positive lateral flow tests when the level of prevalence of the virus is low. Confirmatory PCR tests were re-introduced on 31 March, having been temporarily paused in January, for positive LFD tests conducted at an assisted testing site, such as those at universities. Where a PCR test is taken within 2 days of a positive LFD test result and the result is negative, students and their household can stop self-isolating.
We are working closely with the HE sector in delivering asymptomatic testing, and we understand the impact that self-isolation can have on students. For those students who do need to self-isolate at university, we are asking HE providers to ensure their students are safe and well looked after during their self-isolation period. Universities UK has also produced a checklist for HE providers to support students who are required to self-isolate. They have also produced bespoke guidance for HE providers on how to prepare for and care for students who are required to self-isolate on arrival in the UK, and we encourage HE providers to use this guidance.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Disabled Children’s Partnership's Report entitled The Loneliest Lockdown, what plans his Department has to tackle social isolation among disabled children.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families is a priority for this government, and their educational, physical and mental wellbeing remains central to our cross-government response to the COVID-19 outbreak. That is why education settings have remained open for children and young people with an education, health and care plan throughout periods of national lockdown.
The return to school for all pupils was prioritised due to the significant and proven impact caused by being out of school, including on wellbeing. The support schools provide to their pupils as they return to face-to-face education should include time devoted to supporting wellbeing, which will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing recovery. The expectations for schools in this regard are set out clearly in the main Department for Education guidance to schools, which also signposts further support, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
We have worked with our partners, including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Health Education England, Public Health England and other key voluntary sector organisations to deliver the Wellbeing for Education Return programme, which has provided training and resources to help school staff respond to the wellbeing and mental health needs of pupils. This £8 million government backed programme provided schools and colleges all over England with the knowledge and access to resources they need to support children and young people, teachers and parents.
The return to school on 8 March 2021 has been supported with a new £700 million package, which includes a Recovery Premium for state primary, secondary and special schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged students. This will help schools to provide academic and pastoral support for disadvantaged pupils that has been proven most effective in helping them recover from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
£200 million will be available to all secondary schools, including specialist settings, to deliver face-to-face summer schools. Schools will be able to target provision based on pupils’ needs. The size and shape of the summer schools will be decided by school leaders who know best what the most effective summer school will look like for their pupils, allowing them to tailor support for pupils, including those with SEND.
Additionally, we have expanded the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children since 2018. From 2021, the programme will cover the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays at a cost of up to £220 million. It will be available to children in every local authority in England, building on previous programmes and we are working to ensure that the programme is fully inclusive and accessible for children with SEND.
Sir Kevan Collins has been appointed as the Education Recovery Commissioner and is considering how schools and the system can more effectively target resources and support at pupils in greatest need. Additionally, Dr Alex George was appointed on 4 February as Youth Mental Health Ambassador to advise government and raise the profile of mental health education and wellbeing in schools, colleges and universities. He will use his clinical expertise and personal experience to champion government’s work on children’s and young people’s mental health and shape policy on improving support for young people in schools, colleges and universities.
In the long term, we remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with DHSC and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
The department will continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and its subsequent COVID-19 recovery plans on all pupils, including those with SEND, to ensure it targets support across the system most effectively.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on ensuring that (a) nurseries, (b) pre-schools and (c) other early years settings have access to covid-19 testing for staff.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We are continuing to work closely with other Government Departments and local authorities to secure the most effective approach to asymptomatic testing for the whole of the early year's sector.
This includes ongoing discussions about providing testing via the education testing programme as well as encouraging local authorities to consider prioritising appropriate testing for PVIs and childminders via the Community Testing Programme, which is being rolled out to all local authorities. Many local authorities’ community testing programmes are already underway for early years staff to access asymptomatic testing where appropriate.
We are rolling out our asymptomatic testing programme to primary schools, schools-based nurseries and maintained nursery schools who will receive testing kits for staff from 18 January. The asymptomatic testing programme will offer all primary school, schools-based nursery and maintained nursery school staff home Lateral Flow Device test kits for twice-weekly testing. This will help to break the chains of transmission of COVID-19 in schools and nurseries by identifying asymptomatic positive cases. Those who test positive will then self-isolate, helping to reduce transmission of COVID-19.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential merits of prioritising staff in early years settings for covid-19 vaccinations.
Answered by Nick Gibb
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. JCVI advises that the first priorities for the COVID-19 vaccination should be the prevention of mortality and the maintenance of the health and social care systems, and as the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases with age, prioritisation is primarily based on age. This prioritisation captures almost all preventable deaths from COVID-19. In the next phase of the vaccine rollout, JCVI have asked that the Department for Health and Social Care consider occupational vaccination in collaboration with other Government departments. The Department is working with the Department for Health and Social Care and Public Health England to ensure that the education and childcare workforce is considered for prioritisation in the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine.