Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the requirement for all non-medical help providers to offer face-to-face support on (a) providers who are unable to offer face-to-face support, (b) sole traders who can only provide face-to-face support in one location and (c) users who require out of hours and weekend support.
Students in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance can choose to have their non-medical help sessions either face-to-face or remotely (for example by video call). We therefore expect all non-medical help suppliers to be able to provide either face-to-face or remote non-medical help sessions, or a mixture of the two, as the student chooses. The department confirmed this to the sector in July 2021 and more information is available here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1887/ssin-0721-new-arrangements-for-remote-support-202122.pdf.
In the context of the COVID-19 outbreak and providers who are unable to offer face-to-face support, the department considered the impact of this policy on non-medical help suppliers who were particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Following this, we announced in December 2021 that there would be an exemption to this policy for non-medical help sole traders who have received specific clinical advice from a medical professional not to engage in face-to-face work for reasons relating to COVID-19. Further details of this exemption and how to apply for it can be found here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1913/update-on-arrangements-for-remote-support_ssin_december-2021_final.pdf.
With regard to sole traders who can only provide face-to-face support in one location, sole traders are able to specify in which regions they can offer non-medical help support in their listing on the department’s register of suppliers here: https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/exchange-blog/2020/september/10092020-guidance-for-nmh-suppliers/. We require non-medical help suppliers, including sole traders, to be able to provide both face-to-face and remote support in the regions for which they are listed. Apart from that it is a matter for the supplier to decide in which regions they wish to operate.
Regarding users who require out of hours and weekend support, students have a choice between face-to-face and remote support. If students require out of hours and weekend support, and would prefer this to be remote, then they can request remote support from their non-medical help supplier.