Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help protect the (a) safety and (b) wellbeing of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are alarmed by the impact of the Gaza conflict on children across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). The UK has consistently pressed Israel to do more to protect civilians in Gaza, not least children, and for all parties to ensure adherence to international humanitarian law. We led calls on Israel to enable the rollout of the polio vaccine across Gaza and we have supported partners to deliver lifesaving aid to children, as well as educational and psychosocial services. This includes an additional £6 million for United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to support vulnerable families in Gaza announced in August 2024, and £41 million funding for United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) this financial year to provide essential services including education across Gaza, the West Bank and Palestinian refugees in the region. £5.8 million of the UK's contribution to the Global Partnership for Education has been earmarked to support essential education service delivery in Gaza and the West Bank. We are also one of the largest donors to the Education Cannot Wait initiative, contributing £1.64 million of its £9.65 million funding to Gaza this financial year.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of students with Turing grants who are eligible for free school meals attend an independent school.
Answered by Janet Daby
The Turing Scheme is the UK Government’s global programme for students to study and work abroad. The Turing Scheme provides additional funding to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them to participate in international placements. All students from disadvantaged backgrounds can get funding for travel-related costs. This includes visa application fees, vaccines, medical certificates, passports, and related travel insurance. Students with special educational needs and disabilities can also get funding for their support needs.
Schools identify students from a disadvantaged background using the following criteria:
Receiving FSM in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England or primary 1 to 5 in Scotland does not automatically meet the criteria for funding for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This list is not exhaustive. If a school identifies pupils who do not precisely meet these criteria but share similar characteristics which justify extra support, they may include them in their application.
As the department does not gather data on which criteria students meet to be considered as being from a disadvantaged background, the department is not able to provide a breakdown of the number of participants in the Turing Scheme who are in receipt of FSM.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of (a) schools and (b) students with Turing grants receive free school meals.
Answered by Janet Daby
The Turing Scheme is the UK Government’s global programme for students to study and work abroad. The Turing Scheme provides additional funding to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them to participate in international placements. All students from disadvantaged backgrounds can get funding for travel-related costs. This includes visa application fees, vaccines, medical certificates, passports, and related travel insurance. Students with special educational needs and disabilities can also get funding for their support needs.
Schools identify students from a disadvantaged background using the following criteria:
Receiving FSM in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England or primary 1 to 5 in Scotland does not automatically meet the criteria for funding for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This list is not exhaustive. If a school identifies pupils who do not precisely meet these criteria but share similar characteristics which justify extra support, they may include them in their application.
As the department does not gather data on which criteria students meet to be considered as being from a disadvantaged background, the department is not able to provide a breakdown of the number of participants in the Turing Scheme who are in receipt of FSM.
Asked by: Josh Simons (Labour - Makerfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help (a) ensure that academic (i) funding and (ii) other resources are not used to support Chinese state surveillance and (b) protect universities from national security risks.
Answered by Janet Daby
The UK welcomes international partnerships and students, including those from China, who make a very positive impact on the UK’s higher education (HE) sector, economy and society as a whole. However, the UK will always protect its national security interests, human rights and values.
There are a set of measures that protect against undue foreign interference in UK universities. These include the Academic Technology Approval Scheme, which vets students and researchers seeking to study in sensitive areas, as well as the provisions of the Education Act 1986, which require HE providers to uphold freedom of speech within the law for staff, students and visiting speakers. In England, all registered providers must uphold applicable public interest governance principles in order to meet the regulatory requirements of the Office for Students, including principles on academic freedom and accountability, such as operating openly and with integrity.
The government also offers practical advice through the National Protective Security Authority, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Research Collaboration and Advice Team (RCAT) to support the HE sector with maximising the opportunities of international collaboration, whilst also managing the risks. The department works alongside these partners and engages directly with the sector to increase their understanding of the risks and their ability to respond to them.
The National Security Act 2023 further strengthened the UK’s legal powers to counter foreign interference, including those actions which amount to transnational repression, and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with additional tools to deter, detect and disrupt modern-day state threats.
This government will take a consistent, long-term and strategic approach to managing the UK’s relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests. We will cooperate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must. The department is contributing towards the government’s audit of the UK’s relationship with China as a bilateral and global actor, to improve the UK’s ability to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities China poses.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of imposing VAT on private school fees on the UK’s global reputation.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
On 30th October, at Budget, the Government confirmed that, as of 1 January 2025, all education, boarding, and vocational training provided for a charge by a private school in the UK will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent.
International schools make an important contribution to the connections between the UK and its international partners, which the Government remains committed to strengthening and deepening further. While they can be subsidised by foreign governments, depending on their funding structure, many international schools still charge fees comparable to that of a lot of British private schools, many of which do not necessarily follow the UK curriculum, nor teach exclusively in English. It would therefore be unfair to carve international schools out of policy changes whilst comparable independent schools remain within scope.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help counter the influence of the Chinese state in British universities.
Answered by Janet Daby
The UK welcomes international partnerships and students, including from China, who make a very positive impact on the UK’s higher education (HE) sector, our economy and society as a whole. However, the government will always protect its national security interests, human rights and values.
There are a set of measures that protect against undue foreign interference in our universities. These range from the Academic Technology Approval Scheme, which vets students and researchers seeking to study in sensitive areas, to the provisions of the Education Act 1986, which require HE providers to uphold freedom of speech within the law for staff, students and visiting speakers. In England, all registered providers must also uphold applicable public interest governance principles to meet the regulatory requirements of the Office for Students, including principles on academic freedom and accountability, such as operating openly and with integrity.
To support the HE sector to maximise the opportunities of international collaboration whilst managing the risks, the government offers practical advice through the National Protective Security Authority, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Research Collaboration and Advice Team. The department works alongside these partners and engages directly with the sector to increase their understanding of the risks and their ability to respond to them.
This government will take a consistent, long term and strategic approach to managing the UK’s relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests. The department will co-operate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must. We are contributing towards the government’s audit of the UK’s relationship with China as a bilateral and global actor, to improve our ability to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities China poses.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to convene with civil society organisations and education ministers from other governments on developing an international strategy for global learning.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Foundational learning for all (numeracy, literacy and socio-emotional learning) is crucial to make progress in school, attain higher order skills, and reap education's full rewards. The UK works with civil society and education ministers from other governments to address the global learning crisis through The Global Coalition for Foundational Learning. The Global Coalition is working together to ensure that we meet undertakings set out in the 2022 Commitment to Action on Foundational Learning. This includes national governments committing to reducing by half, by 2030, the global share of children unable to read and understand a simple text by age ten, and to take urgent and decisive action to do so. 32 countries and 34 organisations, including civil society, have signed the commitment to action to date.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reinstating funding to the Global Education Project.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
Access to education for all is a priority for the FCDO. Education supports a country's economic growth and enables children to live lives where they have a wider range of choices. Since 2015, the UK has ensured 19.8 million children have received a decent education (a quality education that improves what children currently receive, including in emergency contexts). We have prioritised improving learning outcomes through securing foundational learning skills for all. It is not within FCDO's remit to develop a national strategy for global education, although we recognise the benefits that this kind of educational activity can bring.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing a national strategy for global education.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
Access to education for all is a priority for the FCDO. Education supports a country's economic growth and enables children to live lives where they have a wider range of choices. Since 2015, the UK has ensured 19.8 million children have received a decent education (a quality education that improves what children currently receive, including in emergency contexts). We have prioritised improving learning outcomes through securing foundational learning skills for all. It is not within FCDO's remit to develop a national strategy for global education, although we recognise the benefits that this kind of educational activity can bring.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help ensure more of the global population have access to education in their native language.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK prioritises foundational learning (literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional skills) for all children across our education programmes. This recognises that foundational learning is crucial to achieving higher order skills and reaping the full benefits of education. We are focused on delivering evidence-based interventions. A key part of the evidence on what works in literacy is ensuring that children learn in their mother tongue. We therefore advocate for the teaching of basic early education in children's native language. We encourage countries to delay the transition to another language of instruction to later in children's education once they have secured foundational learning.