Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of British Sign Language classes for parents of (a) deaf children and (b) children with hearing loss who are ineligible for grants under the adult education budget; and what alternative steps the Government is taking to help support those parents to learn how to communicate with their children.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The government has not assessed the accessibility of British Sign Language (BSL) classes for those who are ineligible for the adult education budget (AEB). However, the AEB targets a wide range of individuals, including, but not limited to, UK nationals, other non-UK nationals, certain EU nationals and their family members, and individuals with certain types of immigration status (such as refugee status and those with indefinite leave to remain) and some asylum seekers.
Funding is available through the AEB for qualifications in or focussing on BSL up to and including level 2. About 60% of the AEB has been devolved to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas, which includes St Ives Constituency.
ESFA funded AEB qualifications include, for example, the Level 1 Award in BSL which allows learners to communicate in BSL on a range of topics that involve simple, everyday language use, thereby giving them the basic skills and confidence in production and reception of BSL. It will depend on an individual’s circumstances as to whether they are entitled to free provision or expected to meet part of the cost, through co-funding. Where community learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission.
For parents learning BSL on an AEB funded course, there is also additional support available. The AEB provides funding to colleges and providers to help adult learners overcome barriers preventing them from accessing learning. Providers have discretion to help learners meet costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment, and childcare. Learning support funding also helps colleges and training providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Stuart C McDonald (Scottish National Party - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many grants of (a) settled and (b) pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme were made only after the applicant had had to provide further evidence of residence.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
That data can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to extend the availability of share codes to parents with EU settled status whose children have a British Passport.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
All EU, EEA and Swiss citizens granted pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme are now able to prove their rights in the UK digitally, by using the View and Prove service on GOV.UK to generate a share code, instead of using physical documents. Non-EU, EEA or Swiss citizen family members who have a UKVI account can also use the View and Prove service.
British citizens will continue to evidence their rights by providing their passport or other acceptable documents, such as a UK birth or adoption certificate, or a certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the accessibility of British Sign Language classes for parents of (a) deaf children and (b) children with hearing loss who are (i) over the age of 23, (ii) not on a low income, (iii) not unemployed and (iv) ineligible for grants under the adult education budget.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government has not assessed the accessibility of British Sign Language (BSL) classes for those who are ineligible for the Adult Education Budget (AEB).
The AEB targets a wide range of individuals, including, but not limited to, UK nationals, other non-UK nationals, certain EU nationals and their family members, and individuals with certain types of immigration status (such as refugee status and those with indefinite leave to remain) and some asylum seekers. In areas where the AEB is devolved, it is for the Mayoral Combined Authority or Greater London Authority to decide how funding is spent. In the rest of the country, which includes the St Ives Constituency, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) manages the AEB. Learners who are employed and earn above the low wage threshold can be co-funded to complete provision up to and including level 2, which includes some BSL qualifications, meaning that the government pays a 50% contribution to the course cost.
Apart from the statutory entitlements, it is for AEB providers to choose how they wish to prioritise funding within their AEB allocations. For these learners, the department suggests contacting the education provider regarding enrolment and payment processes.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much financial support (a) was available in 2022-23 and (b) will be available in 2023-24 for international students training to teach languages.
Answered by Nick Gibb
To receive an initial teacher training (ITT) bursary or scholarship, trainees must usually be entitled to support under the Student Finance England criteria.
For eligible languages trainees who have started ITT courses in the 2022/23 academic year, we are offering a £15,000 tax free bursary. EU nationals who were resident in the UK before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, and have pre-settled status or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, are eligible for student finance and ITT bursaries or scholarships on a similar basis to domestic students, subject to meeting the usual residence requirements.
Other non-UK nationals are unlikely to be eligible for student finance and ITT bursaries or scholarships unless they have certain types of immigration permission and have been living in the UK for some time.
For the 2023/24 academic year, the Department has extended ITT bursary and scholarship eligibility in languages and physics to all non-UK nationals, regardless of their eligibility for student finance. This means they are eligible for bursaries worth up to £27,000 tax free and scholarships worth up to £29,000 tax-free.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the definition of a child under the EU Settlement Scheme to include US Special Guardianship Orders.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We keep the scope of the Immigration Rules for the EU Settlement Scheme under review, including in light of representations from stakeholders. However, we have received no such representations where US special guardianship orders are concerned and their status in the UK is not a matter for the Immigration Rules.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the impact of the availability of labour on crop production.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to speak regularly with the sector and other government departments to understand labour supply and demand, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to make sure that these requirements are understood across government.
The Government recognises the importance of a reliable source of seasonal labour for crop production, and that it is a key part of bringing in the harvest for the horticultural sector. A key source of seasonal labour is the Seasonal Worker visa route, which allows a pre-defined number of overseas workers to come to the United Kingdom for up to six months to support horticulture growers during peak production periods, whilst maintaining robust immigration control.
To reduce the risk of seasonal labour shortages, on 16 December 2022, the Government announced that an allocation of 45,000 visas will be made available in 2023. This is an uplift of 15,000 visas compared to the allocation at the start of 2022. A further 10,000 visas are potentially available for horticulture should there be demand and contingent on sponsors and growers continuing to improve worker welfare standards.
The Seasonal Worker visa route will continue to operate until at least the end of 2024 and food and farming businesses can continue to draw on EU nationals living in the United Kingdom with settled or pre-settled status to meet their seasonal worker needs.
To inform future decisions on labour across the sector, Defra has launched an independent review into labour shortages in the food supply chain. It will consider how automation, domestic labour and migrant labour can contribute to tackling labour shortages. The final report will be published by summer 2023 and the Government response will follow thereafter.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many EU Settlement Scheme advice services funded by her Department will be continued in London beyond 31 March 2023.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
From the launch of the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) in March 2019 the Home Office has made available £29 million in grant funding to a nationwide network of now 60 civil society organisations. The network has supported more than 480,000 vulnerable individuals to apply to the EUSS.
The Home Office is currently considering options for future support in line with changing demand.
Alongside the grant-funded network, there is support for vulnerable individuals available through the Settlement Resolution Centre which provides telephone and email assistance to applicants, and We Are Digital which provides technical support for applicants in completing the online application process. There are also several hundred organisations registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner which provide immigration advice, including for those applying to the EUSS.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of applications under the EU settlement scheme that were received before 1 January 2021 are still being processed by her Department.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) in the ‘EU Settlement Scheme statistics’.
The latest published information on EUSS applications received and concluded to 31 December 2022 can be found in the quarterly data at: EU Settlement Scheme quarterly statistics, December 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impacts of delayed EU Settlement Scheme Administrative Reviews upon applicants who are awaiting a decision.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The level of EU Settlement Scheme administrative reviews is constantly monitored to manage the potential impacts on applicants awaiting their decision. Resources are being increased in order to address delays and we continue to work through applications in turn and as quickly as possible.
All EU Settlement Scheme administrative review applicants awaiting a decision continue to benefit from the protected rights gained when their initial EUSS application was made, as confirmed by a Certificate of Application.