Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether provision of technology to schools for remote learning during the covid-19 outbreak is subject to open competition.
Answered by Nick Gibb
For the initial programme tender, the Department concluded that a direct award offered the best chance of securing devices quickly in a global market of high demand and limited supply. A contract was awarded to Computacenter (UK) Limited through an existing Crown Commercial Service framework for technology products and associated services under PPN 01/20. The Department also sought assurance about the ability of Computacenter to deliver against the contract from Information and Communications Technology industry representatives.
All subsequent procurements for devices and 4G routers were awarded following competitive tendering on Crown Commercial Service Frameworks. 38 approved Crown Commercial Service suppliers were given the opportunity to bid for the laptop and tablet contracts. Providing options in device brand and model also contributed to achieving value for money driving optimum competition within the market.
We believe that this approach struck the best balance between achieving value for money while ensuring that devices were available for children to use as quickly as possible.
All Department contracts awarded to suppliers of £10,000 or more are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his department has made of the number of electronic devices that have been allocated to disadvantaged pupils during national covid-19 restrictions since March 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care. We are making available 1.3 million laptops and tablets to schools, colleges, academy trusts and local authorities, supporting disadvantaged children and young people who would not otherwise have access to a digital device.
As of Monday 15 March, over 1.2 million laptops and tablets have been delivered. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/laptops-and-tablets-progress-data-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The Department has been publishing this data every week during term time. The next publication will be due on Tuesday 23 March.
Once received, the laptops and tablets are owned by schools, academy trusts, local authorities or further education colleges who can lend these to children and young people who need them the most. These laptops and tablets are intended to give schools the flexibility to provide remote education support and can continue to be used in the longer term either in the classroom or from home.
The Department does not collect any data on how devices are used once they are received by the school.
We know that a range of other local and community initiatives have also provided technology for remote education, and that some schools have also invested in technology at this time. We do not hold comprehensive data on device provision outside of the Get Help with Technology Programme during this period.
Over 5,000 schools are now accessing a digital platform for remote education via the department’s grant funded Digital Platforms Programme
The Department plans to examine the broader impact of these interventions over the coming year.
From the 8 March, attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. Schools affected by the remote education temporary continuity direction are still required to provide remote education for pupils where their attendance would be contrary to government guidance or legislation around COVID-19. This includes, for example, where such guidance means that a class, group, or small number of pupils need to self-isolate, or that clinically extremely vulnerable children need to shield.
Where it is needed, schools are expected to offer pupils 3-5 hours of remote education. This includes either recorded or live direct teaching alongside time for pupils to work independently to complete assignments that have been set.
We have recently updated our guidance and resources for schools around safeguarding and delivery of remote education, which can be accessed here: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/safeguarding.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing disadvantaged pupils with (a) devices and (b) other technology after covid-19 restrictions have ended.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care. We are making available 1.3 million laptops and tablets to schools, colleges, academy trusts and local authorities, supporting disadvantaged children and young people who would not otherwise have access to a digital device.
As of Monday 15 March, over 1.2 million laptops and tablets have been delivered. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/laptops-and-tablets-progress-data-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The Department has been publishing this data every week during term time. The next publication will be due on Tuesday 23 March.
Once received, the laptops and tablets are owned by schools, academy trusts, local authorities or further education colleges who can lend these to children and young people who need them the most. These laptops and tablets are intended to give schools the flexibility to provide remote education support and can continue to be used in the longer term either in the classroom or from home.
The Department does not collect any data on how devices are used once they are received by the school.
We know that a range of other local and community initiatives have also provided technology for remote education, and that some schools have also invested in technology at this time. We do not hold comprehensive data on device provision outside of the Get Help with Technology Programme during this period.
Over 5,000 schools are now accessing a digital platform for remote education via the department’s grant funded Digital Platforms Programme
The Department plans to examine the broader impact of these interventions over the coming year.
From the 8 March, attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. Schools affected by the remote education temporary continuity direction are still required to provide remote education for pupils where their attendance would be contrary to government guidance or legislation around COVID-19. This includes, for example, where such guidance means that a class, group, or small number of pupils need to self-isolate, or that clinically extremely vulnerable children need to shield.
Where it is needed, schools are expected to offer pupils 3-5 hours of remote education. This includes either recorded or live direct teaching alongside time for pupils to work independently to complete assignments that have been set.
We have recently updated our guidance and resources for schools around safeguarding and delivery of remote education, which can be accessed here: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/safeguarding.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to issue new guidance on the use of technology in schools for self-isolating (a) pupils and (b) staff as covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care. We are making available 1.3 million laptops and tablets to schools, colleges, academy trusts and local authorities, supporting disadvantaged children and young people who would not otherwise have access to a digital device.
As of Monday 15 March, over 1.2 million laptops and tablets have been delivered. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/laptops-and-tablets-progress-data-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The Department has been publishing this data every week during term time. The next publication will be due on Tuesday 23 March.
Once received, the laptops and tablets are owned by schools, academy trusts, local authorities or further education colleges who can lend these to children and young people who need them the most. These laptops and tablets are intended to give schools the flexibility to provide remote education support and can continue to be used in the longer term either in the classroom or from home.
The Department does not collect any data on how devices are used once they are received by the school.
We know that a range of other local and community initiatives have also provided technology for remote education, and that some schools have also invested in technology at this time. We do not hold comprehensive data on device provision outside of the Get Help with Technology Programme during this period.
Over 5,000 schools are now accessing a digital platform for remote education via the department’s grant funded Digital Platforms Programme
The Department plans to examine the broader impact of these interventions over the coming year.
From the 8 March, attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. Schools affected by the remote education temporary continuity direction are still required to provide remote education for pupils where their attendance would be contrary to government guidance or legislation around COVID-19. This includes, for example, where such guidance means that a class, group, or small number of pupils need to self-isolate, or that clinically extremely vulnerable children need to shield.
Where it is needed, schools are expected to offer pupils 3-5 hours of remote education. This includes either recorded or live direct teaching alongside time for pupils to work independently to complete assignments that have been set.
We have recently updated our guidance and resources for schools around safeguarding and delivery of remote education, which can be accessed here: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/safeguarding.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) laptops and tablets and (b) 4G wireless routers have been delivered to (i) schools, (ii) local authorities and (iii) academy trusts as of 9 March 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As of Monday 8 March, over 1.2 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities, and further education colleges. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/laptops-and-tablets-progress-data-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The Department publishes this data every week during term time, the next publication will be Tuesday 16 March.
The Department has partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help over 30,000 disadvantaged children get online. We are not able to provide a breakdown of the numbers of requests received for each provider as this information is commercially sensitive for providers.
We are grateful to EE, Lycamobile, O2, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile, Vodafone, iD Mobile and giffgaff for supporting the mobile data offer. The Department is currently engaged with additional mobile network operators and continues to invite a range of mobile network providers to support the offer.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) laptop devices and (b) internet dongles were distributed to schools prior to 8 March 2021 as part of the Government's policies to support remote learning during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As of Monday 8 March 2021, over 1.2 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities and further education colleges. More information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data.
The Department publishes this data every week during term time.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) laptops and tablets and (b) 4G wireless routers have been delivered to (i) schools, (ii) local authorities and (iii) academy trusts as of 22 February 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As of Monday 15 February 2021, over one million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education providers. More information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data/2021-week-7.
We publish this data every week during term time and the next publication will be Tuesday 2 March 2021.
We have partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online. We will provide official statistics on the number of requests received for uplifts in mobile data in early March 2021. We will not be able to provide a breakdown of the numbers of requests received for each provider as this information is commercially sensitive for providers.
We are grateful to EE, Lycamobile, O2, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile, Vodafone, iD Mobile and giffgaff for supporting the mobile data offer. We are currently engaged with additional mobile network operators to provide further support through this offer.
Additionally, we are grateful to BT and EE, who have made access to BBC Bitesize resources free from the end of January 2021.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the cost to schools of repairs for faulty devices provided via the Get help with technology programme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people.
As of Monday 15 February, over one million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities (LA) and further education colleges.
The Department has signed contracts with Computacenter and XMA to supply a variety of device types according to the needs of schools and end-users. Unit costs of specific devices distributed by the programme are not published as these are commercially sensitive.
Every laptop and tablet that the Department provides meets a set of minimum specifications designed to enable children to learn remotely. Devices were issued with a 1-year warranty from the manufacturer. All devices are still within warranty until at least June 2021.
The laptops and tablets are the property of the school, LA or academy trust, and they should assume responsibility for their ongoing maintenance and support as part of this. If a device develops a fault that is not caused by a user, a free replacement can be requested via our enhanced support service. Schools, academy trusts and LAs can raise requests for replacement devices on the Computacenter Support Portal. This service is designed to minimise the time the user is without a working device. Since June 2020, the Department has completed 2425 replacements.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average cost is of a (a) Windows laptop, (b) Windows tablet and (c) Chromebook provided to schools via the Get help with technology programme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people.
As of Monday 15 February, over one million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities (LA) and further education colleges.
The Department has signed contracts with Computacenter and XMA to supply a variety of device types according to the needs of schools and end-users. Unit costs of specific devices distributed by the programme are not published as these are commercially sensitive.
Every laptop and tablet that the Department provides meets a set of minimum specifications designed to enable children to learn remotely. Devices were issued with a 1-year warranty from the manufacturer. All devices are still within warranty until at least June 2021.
The laptops and tablets are the property of the school, LA or academy trust, and they should assume responsibility for their ongoing maintenance and support as part of this. If a device develops a fault that is not caused by a user, a free replacement can be requested via our enhanced support service. Schools, academy trusts and LAs can raise requests for replacement devices on the Computacenter Support Portal. This service is designed to minimise the time the user is without a working device. Since June 2020, the Department has completed 2425 replacements.
Asked by: Sam Tarry (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many devices sent to schools under the Get help with technology during coronavirus programme were out of warranty.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people.
As of Monday 15 February, over one million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities (LA) and further education colleges.
The Department has signed contracts with Computacenter and XMA to supply a variety of device types according to the needs of schools and end-users. Unit costs of specific devices distributed by the programme are not published as these are commercially sensitive.
Every laptop and tablet that the Department provides meets a set of minimum specifications designed to enable children to learn remotely. Devices were issued with a 1-year warranty from the manufacturer. All devices are still within warranty until at least June 2021.
The laptops and tablets are the property of the school, LA or academy trust, and they should assume responsibility for their ongoing maintenance and support as part of this. If a device develops a fault that is not caused by a user, a free replacement can be requested via our enhanced support service. Schools, academy trusts and LAs can raise requests for replacement devices on the Computacenter Support Portal. This service is designed to minimise the time the user is without a working device. Since June 2020, the Department has completed 2425 replacements.