Topical Questions

Answer from Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State for Education)

I very much join my hon. Friend and neighbour in thanking all those teachers and support staff who have been doing a brilliant job in Stourbridge in keeping schools open for children of critical workers and for vulnerable children. It is important to emphasise the need to encourage children, especially those in most vulnerable categories, to come into school and continue to have that support and protection that school offers them.

Answer from Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State for Education)

As the hon. Lady would know if she had taken the time to read our guidance, those food parcels did not meet the expectations or the guidance that we set out. They are not acceptable and we have made that clear. We are very keen to ensure that schools have the choice and freedom to choose what is best for children in their school. That is why we have given schools the opportunity to choose food parcels, vouchers that are locally procured or the national voucher scheme. More than 15,000 of those vouchers have already been dispatched today.

Answer from Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State for Education)

Time and again, we have recognised where there are real challenges in dealing with the global pandemic. That is why we have taken the action that we have. That is why we are distributing 1.3 million laptops right across the country. That is why we have put the national voucher scheme in place. That is why we are supporting families who are often the most vulnerable and why we will continue supporting families who are the most vulnerable.

Answer from Vicky Ford (Minister for Children and Families)

We have provided unprecedented support to the early years sector throughout the pandemic, through the block-buying childcare places, furlough and other schemes. We are monitoring the current situation really closely and will continue to review it if further measures are needed. For example, where education and childcare settings have an unmet need for PPE, they can access it via their local authority or local resilience forums.

Answer from Vicky Ford (Minister for Children and Families)

Independent and semi-independent provision can be the right choice for older children who are ready for this where it is high quality and meets their needs. It can enable them to develop their independence as they transition into adult life. However, we are absolutely clear that we need to do more to ensure that the quality of this provision is consistently good, and that this type of provision is simply not appropriate for children under the age of 16 who should be placed in children's homes or foster care.

Answer from Vicky Ford

DFE helplines have been giving support to schools and others on a wide range of matters. By the end of last week, we had received a total of seven calls in relation to unacceptable lunch parcels. Each has been fully investigated.

Answer from Nick Gibb

Ensuring that no child suffers a loss to their education or damage to their long-term prospects is a key priority. £1 billion of catch-up funding has been secured from the Treasury, including £350 million for the national tutoring programme and £650 million distributed to schools.

Answer from Nick Gibb

Formal inspections are suspended until the summer term. Engagements include monitoring visits for schools rated 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement', discussing curriculum quality, and challenges with remote education.

Answer from Gavin Williamson

The Minister for Universities is delighted to meet the hon. Lady and her colleagues on the all-party parliamentary group to see what more can be done to expand these opportunities right across the United Kingdom.

Answer from Gavin Williamson

I echo my hon. Friend's thanks to all teachers in Stockton South for their amazing work last term and now, highlighting the importance of the covid catch-up fund and roll-out of 1.3 million laptops.

Answer from Gavin Williamson

We will always look at how best we can support students. We have announced an additional £20 million of hardship funding for students, to be administered through universities in England.

Answer from Gavin Williamson

There can be no excuses when universities are not offering the type of remote teaching and educational support that is expected. That is why it is so critical that, where that remote teaching and support is not happening, students' rights are upheld. We saw at the tail end of last year that students' rights were upheld and universities had to redress that. That is the right approach. We recognise how important it is to support students, which is why we will continue to look at how best we can support them through programmes such as the hardship fund.

Answer from Vicky Ford

We are in continual contact with Public Health England, through the Department, and we also meet early years representatives. I have been touring special schools virtually throughout. Our early years are vital years of education for the youngest, which they cannot get back, our special schools provide vital support for young people with disabilities, and alternative provision settings are vital for our most vulnerable. All those settings are usually smaller than other settings, which is why they have less of an impact on community transmission —it should be remembered that we closed schools to reduce community transmission—and why PHE continues to advise us that closing them is not needed to bring down the R number.

Answer from Vicky Ford

We have kept our schools open to those with the most severe special needs and disabilities and those with an education, health and care plan. We continue to back up and support local authorities to improve their special educational needs and disabilities provision, to make sure that those young people who need an EHC plan can get one as soon as possible. We are working with councils all across the country.

Answer from Gavin Williamson

This is something everyone in this House feels incredibly passionately about. I know through seeing at first hand, coming from a family with parents who fostered for many years, how important it is to get high-quality children's social care right in this country. I want a real revolution to come out of this report, and I am incredibly pleased that Josh MacAlister has taken on this role to deliver the changes that I think Members on both sides of the House want. I have said quite clearly that I do not want him to hold back in tackling difficult issues. I want to see change, improvement and children's lives transformed. By working on a cross-party basis, I believe that that is what we can deliver.