Asked by Baroness Twycross To ask His Majesty's Government what
assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
the attainment of children in schools, and what measures they are
taking to address any adverse impacts. The Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education (Baroness
Barran) (Con) My Lords, the challenges of the pandemic were
unprecedented and almost £5 billion was made available specifically
for education...Request free trial
Asked by
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of
the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the attainment of children
in schools, and what measures they are taking to address any
adverse impacts.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, the challenges of the pandemic were unprecedented and
almost £5 billion was made available specifically for education
recovery. The latest results from 2023 show positive signs. For
example, reading attainment at key stage 2 is back to
pre-pandemic levels but there is more to do. We know that regular
school attendance is vital for children's attainment and mental
well-being, which is why attendance is my right honourable friend
the Secretary of State for Education's No. 1 priority.
(Lab)
My Lords, studies have consistently shown that Covid-related
disruption in schools negatively impacted the attainment of all
pupils, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. In
August last year, Teach First's polling showed that young people
from the poorest backgrounds are twice as likely to feel
pessimistic about their future career opportunities compared to
the most affluent 16 to 18 year-olds. What more will the
Government do to ensure that they get the support and the
confidence they need for future success?
(Con)
The noble Baroness is right that our focus needs to be on those
disadvantaged children. That has been reflected in our strategy
focusing on 55 education investment areas, where we are working
with local schools and other stakeholders in particular to make
sure that we address exactly the sorts of gaps the noble Baroness
identifies.
(LD)
My Lords, the Minister is absolutely right that there is much
more to do—you have only to look at the problems facing schools,
particularly in socially deprived communities. It is not just
about academic achievement but pupils being able to socially
interact and regulate their emotions. Research consistently shows
that parental engagement is crucial to the academic and emotional
development of young people. Do the Government have any plans to
start programmes that would involve parents in this way?
(Con)
I agree entirely with the noble Lord about the importance of
social interaction and parental engagement. When I talk to
schools about this, they frequently cite examples showing how
important it is that they know their local community and have
that relationship with parents. Of course we support schools to
do that, and some of our communication campaigns on attendance
have been directed very much at parents, but we support schools
to make those judgments in their communities. However, I
absolutely agree about the importance of that.
(Con)
My Lords—
(Con)
My Lords—
Noble Lords
!
The Deputy Speaker () (Con)
My Lords, I think the House is calling for my noble friend Lady
Berridge.
(Con)
My Lords, thousands of young people will be taking their GCSE
examinations this year who were also in year 7 when the pandemic
began. Unfortunately, they have been doubly affected by being
educated in schools which have been disrupted by the RAAC
situation. Can my noble friend the Minister please outline what
advice, assistance and best practice is being shared with those
schools, so that they can make effective representations to the
exam boards—which do listen to those representations—about the
disruption that may have affected their education for a second
time?
(Con)
We in the department have worked very closely with each of those
individual schools. Of course, the disruption may have affected
coursework rather more significantly than specific exams. We have
therefore worked with every school that has wished to have our
support, providing them with the funding to support their
children in order to be able to catch up on any learning that was
lost for those pupils in exam years, but also liaising with and
supporting them in their engagement with the exam boards.
(Lab)
My Lords, will the Minister take the time to congratulate a class
of children from Sulivan Primary School, in Fulham, who were the
first to design a garden for the Chelsea flower show? It has been
extraordinarily well received. It is called “No Adults
Allowed”—although they did allow the King to go in. Does the
Minister agree that gardening is brilliant for young people and
there should be more of it in the curriculum—which could help
with the post-Covid situation—and that it provides opportunities
for careers beyond school?
(Con)
I am delighted to join the noble Baroness in congratulating
Sulivan Primary School on its garden at Chelsea. I take this
opportunity to shamelessly plug the National Education Nature
Park, which is available to every early-years setting and every
school and college in the country. It looks at opportunities for
children to get outside, including gardening, and develop skills;
and at opportunities to collaborate with other schools.
The Lord
My Lords, head teachers in my diocese in Nottinghamshire are
reporting that the adverse impacts of the pandemic include a
dramatic increase in attendance concerns, parental anxiety and
pupils' mental health difficulties. At the same time, they are
reporting severe pressures on schools funding, leading to staff
reductions, which cannot be in the best interests of children,
especially where SEN provision is reduced. What assessment have
His Majesty's Government made of the impact of the Covid-19
pandemic on the educational needs of SEN children, and what more
can be done to mitigate this?
(Con)
Children with special educational needs and disabilities were of
course greatly impacted during the pandemic. The Government have
been working with a wide range of organisations in that area,
including the National Network of Parent Carer Forums. Crucially,
those organisations have been extremely supportive and helpful
with our attendance work. The Government have committed
considerable funding to increasing specialist capacity of places
for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
(Con)
My Lords, the House will recall that during the pandemic, the
opposition parties wanted longer and fiercer restrictions than we
got. Indeed, I have to tell the right reverend Prelate that the
Church of England did not exactly cover itself in glory.
Noble Lords
Oh!
(Con)
It is true. Does my noble friend agree that the questionable
benefits of those lockdowns were extremely dubious, given the
appalling damage that was done to people's education, and to the
economy and other things?
(Con)
I am not entirely sure that revisiting whether we should have
locked down gets us much further forward. The Government are
genuinely, tirelessly focusing on everything we can do to support
schools in order to ensure that children are back in school,
attending every day and thriving.
of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, the Minister may recall that three years ago, a very
distinguished educationalist who was appointed by the Government
to make some recommendations on how to deal with education
post-pandemic, Sir , advised that £15 billion was
required to set right the damage that had been done—whatever view
we take about whether that damage was inevitable. Does the
Minister think that the amount of resource that has been put in
since that time, bearing in mind that he resigned when the
Government reduced that figure to £1.4 billion, has been
adequate?
(Con)
The money the Government have put in has been focused
particularly on the most disadvantaged children and on leaving a
legacy in our schools. The proof of the pudding is that
attainment at key stages 1, 2 and 4 are all on the increase.
Infected Blood Inquiry: Compensation Scheme
Question
3.29pm
Asked by
To ask His Majesty's Government when the compensation scheme
recommended by the Infected Blood Inquiry will be
established.
(Con)
My Lords, the Government's priority is to deliver compensation as
swiftly as possible and with the minimum possible delay, as
advised by Sir Brian Langstaff and the inquiry. The infected
blood compensation authority is up and running in shadow form
already and will be formally established in law as soon as the
Victims and Prisoners Bill receives Royal Assent.
(Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. As a former
Minister for Public Health, I offer my apologies to the victims
of this health tragedy—I am very sorry indeed. Can the Minister
clarify the Statement he made yesterday and explain what steps
the Government are taking to ensure that people who have not
received the first interim payment do so as soon as possible?
(Con)
My Lords, I recognise the noble Baroness's long-standing interest
in this very vexed area during her time as a Minister in the
Treasury and the Department of Health. On that particular
category of claimant, there is a GOV.UK page where those who have
not already received payments in an interim form can register
their interest. We have also said that we will pay interim
payments of £100,000 to the estates of deceased infected people
who were registered with existing or former support schemes, and
that would apply where previous interim payments have not already
been made.
(LD)
My Lords, yesterday in the Commons, , the Minister, said that there
are
“a couple of categories in which there is a potential
risk[”—[Official Report, Commons, 21/5/24; col.
759.]](/search/column?VolumeNumber=&ColumnNumber=759&House=1&ExternalId=FC21E7CA-A297-4094-ABB2-053DB7D1A206)
of claimants being worse off. Some of the widows have been in
touch because they are concerned that the Government's proposals
will repeat the problems relating to top-up payments from the
Macfarlane Trust. Sir Brian's recommendation 13(b) to keep
regular payments and merge them fully into the new scheme,
supported by Sir Robert Francis, already seems to be different
from what the IBCA helpline is telling these widows. Will the
Minister agree to meet and to make sure that this does not
happen?
(Con)
Yes, most certainly. That should not happen. We are determined
that no eligible claimant should lose out as a result of the
transition from the support payments to compensation payments; I
am concerned to hear that different messages are being propounded
on that. I announced yesterday the plans for the support scheme
payments, but those who are legitimately in receipt of support
payments have an expectation of receiving a certain sum of money
over their lifetime and that expectation will be honoured.
(Con)
My Lords, something really rather terrible has been going on,
because it is not just the infected blood scandal that we are
suffering from. We have the Post Office scandal that has gone on
for 25 years and counting, and the Hillsborough Stadium disaster
lingered on for 35 years. We have the Rotherham grooming scandal,
which is another three decades; the Stephen Lawrence inquiry,
with the family requiring two decades to get justice; and the
Mull of Kintyre helicopter crash—another two decades. Something
has gone very badly wrong with our system of justice; these
scandals have become endemic in our system of government. I ask
my noble friend to reflect on that and to perhaps propose what we
are planning to do to stop our fabled system of justice becoming
junk.
(Con)
My Lords, I have no doubt that the same thought has occurred to
many of your Lordships. The systemic moral failings exposed by
Sir Brian Langstaff in relation to infected blood raise profound
questions about the defensive culture of government and the
public services at every level. The findings of this recent
report undoubtedly have a resonance with a number of findings in
other reports on high-profile calamities, and this issue merits
deep reflection and honest thinking across government and the
public sector.
(Lab)
My Lords, as a former Secretary of State for Health, I associate
myself completely with the expressions of regret and apology
issued by the Prime Minister, the leader of the Opposition and,
indeed, my noble friend Lady Primarolo today. As far as
compensation is concerned, as Secretary of State I managed to
give some financial assistance to those suffering from hep C, but
only by reversing a very long-standing policy against huge
resistance. It has been noted that civil servants are sometimes
unwilling to change. What has not been noted is that one
institution in government has the right to prevent such things
being done but does not carry responsibility if there is a
mistake: the Treasury. I warn the Minister now, if he is here
after 5 pm today, that the Treasury will always try to find a
way, because it does not recognise moral compulsion—but that
should be as important to us as legal liability.
(Con)
My Lords, I am sure that the noble Lord's words will resonate
with anyone in this Chamber who has had the privilege of
ministerial responsibility. Having said that, I do not think we
should necessarily point the finger solely at the Treasury when
it comes to the responsibility that lies at every level of
government in this terrible disaster.
(LD)
My Lords, I declare my interest. As this House may know, my
nephew, Nick, was a haemophiliac infected with hepatitis C and
exposed to CJD and died aged 35, leaving a 10 month-old baby
daughter, Niamh. Compensation should be first on the list to
alleviate immediate suffering, but can the Minister tell your
Lordships' House whether the Government will seek prosecutions
for those who Sir Brian's report indicates are culpable in this
most terrible of tragedies?
(Con)
My Lords, I do not think it is for me as a Minister to opine on
potential criminal liability. All I can say at this early stage
is that the Government will make all relevant information
available to those conducting any future criminal
investigation.
(Lab)
My Lords, I echo my noble friend's comments about the awful
circumstances and the apology. Yesterday, after the repeat of the
Statement, I reassured the Minister that what was required to
implement all the recommendations of the report was cross-party
working, and that we will continue to do that whatever the
circumstances. He gave a commitment about the other 11
recommendations of the report; the Commons were due to debate it
on returning from the Recess. I hope that we can keep that firmly
on the agenda so that we properly address all the issues that the
report raises.
(Con)
I am very grateful to the noble Lord. I am personally keen that
we should have that opportunity. I am aware that discussions are
ongoing with the usual channels to enable us to have a debate not
too far from when we come back from the Recess. Clearly, it is
important that these findings be given the most thorough
consideration by government. They are very grave indeed. As I
said yesterday, the wrongs that have been done are devastating
and, in many cases, life altering. A comprehensive response will
be given in due course, but that should not prevent us debating
the report in the meanwhile.
(Con)
My noble friend the Minister has said there is more information
available on the website for victims and their families. Has his
department considered how those who are digitally excluded and
not very digitally proficient or able to access digital services
can get more information?
(Con)
Yes, indeed. I know that Sir Robert Francis, the interim chair of
the shadow compensation authority, has this very much at the top
of his agenda in his engagement with the infected blood
community.
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