COVID-19: Education
Public Accounts Committee
Closed
Inquiry
Towards the end of March 2020, as part of the measures taken to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, schools closed to all pupils except vulnerable children and children of key workers. Some year groups returned to school in June, but most children did not return until September 2020. Therefore, for several …
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12
Recommendations
22
Conclusions
1
Report
1
Oral session
2
Letters
1
Event
Activity timeline 5 events
14 Sep
2021
2021
2 Sep
2021
2021
26 May
2021
2021
Report published
25 Mar
2021
2021
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
25 Mar 2021
View on parliament.uk
COVID-19: Education
Andrew McCully · Department for Education
Mike Pettifer · Department for Education
Susan Acland-Hood · The Department for Education
Reports 1 report · click to expand
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Third Report - COVID-19: Support for children’s education | HC 240 | 26 May 2021 | 34 | Responded |
Recommendations & Conclusions
7 results
8
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Third Report - COVID-19: Support f…
The Department recognised that continued school attendance was an important way of safeguarding and supporting...
The Department recognised that continued school attendance was an important way of safeguarding and supporting vulnerable children while schools were closed to most pupils. However, the proportion of children defined as in need under the Children Act 1989, or with …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the concern about low attendance of vulnerable children and describes ongoing work with local authorities on data collection for social care referrals, and highlights the £24 million Children’s Social Care recovery fund and interventions in inadequate local authorities.
HM Treasury
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11
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Third Report - COVID-19: Support f…
The number of referrals to children’s social care services, during the weeks surveyed between 27...
The number of referrals to children’s social care services, during the weeks surveyed between 27 April and 16 August 2020, was around 15% lower than the average for the same period over the previous three years.17 In its written evidence, …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the concern about reduced social care referrals and lack of national accountability, describing ongoing efforts with local authorities to collect and interpret referral data, support safeguarding, and provide £24 million through the Children’s Social Care recovery fund.
HM Treasury
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14
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Third Report - COVID-19: Support f…
On 1 May 2020, the Department temporarily changed aspects of the law on EHC needs...
On 1 May 2020, the Department temporarily changed aspects of the law on EHC needs assessments and plans, to give local authorities, health commissioning bodies, education providers and other bodies more flexibility in the context of the pandemic. These changes …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's concerns regarding the impact of temporary EHC law changes, stating it is working with health departments to assess the pandemic's impact on therapy access and highlighting existing investments in mental health support and services for individuals with learning disabilities and autistic people.
HM Treasury
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15
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Third Report - COVID-19: Support f…
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who had an EHC plan were eligible...
Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who had an EHC plan were eligible to continue attending school throughout the pandemic, provided a risk assessment had determined that they would be at least as safe in school as at …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's concerns about the adequacy and implementation of risk assessments for SEND children, stating it is assessing the pandemic's impact on therapy access and highlighting existing investments in mental health and support for learning disabilities and autistic people.
HM Treasury
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17
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Third Report - COVID-19: Support f…
Written evidence we received made it clear that some children with SEND struggled to learn...
Written evidence we received made it clear that some children with SEND struggled to learn remotely. SENSE told us that home learning resources were not always appropriate or tailored to the needs of children with complex disabilities, and that many …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's concerns regarding the difficulties SEND children faced with remote learning and lack of appropriate resources, stating it is assessing the pandemic's impact on therapy access and highlighting existing investments in mental health support and services for individuals with learning disabilities and autistic people.
HM Treasury
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27
Conclusion
Third Report - COVID-19: Support f…
We challenged the Department on why it had not set basic expectations for schools’ provision...
We challenged the Department on why it had not set basic expectations for schools’ provision during the 2019/20 summer term. It highlighted that the circumstances had been unprecedented, and that schools had been asked to work in entirely new ways, …
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HM Treasury
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30
Recommendation
Acknowledged
Third Report - COVID-19: Support f…
We asked the Department how it would know that the catch-up programme was working.
We asked the Department how it would know that the catch-up programme was working. It said that evaluation would be a central part of the development of the NTP, and that success would be achieved if the schemes reached large …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation but describes its ongoing monitoring, target setting for providers, and evaluations without specifically committing to provide the requested precise indicators to the committee.
HM Treasury
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Correspondence 2 letters
14 Sep 2021
Correspondence from Susan Acland-Hood, Permanent Secretary, Department for Education, re 3rd PAC Report of Session 2020-21 – COVID 19: Support for children’s education, dated 1 August 2021
Parliament page
22 Mar 2021
Correspondence from Paul Whiteman, General Secretary, National Association of Head Teachers, re concerns about educational disadvantage, dated 17 March 2021
Parliament page