Peter Aldous asks the Government to support colleges such as East Coast College as they face the challenge of supporting 16 to 19-year-old students whose courses have been badly disrupted and also for a funding review to help specific cash-flow difficulties.
Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)
While last Friday’s announcement was welcome, please could the Secretary of State outline how this coming autumn he will support colleges such as East Coast College in Lowestoft as they face the major challenge of supporting those 16 to 19-year-old students whose courses have been badly disrupted? Will he also review the method of funding with regard to capping and lagging payments, which present specific cash-flow difficulties that colleges will have difficulty in overcoming at this time? [903570]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Gillian Keegan)
It is our ambition that East Coast College students and all college students will have the opportunity to make up for lost education. Remote learning has been working really well, but we will provide more details soon on how 16-to-19 providers can further support students. Funding allocations for 2020-21 have been guaranteed, and payments will be made in line with the national profile.