Question
I very much welcome this change of heart from the Government. There is no place for phones during the school day, and stronger guidance for schools on mobile phone use is a very welcome step, as is the edtech review. Classrooms should be places of focus and learning, free from the addictive and demanding world of social media that, sadly, so often leads to bullying, but schools need the right equipment and procedures in place. We Liberal Democrats are very clear that it should be up to headteachers to decide how they keep phones out of reach of pupils, but I reiterate the Chair of the Education Committee’s comments that this will come at a cost and that school budgets are already stretched to breaking point. Some schools will ask parents to buy the pouches, but parents are already facing the ever-rising costs of sending children to school. Can the Minister assure me that school leaders across the country will have the necessary funding to implement the guidance effectively? For schools that want to ban smartphones completely—some are going down that route already—one barrier is that some bus companies require bus fares to be paid on an app on a smartphone, and they are not willing to change their ways. Is the Minister looking at these sorts of barriers for schools that want to go a step further? I welcome the clear assurance from the Minister that, for pupils with medical or special educational needs and disabilities, appropriate exemptions and adjustments will be made by schools. This must not be onerous or discriminatory towards individual children. Will he confirm that young carers will be included in such exemptions? Finally, with an increasing number of schools giving children digital devices to do schoolwork on throughout the school day, and then homework at home, can the Minister confirm whether the edtech review will also look at the amount of screen time that children in schools are being exposed to?
Answer
I know that the hon. Member has been a keen campaigner on these issues over a number of years. On resources for implementation, as I shared in response to the question from the Chair of the Education Committee, we know that 40% of secondary schools have already implemented, from within their existing budgets, some version of a complete ban during the school day. With the range of options that are available, we are confident that schools will be able to implement this change, but we will engage closely with school leaders over the coming months to ensure that we have a version of this that is effective and can be implemented with the resources that are available. I turn to buses. Payments are an issue in my own constituency, where Stagecoach requires young people to have an app much of the time. It is something we need to look at, and the hon. Lady is absolutely right to highlight it. Setting out the changes now, with the lead-in that we have, means that we can get to work on tackling some of those issues. There are lots of other options for how bus companies can get young people to use their services without insisting on payment through a smartphone. The hon. Lady’s important point on young carers is well made, and I would be very happy to look at that further.
Verdict: AMBER (30/100)
The reply gives a reasoned answer on whether schools can carry out the guidance from existing budgets, and that point is answered fairly directly. On the smartphone-app bus fare barrier and on young carers, it only acknowledges the concern and says it will look at it, with no concrete action or commitment. The question about edtech review and children's screen time in schools is not addressed at all. A member of the public would likely need to ask again for the specifics on the bus fares, young carers and screen time.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will the Government ensure that school leaders across the country have the funding necessary to implement the mobile phone guidance effectively? | Addressed | Direct | The reply takes a clear position that schools can implement the guidance from existing budgets (40% already have bans from within existing budgets, and the range of options makes implementation feasible), and commits to engaging school leaders to ensure it works with available resources. It does not promise new funding, but it gives a stated reason for that position, which answers the question. |
| What is the department doing about barriers, such as bus companies requiring fares to be paid via a smartphone app, faced by schools that want to ban smartphones completely? | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply acknowledges the smartphone-app fare barrier (Stagecoach example) and says it 'is something we need to look at' and that work can start on it, plus asserts that bus companies have other payment options. However, it names no concrete action or mechanism to remove the barrier for schools. |
| Will young carers be included in the exemptions and adjustments made for pupils with medical conditions or special educational needs and disabilities under the smartphone guidance? | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply calls the young carers point 'well made' and says the minister would be 'very happy to look at that further', but it does not say whether young carers will be included in the exemptions and adjustments. |
| Will the edtech review examine the amount of screen time that children are exposed to in schools? | Not Addressed | Generic | Nothing in the reply mentions the edtech review or the amount of screen time children are exposed to in schools; the only related statement is a general comment about the member's campaigning. |