Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many students have dropped out of T Levels since 2020; and what percentage of those enrolling have dropped out.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s recently published 2023/24 T Level Action Plan outlines the developments and next steps for T Levels. It also includes the latest student data for the programme. It shows that 5,321 students began their T Level in 2021/22. In summer 2023, 3,592 of those students were retained (68%), and 3,510 were retained and assessed (66%). Similar statistics for students that began their T Level in 2020/21 are not published. Further data about T Levels, as well as details of the methodology used in the above data can be found in the T Level Action Plan Analytical Annex, which is attached.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the annual spend by the health service on legal representation at inquests in the previous five years for which information is available.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Resolution manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England. The following table shows the amounts paid in accordance with the rules of the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST), to support trusts at inquests and for associated costs to investigate entitlement to compensation, in the last five years:
Payment Raised Year | Amount |
2018/19 | £2,968,153 |
2019/20 | £2,223,095 |
2020/21 | £1,614,820 |
2021/22 | £1,545,135 |
2022/23 | £1,623,211 |
Total | £9,974,414 |
Source: NHS Resolution
The CNST handles all clinical negligence claims against member NHS bodies where the incident in question took place on or after 1 April 1995, or when the body joined the scheme if that is later. NHS Resolution is not involved in any arrangements that an individual trust might make outside of the scheme.
Information on the total spend by NHS trusts regarding coroner’s inquests is not collated or held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what research they have undertaken into (1) reasons for the dropout rate for T Levels, (2) why only 8 per cent of students taking foundation level T Levels progress to full T levels, and (3) whether T Levels or BTECs provide a more appropriate preparation for employment in different skill areas.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As relatively new qualifications, retention rates on T Levels may be expected to fluctuate. The department is keen to understand the reasons behind students dropping out of their T Level programme and have undertaken a range of research. This has included discussing the issue in routine conversations with further education (FE) providers and holding workshops with a variety of providers to explore further the reasons for students dropping out of specific T Levels. The department has also reviewed data from the Individualised Learner Record and school census to identify patterns in students dropping out of T Levels, and examined responses to the Technical Education Learner Survey (2021 and 2022) to understand student motivations for dropping out. Links to these surveys can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-education-learner-survey, and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-education-learner-survey-2022. The department has also spoken to Awarding Organisations to discuss student retention on T Levels.
The T Level Foundation Year is the first step on a 3-year path to achieving a T Level, for those who need it. The programme is supporting good progression to level 3 destinations in its first two years, compared with other level 2 courses. Reasons why more students are not progressing onto T Levels may include not meeting providers’ entry criteria and the early cohorts being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The T Level Foundation Year is still early in its rollout and the department will monitor outcomes as the programme continues to roll out and funding is removed from level 3 qualifications that overlap with T Levels. Research by the National Foundation for Education Research and the Technical Education Learner Surveys provide information on the early cohorts. This research can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-on-early-delivery-of-the-t-level-transition-programme. The department is undertaking further research with providers to identify good practice and success factors in supporting progression to T Levels.
Lord Sainsbury’s report on technical education defined the skills areas suitable for T Levels, drawing on analysis of relevant apprenticeship standards, existing taught qualifications, and labour market information. All T Levels are based on the same employer-led occupational standards as apprenticeships, and these standards were led by, and updated with, employers. That means that employers and young people can be confident in these new qualifications. This is not consistently the case with the large qualifications they are replacing, which often do not support a young person to enter the sector they thought the qualification was preparing them for. For example, in the latest data for health and social care qualifications only 9% of those who complete worked in ‘Health and social care’ the following year. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/detailed-destinations-of-16-to-18-year-olds-in-further-education. T Levels will not be the only technical qualification available in the future landscape. Where there are occupational standards at level 3, but no T Level, the department is allowing technical qualifications to be developed, which will allow students to continue to study areas currently covered by applied general qualifications such as travel consultant, highways electrician, and personal trainer, to list a few. The key distinction here is that they will be based on employer led occupational standards, unlike the current applied general qualifications. The department will also allow for large alternative academic qualifications in areas not well served by A levels or T levels and where an academic pathway is required, such as performing arts and sport.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that applied general qualifications are still available to students in future.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The aim of the department’s Post-16 Qualifications reform at level 3 and below is to streamline the qualifications landscape, simplify choices for students, and only fund qualifications that are high-quality and lead to good progression outcomes. By ensuring that approved qualifications meet new, more rigorous criteria, young people can be confident that they will be able to progress to university and higher technical education, and directly into apprenticeships and skilled employment. It will place world class A levels and T Levels at the heart of level 3 study programmes for 16 to 19 year olds, and link other technical qualifications directly with occupational standards which have been designed by employers. Students studying these qualifications can be confident that they are gaining the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed for future jobs.
In the new post-16 qualification landscape, students will continue to have a range of options available to them at level 3, in addition to A levels and T Levels, there will be new technical occupational qualifications (TOQs) and Alternative Academic Qualifications (AAQs).
Where occupational standards are not covered by a T Level, the department is allowing TOQs to be developed, where students can continue to study areas currently covered by applied general qualifications (AGQs), such as travel consultant, highways electrician, and personal trainer, to list a few. The key distinction here is that they will be based on employer led occupational standards, unlike current AGQs.
On the academic side, current AGQs will be replaced by AAQs. There will be new small AAQs in a range of strategically important subjects such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and those supporting entry into NHS careers. These qualifications are an important part of how the department will support diverse student needs and deliver skills required by the economy. Small AAQs can be studied alongside A levels as part of mixed academic programme. The department will also fund large AAQs in areas that A levels and T Levels cover less well such as performing arts and sport. AAQs must demonstrate a clear link to related higher education (HE) courses and will be assessed by the department against the new funding approval criteria.
The department knows that students who take A levels have better outcomes overall in terms of progressing into, and staying in, HE than those who study AGQs. This is supported by the evidence, which shows that students progressing to HE with alternatives to A levels, such as AGQs, generally experience worse outcomes than their peers taking A levels, even after controlling for differences in background characteristics. Current AGQs also provide very mixed outcomes for students.
The qualification reforms also include reforming level 2 qualifications to ensure they are high-quality, have clear purposes, and lead to better outcomes, either supporting progression to reformed level 3 study, for example via the T Level Foundation Year, or directly into skilled employment in occupations at level 2 or via apprenticeships. This means that studying a reformed level 2 qualification will lead to better long-term outcomes than studying a poor-quality level 3 qualification.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to have any discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about continuing to work with the rare condition community to improve engagement and involvement in decision-making from small organisations.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Department officials regularly meet with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues. Taking into account the advice and experience of people using services, as well as their carers or advocates, alongside that of health and social care professionals, commissioners, providers, and the public, is a central principle that guides the NICE’s work.
The NICE is committed to working with people who use health and social care services, their families, carers, and the public, as well as with voluntary and community sector organisations, and all of the NICE’s guidance is developed using a process that takes into account the opinions and views of the people who will be affected by them, to ensure their needs and priorities are reflected. The NICE gathers these perspectives through the membership of its committees, and through public consultations at various stages of guidance development. Stakeholders also have an opportunity to comment on the potential impact of the NICE’s guidance on health inequalities.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework has been fully implemented throughout the NHS to support learning and compassionate responses to families following any incidents.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Compliance with the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) is now a contractual requirement for all services commissioned under the NHS Standard Contract. Implementing the PSIRF is an ongoing process and organisations’ approach to patient safety incident response can and should evolve over time. Work is also underway to explore implementation of the PSIRF in wider services within the National Health Service, such as primary care.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of high rates of childhood obesity on future diabetes rates; and what assessment they have made of the impact that this will have on the NHS's future spend on diabetes.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has data from national diabetes audits showing the increasing numbers of young people being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes over the past five years. NHS England knows that 93.5% of children with Type 2 diabetes that are under the care of paediatric diabetes units are overweight or obese, with a body mass index above the 85th centile after correction for age and gender.
Core20PLUS5 – Children and Young People includes diabetes as a key clinical area and has two key areas of clinical focus, namely to increase access to real time continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pumps for children and young people in the most deprived quintiles and from ethnic minority backgrounds, and increase the proportion of children and young people with Type 2 diabetes receiving all the care processes recommended in guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Key diabetes health metrics, such as blood glucose levels, are poorest in young adults aged between 19 and 25 years old. To address this age-related health inequality, 15 ‘Transition and Young Adult’ pilots were established by the NHS Diabetes Programme in 2022-2025 to test models of care for young adults with diabetes and those transitioning from paediatric to adult diabetes services. The pilots will be evaluated to inform the evidence base on how to best deliver care and improve outcomes for this group.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether NHS England, integrated care boards, and NHS Trusts have ensured that all maternity and neonatal staff have had the training, supervision, and support as required.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Regulated healthcare professionals need to meet the education and training standards set by their profession’s regulator. It is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure that their staff are trained and competent to carry out the role for which they are employed, and for making decisions about the ongoing professional training and development requirements of their staff. This includes responsibility for investing in the future of their staff, through providing continuing professional development funding.
Mandatory training for maternity staff is outlined in Core competency framework Version 2: Minimum standards and stretch targets, which provides both the minimum standards and stretch targets. Compliance with the core competency framework is overseen by integrated care boards and is incentivised through the Maternity Incentive Scheme which is administered by NHS Resolution. A copy of the framework is attached.
Support for staff working in maternity and neonatal services is provided by Professional Midwifery Advocates and Professional Nurse Advocates. This is a non-statutory model of clinical supervision. There are 1400 Professional Midwifery Advocates and approximately 300 Professional Nurse Advocates working in trusts in England.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent children from developing diabetes at an early age.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is delivering an ambitious programme of work to help children and families maintain a healthier weight, which can prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes.
The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) is contributing to reductions in levels of childhood obesity by encouraging soft drinks producers to remove added sugar from products. Levels of sugar in SDIL products have reduced by 46%, removing over 46,000 tonnes of sugar.
The Department supports three million children through the Healthy Food Schemes, which encourage and contribute to a healthy and balanced diet.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish a health prevention strategy.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Major Conditions Strategy outlines our approach in tackling six groups of major health conditions, by creating a health and care system that is faster, simpler, and fairer, focusing on prevention, proactive care and more person centred care. Since announcing the Major Conditions Strategy in January 2023, we have been working with a range of stakeholders in the health and care system, including those with lived experience, to identify what would make the most difference in tackling the six major conditions groups that account for around 60% of ill-health and early death in England.
We aim to publish the final strategy in summer of this year.