Written Statements

Thursday 25th July 2024 Written Statements

Thursday 25 July 2024

Technical Qualifications Reform

Thursday 25th July 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)]

I am today announcing a short review of post-16 qualification reforms at level 3 and below, alongside the re-contracting of T-level qualifications to ensure these high-quality qualifications continue to be available to learners.

This Government believe all young people and adults should have access to high-quality training that meets their needs and provides them with opportunities to thrive. We know that the current post-16 skills system in England is confusing for young people, adults and employers. The qualifications system remains complex, and there are many overlapping qualifications, including those that overlap with T-levels. Too many young people leave education without the qualifications they need to get into high-quality apprenticeships, higher level education and good jobs. This is not good for our young people or our nation’s prosperity.

Our qualifications must deliver on our two central missions for this Government of enhancing and spreading opportunity for everyone and growing our economy. Young people and adults should have a choice of a simpler suite of high-quality qualifications that provide them with the skills they need, and which deliver on our missions.

We will undertake a focused review of the post-16 qualification reforms at level 3 and below to assess how best to improve the quality of the overall qualifications landscape, support the growth of T-levels, and ensure that all young people and adults have high-quality options that meet their needs. This review will begin immediately and will examine the current planned reforms and look at how we can ensure leading technical qualifications like T-levels are open to as many people as possible, while ensuring high-quality alternatives.

T-levels are high-quality qualifications which provide young people with a firm foundation for their future. This coming year will see further developments, including rolling out new T-levels in animal care and management, media, broadcast and production, and craft and design in September 2024, and marketing in September 2025, to ensure that young people continue to benefit from these respected qualifications which include direct experience of the workplace. To ensure T-levels continue to be available in the years ahead, we will proceed with re-contracting T-levels where contracts are due to expire.

To allow space for a short review of the current planned reforms, we will place a pause on the planned removal, on 31 July 2024, of 16 to 19 funding from qualifications in construction and the built environment, digital, education and early years, and health and science. This will mean that, subject to any commercial decisions made by awarding organisations on these qualifications, they can be funded for 16 to 19-year-old new students in the 2024-25 academic year.

We understand that the sector needs certainty so that it can plan its future delivery. We will conclude and communicate the outcomes of this review into qualification reforms at level 3 and below before the turn of the year. Defunding decisions will be taken after the short review, and the curriculum and assessment review will reflect these decisions. The expert-led curriculum and assessment review will be chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, announced on 19 July 2024. This review will consider the existing national curriculum and statutory assessment system, and pathways for learners in 16 to 19 education and recommend changes where necessary.

We will also publish, as soon as possible, a list of reformed level 2 qualifications in construction and the built environment, education and early years, engineering and manufacturing, and health and science that will be funded from August 2025. These qualifications, alongside those already announced at level 3, will provide the next step to ensuring we deliver the skilled training needed to support key areas of our economy.

[HCWS22]

Great British Energy

Thursday 25th July 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)]

Our country faces huge challenges. More than two years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, families and businesses continue to pay the price for Britain’s energy insecurity. Bills remain hundreds of pounds higher than before the energy crisis began and are expected to rise again soon. At the same time, we are confronted by the climate crisis all around us, not a future threat but a present reality, and there is an unmet demand for good jobs and economic opportunities all across Britain.

In 2024, the answers to all these challenges point in the same direction: investing in clean energy at speed and scale. That is why making Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 is one of the Prime Minister’s five missions, with the biggest investment in home-grown clean energy in British history.

I am pleased to say that we are already delivering on one of the Government’s first steps for change by setting up Great British Energy, a publicly owned company headquartered in Scotland, to invest in clean, home-grown energy.

Today, we are reaching a major milestone to help establish Great British Energy by introducing the Great British Energy Bill to Parliament. I am also announcing Great British Energy’s first major partnership, with the Crown Estate, as well as publishing our founding statement to outline Great British Energy’s mission and functions.

Great British Energy’s first major partnership will bring together two national institutions for the benefit of the British people. The Crown Estate brings a £16 billion portfolio of land and sea bed that returns its profits to the Government, long-established expertise to enable swift action, and new borrowing powers as announced in the King’s Speech. Great British Energy will bring the strategic industrial policy that the state can provide, as well as its own ability to invest.

The Crown Estate estimates this partnership will deliver up to 20 to 30 GW of new offshore wind developments reaching sea bed lease stage by 2030. It will help boost Britain’s energy independence, and cut the time it takes to get offshore wind projects operating and delivering power to homes by up to half.

The UK Government are in discussions with the Scottish Government and Crown Estate Scotland on how Great British Energy could help to support new development and investment in Scotland.

Today’s publication, which I will place in the Library of the House later, sets out what Great British Energy is, why it is needed, what its structure will be, what role it will play and what the next steps are. Great British Energy will have five key functions:

Project development—leading projects through development stages to speed up their delivery, while capturing more value for the British public.

Project investment—investing in energy projects alongside the private sector, helping get them off the ground.

Local power plan—supporting local energy generation projects through working with local authorities, combined authorities and communities.

Supply chains—building supply chains across the UK, boosting energy independence and creating jobs.

Great British Nuclear—exploring how Great British Energy and Great British Nuclear will work together, including considering how Great British Nuclear functions will fit with Great British Energy.

I will ensure that we establish Great British Energy at pace, so that it can make an early impact, while also setting it up for long term success. I will continue to take the important steps to put Great British Energy on a delivery footing, including announcing the location in Scotland of its headquarters and undertaking a programme of stakeholder engagement to further develop our policy approach. I look forward to keeping the House updated throughout this process.

[HCWS20]

HMP Dartmoor: Temporary Closure

Thursday 25th July 2024 Written Statements

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Shabana Mahmood)]

I would like to announce the decision to close HMP Dartmoor temporarily, as His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service manage the levels of radon at HMP Dartmoor to ensure the safety of staff and prisoners.

Our prisons are in crisis. This is the most recent illustration of why this Government were forced to take urgent action to release pressure on the estate. We are committed to locking up the most dangerous offenders and protecting the public. Public safety will always be this Government’s priority.

Radon is a colourless, odourless radioactive gas formed by the radioactive decay of the small amounts of uranium that occur naturally in all rocks and soils, and is naturally more prevalent in the south-west of England. Studies have shown that increased exposure to radon increases the risk of lung cancer. His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has been working with specialist radon experts over the past six months to manage the levels of radon at the prison.

Following the latest readings of radon found in non-accommodation areas of the prison on 12 July, the operational decision was taken by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to move all prisoners out of HMP Dartmoor, over a two-week period, and to close the prison temporarily while further mitigation and investigation takes place.

This was an operational decision as it had become unviable to continue with the mitigations to reduce radon while also running an effective prison regime. The Government will continue to work with staff at HMP Dartmoor and trade unions to manage the impact on staff, and prisoners are being transferred to other prisons of an appropriate security level.

The Government have already taken decisive action to address prison capacity pressures. While the loss of capacity at HMP Dartmoor will put additional strain on the system, the Government are confident the system can be sustained until the implementation of SDS40 in September, the measure I announced on 12 July which will change the automatic release point for those serving standard determinate sentences from 50% to 40%.

We will publish a 10-year capacity strategy later this year. We will build prison places, acquire land for new prison sites and classify prisons as being of national importance, placing decision making on planning for new prisons in Ministers’ hands. The Government are committed to longer-term reform of the system and reducing reoffending —making sure that punishment is effective and prisons make better citizens, not better criminals.

[HCWS21]