Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, if any, with parties involved in the sale of the City & Guilds of London Institute prior to the sale of its charitable assets in October 2025.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
City & Guilds of London Institute is an independent organisation. The government has no role in its governance or commercial decisions, including the sale of its charitable assets in October 2025.
The department did not hold discussions with parties involved in that sale prior to it taking place.
Following the sale of City and Guilds Ltd, the organisation has confirmed they will continue to deliver qualifications within the further education sector and work constructively with providers as usual.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of commissioning an inquiry by Ofqual into the sale of the City & Guilds of London Institute, given the implications for the qualifications system.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
City and Guilds of London Institute is an independent organisation. The government has no role in its governance or commercial decisions, including the sale of its charitable assets in October 2025.
Following the sale of City and Guilds Ltd, the organisation has confirmed they will continue to deliver qualifications within the further education sector and work constructively with providers as usual.
Ofqual remain actively engaged with City and Guilds Ltd.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, regarding the Charity Commission’s statutory inquiry into the sale of the City & Guilds of London Institute, whether they will examine the conduct of the Executive and Trustee Board throughout the sale.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Charity Commission for England and Wales announced, on 9th January, that it had opened a statutory inquiry into City and Guilds of London Institute. The independent regulator is examining information about the charity’s sale of its City and Guilds awards operation to a private company in October 2025. The inquiry is looking at information provided by the charity to the Charity Commission regarding the sale, and the trustees’ decision making regarding the sale.
Anyone with relevant information about matters under investigation is encouraged to share it with the Charity Commission, and the Charity Commission has said that it may extend the scope of the inquiry if additional regulatory issues emerge. It is the Charity Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing the issues examined, action taken, and the inquiry’s outcomes.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposed international student levy on universities’ capacity to support artificial intelligence research, skills development and commercialisation, and the Government's ambitions for AI-driven economic growth.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government will set out further details on the international student levy at the Autumn Budget. This will include setting out the amount of the levy and the way in which proceeds will be reinvested into our higher education (HE) and skills system through targeted means-tested maintenance grants for students studying courses that support our missions and Industrial Strategy.
The department has engaged with many HE providers and representative bodies regarding the levy since the publication of the Immigration White Paper, and we will set out our plans for further engagement on the levy in due course.
We will also publish an impact analysis of the levy in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the alignment between the proposed international student levy and their wider objectives for economic growth, innovation and skills.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government will set out further details on the international student levy at the Autumn Budget. This will include setting out the amount of the levy and the way in which proceeds will be reinvested into our higher education (HE) and skills system through targeted means-tested maintenance grants for students studying courses that support our missions and Industrial Strategy.
The department has engaged with many HE providers and representative bodies regarding the levy since the publication of the Immigration White Paper, and we will set out our plans for further engagement on the levy in due course.
We will also publish an impact analysis of the levy in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the methodology, data sources and modelling assumptions used in any Treasury impact assessment on the proposed international student levy.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government will set out further details on the international student levy at the Autumn Budget. This will include setting out the amount of the levy and the way in which proceeds will be reinvested into our higher education (HE) and skills system through targeted means-tested maintenance grants for students studying courses that support our missions and Industrial Strategy.
The department has engaged with many HE providers and representative bodies regarding the levy since the publication of the Immigration White Paper, and we will set out our plans for further engagement on the levy in due course.
We will also publish an impact analysis of the levy in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to consult the higher education and business sectors on the proposed international student levy.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government will set out further details on the international student levy at the Autumn Budget. This will include setting out the amount of the levy and the way in which proceeds will be reinvested into our higher education (HE) and skills system through targeted means-tested maintenance grants for students studying courses that support our missions and Industrial Strategy.
The department has engaged with many HE providers and representative bodies regarding the levy since the publication of the Immigration White Paper, and we will set out our plans for further engagement on the levy in due course.
We will also publish an impact analysis of the levy in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cash outlay for English domiciled students in the financial years (1) 2022–23 and (2) 2023–24 for fee and maintenance loans for (a) full-time and part-time 'foundation degree' students and (b) full-time and part-time ‘other undergraduate’ students.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
For English domiciled students in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years for fee and maintenance loans, the following breakdown of outlay is provided:
For the 2022/23 financial year:
Full-time students studying for foundation degrees:
Part-time students studying for foundation degrees:
Full-time students studying for ‘other undergraduate’ qualifications:
Part-time students studying for ‘other undergraduate’ qualifications:
For the 2023/24 financial year:
Full-time students studying for foundation degrees:
Part-time students studying for foundation degrees:
Full-time students studying for ‘other undergraduate’ qualifications:
Part-time students studying for ‘other undergraduate’ qualifications:
‘Other undergraduate’ includes all undergraduate courses not classified as first degrees and covers a wide range of qualifications from levels 4-6 as defined by the Higher Education Standards Authority (HESA). More information on HESA’s classification standards can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/definitions.
'Other undergraduate' qualifications include all 'foundation degree' qualifications. Funding for courses at levels 3-6 is also available through Advanced Learner Loans.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) consideration they have given, and (2) discussions they have had with key stakeholders, on setting sufficiency benchmarks for youth service provision.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. This is funded from the local government settlement, which has been increased to £64 billion next year, with a further £500 million from central government dedicated to supporting children and adult social care in recognition of the pressures local authorities are facing.
In September 2023, DCMS published updated statutory guidance to support local authorities’ understanding of the existing duty and how to deliver it. Alongside this, DCMS funds a peer review programme for local authorities to learn from each other about the best approaches to youth service provision. We received positive feedback from the areas that have already taken part, and are supporting more areas this year.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how information education, such as youth work, can complement formal education; and what discussions they have had with key stakeholders.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government recognises the vital role that informal education, such as youth work, can play in complementing formal education received by young people.
Recent Government research on this topic includes the ‘Youth provision and life outcomes’ study commissioned by DCMS and published in February, and a process evaluation of the Essential Life Skills programme published by the Department for Education in 2020. The Essential Life Skills Programme (2018-19) saw a £21 million investment to implement enhanced extra-curricular activities in primary and secondary schools across 12 Opportunity Areas. Evaluation of the programme revealed high engagement and attendance, particularly among disadvantaged pupils, with reported benefits in confidence, resilience, relationship-building, and social and emotional intelligence.
DCMS and DfE are building on what we learned from this programme to test a new approach to supporting secondary schools to deliver enrichment programmes through the Enrichment Partnership Pilot. This is funded by HM Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund, and is being delivered by the National Citizen Service Trust and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The pilot is being evaluated by the National Foundation for Educational Research.