Lord Aberdare

This information is not held centrally. Individual contracting authorities are responsible for complying with Regulation 113 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 on relevant procurements. Businesses are encouraged to report instances of late or unfair payment in public sector contracts to the Public Procurement Review Service.

The role of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be to ensure the quality of apprenticeship standards.

Apprenticeships will only attract funding from government or the levy if they are against an approved standard or framework. Each standard will contain a plan for how the apprenticeship will be assessed. Although this will be approved by the Institute, the Institute will not assess the apprenticeship training itself: the register of training providers is owned by the Skills Funding Agency and Ofsted will continue to inspect providers.

The Institute will, however, need to ensure there is consistency between the levels of assessment being applied, as part of its role in approving standards and assessment plans.

The role of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be to ensure the quality of apprenticeship standards.

Apprenticeships will only attract funding from government or the levy if they are against an approved standard or framework. Each standard will contain a plan for how the apprenticeship will be assessed. Although this will be approved by the Institute, the Institute will not assess the apprenticeship training itself: the register of training providers is owned by the Skills Funding Agency and Ofsted will continue to inspect providers.

The Institute will, however, need to ensure there is consistency between the levels of assessment being applied, as part of its role in approving standards and assessment plans.

The digital apprenticeship service is being built by the Skills Funding Agency in accordance with Cabinet Office best practice.

To ensure that the service is focused on employer and training provider needs we are performing extensive user research. The service will build on insights gathered from over 2000 employers and around 400 training providers. To make sure that the service is ready for the levy in April 2017, we plan to launch a substantial pilot with employers and providers later this year.

Further details on the apprenticeship levy and the digital apprenticeship service are available in the guide for employers which was published in April: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-levy-how-it-will-work

The levy will apply to employers across the UK. As skills policy is a devolved area the Devolved Administrations will continue to have complete flexibility over how to support businesses in their Territories through training and apprenticeships. We are committed to doing all we can to make the system work for employers wherever they are in the UK and we are working closely with the Devolved Administrations to achieve that.

The levy will apply to employers across the UK. As skills policy is a devolved area the Devolved Administrations will receive their fair share of the income from the levy, and have flexibility over how to use it to support businesses in their territories. We are committed to doing all we can to make the system work for employers wherever they are in the UK and we are working closely with the Devolved Administrations to achieve that

In English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 vision we set out our plans for introducing a simple and transparent funding model alongside the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. We want this to continue to encourage employers to take on 16-18 year old apprenticeships, as well as encourage take up of the higher quality training offered by apprenticeship standards. Further information on new arrangements will be made available by the summer.

Employers with a pay bill of less than £3 million will not have to pay the levy. This is more than 98% of all employers. These employers will continue to have access to government funding to support apprenticeships. We will provide further details on the support available later this year.

We have committed to streamline the process to reduce barriers to new training providers entering the market and joining the Register of Training Organisations, so that there is a broad and flexible range of high quality providers of apprenticeship training.

We will consult with employers to help us determine what this process should look like in the future. We recognise the important contribution of employers that provide apprenticeship training and want to ensure this continues.

We are aware of the concerns which have been raised about the challenge of securing indemnity for live events. Department officials have been working closely with the affected sectors to understand the challenges and to keep the situation under review.

Understandably, the bar for considering government intervention is set extremely high, especially in light of recent announcements including the considerable extension to the furlough scheme and local business support. My officials are continuing to collect evidence of all of the barriers live events are facing to reopening. There are a number of factors which influence the viability of music festivals, and indemnity insurance is only one aspect of this.

We are keeping the situation under review and working closely with Her Majesty’s Treasury on this issue to determine the appropriate and most effective response for the sector within the public health context.

The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) provides a framework under which the UK and the EU may agree Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) on the recognition of professional qualification covering the UK and all 27 EU Member States. Once an arrangement is adopted under the TCA, UK professionals will be able to use the terms outlined in the arrangement to secure recognition for their professional qualifications within EU Member States.

Arrangements are implemented on a profession-by-profession basis and depend upon reciprocal cooperation from both the UK and EU Member States. The framework enables UK and EU professional bodies or authorities to make recommendations on MRAs to the Partnership Council.  Once an arrangement has been adopted, a professional qualified in the UK (e.g. an engineer) will be able to use the terms outlined in the arrangement to secure recognition of their qualifications within an EU Member State.

The Government continues to engage with stakeholders in the tourism sector to hear their priorities for the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Officials are currently engaging with the tourism trade bodies, including the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML) to gather feedback on priority regulators and qualifications for the tourism sector.

The government will provide help and guidance to UK regulatory authorities and professional bodies to help them benefit from these provisions as well as other recognition paths. Where visas apply, our agreement with the EU contains measures that will help ensure processes are as prompt and smooth as possible.

The Withdrawal Agreement protects UK nationals who live or are a frontier worker in an EU Member State at the end of the Transition Period. Those who have had a professional qualification recognised under the EU legislation listed in the Withdrawal Agreement will keep the right to practise the profession in the Member State in which they live or work. This includes many professions in scope of the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive such as engineering and accounting.

As of 1 January 2021, UK-qualified professionals who wish to supply services in the EU should seek recognition for their qualifications using the national rules in EU Member States. Professionals should check the European Commission’s Regulated Professions Database to find out if their profession is regulated in the state in which they are seeking to work. They should then contact the single point of contact for that country to find out how to get their professional qualification recognised. Alternatively, they can seek advice from the UK Centre for Professional Qualifications (UK NARIC) to find out which regulatory or professional body they should contact.

The UK-EU TCA provides a framework under which the UK and the EU may agree Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) on the recognition of professional qualification covering the UK and all 27 EU Member States. Once an arrangement is adopted under the TCA, UK professionals will be able to use the terms outlined in the arrangement to secure recognition for their professional qualifications within EU Member States.

Arrangements are implemented on a profession-by-profession basis and depend upon reciprocal cooperation from both the UK and EU Member States. The framework enables UK and EU professional bodies or authorities to make recommendations on MRAs to the Partnership Council.  Once an arrangement has been adopted, a professional qualified in the UK (e.g. an engineer) will be able to use the terms outlined in the arrangement to secure recognition of their qualifications within an EU Member State.

The Government continues to engage with stakeholders in the tourism sector to hear their priorities for the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Officials are currently engaging with the tourism trade bodies, including the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML) to gather feedback on priority regulators and qualifications for the tourism sector.

The Withdrawal Agreement protects UK nationals who live or are a frontier worker in an EU Member State at the end of the Transition Period. Those who have had a professional qualification recognised under the EU legislation listed in the Withdrawal Agreement will keep the right to practise the profession in the Member State in which they live or work. This includes many professions in scope of the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive such as engineering and accounting.

As of 1 January 2021, UK-qualified professionals who wish to supply services in the EU should seek recognition for their qualifications using the national rules in EU Member States. Professionals should check the European Commission’s Regulated Professions Database to find out if their profession is regulated in the state in which they are seeking to work. They should then contact the single point of contact for that country to find out how to get their professional qualification recognised. Alternatively, they can seek advice from the UK Centre for Professional Qualifications (UK NARIC) to find out which regulatory or professional body they should contact.

The UK-EU TCA provides a framework under which the UK and the EU may agree Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) on the recognition of professional qualification covering the UK and all 27 EU Member States. Once an arrangement is adopted under the TCA, UK professionals will be able to use the terms outlined in the arrangement to secure recognition for their professional qualifications within EU Member States.

Arrangements are implemented on a profession-by-profession basis and depend upon reciprocal cooperation from both the UK and EU Member States. The framework enables UK and EU professional bodies or authorities to make recommendations on MRAs to the Partnership Council.  Once an arrangement has been adopted, a professional qualified in the UK (e.g. an engineer) will be able to use the terms outlined in the arrangement to secure recognition of their qualifications within an EU Member State.

The Government continues to engage with stakeholders in the tourism sector to hear their priorities for the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Officials are currently engaging with the tourism trade bodies, including the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML) to gather feedback on priority regulators and qualifications for the tourism sector.

We recognise that businesses and workers in the creative industries have been severely impacted by Covid-19.

The Government has not made an assessment of the number of workers who have left the music, performing arts and creative sector since March. We have worked closely with music and cultural sector representative bodies to maximise the survival of businesses and employee retention in the sector, through the extensive range of support the Government has provided to businesses and the self-employed.

We are committed to continuing to work with the music and cultural sectors to understand the difficulties they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery.

Since Thursday 5 November, new national restrictions have been in force in England to control the spread of coronavirus and to limit contacts between households.

During this period, performing arts venues such as theatres, concert halls (including grassroots music venues) and entertainment venues can continue to operate under Stages 1 and 2 of the performing arts roadmap. This means performing arts professionals may continue to rehearse and train, and perform for broadcast or recording purposes. Other than for this purpose, these venues must close.

We have always said that further reopening of the performing arts sector would be dependent on the public health context at the time. DCMS has convened a Venues Steering Group which includes representatives from leading sector organisations as well as Public Health England and other experts to develop an action plan for maximizing activity under Stages 3 and 4, when it is permitted again, and for how we safely proceed to Stage 5 of the roadmap. DCMS will continue to work with these sectors to establish an appropriate pilot process for testing the return to stage 5 activity when appropriate and are working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care on the Government Mass Testing Programme.

The Performing Arts guidance was developed in collaboration with the live events sectors to help venues put on live events in a covid secure manner.

The Secretary of State announced an unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the cultural sector which will benefit the music sector by providing support to venues and many other cultural organisations to stay open and continue operating. So far, over £500 million has been announced from the Culture Recovery Fund for over 2,000 cultural organisations across England, almost a fifth of which has, so far, gone to the music sector. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations including venues, festivals and theatres.

As part of this, £3.36 million was shared between 136 grassroots music venues across England which had successfully applied for emergency support in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. These emergency grants of up to £80,000 enabled venues to cover ongoing running costs incurred during closure, such as rent and utilities but also allowed them the chance to adapt to become covid secure for socially distanced live audiences when permitted.

In order to propagate best practice across the industry, the Entertainment and Events Working Group gathers key industry bodies to help produce detailed guidance and ensure that the latest updates to that guidance are shared with their sectors.

No estimate is available currently for the impact of Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) on creative and music sector workers specifically.

As of 31 July, a total of 2.6 million people have claimed a SEISS grant with the value of these claims totalling £7.6 billion. More than two thirds of cultural freelancers received support through SEISS.

9.6 million employments have been furloughed through CJRS for at least part of the period between March to June. These claims have been made by 1.16 million employers, with 61% of eligible employers claiming.

We recognise that the music and creative sectors has been severely impacted by Covid-19. We continue to meet with stakeholders to discuss the challenges facing the industry.

No estimate is available currently for this but we are continuing to meet with live music stakeholders to understand the specific impacts that Covid is having on the whole industry.

The Chancellor has announced the Winter Economy Plan to protect jobs and support businesses over the coming months, once the existing SEISS and CJRS come to end. From November, the Jobs Support Scheme will provide further support to returning workers, while the extended Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will aid the self-employed who are currently actively trading but are facing reduced demand.

In addition, the Secretary of State provided a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This support package will benefit the live music sector by providing support to venues and many other organisations to stay open and continue operating.

As part of this support package, £3.36 million has been shared among 136 venues across England who applied for the Emergency Grassroot Music Venues Fund. This funding has supported grassroots venues to survive the imminent risk of collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

We appreciate that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to the live music sector.

No estimate is available currently for this but we are continuing to meet with live music stakeholders to provide support and guidance for venues to re-open and stage live events.

As part of the Government’s 5 stage roadmap to get performing arts and live entertainment sectors back up and running as soon as possible, venues and organisations are able to put on live performances in front of a socially-distanced audience in line with the latest Covid secure guidance.

We recognise that the live music industry and its supply chain has been severely impacted by Covid-19. We continue to meet with the stakeholders to discuss the specific issues facing the industry.

We appreciate that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to the live music sector.

No estimate is currently available. However, through our ongoing dialogues with industry, we are aware that there are significantly fewer events taking place when compared to the same period last year.

As part of the Government’s 5 stage roadmap to get performing arts and live entertainment sectors back up and running as soon as possible, venues and organisations are able to put on live performances in front of a socially-distanced audience in line with the latest Covid secure guidance.

We recognise that the live music industry and its supply chain has been severely impacted by Covid-19. We continue to meet with the stakeholders to discuss the specific issues facing the industry.

As part of continued engagement with our sectors, DCMS Ministers, and officials have spoken to many organisations in the arts and culture sectors directly, as well as arms-length bodies and sector representatives.

Through this engagement we know that the capacity needed to make a profit varies not just between the sub-sectors, but also between individual organisations and on an even more granular level, what those organisations programme. These considerations, as well as costs relating to staffing, fixed costs, maintenance, production costs, and loans, also impact upon the size of the possible finance gap an organisation may have when considering when and whether to reopen.

Following the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July theatres will be permitted to reopen for rehearsal, pre-production and broadcast, although not yet for live performance with an audience. Alongside the work that we are doing with representatives of the entertainment and events industry to develop supporting guidance, this represents the first steps in the roadmap to recovery for our nations’ theatres.

The Government remains committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues for live performances across the country as soon as it is safe to do so.

As part of continued engagement with our sectors, DCMS Ministers, and officials have spoken to many organisations in the arts and culture sectors directly, as well as arms-length bodies and sector representatives.

Through this engagement we know that the capacity needed to make a profit varies not just between the sub-sectors, but also between individual organisations and on an even more granular level, what those organisations programme. These considerations, as well as costs relating to staffing, fixed costs, maintenance, production costs, and loans, also impact upon the size of the possible finance gap an organisation may have when considering when and whether to reopen.

Following the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July theatres will be permitted to reopen for rehearsal, pre-production and broadcast, although not yet for live performance with an audience. Alongside the work that we are doing with representatives of the entertainment and events industry to develop supporting guidance, this represents the first steps in the roadmap to recovery for our nations’ theatres.

The Government remains committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues for live performances across the country as soon as it is safe to do so.

On 5 July, DCMS announced a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of sectors, including performing arts and theatres, museums and galleries, heritage sites, live music venues and independent cinema.

We want this package to support organisations across the cultural, heritage and creative sectors, and will publish further detailed guidance as soon as possible in July.

As part of continued engagement with our sectors, DCMS Ministers, and officials have spoken to many organisations in the arts and culture sectors directly, as well as arms-length bodies and sector representatives.

Through this engagement we know that the capacity needed to make a profit varies not just between the sub-sectors, but also between individual organisations and on an even more granular level, what those organisations programme. These considerations, as well as costs relating to staffing, fixed costs, maintenance, production costs, and loans, also impact upon the size of the possible finance gap an organisation may have when considering when and whether to reopen.

Following the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July theatres will be permitted to reopen for rehearsal, pre-production and broadcast, although not yet for live performance with an audience. Alongside the work that we are doing with representatives of the entertainment and events industry to develop supporting guidance, this represents the first steps in the roadmap to recovery for our nations’ theatres.

The Government remains committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues for live performances across the country as soon as it is safe to do so.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund (the Fund) took advice from its professional legal advisors as to the legal status of the Conservation Management Plans, which included advice on copyright and on the implications to the Fund if they were to make the CMPs available to third parties. The advice concluded that if the Fund disclosed the Conservation Management Plans it would risk being in breach of copyright

The National Lottery Heritage Fund (the Fund) digitally recorded documents critical to its grant contracts, and securely destroyed records no longer required for retention. The documents that were retained were scanned in PDF format. The retained records are held by the Fund, and are not accessible to the public because they contain confidential commercial information. Data regarding the Fund’s grant decisions has recently been released as part of its commitment to Open Data.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund (the Fund) is in discussions with various representatives from the archives sector, including The National Archives and the Archives and Records Association. The aim of these discussions is to find ways to ensure that grant recipients make application material more widely accessible in future, partly by removing practical obstacles to doing so.

The Fund is also expediting the compilation of a list of 1300 park and garden projects for which Conservation Management Plans may have been produced, which they will make available to interested parties upon request.