Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they will give to the Office for Students (1) to allow more providers to complete the registration process ahead of the introduction of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, and (2) to support submissions from small specialist providers that currently receive educational oversight from Ofsted for their eligible level 5 and 6 provision.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 36617.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether providers which currently receive educational oversight from Ofsted for their level 5 and 6 provision will have a proportional third category route to registration with the Office for Students during the implementation of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 36617.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans Skills England have to ensure that the proposed Growth and Skills Levy will (1) address the skills and training needs of the woodworking and joinery sector, and (2) be fully accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises in that sector across the UK.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Employers in the construction sector, including small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can access a wide range of government-funded training programmes including T Levels, Skills Bootcamps, Higher Technical Qualifications and apprenticeships. Employers have developed apprenticeship standards in both carpentry and joinery and craft carpentry and joinery to help meet the needs of the woodwork and joinery sector.
The department is promoting apprenticeships and training opportunities to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme as part of the Skills for Life campaign.
To support non-levy paying employers, which are likely to be SMEs, to access apprenticeships, the government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan, or have been in local authority care. Employers of all sizes can also benefit from £1000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care.
Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for apprentices aged up to 25 where they earn less than £967 a week, or £50,270 a year.
The government has established Skills England to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps across all sectors and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. This will include advising on priorities for the new growth and skills offer, which will create opportunities for learners of all ages, give employers of different sizes greater flexibility to address critical skill shortages, and help drive economic growth. Skills England engaged with over 700 stakeholders over the autumn regarding the growth and skills offer and has shared their findings with the department.
The growth and skills offer will include new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships. The minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months from August 2025, down from the current minimum of 12 months. The department will ensure that the needs of smaller employers are considered as it develops the growth and skills offer.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote training and apprenticeship provision in the woodworking and joinery sector, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Employers in the construction sector, including small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can access a wide range of government-funded training programmes including T Levels, Skills Bootcamps, Higher Technical Qualifications and apprenticeships. Employers have developed apprenticeship standards in both carpentry and joinery and craft carpentry and joinery to help meet the needs of the woodwork and joinery sector.
The department is promoting apprenticeships and training opportunities to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme as part of the Skills for Life campaign.
To support non-levy paying employers, which are likely to be SMEs, to access apprenticeships, the government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan, or have been in local authority care. Employers of all sizes can also benefit from £1000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care.
Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for apprentices aged up to 25 where they earn less than £967 a week, or £50,270 a year.
The government has established Skills England to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps across all sectors and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. This will include advising on priorities for the new growth and skills offer, which will create opportunities for learners of all ages, give employers of different sizes greater flexibility to address critical skill shortages, and help drive economic growth. Skills England engaged with over 700 stakeholders over the autumn regarding the growth and skills offer and has shared their findings with the department.
The growth and skills offer will include new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships. The minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months from August 2025, down from the current minimum of 12 months. The department will ensure that the needs of smaller employers are considered as it develops the growth and skills offer.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that independent training providers have access to funding on an equal basis with other adult skills providers, including colleges.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The government recognises the important role Independent Training Providers (ITPs) play in delivering adult training and skills. After changes in the law brought about by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, it was decided to procure an element of the Adult Education Budget (AEB) openly and competitively, for contracts for services provision. ITPs can submit bids for these contracts in Education and Skills Funding Agency non-devolved areas. In areas where the AEB has been devolved, mayoral combined authorities are now responsible for the provision of AEB-funded adult education for their residents and for deciding which providers to fund.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve communication at a (1) local, and (2) national, level about best practices in the delivery of adult skills.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The steps being taken to improve communication at a local and national level about best practices in the delivery of adult skills were outlined in the white paper, Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth, published in January 2021: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-for-jobs-lifelong-learning-for-opportunity-and-growth.
We are trailblazing new employer-led Local Skills Improvement Plans in a small number of areas in the 2021-22 financial year. They will be created by employer representative bodies working closely with further education colleges, other providers and key local stakeholders and will set out the key changes needed in a local area to make technical skills training more responsive to employers’ skills needs. Alongside the trailblazers, we are legislating to put Local Skills Improvement Plans on a statutory footing as part of the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill.
Local Skills Improvement Plans will provide a framework to help colleges and other providers reshape what they offer, to tackle skills mismatches and ensure that they are responding as effectively as possible to labour market skills needs. We will also make development funding available in the 2021-22 financial year in a number of pilot areas to support colleges to reshape their provision to address local priorities that have been agreed with local employers.
We will reform our funding and accountability systems to better support providers in their role. To this end, The Skills for Jobs: A New Further Education Funding and Accountability System Government Consultation was published on 15 July 2021: https://consult.education.gov.uk/fe-funding/reforms-to-funding-and-accountability/. This consultation proposes a range of steps to improve communication at local and national level about effective skills delivery:
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the importance of independent training providers in delivering training to meet current and future skills shortages in (1) the North East, and (2) the wider UK economy.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
In our Skills for Jobs White Paper, published in January 2021, we recognised the unique knowledge and capacity that independent training providers bring. They are the largest provider type delivering apprenticeships and they contribute substantially to adult education and training. In the academic year 2019 to 2020, enrolments at publicly funded private sector providers were:
- 21,700 apprentices and 15,900 adults in the North East
- 429,190 apprentices and 175,810 adults in England.
This prominence across the market is why we are legislating through the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill to place duties on independent training providers, alongside other post-16 providers, to co-operate with employer representative bodies in developing Local Skills Improvement Plans, so they can play their part in responding to the skills gaps that the plans identify.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the provision of practical music education in England.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The government is committed to all pupils and students receiving a high-quality education and it has continued to be the case that music education, including one-to-one lessons, can be undertaken in school, college or university so long as safety precautions are undertaken.
In relation to schools, advice has been provided in COVID-19 guidance since August 2020, setting out how teaching music can be conducted safely. This includes visits by peripatetic teachers, including music teachers from music education hubs. The hubs acted swiftly and innovatively to support schools through the COVID-19 outbreak, including the continuation of continuing professional development to classroom teachers.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, the department also introduced several initiatives for schools and parents including signposting to a range of online music education resources such as BBC Education, Oak Academy and other professional organisations such as Music Mark.
Following the announcement by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on 22 February 2021, the government published updated guidance for full opening of schools on 8 March. The guidance continues to make clear that the curriculum should remain broad and ambitious so that the majority of pupils are taught a full range of subjects over the year, including music. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
In addition, updated guidance for out-of-school venues, such as supplementary schools providing part-time music provision and private music tutors for under 18s, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of apprentices in England leaving apprenticeships early during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of (1) furlough, and (2) redundancy, broken down by industry sector.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We are committed to supporting apprentices to safely continue with, and complete, their apprenticeship programmes during the COVID-19 outbreak.
We have introduced flexibilities to enable furloughed apprentices to continue with their apprenticeship training and undertake end-point assessments wherever possible. We have also taken significant steps to support apprentices who suffer redundancy.
We launched the Redundancy Support Service for Apprentices which provides clear, accessible advice and guidance to individuals, as well as a vacancy sharing scheme to help apprentices find new opportunities with employers. Over 1,200 employers have submitted opportunities to the vacancy sharing service for redundant apprentices. We have also amended legislation to enable more apprentices to complete their apprenticeship in the event of redundancy.
Where it is not possible and practicable for the apprentice to continue training, a break in learning can be used to allow the apprentice to return to learning at a future date. Our guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-apprenticeship-programme-response.
The department does not collect data on furloughed and redundant apprentices by industry sector.
From 30 July 2020, employers have been able to record on the apprenticeship service if an apprenticeship has ended due to a redundancy. Our collected data on 1 December 2020 shows that 1,360 apprenticeships have ended due to redundancy since August 2020. This figure does not include all apprenticeship redundancies as not all non-levy employers are currently using the service. Further breakdown of data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to simplify tender processes for education establishments to procure cloud-based virtual learning environments.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department has published user tested procurement guidance on GOV.UK as well as approved frameworks as part of our Buying for Schools guidance. At present this does not currently provide a recommendation for virtual learning environments, but approved frameworks are regularly reviewed to ensure they meet the current and future buying needs of schools.
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are funding support for school to get set up on one of two free-to-use digital education environments: Google’s G Suite for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education.