Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that mainstream schools overseen by multi-academy trusts fulfil the requirement set out in guidance to teach a minimum of 190 days a year, with an indicative 32.5 hours including breaks per week.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

The length and structure of the school year in academies is a matter for the academy trust.

Non-statutory guidance is in place which sets out the expectation that all mainstream, state-funded schools, including academies, should deliver a minimum school week of 32.5 hours by September 2024. As with all government policies we will keep this approach under review.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 10 December (HL3181), when they expect the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to respond to the correspondence sent by Lord Blunkett on 21 October.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has responded to The Rt. Hon. the Lord Blunkett.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what targets the Treasury have for the time to respond to letters from parliamentarians specifically addressed to Treasury ministers; and what percentage of such correspondence is answered within that timeframe.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

In line with Cabinet Office guidance, HM Treasury aims to respond to ministerial correspondence from parliamentarians within 20 working days. Correspondence performance data is published within HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts. The 2023-24 Report noted that 62% of replies to parliamentarians were answered within the timeframe.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the annual breakdown, beginning with the academic year 2020–21, of the number of secondary school trainee teachers aged 40 and over working in (1) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and (2) non-STEM, subjects who began training but were not working as a qualified teacher in a state school two years later; and what was total annual cost of training bursaries and scholarships paid to those same trainees.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

In the attachment, table 1 shows the total numbers of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) trainees aged 40 and above with course outcomes for the academic years 2020/21 to 2022/23 and for each secondary subject. The table also shows the number of such trainees who did not go on to teach in a state-funded school within 16 months of the end of the academic year.

Information on the outcomes of trainees in receipt of bursaries and/or scholarships is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

However, postgraduate salaried trainees are ineligible for bursaries and scholarships and the number of undergraduate fee-funded trainees over 40 who are eligible for bursaries is negligible.

In the attachment, table 2 shows, as a proportion of ITT trainees on postgraduate fee-funded ITT routes only, the number that were aged 40 and over and did not go on to teach in a state-funded school within 16 months of the end of the academic year. These proportions are applied to total bursary and scholarship spend, for each academic year and secondary subject. A small minority of trainees are ineligible for a bursary or scholarship, so this assumes that those over 40 who did not teach in a state-funded school within 16 months were as likely to be eligible for a bursary or scholarship as the overall trainee cohort in each year.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to align the work of the Office for Clean Energy Jobs with the work of Skills England, and what processes and structural framework they expect to be put in place to facilitate joint working between the two.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Office for Clean Energy Jobs was established to help ensure a skilled workforce is in place to deliver the Clean Energy Superpower Mission and that these jobs are ‘good’ jobs. The Office for Clean Energy Jobs and Skills England are already working together to develop a consistent understanding of the skills challenges through sharing data and insights, ensuring alignment on priority occupations, coordinating engagement with external stakeholders, and developing solutions, as highlighted in Skills England's report published in September 2024. This partnership will continue to strengthen next year to ensure effective workforce planning supports delivery of the energy transition.

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Found: LORD BLUNKETT BARONESS GREY-THOMPSON 54_ Clause 6, page 5, line 14, at end insert— “(d) to ensure

Found: LORD BLUNKETT BARONESS GREY-THOMPSON 54_ Clause 6, page 5, line 14, at end insert— “(d) to ensure

Found: line 11, after “resilience” insert “and sustainability” Football Governance Bill [HL] 10 LORD BLUNKETT