Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the appropriateness of gambling-related content on the online programming platform Scratch which is used by children in schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department does not support or mandate individual products. Schools should follow the statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’, supported by the department’s filtering and monitoring standards. Schools should monitor pupils’ use of devices whilst in school.
The relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance states that young people should be taught the risks of online gambling and how to seek help if they have concerns. The computing curriculum supports pupils to make informed decisions whilst online or using other technologies.
The department-funded National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) provides training and resources to improve computing provision, including support for teaching programming concepts through languages such as Scratch.
The NCCE is reviewing all teacher resources that include Scratch content. Guidance for keeping children safe when using Scratch will be included in all relevant content by June 2025. NCCE materials do not use gambling as a programming exercise for pupils. None of the NCCE’s lessons or courses recommend pupils use the search function or engage with other people's content on Scratch. Teachers are advised to use the offline version of the platform to prevent pupils from searching ready-made code.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to collate data on apprenticeship levy payments and spending by sector; and if not, why not.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The apprenticeship levy is collected by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from employers with a pay bill in excess of £3 million per year. HMRC publishes monthly data on apprenticeship levy receipts which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk. The most recent update was published on 19 July 2019. This update has been attached and can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/817746/Jun19_Receipts_NS_Bulletin_Final.pdf.
HMRC will continue to review the appropriate data to put into the public domain regarding the apprenticeship levy.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency does not currently require levy-paying employers to register a sector when they set up an online apprenticeship service account to manage their funds. As we develop the apprenticeship service, we will continue to review the data we collect to improve user experience and outcomes.
We already publish detailed data on apprenticeship starts, including levy-supported starts, and our engagement with employers and sector bodies to develop our understanding of how apprenticeships work for different sectors. The most recent update was published on 11 July 2019. All quarterly data releases include a main commentary which summarises apprenticeship starts by level, framework or standard, and whether or not they were levy-supported. This commentary has been attached and is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/815291/Apprenticeships_and_Traineeships_release_July19_main_text.pdf. The whole quarterly release is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships-july-2019.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to collate data in order to assess the amount of apprenticeship levy money that was (1) paid, and (2) spent on apprenticeships, by creative industry companies in the 2018/19 financial year.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The information requested is not held centrally. The apprenticeship levy is collected by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs from employers with a pay bill in excess of £3 million per year.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) does not require levy-paying employers to register a sector when they set up an online apprenticeship service account to manage their funds. Therefore, ESFA are unable to supply information on the sectoral distribution of spending on apprenticeships. There are currently no plans to change the registration process to collect this information from employers registering for an apprenticeship service account.
We continue to use detailed data on apprenticeship starts (including levy-supported starts) and work closely with employers and sector bodies to further develop our understanding of how apprenticeships work for the creative sector.
The quarterly ‘Apprenticeships and Traineeships’ data release provides an overview of the programme. The most recent update was published on 11 July 2019. All quarterly data releases include a ‘main commentary’ which summarises apprenticeship starts by level, framework or standard, and whether or not they were the levy-supported. This commentary has been attached and it available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/815291/Apprenticeships_and_Traineeships_release_July19_main_text.pdf. The whole quarterly release is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships-july-2019.
Data on apprenticeship starts by sector subject area and funding type can be compared using the interactive pivot tool entitled ‘Monthly apprenticeship starts by sector subject area, framework or standard, age, level, funding type and degree apprenticeship’ found in the monthly ‘Apprenticeships and levy statistics’ release. This was last updated in May 2019 and available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804343/Monthly-apprenticeship-starts-fwk-tool_May-2019.xlsx. The whole monthly release is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeship-and-levy-statistics-may-2019.
We are working closely with employers in the creative industries so they can realise the benefits of apprenticeships. The Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport is developing an innovative pilot which will enable apprentices to benefit from hands-on experience on the sets of major films and television shows. Launching later this year, it will explore a new model that fulfils the requirements of high-quality apprenticeships, but uses multiple placements on film and television productions, as well as addressing skills shortages.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of apprenticeship levy money that was (1) paid, and (2) spent, by creative industry companies in the 2018–19 financial year.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The apprenticeship levy is collected by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from employers with a pay bill in excess of £3 million per year. HMRC does not publish data on levy receipts broken down by sector.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency does not require levy-paying employers to register a sector when they set up an online apprenticeship service account to manage their funds. It is therefore unable to supply information on the sectoral distribution of spending on apprenticeships in the format requested. From discussions with the sector, we recognise that there are some challenges faced by the sector in spending available funds due to the nature of the creative industries’ labour market. We are working closely with them so that they can benefit from apprenticeships.
We are also working with the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport on an innovative Film and TV Apprenticeships pilot which will enable around 25 apprentices to benefit from hands-on experience on the sets of major films and TV shows.
Launching later this year, it will explore a new model for how high-quality apprenticeships can be used to deliver multiple placements on film and TV productions, as well as addressing skills shortages.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps were taken to rural proof the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy has been designed to support all schools. The strategy commits to partnering with schools, multi academy trusts, and local authorities in challenging areas to develop local initiatives that support recruitment and retention of teachers. The department is exploring how this could be developed to benefit different communities, including those in rural areas. As we design key reforms, such as the early career framework, we will ensure they meet the needs of all schools, including rural schools.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to monitor the impact of the Apprenticeship Levy on the creative industries sector; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the Levy compared to other types of employer investment.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The creative industry voluntary training levies, managed by ScreenSkills, and the apprenticeships levy cover different things. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to bring the creative industries’ current voluntary levy into the scope of the apprenticeship levy.
The apprenticeship levy is specifically used to fund high quality apprenticeship training and end-point assessment across all sectors. The creative industry voluntary levies can be spent on a wide range of specialist training, including help with associated costs such as travel, accommodation and childcare. The voluntary levies operate across film, high-end television, animation and children’s television as part of the tax incentive regime for these sectors.
The apprenticeship levy only affects around 2% of employers and the majority of the creative sector do not pay it. Instead, they can benefit from government investment covering at least 90% of training costs. This will rise to 95% in 2019.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any benefits of bringing the creative industries’ current voluntary training and skills levy within the scope of the Apprenticeship Levy.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The creative industry voluntary training levies, managed by ScreenSkills, and the apprenticeships levy cover different things. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to bring the creative industries’ current voluntary levy into the scope of the apprenticeship levy.
The apprenticeship levy is specifically used to fund high quality apprenticeship training and end-point assessment across all sectors. The creative industry voluntary levies can be spent on a wide range of specialist training, including help with associated costs such as travel, accommodation and childcare. The voluntary levies operate across film, high-end television, animation and children’s television as part of the tax incentive regime for these sectors.
The apprenticeship levy only affects around 2% of employers and the majority of the creative sector do not pay it. Instead, they can benefit from government investment covering at least 90% of training costs. This will rise to 95% in 2019.
Asked by: Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many apprenticeship starts there have been in the creative industries since April 2017.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
There is no definition of apprenticeships that are in the creative industries.
The table below shows apprenticeship starts in the Arts, Media and Publishing sector subject area, along with further subject area breakdowns since April 2017, and includes starts up to the provisional full 2017/18 academic year.
Apprenticeship starts since April 2017 in the Arts, Media and Publishing sector subject area
Apprenticeship starts since April 2017 (reported to date) | |
Total starts in Arts, Media and Publishing sector subject area | 1,080 |
of which Crafts, Creative Arts and Design | 440 |
of which Media and Communication | 630 |
of which Performing Arts | - |
of which Publishing and Information Services | 20 |
Notes
1) Data is based on full final year figures for the 2016/17 academic year and provisional full 2017/18 academic year figures (August 2018 to July 2018). Starts for 2016/17 only include those for April to July 2017.
2) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. ‘-’ indicates a value of less than 5 starts.
3) The data source is the Individualised Learner Record
4) This data is published here: