Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many apprenticeships were completed in (1) 2018, and (2) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Apprenticeships are available from level 2, equivalent to GCSE level, through to level 6, equivalent to a bachelor’s degree, and level 7, equivalent to a master’s degree. The attached file contains male/female breakdowns by apprenticeship level for apprenticeship starts from the 2017/18 to 2020/21 academic years.
Apprenticeship achievements from 2017/18 to 2020/21 are shown in the table below:
Academic Year | Achievements |
2017/18 | 276,160 |
2018/19 | 185,150 |
2019/20 | 146,900 |
2020/21 | 156,530 |
Total achievements are the count of apprenticeships achieved at any point during the stated academic period. Learners achieving more than one apprenticeship will appear more than once.
Further information on apprenticeships starts and achievements can be found in the apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships.
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many hospital beds there were in England in (1) 2005, (2) 2010, and (3) 2019.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The information is not held in the format requested. Prior to 2010/11, data on average bed capacity was collected by ward classification or sector. The following table shows the average daily bed capacity by sector in 2005/06.
All specialties | Average bed capacity |
General and acute | 132,826 |
Acute | 108,134 |
Geriatric | 24,692 |
Mental illness | 29,802 |
Learning disability | 3,927 |
Maternity | 8,881 |
Day only | 9,726 |
Source: Department of Health
From 2010/11, quarterly data is available from all National Health Service organisations which operate beds, open overnight or day only. The following table shows the average daily and occupied beds times series in each Quarter in 2010/11 and 2019/20.
Year | Quarter | Total |
2010/11 | 1 | 144,455 |
2010/11 | 2 | 141,477 |
2010/11 | 3 | 141,630 |
2010/11 | 4 | 142,319 |
2019/20 | 1 | 128,407 |
2019/20 | 2 | 127,186 |
2019/20 | 3 | 128,326 |
2019/20 | 4 | 128,943 |
Source: NHS England
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the recruitment of more magistrates to the bench.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
The recruitment of more magistrates is the Government’s top priority for the magistracy. The MoJ is investing £1 million this financial year into a programme of work to improve magistrates’ recruitment. A digitised and more inclusive recruitment process which will improve data collation was launched in January, alongside an inclusive marketing strategy which aims to targets a wider, more diverse audience, attract more applicants and recruit more from under-represented groups.
Additionally, we are legislating to increasing the judicial mandatory retirement age to 75. This will retain around 400 judges and 2,000 magistrates more annually, when compared to retaining the current age of 70.
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many practising female judges there are in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar
Statistics on the diversity of judicial office holders are published annually, alongside statistics on members of the legal professions and those applying for judicial appointments. The 2021 ‘Diversity of the Judiciary’ statistics (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/diversity-of-the-judiciary-2021-statistics) record that as at 1 April 2021, in England and Wales there were:
We recognise that more progress is required to achieve a gender-balanced judiciary. The Lord Chancellor is a member of the Judicial Diversity Forum (JDF) and works closely with the Lord Chief Justice, Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and other members of the JDF, including the three relevant legal professional bodies, to address barriers to achieving greater gender balance in the judiciary. In December 2021, JDF members published their updated action plan, which sets out actions to support greater diversity in the judiciary at every stage; from the legal profession to the judiciary itself.
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that (1) schools, and (2) colleges, are fully (a) engaged, and (b) committed, to the T-Level programme in their areas.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We have raised awareness of T Levels through targeted engagement with schools and colleges, working with education sector organisations, and marketing campaigns aimed at students, parents and employers. There are currently just over 100 providers delivering T Levels, including colleges and schools. Over 400 providers are planning to deliver T Levels from 2023, with all general further education colleges included at that point.
We have given significant, early support to providers to ensure readiness for delivery, including network events, peer support, and funding to build capacity for industry placements and workforce preparation. We are also working closely with Ofsted to ensure the successful delivery of T Levels more broadly and have commissioned a thematic survey of the first three years of T Level delivery. This will help us identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement across a substantial sample of providers to help inform best practice for the future rollout.
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the budget earmarked for the National Tutoring Programme.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Tutoring Programme has a budget of £1.01 billion for the duration of the 3 year programme. The department does not hold data on how many tutors currently work in the programme
Schools are employing tutors by using their share of the £579 million school-led tutoring grant. Last term, 256,000 courses started with these tutors.
56 approved tuition partners are contracted with the department’s delivery partner, Randstad, to provide tutoring. Each tutoring organisation commits to delivering a minimum of 500 15-hour tuition courses.
As of 12 December 2021, an estimated 20,000 starts had been made by pupils on courses of tuition provided through academic mentors in the 2021/22 academic year.
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many tutors there are currently in the National Tutoring Programme.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Tutoring Programme has a budget of £1.01 billion for the duration of the 3 year programme. The department does not hold data on how many tutors currently work in the programme
Schools are employing tutors by using their share of the £579 million school-led tutoring grant. Last term, 256,000 courses started with these tutors.
56 approved tuition partners are contracted with the department’s delivery partner, Randstad, to provide tutoring. Each tutoring organisation commits to delivering a minimum of 500 15-hour tuition courses.
As of 12 December 2021, an estimated 20,000 starts had been made by pupils on courses of tuition provided through academic mentors in the 2021/22 academic year.
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of the average cost of the purchase of a dental practice.
Answered by Lord Kamall
No estimate has been made of the number of different owners of dental practices nor of the average cost of purchase of dental practices.
Any person who provides regulated activity in England must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In order to obtain a registration with the CQC, a dental practice is assessed against the CQC’s registration assessment framework to assess if applicants will provide services that are safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led. As part of the registration process, checks are made on Directors listed in the application and any individuals nominated by the provider company to be held legally responsible for carrying on the regulated activities applied for. If a practice cannot meet the standards set out within the framework, the CQC will refuse the application. The Dentists Act 1984 lays out restrictions on carrying on the business of dentistry.
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy regarding the ownership of dental practices.
Answered by Lord Kamall
No estimate has been made of the number of different owners of dental practices nor of the average cost of purchase of dental practices.
Any person who provides regulated activity in England must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In order to obtain a registration with the CQC, a dental practice is assessed against the CQC’s registration assessment framework to assess if applicants will provide services that are safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led. As part of the registration process, checks are made on Directors listed in the application and any individuals nominated by the provider company to be held legally responsible for carrying on the regulated activities applied for. If a practice cannot meet the standards set out within the framework, the CQC will refuse the application. The Dentists Act 1984 lays out restrictions on carrying on the business of dentistry.
Asked by: Lord Jones (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of different owners of dental practices in England.
Answered by Lord Kamall
No estimate has been made of the number of different owners of dental practices nor of the average cost of purchase of dental practices.
Any person who provides regulated activity in England must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In order to obtain a registration with the CQC, a dental practice is assessed against the CQC’s registration assessment framework to assess if applicants will provide services that are safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led. As part of the registration process, checks are made on Directors listed in the application and any individuals nominated by the provider company to be held legally responsible for carrying on the regulated activities applied for. If a practice cannot meet the standards set out within the framework, the CQC will refuse the application. The Dentists Act 1984 lays out restrictions on carrying on the business of dentistry.