Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reductions in funding for level seven apprenticeships on the availability of Chartered Town Planners in local government.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby to the answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 23140.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reductions in funding for level seven apprenticeships on the availability of skilled workers in the NHS; and whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on this matter.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth, supported by a strong skills system.
This government has an extremely challenging fiscal inheritance. There are tough choices that need to be taken on how funding should be prioritised in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers, and the department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund a significant number of level 7 apprenticeships themselves outside of the levy-funded Growth and Skills offer.
The department has received a wide range of representations, which it is currently considering. These have been received directly and via Skills England, which has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders on this matter and has shared its findings with the department.
The department recognises the importance of providing clarity as soon as possible on future funding for level 7 apprenticeships and will communicate next steps in due course.
The department also continues to work across government to tackle the skills needs of different sectors, including addressing the skills gaps in the health and social care industry which were identified in Skills England’s first report on driving growth and widening opportunities.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reductions in funding for level seven healthcare apprenticeships on the availability of Advanced Clinical Practitioners in the NHS.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth, supported by a strong skills system.
This government has an extremely challenging fiscal inheritance. There are tough choices that need to be taken on how funding should be prioritised in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers, and the department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund a significant number of level 7 apprenticeships themselves outside of the levy-funded Growth and Skills offer.
The department has received a wide range of representations, which it is currently considering. These have been received directly and via Skills England, which has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders on this matter and has shared its findings with the department.
The department recognises the importance of providing clarity as soon as possible on future funding for level 7 apprenticeships and will communicate next steps in due course.
The department also continues to work across government to tackle the skills needs of different sectors, including addressing the skills gaps in the health and social care industry which were identified in Skills England’s first report on driving growth and widening opportunities.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reductions in funding for level seven healthcare apprenticeships on the delivery of the NHS long-term workforce plan.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth, supported by a strong skills system.
This government has an extremely challenging fiscal inheritance. There are tough choices that need to be taken on how funding should be prioritised in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers, and the department will therefore be asking more employers to step forward and fund a significant number of level 7 apprenticeships themselves outside of the levy-funded Growth and Skills offer.
The department has received a wide range of representations, which it is currently considering. These have been received directly and via Skills England, which has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders on this matter and has shared its findings with the department.
The department recognises the importance of providing clarity as soon as possible on future funding for level 7 apprenticeships and will communicate next steps in due course.
The department also continues to work across government to tackle the skills needs of different sectors, including addressing the skills gaps in the health and social care industry which were identified in Skills England’s first report on driving growth and widening opportunities.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria will be used by regional improvement for standards and excellence teams to identify the schools it will be engaging with to deliver improvement in standards.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department has introduced its new regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams to help drive high and rising standards. In advance of Ofsted school report cards being introduced later this year, schools will be eligible to receive bespoke RISE interventions if they have not had a change of structure since their last inspection, and:
The department is consulting on future eligibility criteria for targeted RISE intervention following the introduction of new Ofsted school report cards.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools she plans for each regional improvement for standards and excellence team to support in (a) the North East and (b) each region, per year.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department expects regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams to have worked with around 600 schools by March 2026. RISE teams will focus their efforts on schools which are stuck and have not had a change of structure since their last inspection.
Based on the latest published Ofsted inspection data, at the end of December 2024, there were 664 “stuck schools” in England and 31 “stuck schools” in the North East.
Across the other regions there were:
Following last week’s announcement, the department is contacting all responsible bodies with schools that currently meet the eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional funding will be made available for the schools supported by a regional improvement for standards and excellence team.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Support delivered by regional improvement for standards and excellence teams has been backed by an over £20 million investment. They will draw up, working with high quality organisations, bespoke improvement plans with eligible schools, with the department making up to £100,000 available initially to each school for specialist support. This compares to a £6,000 grant that was available previously for similar schools.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to introduce a right to paid employment leave to support kinship carers.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the challenges that many kinship carers face in continuing to work alongside the pressures of taking in a child, and we believe they should be supported to remain in work where possible.
Kinship carers are likely to benefit from additional support and flexibility from their employers to help them balance work with providing the best possible care. Our guidance for employers, ‘Kinship Carers in the Workplace’, sets out best practice for supporting kinship carers at work.
The department will join a small number of private sector employers in offering a pay and leave entitlement to all eligible staff who become kinship carers.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of 27 April 2021, Official Report, column 86WH, what steps his Department has taken to (a) investigate the use of fire and rehire tactics by its executive non-departmental public bodies, (b) communicate the Government's position on fire and rehire tactics to those bodies and )c) discourage the use of such tactics by those bodies.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has a robust governance structure in place across its non-departmental public bodies, which ensures full visibility, and approval where required, of any planned redundancies. No additional communications or investigations have been necessary on ‘fire and rehire’.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the expenditure by local authorities on the provision of free rail passes for pupils (a) up to the age of 16 to travel to their nearest school and (b) from families on maximum working tax credit or entitlement to free school meals; and how many school pupils benefit from such rail passes.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Local authorities have a statutory duty under section 508B of the Education Act 1996 to make travel arrangements to enable all eligible children of compulsory school age to attend their nearest suitable school. For low income families, there are additional rights to free home to school transport where children are entitled to Free School Meals or whose parents are in receipt of the maximum Working Tax Credit. It is for local authorities to decide how to fulfil that duty. They may, if they wish, provide pupils with rail passes. The information requested is not held centrally, regarding pupil numbers or detailed local authority expenditure.