Baroness Freeman of Steventon

Since April 2024, it has been mandatory for all Government Departments to register their evaluations with the Evaluation Task Force Evaluation Registry. The expectation is that all Government evaluations should be registered, unless they are exempted under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Since April 2024, the Evaluation Task Force has been notified of one evaluation which has not been added to the Evaluation Registry on the grounds that it meets an exemption outlined in the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Registry is scheduled to be launched for public view-only access in the coming months, allowing them to see the number of evaluations in each department. Following public launch, the Evaluation Task Force will report to the Directors of Analysis every quarter on the number of ongoing, planned and complete evaluations registered by each Department.

Since April 2024, it has been mandatory for all Government Departments to register their evaluations with the Evaluation Task Force Evaluation Registry. The expectation is that all Government evaluations should be registered, unless they are exempted under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Since April 2024, the Evaluation Task Force has been notified of one evaluation which has not been added to the Evaluation Registry on the grounds that it meets an exemption outlined in the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Registry is scheduled to be launched for public view-only access in the coming months, allowing them to see the number of evaluations in each department. Following public launch, the Evaluation Task Force will report to the Directors of Analysis every quarter on the number of ongoing, planned and complete evaluations registered by each Department.

All Government evaluations should be pre-registered on the Evaluation Task Force Evaluation Registry, including methods and expected publication timelines. Registering evaluations has been mandatory for Government Departments since April 2024.

Further information on the Evaluation Registry is available online on the 'Guidance on using the Evaluation Registry' webpage. The Evaluation Registry is due to be launched to the public in the coming months.

The department supports vocational education and training programs that include repair, maintenance and retrofit skills. This includes funding for courses at further education (FE) colleges and specialist training providers.

A wide range of government-funded programmes are available for construction employers who are considering hiring employees, offering work experience or upskilling existing staff. These include apprenticeships, T Levels, Skills Bootcamps, and Higher Technical Qualifications.

Together with employers, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) has developed 90 Apprenticeship standards in the Construction and Built Environment Sector. These apprenticeships provide hands-on experience and formal qualifications in retrofit, such as Heritage Construction Specialist. The department will continue to work with employers to support the growth of apprenticeships in these sectors and IfATE have published occupational maps on their website which display the apprenticeship progression opportunities in each occupation, including in heritage conservation, and construction. The occupational maps can be accessed on IfATE‘s website at: https://occupational-maps.instituteforapprenticeships.org/. These also specify if the occupation is embedded within the green occupational landscape and deliver sustainable outcomes.

Whilst i​t is a matter for providers to determine course content and the specialist teaching staff they need to deliver in all their provision, the department is supporting FE colleges to recruit and retain more construction FE teachers through the Taking Teacher Further programme, and the targeted retention incentive offer. In addition, we are exploring what more can be done to support dual professionals to work in FE, an approach whereby colleges recruit industry workers as part-time teachers.

The department supports vocational education and training programs that include repair, maintenance and retrofit skills. This includes funding for courses at further education (FE) colleges and specialist training providers.

A wide range of government-funded programmes are available for construction employers who are considering hiring employees, offering work experience or upskilling existing staff. These include apprenticeships, T Levels, Skills Bootcamps, and Higher Technical Qualifications.

Together with employers, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) has developed 90 Apprenticeship standards in the Construction and Built Environment Sector. These apprenticeships provide hands-on experience and formal qualifications in retrofit, such as Heritage Construction Specialist. The department will continue to work with employers to support the growth of apprenticeships in these sectors and IfATE have published occupational maps on their website which display the apprenticeship progression opportunities in each occupation, including in heritage conservation, and construction. The occupational maps can be accessed on IfATE‘s website at: https://occupational-maps.instituteforapprenticeships.org/. These also specify if the occupation is embedded within the green occupational landscape and deliver sustainable outcomes.

Whilst i​t is a matter for providers to determine course content and the specialist teaching staff they need to deliver in all their provision, the department is supporting FE colleges to recruit and retain more construction FE teachers through the Taking Teacher Further programme, and the targeted retention incentive offer. In addition, we are exploring what more can be done to support dual professionals to work in FE, an approach whereby colleges recruit industry workers as part-time teachers.

All young people should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum with a range of qualification routes and choices. The government is considering the next steps for a natural history GCSE.

High and rising school standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best life chances. The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, an expert in education policy, including curriculum and social inequality. The review, which covers ages 5 to 18, will ensure that the curriculum appropriately balances ambition, excellence, relevance, flexibility and inclusivity for all children and young people. The review group will publish an interim report early in 2025 setting out their initial findings and confirming the key areas for further work. The final report with recommendations will be published in autumn 2025.

The Government has no specific targets relating to specialist local authority conservation officers. I refer the noble lady to the answer given to PQ 16501 on 5 December 2024 set out details of the Government’s investment to support capacity and capability in local authorities more generally. This will be further underpinned by increases in planning fees that will help improve the resourcing of planning application services, so that local planning authorities can fund the skills they need, including conservation officers.

We have set out in our Renters’ Rights Bill Impact Assessment our plans for a phased approach to monitoring and evaluating the legislation, in line with the Department’s Evaluation Strategy.

During the preparation phase we will develop further the framework for evaluating the outcomes we expect to see, and to identify and resolve any data gaps. A range of existing data, and new data generated from the reforms themselves, will be used for evaluation. This will include data from the Private Rented Sector Database.