Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether additional funding will be made available to students from England on graduate entry medicine courses under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, the government will make available an additional entitlement for priority subjects and longer courses, above an individual’s core four year entitlement.
Learners will be able to access this additional entitlement to study a limited number of priority subjects, such as medicine. This will ensure that learners can always gain skills in priority areas, regardless of remaining entitlement or previous qualifications.
In 2025, the department will outline in more detail the specific courses that will be eligible for this additional entitlement.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of students whose Universal Credit has been affected by receipt of a student loan in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information is not readily available as student loan income is not separated in the data we have and to provide this would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) farmers and (b) landowners are aware of relevant funding initiatives under the ELM scheme which are available to help them comply with environmental objectives.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra regularly communicates and engages with farmers and landowners through a range of methods. Links to Defra’s grants and schemes are available through https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-farmers, a single webpage designed to make it easier for farmers and landowners to be aware of opportunities available. Regular updates explaining schemes and updating on changes are made through https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/ , which includes a subscription function so users can receive e-mail updates when new posts are published. Defra ministers and engagement teams regularly meet with stakeholders and members of the agricultural community in order to share and discuss Defra’s grants and schemes, including attending agricultural shows and other stakeholder events.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will relaunch the Kickstart scheme.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are currently no plans to relaunch The Kickstart Scheme.
The Kickstart Scheme was a time-limited response to the effects of the pandemic economic downturn on young people. The scheme came to an end in September 2022 with over 163,000 Kickstart jobs started by young people since its launch.
There continue to be a range of initiatives businesses can get involved in to give opportunities and experience to young people, including apprenticeships, mentoring circles, and work experience. Our Strategic Relationships Team continuously work to connect DWP with employers and partners to strengthen working relationships and to build new opportunities to support young people back to work. This will be strengthened with the introduction of the Youth Guarantee which was announced in The Get Britain Working White Paper.
The Youth Guarantee is for all 18-21 year olds to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work to reduce the number of young people not earning or learning.
Learning from the evaluation of the Kickstart scheme is also being utilised in the design of other employment support.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) school and (b) higher education leavers are supported into meaningful employment, and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of piloting initiatives to address barriers to workforce entry for young people nationally.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is developing a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education and skills, to break down barriers to opportunity, support the development of a skilled workforce and drive economic growth through the government’s Industrial Strategy.
The department is committed to working collaboratively with the sector to bring forward this strategy, building on the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the introduction of Skills England and with a continued focus on lifelong learning.
The department’s vision for a Youth Guarantee will ensure all young people aged 18 to 21 have the opportunity to access the education, training, apprenticeship or employment support they need to open up job and career opportunities. It also looks to strengthen the support for 16 to 17-year-olds who are at risk of or have disengaged from sustained participation in education and learning.
The guarantee will bring together and enhance provision and support for young people by providing tailored support for 18 to 21-year-olds into further learning and onto fulfilling work who may need additional help. The guarantee will address personal barriers, such as mental or physical health, care giving responsibilities, homelessness or transport. Additionally, it will enable preparation for employment and, through work experience, offer additional careers advisers and a new National Jobs and Careers Service.
The guarantee will also help 18 to 21-year-olds to access education and training opportunities locally and will build on wider system improvements including Skills England, the new foundation apprenticeship, the Lifelong Learning Entitlement and the Growth and Skills offer.
The Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions are developing the guarantee with mayoral authorities to provide local, tailored support and will work with local areas on future expansion. The department will launch eight Trailblazers in England from spring 2025 backed by up to £45 million in funding.
High-quality careers advice is an essential part of the government’s missions to break down the barriers to opportunity and to drive economic growth. Secondary schools are legally required to provide independent careers guidance on the full range of education and training options and offer at least six opportunities for providers of technical education or apprenticeships to speak to all pupils during years 8 to 13.
Additionally, in secondary education, the department is boosting work readiness with its plan to guarantee two weeks’ worth of work experience for every young person. The department wants to see multiple, targeted workplace experiences with all types of businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises and growth sectors. The department is funding pilots initially with a focus on identifying what works. To ensure every young person can get the expert advice they need, the department will train 1,000 careers advisers. These ambitions are vital to ensuring that young people develop relevant skills for work and are supported to make successful transitions from education and training into meaningful employment.
The Office for Students also holds higher education providers to account for students' employment outcomes. Providers are expected to offer high-quality careers support and ensure that at least 60% of their students’ progress into professional employment or further study within 15 months of graduating.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Pension Credit applications have been received in South Devon constituency since 22 August 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 28 November we published national Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes from 29 July 2024 to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK
Data is captured weekly and cannot be broken down further to give a figure from 22 August 2024 exactly. The statistics show that 128,000 Pension Credit claims were received between 19 August 2024 and 17 November 2024. This figure has been rounded to the nearest 1000.
Please note, the figures presented are from DWP’s Pension Credit system which has previously been collected for internal departmental operations use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards.
We do not currently hold data at a constituency level.