Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department holds data on the number of teaching staff fined for breaking covid-19 related restrictions in the workplace.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department does not hold information on the number of teaching staff fined for breaking COVID-19 related restrictions in the workplace.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to introduce an appeals process for businesses that have made an out of time application for funding for apprenticeship training as a result of inaccurate advice given by training providers.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department is committed to supporting employers and apprentices to benefit from the high-quality training that an apprenticeship offers. We introduced incentive payments as part of the Plan for Jobs to support employers to offer apprenticeships to new hires between 1 August 2020 and 31 January 2022.
The incentive payment scheme was implemented across three phases, with extensions and new phases developed in response to the national impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the expansion of the Plan for Jobs package.
From the onset of the scheme, we have communicated extensively to employers and providers that, as the employer receives the incentive payment directly, it is their responsibility to apply for the payment.
Deadlines for each phase of the scheme and how to apply have been communicated in a number of ways. This includes through direct emails to all apprentice employers, notifications in employers’ apprenticeship service accounts, guidance on GOV.UK pages, posts on social media channels, and the apprenticeship funding rules.
There has been no formal obligation for training providers to inform employers of the process for applying for incentive payments, but we have communicated extensively with providers and intermediary organisations so that they have the same information as employers. Training providers may have chosen to share information or offer guidance to their employers on the incentives scheme as part of their activities to support the smooth running of an employer’s apprenticeship programme.
Due to our extensive communications to employers, we have no plans to introduce an appeals process for employers who missed the deadline. We do not hold information on the number, or details, of employers that did not submit an application for an incentive payment in time.
Over 170,000 incentive payment claims have been submitted by employers as of February 2022. Employers of all sizes can continue to access government funding for apprenticeship training and assessment and we continue to offer £1,000 payments to employers and providers when they hire apprentices aged 16 to 18.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department informed apprenticeship training providers that businesses using their services would have to make direct applications to his Department for funding; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department is committed to supporting employers and apprentices to benefit from the high-quality training that an apprenticeship offers. We introduced incentive payments as part of the Plan for Jobs to support employers to offer apprenticeships to new hires between 1 August 2020 and 31 January 2022.
The incentive payment scheme was implemented across three phases, with extensions and new phases developed in response to the national impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the expansion of the Plan for Jobs package.
From the onset of the scheme, we have communicated extensively to employers and providers that, as the employer receives the incentive payment directly, it is their responsibility to apply for the payment.
Deadlines for each phase of the scheme and how to apply have been communicated in a number of ways. This includes through direct emails to all apprentice employers, notifications in employers’ apprenticeship service accounts, guidance on GOV.UK pages, posts on social media channels, and the apprenticeship funding rules.
There has been no formal obligation for training providers to inform employers of the process for applying for incentive payments, but we have communicated extensively with providers and intermediary organisations so that they have the same information as employers. Training providers may have chosen to share information or offer guidance to their employers on the incentives scheme as part of their activities to support the smooth running of an employer’s apprenticeship programme.
Due to our extensive communications to employers, we have no plans to introduce an appeals process for employers who missed the deadline. We do not hold information on the number, or details, of employers that did not submit an application for an incentive payment in time.
Over 170,000 incentive payment claims have been submitted by employers as of February 2022. Employers of all sizes can continue to access government funding for apprenticeship training and assessment and we continue to offer £1,000 payments to employers and providers when they hire apprentices aged 16 to 18.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what obligations apprenticeship training providers have to inform businesses of the processes and deadlines for applying to his Department for funding.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department is committed to supporting employers and apprentices to benefit from the high-quality training that an apprenticeship offers. We introduced incentive payments as part of the Plan for Jobs to support employers to offer apprenticeships to new hires between 1 August 2020 and 31 January 2022.
The incentive payment scheme was implemented across three phases, with extensions and new phases developed in response to the national impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the expansion of the Plan for Jobs package.
From the onset of the scheme, we have communicated extensively to employers and providers that, as the employer receives the incentive payment directly, it is their responsibility to apply for the payment.
Deadlines for each phase of the scheme and how to apply have been communicated in a number of ways. This includes through direct emails to all apprentice employers, notifications in employers’ apprenticeship service accounts, guidance on GOV.UK pages, posts on social media channels, and the apprenticeship funding rules.
There has been no formal obligation for training providers to inform employers of the process for applying for incentive payments, but we have communicated extensively with providers and intermediary organisations so that they have the same information as employers. Training providers may have chosen to share information or offer guidance to their employers on the incentives scheme as part of their activities to support the smooth running of an employer’s apprenticeship programme.
Due to our extensive communications to employers, we have no plans to introduce an appeals process for employers who missed the deadline. We do not hold information on the number, or details, of employers that did not submit an application for an incentive payment in time.
Over 170,000 incentive payment claims have been submitted by employers as of February 2022. Employers of all sizes can continue to access government funding for apprenticeship training and assessment and we continue to offer £1,000 payments to employers and providers when they hire apprentices aged 16 to 18.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of businesses that are out of time in their applications for apprenticeships funding for training provided by Paragon Skills; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department is committed to supporting employers and apprentices to benefit from the high-quality training that an apprenticeship offers. We introduced incentive payments as part of the Plan for Jobs to support employers to offer apprenticeships to new hires between 1 August 2020 and 31 January 2022.
The incentive payment scheme was implemented across three phases, with extensions and new phases developed in response to the national impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the expansion of the Plan for Jobs package.
From the onset of the scheme, we have communicated extensively to employers and providers that, as the employer receives the incentive payment directly, it is their responsibility to apply for the payment.
Deadlines for each phase of the scheme and how to apply have been communicated in a number of ways. This includes through direct emails to all apprentice employers, notifications in employers’ apprenticeship service accounts, guidance on GOV.UK pages, posts on social media channels, and the apprenticeship funding rules.
There has been no formal obligation for training providers to inform employers of the process for applying for incentive payments, but we have communicated extensively with providers and intermediary organisations so that they have the same information as employers. Training providers may have chosen to share information or offer guidance to their employers on the incentives scheme as part of their activities to support the smooth running of an employer’s apprenticeship programme.
Due to our extensive communications to employers, we have no plans to introduce an appeals process for employers who missed the deadline. We do not hold information on the number, or details, of employers that did not submit an application for an incentive payment in time.
Over 170,000 incentive payment claims have been submitted by employers as of February 2022. Employers of all sizes can continue to access government funding for apprenticeship training and assessment and we continue to offer £1,000 payments to employers and providers when they hire apprentices aged 16 to 18.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what indicators his Department uses to measure children's wellbeing nationally.
Answered by Will Quince
The wellbeing of children and young people is a priority for this government and is central to achieving its aims. The department uses several different courses of information to support its understanding of children and young people’s wellbeing, including the annual State of the Nation: children and young people’s wellbeing report. The report brings together publicly available data, including data on wellbeing collected regularly by the Office of National Statistics.
The latest State of the Nation report was published on 8 February 2022. Its findings highlight early signs that suggest children’s and young people’s wellbeing is gradually improving. The report also underlines the link between regular school attendance and positive welfare, emphasising the positive impact of face-to-face learning.
The department continues to monitor the emerging evidence on the experiences of children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure the short-term and long-term measures established by the government are informed by the most up-to-date evidence. Such evidence includes the regular surveillance reports on the impacts of the outbreak, including children and young people, conducted by Public Health England (PHE). PHE’s report on population mental health and wellbeing in England during the COVID-19 outbreak was most recently updated on 18 November 2021, and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-mental-health-and-wellbeing-surveillance-report.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of SEND children who are not in schools that adequately meet their needs; and what steps his Department is taking to improve educational provision for SEND children.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not held. However, the department publishes data on the number of children with special education needs and education, health and care (EHC) plans awaiting provision once a year. The department’s last published figure in May 2021 for the number of children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) who have an EHC plan who are not in schools and are awaiting provision was 1,460. Further information is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans.
The department has recently announced an additional £2.6 billion over the next 3 years for school places for children and young people with SEND. This is more than tripling current capital funding levels to over £900 million by the 2024-25 financial year.
The department is conducting a review of the SEND system and will publish proposals for public consultation as a green paper in the first 3 months of this year.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to allow (a) adoption above the age of 18 and (b) people to change who their parents are in law above the age of 18.
Answered by Will Quince
The legal framework for adoption only applies to the adoption of children up to 18 years of age. While an adoption order can be granted up to a person’s 19th birthday, an application to court to adopt must be made before a person’s 18th birthday.
Adoption is about ensuring a child has a permanent family, with the adopter taking legal and parental responsibility for them. Once a child becomes an adult at 18, they become legally responsible for themselves. Furthermore, legal processes, such as the making of a will, already enable individuals to pass on inheritance or financial rights without adoption being necessary. Similarly, the ability to legally change names through deed poll means that adoption is not the only way to share a family name. The government has no plans to change the law in this area.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to lower the student loan repayment threshold from £27,000 to £23,000.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We are committed to a sustainable funding model for our higher education system that supports high value provision, meets the skills needs of the country and maintains the world-class reputation of UK higher education.
The government is considering its response to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding carefully, including a range of options to ensure that student finance continues to deliver value for money for both students and the taxpayer, and will set out a full conclusion in due course.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will review the rule which requires school children in a bubble to isolate for 10 days in the event that one child in that bubble tests positive for covid-19.
Answered by Nick Gibb
From Step 4 of the roadmap, it will no longer be necessary to keep children and young people in consistent groups (‘bubbles’). This means that bubbles will not be required for any summer provision, for example summer schools, or in schools from the autumn term.
From Step 4, nurseries, schools and colleges will not routinely be required to undertake contact tracing for children and young people. Instead, pupils who test positive will be subject to the normal test and trace process, which will identify close contacts. This will be limited to very close contacts.
Unless they test positive, children and those who are double vaccinated will not be required to isolate from 16 August if they are identified as a close contact. Self-isolation continues for those who have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Department for Education has worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England to develop guidance for schools.