Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the uptake in maritime qualifications in schools and colleges.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
Provision is already available for both those under 16 in a school setting seeking to understand more about the industry, and for post-16 students studying at level 2 and 3, who may be seeking to undertake a qualification to progress into an apprenticeship or into employment and wish to take a qualification which will involve a work-based setting.
There are around 40 qualifications focusing on aspects of maritime studies approved for funding for young people and adults, some of which are available only to adults. Others are available to those of school age or in further education. There are 12 apprenticeship standards in this sector approved for delivery, including Maritime Mechanical and Electrical Mechanic, Marine Surveyor, and Seafarer.
The Careers & Enterprise Company is supporting schools and colleges to embed best practice in the delivery of careers information, advice, and guidance, so young people are aware of the full range of training and careers available to them and have access to a broad range of employers and workplaces, including those in the maritime sector. This will be delivered through the national roll-out of Career Hubs, Careers Leaders training, and the Enterprise Adviser Network.
The department has established the UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce (UKSST). This group is made up of representatives from across industry, trade unions, and training providers. It will look to address skills barriers in the sector by utilising and catalysing existing skills provisions. As part of this, existing provision will be reviewed to see how it can best meet the present skills demand and future needs. UKSST’s work will be driven by the needs of stakeholders from across the sector.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve the standard of children services provision in Sefton.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
A Statutory Direction was issued to Sefton on 24 May 2022 following the 9 May 2022 Ofsted report that judged children’s services to be inadequate. The direction requires the Council to work with a commissioner appointed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. In addition, the commissioner is conducting an assessment of the Council’s capacity and capability to improve itself and is in the process of finalising the report for submission to the department on the 30 September and later publication in October 2022. This report will help determine the best next steps to ensure improvements are made for vulnerable children and families.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that Sefton Council improves children's services in Southport following Ofsted rating those services inadequate.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
A Statutory Direction was issued to Sefton on 24 May 2022 following the 9 May 2022 Ofsted report that judged children’s services to be inadequate. The direction requires the Council to work with a commissioner appointed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. In addition, the commissioner is conducting an assessment of the Council’s capacity and capability to improve itself and is in the process of finalising the report for submission to the department on the 30 September and later publication in October 2022. This report will help determine the best next steps to ensure improvements are made for vulnerable children and families.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what legislative proposals the Government is planning to make to implement the Care Review.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department is now considering the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care carefully with those with care experience and all interested stakeholders. This also includes recommendations relating to legislation.
The department will publish an implementation strategy later this year, which will set out how we will improve children’s social care.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is planning to take in the proposed 10-year suicide prevention strategy that will help tackle suicides among school and university students.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The government is committed to doing all we can to prevent suicides. We continue to work with experts and to review our plans to ensure they are fit for the future. The mental health and wellbeing of students in schools and universities, including suicide prevention, is a government priority. The department has been working closely with higher education (HE) providers, schools and health colleagues to ensure students are supported.
As part of a coordinated, whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing, the department is committed to ensuring schools provide safe, calm, and supportive environments, with access to early, targeted support. This is vital in preventing the onset, progression, and escalation of ill mental health. We are enabling schools to introduce effective, whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing by committing to offer all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. This is backed by £10 million in 2022/23. Over 8,000 schools and colleges, including half of state-funded secondary schools in England, have signed up so far.
The department is also expanding access to early, targeted mental health support by increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in schools and colleges to 400 by 2023, covering around 35% of pupils in England, with over 500 planned to be up and running by 2024.
Alongside these initiatives, we are promoting good mental health amongst children and young people through the school curriculum. Health education is compulsory in all schools and has a strong focus on mental wellbeing. Pupils are taught where and how to seek support for themselves as well as others. At secondary level, teachers may choose to discuss issues such as self-harm, addiction, and suicide when teaching these topics.
In addition to this, the department is funding a large-scale randomised control trial of approaches to improve pupil mental health and wellbeing in schools. The ‘Aware’ arm of the trial is testing approaches to mental health awareness teaching, including Youth Aware of Mental Health, which has good international evidence of reducing suicidal ideation. Moreover, colleges funded through the £5.4 million college collaboration fund have developed new ways to support student and staff mental health and wellbeing, with resources available to all further education providers online.
We also expect all universities to engage actively with suicide prevention, intervene to support students at risk, and act sensitively when a tragedy occurs.
The department supports the Suicide-Safer Universities framework, led by Universities UK (UUK) and Papyrus. This framework supports university leaders to prevent student suicides, and support students and families after the death of a student. Its approach has been widely adopted and is a key component of the University Mental Health Charter, led by Student Minds, which aims to raise standards in mental health provision across the sector.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase collaboration between colleges and employers.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
Local skills improvement plans (LSIPs) will place employers at the heart of local skills systems and facilitate direct and more dynamic working arrangements between employers, colleges, and other skills providers.
Building on the experience from last year’s trailblazers, the department is making good progress on rolling out LSIPs. On 1 September, we announced the designation of employer representative bodies to lead on the development of LSIPs in 37 of the 38 areas across the country. Once developed, LSIPs will set out the priorities for a local area to make technical education and skills training more responsive to employers’ needs, and to help people develop the skills they need to get good jobs.
LSIPs will build on the excellent provider-employer collaboration that has already been developed through apprenticeships, T Levels, and our wider skills reforms.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing investment in the care system.
Answered by Brendan Clarke-Smith
On 23 May 2022, the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care published its final recommendations. On the same day, the government set out the actions it is taking to improve children’s social care and committed to publishing a detailed and ambitious implementation strategy later this year.
We are now carefully assessing the review’s recommendations with all relevant government departments, including HM Treasury. Once we have agreed the broad shape of our reform programme, we will need to consider any cost implications.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) process and (b) criteria he will use to determine the membership of the National Implementation Board of experts for the Care Review.
Answered by Will Quince
On 23 May 2022, the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care published its final recommendations. On the same day, the government set out the actions it is taking to improve children’s social care and committed to publishing a detailed and ambitious implementation strategy later this year.
The National Implementation Board will include people with experience of leading transformational change and those with their own experience of the care system. The department will set out more details about the board in due course.
We are now carefully assessing the Review’s recommendations with all relevant government departments, including HM Treasury. Once we have agreed the broad shape of our reform programme, we will need to consider any cost implications.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will take steps to ensure that UCAS applicants who have undertaken qualifications that are equivalent to GCSEs are not penalised in their applications.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government works closely with schools, colleges, awarding organisations and the higher education (HE) sector to ensure that students’ interests are at the centre of decision-making, and to ensure that students have the time to carefully consider their options and make the best choices for their future.
As set out in the International Education Strategy, the government is committed to enhancing the international student experience, from application to employment. We work closely across government and the HE sector to achieve this.
Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous and independent institutions and are therefore responsible for their own admissions decisions. As such, HE providers are used to assessing a wide range of qualifications from domestic and international applicants to make fair admissions decisions.
UCAS is a charity, operating independently of the government. Prospective international and domestic applicants can find a range of information, advice and guidance on their website, and on the websites of their preferred providers.
The department is continuing to work with UCAS and sector bodies to improve transparency, reduce the use of unconditional offers, and reform the personal statement to improve fairness for domestic and international applicants of all backgrounds.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of the UCAS application process for people who attended school outside the UK when they were aged between 11 and 16.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government works closely with schools, colleges, awarding organisations and the higher education (HE) sector to ensure that students’ interests are at the centre of decision-making, and to ensure that students have the time to carefully consider their options and make the best choices for their future.
As set out in the International Education Strategy, the government is committed to enhancing the international student experience, from application to employment. We work closely across government and the HE sector to achieve this.
Higher education (HE) providers are autonomous and independent institutions and are therefore responsible for their own admissions decisions. As such, HE providers are used to assessing a wide range of qualifications from domestic and international applicants to make fair admissions decisions.
UCAS is a charity, operating independently of the government. Prospective international and domestic applicants can find a range of information, advice and guidance on their website, and on the websites of their preferred providers.
The department is continuing to work with UCAS and sector bodies to improve transparency, reduce the use of unconditional offers, and reform the personal statement to improve fairness for domestic and international applicants of all backgrounds.