Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support children with special educational needs in the London Borough of Bexley.
Answered by David Johnston
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students who have started T-Level courses have not completed them in the last two years.
Answered by Luke Hall
The department’s recently published 2023/24 T Level Action Plan outlines the developments and next steps for T Levels and includes the latest student data for the programme. It shows that 5,321 students began their T Level in 2021/22. In summer 2023, 3,592 of those students were retained (68%), and 3,510 were retained and assessed (66%). Further data about T Levels, as well as details of the methodology used in the above can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66290c86b0ace32985a7e6d6/T_Level_action_plan_-_analytical_annex.pdf.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of potholes on drivers in Bexley.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Government has recently announced a £8.3 billion funding uplift for roads resurfacing across England between 2023/24 – 2033/34. As part of this it has provided the London Borough of Bexley Council with an additional £275,000 in 2023/24 and will provide a further £275,000 in 2024/25.
This money has been provided directly to the respective London Borough rather than via the Mayor of London. At a national level, the Department publishes statistics on gov.uk on the condition and maintenance of the highways in England.
Ultimately, however, under the 1980 Highway Act it is the responsibility of the local highway authority, in this case the London Borough of Bexley Council, to maintain and manage the highway network they are responsible for. In London, transport is a devolved matter, and the overall state of London’s roads is a matter for the Mayor.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department are taking to encourage businesses to invest in skills training.
Answered by Luke Hall
This government is committed to delivering a world-leading skills system which is employer-focused, high-quality, and fit for the future. The department’s reforms are backed with an investment of £3.8 billion over the course of this Parliament to strengthen higher and further education to help more people get good jobs, upskill and retrain throughout their lives and to improve national productivity.
Over 5,000 employers have been involved in the development of nearly 700 high-quality apprenticeships to meet their industry skills needs. To support employers of all sizes offer apprenticeships, the government has increased investment in apprenticeships to over £2.7 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This includes investing a further £60 million to meet overall increased employer demand for apprenticeships and encourage small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to take on young apprentices.
From April, the department pays 100% of training costs when SMEs take on new apprentices aged 16-21. Additionally, larger employers can now transfer more of their levy funds (50% increased from 25%) to support businesses of all sizes, which will help more employers to invest in apprenticeship training.
Skills Bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the chance to build sector-specific skills with an offer of a job interview on completion. Training providers work with employers to ensure training is designed to teach the skills employers need. To date, over 1000 employers have been involved in Skills Bootcamps. Employers play a range of roles from supporting the design and delivery of the training, to recruiting learners that complete training into a job, or an apprenticeship. Employers can also use Skills Bootcamps to upskill their existing employees, subject to a 10% contribution for SMEs and 30% contribution for large employers.
Institutes of Technology bring education and business closer together, creating unique collaborations between colleges, universities and industry which deliver higher-level technical education with a clear route to high skilled employment. The department has provided £300 million of capital funding for infrastructure and industry standard equipment to increase capacity to deliver level 4/5 technical skills. In addition, employer partners were encouraged to provide additional support (monetary and in kind) which for the wave 2 competition was set at 35% of value of capital expenditure.
In October 2023, the department launched a new website called Skills for Careers that provides a single digital front door to information about skills training options and careers. A link to Skills for Careers can be found here: https://www.skillsforcareers.education.gov.uk/pages/skills-for-life. From Skills for Careers, users are guided through government’s skills offer from apprenticeships to Skills Bootcamps, A levels to Multiply. The website provides an overview of each option along with information about writing job applications and CVs.
Across all areas of England, employer-led Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) have helped engage thousands of local businesses and have brought them together with local providers and stakeholders to collaboratively agree and deliver actions to address local skills needs. By giving employers a more strategic role in the skills system, LSIPs are helping to drive greater employer investment in skills and ensure businesses are more actively involved in the planning, design and delivery of skills provision.
Departmental officials are also working with the Office for Investment and Department for Business and Trade to provide support for investors to navigate the skills system at a national and local level and encourage take-up of government funded skills programmes and employer investment in skills, as well as build strategic partnerships with local education and training providers. Whilst it is not a core part of their role, some of the designated employer representative bodies leading the LSIPs have engaged with inward investors as part of developing and implementing their LSIPs.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many starts have been recorded for the Youth Offer in (a) Greater London, (b) Bexley Borough and (c) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency as of 21 March 2024.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
The Youth Offer launched 20 September 2020 and provides support for 16–24-year-olds who are on Universal Credit to help them move into employment. It includes three elements:
As of 01 March 2024, there have been 1,123,000 starts on the Youth Offer. Starts in the requested areas can be found in the table below.
The number of Youth Offer starts in (a) Greater London, (b) Bexley Borough and (c) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency as of 1st March 2024 | |
Greater London | 166,800 |
Bexley | 3,700 |
Bexleyheath and Crayford | 1,500 |
Attached are tables listing the number of Youth Offer starts to date by Region, Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many residential buildings have registered with the Cladding Safety Scheme in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) Bexley Borough as of 22 February 2024.
Answered by Lee Rowley
As of 26 February 2024, 2 residential buildings located in the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency have registered with the Cladding Safety Scheme; and in the wider Bexley borough, a further 3 residential buildings have registered with the Cladding Safety Scheme.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has allocated to Bexley Council for (a) pothole and (b) other road repairs in each year since 2015.
Answered by Guy Opperman
The Department has allocated a total of £1.333 million to the London Borough of Bexley for local highway maintenance since 2015, as part of one-off funding uplifts, as set out in the table below. Transport is a devolved matter in London, meaning that the Department for Transport does not routinely allocate highway maintenance funding to London boroughs.
Year | Funding Stream | Amount £ |
2017/18 | Pothole Action Fund | 80,000 |
2018/19 | Budget 2018 | 703,000 |
2023/24 | Roads Resurfacing Fund | 275,000 |
2024/25 | Roads Resurfacing Fund | 275,000 |
Total | 1,333,000 |
Over the period between 2023/24 - 2033/34, the London Borough of Bexley will receive a minimum of £8.345 million funding through the national Roads Resurfacing Fund, as announced within the Prime Minister’s Network North plan on 4 October 2023 and as set out on gov.uk.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to support growth in the tech sector.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
DSIT’s mission is to secure the UK’s status as a world-leading science and technology superpower by 2030; with communities in every corner of the country benefitting from the bold new discoveries, strong economic growth and high-skilled, high-paid jobs this will unlock.
We are building from a position of strength. The UK was the third country in the world to build a $1 trillion tech sector, in addition to having the largest tech ecosystem in Europe, and creating 152 unicorns since 2000 (as of 23rd January 2024). In 2023, UK tech companies raised $21.3bn of investment, more than France ($9.2bn) and Germany ($8.2bn) combined.
However, we cannot rest on our laurels. That is why in January, the Secretary of State announced the new Scaleup Forum which will bring together a group of established founders and bold investors to advise the Government on what it can do unlock the growth potential of British scale-ups and ensure that the scalable businesses of today can become the tech giants of tomorrow.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS has spent on treating obesity-related diseases in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
It was estimated that in 2021 obesity related ill-health cost the National Health Service £6.5 billion annually.
The NHS is committed to improving obesity care and other major causes of ill health through a preventive approach as outlined in the NHS’s Long Term Plan. It continues to offer support to the population, enabling them to take greater control of their own health and stay healthy for longer.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to raise public awareness of obesity-linked illnesses.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Department is committed to action on obesity including raising awareness of obesity related illness. The Department’s ‘Better Health’ campaigns provide resources including free evidence-based digital tools, highlight health effects of obesity, and support people to make and sustain changes to improve their health. They include the Better Health websites, email programmes, and NHS Weight Loss, Food Scanner, Couch to 5K and Active 10 apps.
The NHS Health Check assesses the top risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes, including body mass index. Each year the programme engages over one million people aged between 40 and 74 years old and identifies around 317,000 people living with obesity who are made aware of the risks of developing CVD and diabetes and are then provided with advice and support to reduce their risk and referral for treatment if needed.
We have also recently published a Major Conditions Strategy case for change which highlights risk factors, such as obesity, in contributing to diseases that are collectively the greatest contributors to ill-health and early mortality. We will be publishing a final strategy next year.