Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Question 26922 on Waste Disposal: Monitoring, what progress she has made on the introduction of the Digital Waste Tracking Service.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has made good progress on implementing Digital Waste Tracking.
As announced in July 2025 Defra is implementing digital waste tracking through a phased approach beginning with a service for permitted waste receiving site operators.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that 16 to 18-year-olds leave school with access to employment, apprenticeships or training opportunities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We are supporting young people to stay on and succeed in education and training until at least age 18, and ensure they can take up opportunities to move into work and/or further study. For example, eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, backed by £90 million, are helping young people access support for training, apprenticeships or work.
We have introduced foundation apprenticeships and are expanding them into more sectors, like hospitality and retail.
We will ensure that a post-16 destination is identified for every year 11 pupil, and those most at risk of becoming NEET receive personalised transition support
We are piloting the automatic allocation of a place at a further education (FE) provider for anyone aged 16-17 who doesn’t already have one.
We are also investing in improved Risk of NEET Indicator tools and attendance tracking in FE, so that young people at risk of falling out of education are identified and supported.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of careers advice and post-16 employment support provided by secondary schools to pupils who do not intend to follow a further education or college route.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Through our commitments to improve careers advice in schools and to deliver two weeks’ worth of work experience for every young person, we are bridging the gap between the curriculum and the world of work.
The updated Gatsby Benchmarks have been adopted into statutory guidance. The benchmarks provide a framework for good career guidance, tailored to meet each pupil’s needs, with insights into a broad range of career pathways.
Our ambition for a minimum of two week’s worth of work experience by year 11 will further improve employability. Pupils from all backgrounds will be given access to progressive, high quality workplace experiences throughout their education journey.
Evidence shows that these measures will support pupils to make successful transitions from education into training or employment. There is an established link between schools that achieve higher Gatsby Benchmark scores and improved education, employment and training rates for their pupils at post-16 and post-18.