Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to training opportunities in the food and drink industry through the Government's Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The Skills for Jobs White Paper, published in January 2021, sets out our blueprint to reform post-16 education and training. It is focused on giving people the skills they need in a way that suits them so they can get good jobs in all sectors, including the food and drink industry.
A range of provision is already available for people of all ages to equip them with the skills and experience they need to progress in their chosen careers, including traineeships, which provide unemployed young people with employability training and work experience.
We have also launched T Levels, which are a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. With longer teaching hours and a meaningful, 45-day minimum industry placement, employer-designed T Levels will be excellent preparation for skilled work or further training. The T Level catering pathway will be launched in 2023.
There are a variety of high-quality apprenticeship standards in food and drink manufacturing available for employers to use. They include, but are not limited to, food and drink advanced engineer, baker and senior culinary chef.
Through the free courses for jobs offer, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, we are making courses available that address skills need in the economy, offer good wage outcomes and empower adults with the tools they need to secure a better job.
We have identified hundreds of courses that can give adults the skills they need in the labour market. These qualifications include those that can support employers regardless of their sector, including those in the food and drink industry, with courses in business, accountancy, engineering, marketing and a variety of digital qualifications. We are keeping the list of qualifications and the sector subject areas in scope under review and will consider requests for including courses that meet the published criteria. We have already added more qualifications to the original list. Those qualifications met all the criteria published on GOV.UK.
Qualifications not included in this offer will still be eligible for Advanced Learner Loans (ALL). ALL are income contingent loans that provide extensive coverage of regulated qualifications from level 3 to level 6, helping to meet up front tuition fees. In the 2019/20 academic year, there were applications to study at nearly 450 training providers, and over 3000 qualifications are currently in scope.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of adding food and drink courses to the list of Level 3 qualifications available under the Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The Skills for Jobs White Paper, published in January 2021, sets out our blueprint to reform post-16 education and training. It is focused on giving people the skills they need in a way that suits them so they can get good jobs in all sectors, including the food and drink industry.
A range of provision is already available for people of all ages to equip them with the skills and experience they need to progress in their chosen careers, including traineeships, which provide unemployed young people with employability training and work experience.
We have also launched T Levels, which are a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. With longer teaching hours and a meaningful, 45-day minimum industry placement, employer-designed T Levels will be excellent preparation for skilled work or further training. The T Level catering pathway will be launched in 2023.
There are a variety of high-quality apprenticeship standards in food and drink manufacturing available for employers to use. They include, but are not limited to, food and drink advanced engineer, baker and senior culinary chef.
Through the free courses for jobs offer, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, we are making courses available that address skills need in the economy, offer good wage outcomes and empower adults with the tools they need to secure a better job.
We have identified hundreds of courses that can give adults the skills they need in the labour market. These qualifications include those that can support employers regardless of their sector, including those in the food and drink industry, with courses in business, accountancy, engineering, marketing and a variety of digital qualifications. We are keeping the list of qualifications and the sector subject areas in scope under review and will consider requests for including courses that meet the published criteria. We have already added more qualifications to the original list. Those qualifications met all the criteria published on GOV.UK.
Qualifications not included in this offer will still be eligible for Advanced Learner Loans (ALL). ALL are income contingent loans that provide extensive coverage of regulated qualifications from level 3 to level 6, helping to meet up front tuition fees. In the 2019/20 academic year, there were applications to study at nearly 450 training providers, and over 3000 qualifications are currently in scope.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Lifetime Skills Guarantee meets the needs of food and drink employers.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The Skills for Jobs White Paper, published in January 2021, sets out our blueprint to reform post-16 education and training. It is focused on giving people the skills they need in a way that suits them so they can get good jobs in all sectors, including the food and drink industry.
A range of provision is already available for people of all ages to equip them with the skills and experience they need to progress in their chosen careers, including traineeships, which provide unemployed young people with employability training and work experience.
We have also launched T Levels, which are a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. With longer teaching hours and a meaningful, 45-day minimum industry placement, employer-designed T Levels will be excellent preparation for skilled work or further training. The T Level catering pathway will be launched in 2023.
There are a variety of high-quality apprenticeship standards in food and drink manufacturing available for employers to use. They include, but are not limited to, food and drink advanced engineer, baker and senior culinary chef.
Through the free courses for jobs offer, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, we are making courses available that address skills need in the economy, offer good wage outcomes and empower adults with the tools they need to secure a better job.
We have identified hundreds of courses that can give adults the skills they need in the labour market. These qualifications include those that can support employers regardless of their sector, including those in the food and drink industry, with courses in business, accountancy, engineering, marketing and a variety of digital qualifications. We are keeping the list of qualifications and the sector subject areas in scope under review and will consider requests for including courses that meet the published criteria. We have already added more qualifications to the original list. Those qualifications met all the criteria published on GOV.UK.
Qualifications not included in this offer will still be eligible for Advanced Learner Loans (ALL). ALL are income contingent loans that provide extensive coverage of regulated qualifications from level 3 to level 6, helping to meet up front tuition fees. In the 2019/20 academic year, there were applications to study at nearly 450 training providers, and over 3000 qualifications are currently in scope.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that students develop adequate skills to meet the needs of food and drink employers throughout the UK.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The Skills for Jobs White Paper, published in January 2021, sets out our blueprint to reform post-16 education and training. It is focused on giving people the skills they need in a way that suits them so they can get good jobs in all sectors, including the food and drink industry.
A range of provision is already available for people of all ages to equip them with the skills and experience they need to progress in their chosen careers, including traineeships, which provide unemployed young people with employability training and work experience.
We have also launched T Levels, which are a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. With longer teaching hours and a meaningful, 45-day minimum industry placement, employer-designed T Levels will be excellent preparation for skilled work or further training. The T Level catering pathway will be launched in 2023.
There are a variety of high-quality apprenticeship standards in food and drink manufacturing available for employers to use. They include, but are not limited to, food and drink advanced engineer, baker and senior culinary chef.
Through the free courses for jobs offer, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, we are making courses available that address skills need in the economy, offer good wage outcomes and empower adults with the tools they need to secure a better job.
We have identified hundreds of courses that can give adults the skills they need in the labour market. These qualifications include those that can support employers regardless of their sector, including those in the food and drink industry, with courses in business, accountancy, engineering, marketing and a variety of digital qualifications. We are keeping the list of qualifications and the sector subject areas in scope under review and will consider requests for including courses that meet the published criteria. We have already added more qualifications to the original list. Those qualifications met all the criteria published on GOV.UK.
Qualifications not included in this offer will still be eligible for Advanced Learner Loans (ALL). ALL are income contingent loans that provide extensive coverage of regulated qualifications from level 3 to level 6, helping to meet up front tuition fees. In the 2019/20 academic year, there were applications to study at nearly 450 training providers, and over 3000 qualifications are currently in scope.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed in his Department's human resources section in April 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of full-time equivalent staff employed within HR as of April 2020 was 117.7.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to promote careers in the food and drink manufacturing industry.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Apprenticeships will have an important role to play in creating employment opportunities, particularly for young people, and in supporting employers in all sectors to access the skilled workforce that they need to recover and grow following the COVID-19 outbreak. We recognise that employers, at the moment, face increased challenges with hiring new apprentices and so we will introduce a new payment of £2,000 to employers in England for each new apprentice they hire aged under 25, and a £1,500 payment for each new apprentice they hire aged 25 and over, from 1 August 2020 to 31 January 2021. Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-treasury. We will also ensure that there is sufficient funding to support small businesses wanting to take on an apprentice this year.
We have introduced a broad range of flexibilities, including encouraging the remote delivery of apprenticeships, to ensure that apprentices can continue with their learning as far as possible and to support the continued take-up of apprenticeships: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-apprenticeship-programme-response/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-apprentices-employers-training-providers-end-point-assessment-organisations-and-external-quality-assurance-pro.
We work closely with employers and organisations in the food and drink sector, including the Food & Drink Federation, to promote the benefits of apprenticeships and we are supporting the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink’s plans to facilitate levy transfers between employers. In addition, we are arranging a series of webinars to update employers and intermediary organisations on the latest apprenticeship developments and to offer guidance to help employers make the most of our apprenticeship reforms and funding support offer. There are over 560 high-quality apprenticeship standards available for employers to use; a variety of these are in food and drink manufacturing including, baker, food and drink advanced engineer, and senior culinary chef.
It is important for young people to have information on a wide range of jobs and careers. It is also important for them to have encounters with a variety of employers in different sectors to inspire them about a broad range of opportunities and what they can achieve. The Careers & Enterprise Company is making sure that every young person has access to high quality and inspiring encounters with employers from a variety of sectors, which may include the food and drink manufacturing industry. The National Careers Service provides independent, professional advice on careers, skills and the labour market. Information on a variety of careers, including those in the food and drink manufacturing industry, can be found on the National Careers Service website.
HM Treasury will provide £32 million in additional funding to the Department for Education over the next two years. The funding will ensure that 269,000 more people in England will receive impartial and tailored information, advice and guidance to meet their individual needs and circumstances within the context of current economic circumstances. The careers advice provided will draw on labour market trends and growth areas including opportunities available in the food and drink manufacturing industry.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to apprenticeships in the food and drink manufacturing sector.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Apprenticeships will have an important role to play in creating employment opportunities, particularly for young people, and in supporting employers in all sectors to access the skilled workforce that they need to recover and grow following the COVID-19 outbreak. We recognise that employers, at the moment, face increased challenges with hiring new apprentices and so we will introduce a new payment of £2,000 to employers in England for each new apprentice they hire aged under 25, and a £1,500 payment for each new apprentice they hire aged 25 and over, from 1 August 2020 to 31 January 2021. Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-treasury. We will also ensure that there is sufficient funding to support small businesses wanting to take on an apprentice this year.
We have introduced a broad range of flexibilities, including encouraging the remote delivery of apprenticeships, to ensure that apprentices can continue with their learning as far as possible and to support the continued take-up of apprenticeships: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-apprenticeship-programme-response/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-apprentices-employers-training-providers-end-point-assessment-organisations-and-external-quality-assurance-pro.
We work closely with employers and organisations in the food and drink sector, including the Food & Drink Federation, to promote the benefits of apprenticeships and we are supporting the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink’s plans to facilitate levy transfers between employers. In addition, we are arranging a series of webinars to update employers and intermediary organisations on the latest apprenticeship developments and to offer guidance to help employers make the most of our apprenticeship reforms and funding support offer. There are over 560 high-quality apprenticeship standards available for employers to use; a variety of these are in food and drink manufacturing including, baker, food and drink advanced engineer, and senior culinary chef.
It is important for young people to have information on a wide range of jobs and careers. It is also important for them to have encounters with a variety of employers in different sectors to inspire them about a broad range of opportunities and what they can achieve. The Careers & Enterprise Company is making sure that every young person has access to high quality and inspiring encounters with employers from a variety of sectors, which may include the food and drink manufacturing industry. The National Careers Service provides independent, professional advice on careers, skills and the labour market. Information on a variety of careers, including those in the food and drink manufacturing industry, can be found on the National Careers Service website.
HM Treasury will provide £32 million in additional funding to the Department for Education over the next two years. The funding will ensure that 269,000 more people in England will receive impartial and tailored information, advice and guidance to meet their individual needs and circumstances within the context of current economic circumstances. The careers advice provided will draw on labour market trends and growth areas including opportunities available in the food and drink manufacturing industry.
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary school teaching assistants there were in (a) 2000, (b) 2005, (c) 2010 and (d) 2015.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants in service in state funded nursery and primary schools in January 2000, 2005, 2010 and November 2015.
| January | November | ||
| 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 |
Teaching Assistants | 53,400 | 97,900 | 126,300 | 174,500 |
Source: School Workforce Census
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many secondary school teaching assistants there were in (a) 2000, (b) 2005, (c) 2010 and (d) 2015.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants in service in state funded secondary schools in January 2000, 2005, 2010 and November 2015.
| January | November | ||
| 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 |
Teaching Assistants | 12,500 | 30,000 | 39,900 | 52,300 |
Source: School Workforce Census
Asked by: John Stevenson (Conservative - Carlisle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school academies there were in (i) Cumbria and (ii) England and Wales in (A) 2012-13 and (B) 2013-14.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The number of academies in England and Cumbria is shown in the table below.
Number of open academies1 by phase in England2, January 2013 and January 2014
Primary
| Secondary
| |||
January 2013 | January 2014 | January 2013 | January 2014 | |
(i) Cumbria local authority
| 12 | 13 | 17 | 18 |
(ii) England
| 1,006 | 1,789 | 1,638 | 1,893 |
Notes:
Including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools.
The figures provided are for England only. The academies policy does not apply to Wales and education policy in Wales is devolved to the National Assembly for Wales.