Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether students will be able to enrol on all existing applied general qualifications up to and including the 2026-27 academic year.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In July 2024, my Right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced a short pause to the defunding of qualifications to enable a review of post-16 qualification reforms at Level 3 and below. The review will begin immediately and will examine the current planned qualification reforms as well as looking at how to ensure young people have high-quality Level 3 pathways.
To allow space for this short review, the department paused the planned removal of 16 to 19 funding from Level 3 qualifications in Construction and the Built Environment, Digital, Education and Early Years, and Health and Science that was due to take place on 31 July 2024. This will mean that, subject to any commercial decisions made by awarding organisations on these qualifications, these qualifications can be funded for 16 to 19 year old students in the 2024/25 academic year. The list of qualifications that will continue to be available until September 2025 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/qualifications-that-overlap-with-t-levels?_hsenc=p2ANqtz--hLlQbHfWVlKlYVePivcjDOKIc1BLwm20ObP9qiGiSsqjYOBoL7Bc6uRQOeVggoXVSHHjy. If a student is enrolled on a two-year course of study in September 2024, they will be funded for the full length of the qualification.
The department will conclude and communicate the outcomes of the short review into qualifications reform at Level 3 and below before the end of 2024.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many seafarer apprentices have been trained by private shipping companies operating in the UK since 17 March 2022.
Answered by Robert Halfon
There were 50 apprenticeship starts in England on the Seafarer (Deck Rating) apprenticeship standard in the 2021/22 academic year, 40 starts in 2022/23 and 20 starts reported so far, August to October, for 2023/24. The department cannot identify whether the apprenticeship employer is a private shipping company.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2022 to Question 37614 on Schools: Buildings, which schools in Kingston upon Hull East constituency had at least one construction element in (a) condition grade C and (b) condition grade D when that data was collated; and which of those schools (a) have already received funding from the School Rebuilding Programme and (b) are expected to receive funding from the School Rebuilding Programme in the next two years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Condition Data Collection (CDC) is one of the largest and most comprehensive data collection programmes in the UK’s public sector. It collected data on the building condition of government funded schools in England. It provides a robust evidence base to enable the Department to target capital funding for maintaining and rebuilding school buildings.
The key, high level findings of the CDC programme were published in May 2021 in the ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey: Key Findings’ report. This is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Individual CDC reports have been shared with every school and their responsible body to use alongside their existing condition surveys to plan maintenance schedules and investment plans. The Department plans to publish detailed school level CDC data. The Department is still preparing the data and will publish it as soon as possible.
Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department. Our funding is directed both to maintaining the condition of the school estate and rebuilding schools. The Department has allocated over £13 billion for improving the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year.
The ten year School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) is condition led. 400 of the 500 available places on the programme have been provisionally allocated. A list of these schools and the methodology used to select them is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
Of the 400 so far selected, none are in Kingston upon Hull East constituency. There is one school in City of Kingston upon Hull Local Authority.
The 239 schools announced in December 2022 will enter delivery at a rate of approximately 50 per year, over a five year period from 2023. The Department is currently undertaking due diligence on these schools prior to scheduling them, with schools prioritised according to the condition of their buildings, readiness to proceed, and efficiency of delivery. The scope and funding for each project will be confirmed following detailed feasibility studies and condition surveys of buildings.
Where a school identifies significant safety issues with a building, that cannot be managed within local resources, the Department considers additional support on a case-by-case basis. This includes applications for Urgent Capital Support (UCS) from eligible institutions. Schools eligible for Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) can apply for UCS where there are urgent health and safety issues that threaten school closure and cannot wait until the next CIF bidding round.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help apprentices catch up on practical learning missed due to the closure of colleges.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
We are committed to supporting apprentices to safely continue and complete their apprenticeship.
Apprentices have been able to continue their training remotely and in COVID-safe workplaces, and apprentices who were due to undertake their end-point assessment in January, February or March are able to return to training providers’ venues if they need practical training.
Following the announcement from my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on 22 February 2021, all further education learners and apprentices can return and access face-to-face teaching in training providers’ premises from 8 March 2021.
We have introduced a range of flexibilities to enable apprenticeships to continue wherever possible. Where training cannot continue, or where the remote delivery of off-the-job training or lack of access to the workplace compromises the quality of the apprenticeship, the employer or provider should initiate a break in the apprentice’s learning. When apprentices resume training, providers will be able to consider whether and how to reschedule the training to ensure the apprentice has every opportunity to complete their apprenticeship at the planned time.
We continue to work with employers, training providers and end-point assessment organisations to provide support and flexibilities to ensure apprentices have the necessary skills and knowledge to complete their apprenticeship programmes. Our guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-apprenticeship-programme-response.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to make additional funding available for the future of the Primary PE and Sport Premium scheme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government will confirm arrangements for the PE and Sport Premium in the 2020-21 academic year as soon as possible. The position for the 2021-22 academic year and beyond will be considered at the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many maritime apprenticeship starts there were in the Yorkshire and Humber region in each year from 2015-16 to 2018-19; and how many such apprenticehsips there have been in that region to date in 2019-20.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The attached table shows the number of apprenticeship starts in maritime-related apprenticeships in the Yorkshire and the Humber region from 2015/16 to Quarter 1 of 2019/20.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing an apprenticeship scheme for pilots.
Answered by Anne Milton
Our apprenticeship programme is demand-led, and employers are empowered to drive the development of the apprenticeship standards they need to make a sustainable investment in training and grow their businesses.
New, high-quality apprenticeship standards are developed by employer-led trailblazer groups with the support of the independent Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA). A standard for ‘first officer pilot’ is currently under development by a trailblazer group led by TUI, with the participation of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and the Royal Air Force. The standard has been approved and published and the IfA is currently reviewing the end-point assessment plan.
We will continue to work with employers and sector bodies to understand how apprenticeships can continue to address skills needs in all sectors of the economy.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing an apprenticeship scheme for pilots to tackle the skills shortage in the aviation industry.
Answered by Anne Milton
Our apprenticeship programme is demand-led, and employers are empowered to drive the development of the apprenticeship standards they need to make a sustainable investment in training and grow their businesses.
New, high-quality apprenticeship standards are developed by employer-led trailblazer groups with the support of the independent Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA). A standard for ‘first officer pilot’ is currently under development by a trailblazer group led by TUI, with the participation of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and the Royal Air Force. The standard has been approved and published and the IfA is currently reviewing the end-point assessment plan.
We will continue to work with employers and sector bodies to understand how apprenticeships can continue to address skills needs in all sectors of the economy.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to prioritise approval of standard for Maritime Caterer Apprenticeship between her Department and the Maritime Trailblazer Working Group.
Answered by Anne Milton
The Institute for Apprenticeships is an independent body with responsibility for the development and approval of apprenticeship standards. I have therefore asked the Institute to write to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East, Karl Turner, directly responding to the questions about the Maritime Caterer Apprenticeship. A copy of that response will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses when it is available.
Asked by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times the standard for Maritime Caterer Apprenticeship submitted to her Department by the Maritime Trailblazer Working Group has been rejected since her Department assumed responsibility for apprenticeships policy.
Answered by Anne Milton
The Institute for Apprenticeships is an independent body with responsibility for the development and approval of apprenticeship standards. I have therefore asked the Institute to write to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East, Karl Turner, directly responding to the questions about the Maritime Caterer Apprenticeship. A copy of that response will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses when it is available.