Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria his Department will use when deciding whether to extend the National School Breakfast Programme.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
I refer The hon. Member for North Durham to the answer I gave on 4 June 2019 to Question 259855.
Decisions regarding funding beyond March 2020 will be taken as part of the upcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to extend the National School Breakfast Programme to cover (a) more schools and (b) more children.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
I refer The hon. Member for North Durham to the answer I gave on 4 June 2019 to Question 259855.
Decisions regarding funding beyond March 2020 will be taken as part of the upcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to lower the number of children at risk of starting the school day too hungry to learn.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
I refer The hon. Member for North Durham to the answer I gave on 4 June 2019 to Question 259855.
Decisions regarding funding beyond March 2020 will be taken as part of the upcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to further engage with employer and employee representatives prior to the development of proposed five-year pharmacy apprenticeships.
Answered by Anne Milton
This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Sir Gerry Berragan, to write to the hon. Member for North Durham and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he made an assessment of the effect of Skills for Health representation of health organisations on its neutrality before commissioning Skills for Health to facilitate meetings between pharmacist employers on the five-year pharmacy apprenticeship.
Answered by Anne Milton
This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Sir Gerry Berragan, to write to the hon. Member for North Durham and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the names of the organisations which responded to the Institute for Apprenticeship and Technical Education's consultation regarding the introduction of a pharmacy apprenticeship scheme.
Answered by Anne Milton
This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Sir Gerry Berragan, to write to the hon. Member for North Durham and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the responses to the Institute for Apprenticeship and Technical Education's consultation on the introduction of a five-year pharmacy apprenticeship scheme.
Answered by Anne Milton
This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Sir Gerry Berragan, to write to the hon. Member for North Durham and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of whether the Institute for Apprenticeship and Technical Education's decision not to identify the participants of trailblazer groups is consistent with his Department's policy on openness and transparency.
Answered by Anne Milton
This is a matter for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. I have asked its Chief Executive, Sir Gerry Berragan, to write to the hon. Member for North Durham and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 17 paragraph 2 of HM Government publication The Strategy For Our Veterans, published in November 2018, what steps he is taking to ensure that veterans enter appropriate employment and can continue to enhance their careers throughout their working lives; and what amount of funding he has allocated to the 2028 outcome.
Answered by Anne Milton
We have put in place a number of policies which will enable adults, including veterans, to access training to either help them into employment or to develop their careers whilst in employment.
Our reforms to apprenticeships will provide people of all ages with access to top quality training and career prospects. In addition, the government-funded and government-supported careers offer includes the National Careers Service, which offers free careers information, advice and guidance to both young people and adults.
The National Retraining Scheme, which was announced in the 2017 Autumn Budget, is an ambitious and far-reaching programme to drive adult retraining. The scheme will help those who are most at risk and in precarious employment to gain the skills they need to thrive as the economy changes. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer recently announced £100 million of new government funding, which will allow the roll-out of initial elements of the National Retraining Scheme from next year, and for the continued testing and development of the scheme.
We are also funding specific schemes which provide training for veterans to become further education teachers or school teachers. Further Forces recruits and trains service leavers to teach science, engineering and technology in further education. There are currently around 100 service leavers engaged in the programme, which is delivered by the Education and Training Foundation. In 2017, additional funding of £900,000 over two years was made available to expand the programme by up to 100 further places.
For teaching in schools, the Troops to Teachers bursary is worth a total of £40,000 over two years and will help ex-servicemen and women make the transition to the classroom. It is available to veterans who study for an undergraduate degree with Qualified Teacher Status in England in a priority subject.
This is in addition to the work that the Ministry of Defence undertakes to help veterans into work and new careers.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how often Carillion was stress-tested by his Department; when the last such stress test was carried out; and what the results of that stress test were.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department reviews the financial standing of suppliers before awarding contracts; as part of the qualification process for places on our supply frameworks; and as part of ongoing contract management arrangements, in line with Cabinet Office guidance. The Cabinet Office manages relationships with Strategic Suppliers, monitoring their performance and financial health on a cross-Government basis, through its Strategic Supplier Risk Management Policy.
The Department has been working closely with the Cabinet Office to monitor the situation with Carillion since profit warnings were first issued last July. Our priority has been to ensure schools can continue to operate as usual.
Local authorities and academy trusts are responsible for their own contracts. We have worked with local authorities and academy trusts to make sure they have contingency plans in place and that these are being actioned, where required. We are continuing to monitor developments and provide support where it is needed to help minimise any disruption.