Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for community learning services.
Answered by Anne Milton
As a department, we are considering adult skills, which includes community learning, as part of the adult education budget and are looking carefully at further education funding. We recognise that some of the key areas of funding have not kept up with costs and we will continue to look carefully at these issues in preparation for the next Spending Review and in light of the recommendations of the Post-18 Review.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the amount paid in business rates by (a) private, (b) volunteering and (c)independent childcare providers in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Our Early Years National Funding Formula for three and four year olds contains an Area Cost Adjustment that includes a premises element based on rateable values. We have recently commissioned new research to provide us with further robust and detailed data of the costs of delivering childcare for under five year olds using a representative sample of early years providers.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are eligible for 30 hours free childcare in north each Lincolnshire.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The government set out in the 2015 Spending Review that nationally we expect 390,000 children to be eligible for 30 hours free childcare. This figure is derived from national survey data taken in January and is an average across the year. Estimates at a regional and local authority level are not available due to the relatively small population that we are estimating within sub national geographies.
We publish termly experimental statistics showing the number of children in a place. The most recent publication showed that 943 codes were issued in North East Lincolnshire and 974 children were in a 30 hours place in the summer term. The full publication – including a local authority level breakdown – is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/30-hours-free-childcare-summer-term-2018.
As we move in to the second year of delivery, we will continue to publish management information on the number of codes issued for 30 hours. This will be available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/30-hours-free-childcare-eligibility-codes-issued-and-validated – the most recent publication on 12 July shows that 573 codes have already been issued in North East Lincolnshire for the start of the next academic year.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the commercial sustainability of childcare providers in the (a) private, (b) volunteering and (c) independent early education sector.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
By 2019-20 we will be spending around £6 billion on childcare support – a record amount. This includes around £1 billion extra a year to deliver 30 hours of free childcare and fund the increase in hourly rates that we introduced in April 2017.
Our average funding rates are based on the department’s ‘Review of Childcare Costs’ which was described as “thorough and wide ranging” by the National Audit Office. The review looked at both current and future cost pressures.
The latest Ofsted data from March 2018 showed that the number of non-domestic providers has remained stable. More than 340,000 children have benefitted from our 30 hours offer over its first year, and the vast majority of providers have increased the number of free hours available to parents.
We continue to monitor both the implementation of 30 hours and delivery costs. We have recently commissioned new research to provide us with further robust and detailed data of the costs of delivering childcare for under five-year-olds using a representative sample of early years providers.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of Government funding for the 30 hours free childcare policy.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
By 2019-20 we will be spending around £6 billion on childcare support – a record amount. This includes around £1 billion extra a year to deliver 30 hours of free childcare and fund the increase in hourly rates that we introduced in April 2017.
Our average funding rates are based on the department’s ‘Review of Childcare Costs’ which was described as “thorough and wide ranging” by the National Audit Office. The review looked at both current and future cost pressures.
The latest Ofsted data from March 2018 showed that the number of non-domestic providers has remained stable. More than 340,000 children have benefitted from our 30 hours offer over its first year, and the vast majority of providers have increased the number of free hours available to parents.
We continue to monitor both the implementation of 30 hours and delivery costs. We have recently commissioned new research to provide us with further robust and detailed data of the costs of delivering childcare for under five-year-olds using a representative sample of early years providers.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on which local authorities have provided business rate relief to private, volunteering and independent childcare providers.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information requested is not held centrally. Local discounts are a matter for individual authorities.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to improve the recruitment and retention of childcare professionals.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In March 2017 we published the Early Years Workforce Strategy which set out how government will work with the sector to help employers attract, retain and develop early years staff: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/596884/Workforce_strategy_02-03-2017.pdf.
We have made good progress in delivering the commitments in the strategy. This includes consulting on new criteria to strengthen level 2 qualifications to ensure practitioners have a firm foundation to progress up to level 3 and beyond. We have also taken steps to improve careers advice by upskilling Department for Work and Pensions job coaches to update their knowledge on careers in the sector, and have supported the work of the Education and Employers Charity and Tinies Childcare to promote the sector through their careers and engagement activity in schools. Through a voluntary and community sector grant we have also funded the establishment of an online directory with information on early years training and qualifications.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Carillion entering liquidation on training and apprenticeships in the construction industry.
Answered by Anne Milton
Following the announcement on the 15 January 2018 regarding the liquidation of Carillion, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has enacted robust contingency plans and identified the Construction Industry Training Board, (CITB) as the best placed alternative provider.
The ESFA contacted all affected apprentices on 15/01/18 to notify them of the situation and next steps. The Study Programme Learners were notified by letter on the 17/01/2018. Affected learners have been provided with the details of a dedicated mailbox: Carillion.Construction@education.gov.uk - where they can raise any issues or concerns.
The CITB is on the ESFA’s register of approved apprenticeship training providers; it delivers good quality provision, with a proven track record of delivering the specific frameworks and standards that current Carillion Apprentices are studying. CITB centres are geographically situated, within what is anticipated to be a reasonable travel time for the apprentices; and critically they have the capacity and capability to take on displaced apprentices and study programme learners. A dedicated team of 50 advisers and assessors in the CITB has been identified to support apprentices and work with them to identify new employers.
The CITB is utilising its existing employer contacts in the sector and the grant incentives it has available, in order to find and secure alternative employers for the apprentices to complete their frameworks or standards. Additionally, it is making direct contact with Carillion supply chain companies. CITB have reported that numerous employers have responded positively with offers of support.
CITB have contacted all affected learners to begin the transfer process, with a focus on minimising disruption to the learner and their learner journey. It has established a dedicated helpline to support those affected and has scheduled a series of workshops for learners, which will take place in the regions of the 11 Carillion Training Centres. Those workshops will provide advice on next steps and offer one to one support as required. The timings and locations of these events have been communicated to the learners through telephone calls, email and a comprehensive social media campaign.
Carillion has also issued communication to its learners, alerting them to the situation and reassuring them, that support is in place to ensure a swift transition.
The ESFA is meeting with CITB daily to monitor progress and resolve any issues.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many building industry related training schemes and apprenticeships provided directly by Carillion and/or subcontracted companies have been terminated ahead of completion.
Answered by Anne Milton
All Carillion apprentices are employed by Carillion Construction. The department is working with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to find alternative employers for those apprentices to complete their apprenticeships. No apprentices have had their employment contract with Carillion Construction terminated by the Insolvency Service.
Learners attending Carillion training centres, who are funded through a study programme will continue to receive training and this will be delivered by CITB or their partner colleges.
The CITB are utilising their existing employer contacts in the sector and the grant incentives they have available. To find and secure alternative employers for the apprentices to complete their frameworks or standards. Additionally, they are making direct contact with companies in Carillion’s supply chain. CITB have reported that numerous employers have responded positively with offers of support.
The CITB have contacted all affected learners to begin the transfer process, with a focus on minimising disruption to the learner and their learner journey. They have established a dedicated helpline to support those affected and have scheduled a series of workshops for learners, which will take place in the regions of the 11 Carillion Training Centres. These workshops will provide advice on next steps and offer 1 to 1 support as required. The timings and locations of these events have been communicated to the learners through telephone calls, email and a comprehensive social media campaign. Carillion are also actively encouraging their learners to attend these regional events.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) are meeting with CITB daily to monitor progress and resolve issues.
The ESFA funds training providers for their delivery of apprenticeships in arrears, so payments made have been calculated based on the activity recorded by Carillion and returned to the ESFA in monthly Individual learner records.
Normal ESFA audit requirements will continue to apply and there must be evidence of participation in learning for funds to be earned. We will reconcile payments when the liquidator makes a final claim for training delivered by Carillion.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to announce levels of government support for state-maintained nurseries for the years after 2019.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
This government recognises that maintained nursery schools experience costs that other providers do not. That is why we are providing local councils with supplementary funding of around £60 million a year until the end 2019-20 at least, to enable them to maintain 2016-17 levels of nursery school funding. We are working closely with the sector and others on our plans for what happens beyond this, and we will set out next steps in due course.