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Written Question
Universities: China
Thursday 19th December 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of scholarships offered by the Chinese Government for universities in the UK on freedom of speech.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The UK welcomes international partnerships and students, including from China, who make a very positive impact on the UK’s higher education (HE) sector, our economy and society as a whole. However, we will always protect our national security interests, human rights and values.

All registered English HE providers have a duty to protect freedom of speech under the Education (No.2) Act 1986. They are also subject to registration conditions from the Office for Students (OfS) which requires them to uphold public interest governance principles, including securing freedom of speech within the law, academic freedom and accountability, such as operating openly and with integrity. The OfS can take action if it identifies a breach of this provision.

The UK government is carrying out an audit to examine the UK's interests with respect to China to improve our ability to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities China poses. The audit is being conducted as a cross-government exercise, led by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.


Written Question
Academies
Wednesday 18th December 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools secured academy status in each year since 2010; and how many of these were in a multi-academy trust.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The attached information details the current number of open academies and free schools, by phase and their respective year of opening, as well as the proportion of state-funded schools this represents.

Of the 11,224 open academies and free schools as of 1 December 2024, 10,352 are part of a multi-academy trust.


Written Question
Faith Schools: Admissions
Monday 16th December 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish a response to the consultation on Faith school designation reforms.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The consultation on faith school designation closed on 20 June. The department is analysing the responses and we will respond in due course.


Written Question
Educational Institutions: Employers' Contributions
Thursday 5th December 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 2.40 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the increase in the rate of employer National Insurance Contributions on the costs of (a) schools, (b) colleges, (c) higher education institutions and (d) early years settings in each year to 2030.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made an announcement at the Autumn Budget 2024 setting out changes to Employers National Insurance Contributions policy. Alongside this, she announced funding to the public sector to support them with the additional associated cost.

The department will work closely with HM Treasury (HMT) to understand the implications for our sectors. This process will conclude when HMT confirm funding allocations by department as part of setting baselines and planning assumptions for the second phase of the spending review.


Written Question
Department for Education: Employers' Contributions
Thursday 5th December 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 2.40 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the increase in the rate of employer National Insurance Contributions on (a) direct and (b) indirect departmental costs.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made an announcement at the Autumn Budget 2024 setting out changes to Employers National Insurance Contributions policy. Alongside this, she announced funding to the public sector to support them with the additional associated cost.

The department will work closely with HM Treasury (HMT) to understand the implications for our sectors. This process will conclude when HMT confirm funding allocations by department as part of setting baselines and planning assumptions for the second phase of the spending review.


Written Question
Schools: Standards
Tuesday 3rd December 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools were (i) newly graded inadequate or (ii) received a second consecutive Requires Improvement by Ofsted in each year since 2010.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.


Written Question
Training: Finance
Tuesday 3rd December 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to allow firms to use up to 50% of the Growth And Skills Levy to fund non-apprenticeship training.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government’s reformed growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers, aligned with our industrial strategy, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, such as in construction, digital and green skills.

As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country, and providing high-quality entry pathways for young people.

The department does not publish estimates of the number of future apprenticeship starts. The new government has inherited a context of a declining number of apprenticeship starts. Following reforms to apprenticeships, including the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017, apprenticeship starts by young people under 25 fell by 38% between the 2015/16 and 2022/23 academic years, with an overall decline in starts of 34%. Apprenticeship starts figures are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.

The department is in the process of designing the growth and skills offer and it will set out more detail in due course.


Written Question
Apprentices
Tuesday 3rd December 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people starting apprenticeships in each year of this Parliament.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government’s reformed growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers, aligned with our industrial strategy, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, such as in construction, digital and green skills.

As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country, and providing high-quality entry pathways for young people.

The department does not publish estimates of the number of future apprenticeship starts. The new government has inherited a context of a declining number of apprenticeship starts. Following reforms to apprenticeships, including the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017, apprenticeship starts by young people under 25 fell by 38% between the 2015/16 and 2022/23 academic years, with an overall decline in starts of 34%. Apprenticeship starts figures are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.

The department is in the process of designing the growth and skills offer and it will set out more detail in due course.


Written Question
Apprentices: Finance
Monday 2nd December 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) apprenticeship courses started and (b) apprenticeship levy spent were for (i) Level 6 and (ii) Level 7 apprenticeships in each year since 2016.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The proportions of apprenticeships starts at level 6 and level 7, as a percentage of total apprenticeship starts at all levels, are provided in the table below for each academic year between 2015/16 and 2023/24.

Academic Year

Proportion of total starts at Level 6 (%)

Proportion of total starts at Level 7 (%)

2015/16

0.10%

<0.05%

2016/17

0.30%

<0.05%

2017/18

1.70%

1.20%

2018/19

2.80%

3.00%

2019/20

4.70%

4.80%

2020/21

6.10%

6.10%

2021/22

6.70%

5.60%

2022/23

7.40%

6.50%

2023/24

7.70%

7.00%

Further information on numbers of apprenticeship starts by detailed level can be found at: https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/bfd06312-7732-41bc-97e7-94a6d85d2400/files/1ff3ab06-a956-4baa-921c-7166db33c723.

The apprenticeship levy was introduced in 2017, from which the department is allocated an apprenticeships budget for England. This budget is used to fund training and assessment for new apprenticeship starts in apprenticeship levy and non-levy paying employers, and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training and any additional payments made to employers and providers.

The table below shows total spend on level 6 and level 7 apprenticeships, in both levy-paying and non-levy paying employers in England, as a proportion of the total spend on the apprenticeship programme since the 2017/18 financial year.

Financial year

Level 6 spend (£million)

Level 7 spend (£million)

Total apprenticeships spend (£million)

Proportion of total spend at Level 6 (%)

Proportion of total spend at Level 7 (%)

2017/18

50

12

1,586

3%

1%

2018/19

71

50

1,738

4%

3%

2019/20

114

103

1,919

6%

5%

2020/21

172

165

1,863

9%

9%

2021/22

296

236

2,455

12%

10%

2022/23

349

234

2,458

14%

10%

2023/24

387

238

2,509

15%

9%

Spend is rounded to the nearest million and proportions to the nearest whole number.


Written Question
Private Education: Special Educational Needs
Thursday 28th November 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14487 on Private Education: Special Educational Needs, if she will publish the information that informed her Department's assessment of the potential impact of applying VAT to private school fees on pupils with SEND in private schools moving to state schools.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

HM Treasury (HMT) is responsible for VAT policy and publishing the impacts of the policy.

HMT has published an assessment of the impacts of removing the VAT exemption that applied to private school fees. This can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/ac8c20ce-4824-462d-b206-26a567724643#who-is-likely-to-be-affected.

Additionally, HMT published policy costings for applying the standard rate of VAT to private schools alongside the Autumn Budget 2024 on 30 October, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6721d2c54da1c0d41942a8d2/Policy_Costing_Document_-_Autumn_Budget_2024.pdf.

As the impact assessment publication sets out, the government estimates that only a very small minority of private school pupils (6%) will move and that most school moves will occur at natural transition points, which will reduce overall disruption. Longer term impacts on this group may be lessened by revenue raised by this measure being used to help the 94% of children who attend state schools, including over one million children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

There is no separate assessment by SEND. It is important to note that pupils who need a local authority-funded place in a private school will not be impacted by the changes. To protect pupils with special educational needs that can only be met in a private school, local authorities and devolved governments that fund these places will be compensated for the VAT they are charged on those pupils’ fees.